Not understanding instructions from your doctor could kill you or your aging parents.

During a recent study of patients 65 and older, it was determined those people who could not understand written medical instructions were most likely to die within six years.

But what really surprised the researchers was the number of subjects who died during the study.

Around 40 percent of the those patients in the study considered to be medically illiterate died.

That was in comparison to 19 percent of those who could understand prescription labels, appointments slips and  X-ray preparations.

With as many as 90 million Americans considered to be medically illiterate, the numbers of avoidable hospitalizations and early deaths could be staggering.

Getting around today’s medical maze of maintaining chronic illnesses such as diabetes, asthma and heart disease requires a working knowledge  of medicine that is almost in comparison to a nursing student’s grasp of the curriculum.

Patients have to know what to do for themselves and when to do it. 

In other words, you’re often on your own.

But some help is on the way.

The American Medical Association, as well as many other advocates for the elderly, have recognized this problem and are trying to do something about it before it’s too late.

Doctors are being informed to outline treatments and to ask patients to repeat instructions. 

Videos are also being provided showing patients what to do. 

Doctors and medical professionals are being advised not to use complex medical jargon that average people don’t understand.

In fact, medical students at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, are being graded on just that. 

Actors are hired to play patients and if the student does not adequately explain a procedure, or instructions to the "patient" he receives lower marks.

But the whole point is we have to be our own advocates  for ourselves as well as our parents.

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