Goebel - Intro to Geriatrics Flashcards
Which is true about life expectancy?
- Men live longer than women
- Black men live the longest
- Hispanic women live the longest
- White women live the longest
Hispanic women live the longest
Name 2 Medical Issues of Aging
- Homeostenosis
- Normal physiologic changes of aging
Name term.
- medical issues of aging
- decreased reserve with aging
- as we age, we engage more and more of our physiological reserves just to maintain homeostasis, therefore there are less reserves left to address challenges
Homeostenosis
Medical Issues of Aging: Normal Physiologic Aging
-Body Composition Changes with Aging
Loss of Lean Body Mass
_________ in skeletal muscle mass
_________ in bone mass
_________ in total body adipose tittuse - more fat, not necessarily more weight. Accumulates in muscles and organs.
Decrease
Decrease
Increase
What happens to the half-life of lipophilic drugs with the aging population?
Increases dramatically = serious cmoplications can arise from normal drug doses
Fact: Normal Physiologic Changes
- *•Temperature**
- > Risk increased for hyper- and hypothermia
- > Notable difficulty in mounting a fever response to infection
(i. e. may have a raging pneumonia with no fever) - *•Body fluid regulation**
- >Total body water decreased
- >Thirst sensation diminished
- *•Blood pressure regulation**
- > Higher BPs or orthostatic hypotension
Changes that occur in the Senses
- Dark adaptation ___________
- Near vision ___________ (presbyopia)
- High frequency hearing ___________ (presbycusis)
- Sense of smell ___________ after age 50
- Decreases
- Declines
- declines
- declines
Cardiovascular changes in aging population.
______ wall thickness vessels + __________ elastin = Inc. “stiff pipes”
Both systolic & diastolic BP _________, but normally remain below the clinical threshold for HTN.
Adipose infiltration near SA node with marked ________ in pacemaker cells.
Variable amount of _________ deposition in cardiac skeleton (i.e. aortic sclerosis)
Increased thickness + decreased elastin
increase
decrease of pacemaker cells = more Afib
Calcium –> Murmurs
Cardiovascular Changes in aging population.
B-Adrenergic stimulation: basal and stress-induced levels of epinephrine and NE are _________ (higher/lower) in elderly
Tissue response to B-adrenergic modulation is ___________ (increased/diminished)
higher
diminished
What is the KEY WORD to remember with neurological changes in the elderly?
SLOWER!!
- Encoding (converting new information to be stored) – May be slower, but with sufficient time, probably not diminished overall
- Storage and retrieval – recall may be slowed
- Decreased ability to multi task
- Reduction in number and size of spinal cord motor neurons
- Decrease in nerve terminal numbers and neurotransmitter release
- Neuropathy –decreased sensation in the feet, lack of ankle reflexes
Why are the elderly more likely to fall?
Neurological changes involve Neuropathy (decreased sensation in the feet), along with a decrease in vision sense.
“Multi-sensory Deficit Syndrome”
Respiratory Changes in Aging.
- *Increase or Decrease in:**
- > Elasticity
- > FEV1
- > O2 Sat
Decrease
What are 2 Gastrointestinal Changes you see in the elderly?
- Esophagus?
- Liver?
- Presbyesophagus may occur - hard to swallow
- Hepatic metabolic function my decline affects drug metabolism
With declining renal function in the elderly (not all), drug metabolism becomes a very important concern.
What should be checked prior to prescribing a renally excreted drug?
GFR
Immune System changes in the elderly.
_______ involution occurs so less naive lymphocytes to respond to new threats.
_______ T-cell proliferative response to mitogens
_______ in some cytokines
CLINICALLY: DECREASED ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO VACCINES!!!
Thymic
Decreased
Decrease