Drinking Beet Juice May Fight Dementia, Higher-Income Parents Forgoing Kids' Vaccinations named “Best/Worst News for Prevention"

"Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample consisting of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention.

BEST

Drinking Beet Juice Increases Blood Flow to Brain and May Fight Dementia

Drinking beet juice increases blood flow to the brain in older people, a finding that suggests the dark red vegetable may fight the progression of dementia, a new study shows.

Beet roots contain high concentrations of nitrates, which are converted into nitrites by bacteria in the mouth. And nitrites help open blood vessels in the body, increasing blood flow and oxygen to places lacking in oxygen.


WORST

Many Higher-Income Parents Forgoing Kids' Vaccinations: Report

Vaccination rates for children insured by commercial plans dropped almost four percentage points between 2008 and 2009, even though the rate of children on Medicaid getting vaccinated is rising.

"Rates had been gradually improving in the commercial plans. This was the first time we'd seen a drop -- and it was a pretty big drop," said Sarah Thomas, vice president of public policy and communication for the National Committee for Quality Assurance, which recently released its annual State of Health Care Quality report.


The “Best and Worst” awards are announced each week in “Prevention Matters,” the blog of Partnership for Prevention. "Best and Worst News for Prevention” is based on a purposive sample of expert staff members who each week choose to share their opinions on the best and worst news for prevention. More information is available at http://www.prevent.org/.

London to Build Outdoor Playground for Elderly

London's aging baby boomers will soon get their own specially designed outdoor playground. The park will offer low-impact exercise equipment to help older people improve their balance and flexibility and tone muscles that may not have been tested for decades.

"We wanted something that would be of long-term benefit to people, so we came up with this idea for an older person's playground," says Madeline Elsdon, whose local residents' association has won funding for the playground, which is planned for London's popular Hyde Park.

Exercise areas aimed at the elderly are popular in Europe and Asia, and there's already a U.K. precedent—an over-60 playground billed as Britain's first opened in Manchester's Dam Head Park two years ago. The equipment there was still seeing use Wednesday—with senior citizens swinging their legs and working their hips on the machines despite temperatures that hovered around freezing.