UNIT 4 TEST Flashcards
Life expectancy
The number of years the average person born in a particular year will probably live (ex. 2018 = 78.6yrs)
- Improved with science advances, also substantial reduction in infant deaths
Brain loses ____% of its weight between ages 20 + 90
5-10%
What is effected when the brain shrinks??????
-Shrinkage of neurons
-Lower numbers of synapses
-Reduced length and complexity of axons
-reduced tree-like branching in dendrites
Dendrites
receiving portion of the neuron
What causes lack of dendritic growth in older adults??????
lack of environmental stimulation and activity
Presbyopia
Age-related difficulties with seeing close objects
-Universal changes that happens in mid-life
-often reason for reading glasses
Poorer dark vision
cannot see as well in dimly lit places
Troubles with glare
Being blinded by bright light shinning in eye
Color vision
Diminishes because the lens of the eye begin to yellow
Depth perception
declines with age
Visual decline + social contact
Decline in vision can lead to less social interactions because leisure activities become challenging
cateracts
The thickening of eye’s lens causes vision to become cloudy, opaque, and distorted
Glaucoma
Damage to the optic nerve because of pressure created by fluid buildup in the eye
macular degeneration
deterioration of the retina’s macula, which corresponds to focal center of the visual field
Vision interventions
-strong indirect lighting
-Avoid fluorescent lighting
-Use adjustable lighting
-Look into low-vision aids
-explore books on tape
Why hearing loss is bad
-Limits the ability to connect with the human world through language
what devices help hearing loss
Hearing aids and cochlear implants
Hearing loss statistics
-One in three older adults suffers from hearing loss
-men are more likely to develop hearing loss - because of exposure to loud noises
-problems increase because of technology oriented culture
presbycusis
The characteristic age-related hearing loss
-condition is permanent
-background noise overpower the sounds people want to hear
-Hearing aids usually don’t help
What causes presbycusis??
Atrophy of hearing receptors in the inner ear
Hearing loss intervention
-Avoid high-noise environments
-install carpet in house
-replace noisy appliances
-avoid elderly speek
elderly speak
Speaking loudly and with slow, exaggerating pronunciation
Smell and Taste
Loss begins around age 60 and is significantly noticeably around 80
Touch and Pain
-with aging, many have impaired toud(detecting less in lower extremities)
-60-70% of older adults have some form of persistent pain
-older adults are less sensitive to pain
Slowness
Primary motor ability change
Primary motor ability change caused by…
Loss in information-processing speed
Primary motor ability changes and society
-Why older adults experience prejudices
-people become annoyed with older peoples slowness
EX. Slow driving
Asian care for elderly
turning into Western society model
Scandinavian countries
positive models for elderly people
-Family members take primary care of elderly
-Government provides home health services
-money provided to remodel homes
-presence of multigenerational villages
Dementia
A global term for several neurological disorders involving irreversible decline in mental function severe enough to interfere with daily living
Alzheimer accounts for how much of dementias?
60-80%
Seconds most frequent dementia?
Vascular
does activity lower rates of dementia?(yes/no)
Yes
Understanding dementia
Involves the total erosion of personhood; complete unraveling of inner self
What illnesses cause dementias in younger adults
Brain injury or illnesses like aids
Dementia effects what age?
Mostly oldest old
Dementia symptoms
-Forget episodic info (core facts about their life)
-impairment in executive functions (inhibits one’s actions)
-Thinking is affected (abstract, decisions, judgement)
-Language is compromised
-Loss of all functions (speaking, moving, and even swallowing)
Vascular Dementia
A type of dementia caused by multiple small strokes called trans ischemic attacks; these strokes affect blood flow which then causes cumulative damage.
Alzheimer’s Diesease
A progressive, irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning language and eventually physical function.
Alzheimer statistics
-Sixth leading cause of death in USA
-1 in 10 individuals 65 or older have alzheimer’s
-Twice as many african americans and one and one-half times as many latinos have alzheimer’s
-two thirds of those with Alzheimer disease in the U.S.A. are women
Causes of Alzheimer Disease
-deficiency in acetylcholine (plays important role in memory)
-As neurons decay, formation of amyloid/senile plaques
-Oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction
-Age
-Cardiac risk factors
Alzheimer Disease and Genetics
Apolipoprotein( ApoE) gene increases presence of plaques and tangles in brain
ApoE is most common gene associated with _________ alzheimer disease
late-onset
Genes affect the ______ aspect if the disease
risk factors associated with alzheimer’s
Young-onset Alzheimer disease (early-onset)
Affects a very small percentage of people, where symptoms appear between ages 30-60
What genes are strongly linked with young onset alzhiemers?
APP, PSEN1, and PSEN2
Mild cognitive impairment(MCI)
represents a transitional state between the cognitive changes of normal aging and very early Alzheimer disease and other dementias
What scan can show dementia??
fMRI
Diagnosing Alzhiemer’s (steps)
- Looks for history of steady mental deteriorations
- Rule out other physical + psychological causes
- Explore performance on a battery of neuropsychological tests
Treatment for Alzheimer
No true cure, but certain drugs, diet, exercise and mental stimulation can slow down progression
Treatment for Alzheimer
No true cure, but certain drugs, diet, exercise and mental stimulation can slow down progression
Dealing W/ Alzheimer’s
Improving environment is key!!!!!!
-external aids to make life safe (notes like “don’t leave stove on, a bell to notify people when the person has walked out the door, etc)
Issues for care gives or patients w/ Dementias
-witnessing lives ones deterioate is unfamiliar to most
-Loved ones can become abusive
-Stress and depression
-Embarrassment or guilt
-Parent + childs roles flip
Respite care
Services that provide temporary relief for those who are caring for individuals w/ disabilities, illnesses or elderly
Integrity vs. despair
Involves reflecting on the past and either piecing together a positive review or concluding that one’s like has not been well spent
Life Review
A looking back at one’s life experiences, evaluating them, and interpreting them
Remininscence therapy
A therapy in which someone discusses past activities and experiences with another individual or group
Successful aging
Characterizes individuals, whose phyical, cognitive, and socioemotional development is maintained longer than others
What aspects help create successful aging
Proper diet, active lifestyle, mental stimulation, positive coping skills, etc
successful aging means…
Drawing on what gives one’s life meaning to live fully no matter how the body behaves
Components of death system
-people
-places or context
-times
-objects
-symbols
Who defined the death system?
Robert Kastenbaum
what % of deaths occur in hospitals?
80%
Brain death
A neurological death when all electrical activity of the brain has ceased for a specific period of time
Advanced care planning
The process of patients thinking about and communicating their preferences abt end-of-life care
Living Will
A legal document that reflect the patient’s advanced care planning
advanced directive
a document such as a living will that indicates whether life-sustaining procedures should or should not be used to prolong an individuals life when death is imminent
Physicians orders for life-sustaining treatment(POLST)
A more specific document that translates treatment preferences into medical orders
The death system
How society is connected to death
Durable power of attorney
A persons designating a surrogate to make heath-care decisions if they become incapacitated and unable to make their wishes knows
DNR
an advance directive completed by surrogates (typically doctors in consultation with the
family) for an impaired person, specifying that no efforts will be made to revive them in case of cardiac arrest.
DNH
an advance directive put into the charts of impaired nursing home residents, specifying that in a medical crisis they should not be transferred to a hospital for emergency care.
Euthanasia
the act of painlessly ending the lives of individuals suffering from incurable diseases
Passive euthanasia
When treatment is wishheld
Active euthanasia
When death is deliberately induced
Assisted suicide
a process that requires the patient to self-administer lethal medication and determine when and where to do this.
Who was involved in the major scandal regarding assisted suicide
Jack Kevorkian
Guidelines for a good death
- Minimize physical distress to be free of possible debilitating pain.
- Maximize psychological security, and reduce fear and anxiety, thus feeling in control of death.
- Enhance relationships and be close as possible to loved ones.
- Foster spirituality and have a sense of integrity and purpose in life.
Hospice
A program committed to making end of life as free from pain and depression as possible
Palliative care
The act of reducing pain and suffering, and helping individuals dies with dignity
Deaths at different points in life span
-Miscarriages and stillborn births.
- During the birth process or in the first few days after birth.
-Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the leading cause of infant death in the United States.
In childhood, most commonly accidents or illness.
-Most adolescent and young adult deaths result from suicide, homicide, or motor vehicle accidents.
-Middle-age and older adult deaths usually result from chronic diseases.
Childhood attitude toward death
Children can understand death!!
- At some point in the middle and late childhood years, many children develop more realistic and accurate perceptions of death.
Best strategy when telling a child about death
brief Honesty (NEVER tell them they are on vacation or are asleep)
Adolescence attitude toward death
develop more abstract conceptions about death
than children do, and they may develop religious and
philosophical views
Middle-aged adults attiude toward death
age area that worries most about death
Older adults attitude toward death
when ones own death may take on an appropriateness it lacked in earlier years
(not always)
Kübler-Ross’ Stages of Dying
- Denial + isolation
- Anger
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
denial and isolation
a dying person denies she or he is really going to die.
Anger
a dying person’s denial gives way to anger, resentment, rage, envy.
Bargaining
a dying person develops hope that death can be postponed
depression
When the dying person comes to accept the certainty of their death, a period of depression or preparatory grief may appear
acceptance
The dying person develops a sense of peace, an acceptance to their fate, and usually wants to be left alone
Perceived control
An adaptive strategy for remaining alert and cheerful
Statistics abt death
-More that 50% of ppl die in hospitals
-20% of americans die in nurding homes
-10% of ppl die elsewhere
Grief
THe emotional numbness, disbelief, separation anxiety, despair, sadness, and loneliness accompanying the loss of someone loved.
Prolonged grief disorder(complicated grief)
Grief that involves enduring despair and remained unsolved over an extended period of time(6+ months)
Disenfranchised grief
An individual’s grief involving a deceased person that is a socially ambiguous loss and cannot be openly mourned or supported
examples of reasons for Disenfranchised grief
death of an ex-spouse, abortion, stigmatized
death, such as AIDS
Who is more likely to be widowed
Women are 3X as likely to be widowed
Those that loss an intimate partner often feel…
Profound grief
Die earlier than expected
Endure financial loss, loneliness, increased physical illness, and psychological disorders
how many elect creamation in the USA
Half of deaths
In the US funerals are…
usually private funerals followed by a memorial ceremony
How do the Amish handel funerals
The community handles all aspects of the funeral
How does Judaism handel death
The period of mourning is divided into graduated time periods, each with it;s appropriate practices
shivah
The seven-day period of mourning in Judaism
Life span
120-125 yrs
Centenarians
ppl that live to 100 yrs or older
Centenarians
ppl that live to 100 yrs or older
Supercentenarians
People who live past 110
What country has the most centenarians
Us then Japan, china + England
Young-old
65-84
Oldest-old
85 or more
What gender are most oldest-old people
Female
Neurogenesis
The generation of new neurons
How many hours of sleep should a person get(
7-8
what happens to height and weight as we age
become shorter due to bone loss in vertebrae
Weight drops after age 60 due to muscle loss
Osteoarthritis
Wearing away of joint cartilage
osteoporosis
Bones become porous, brittle and fragile
-women more likely
Perceptual-motor coupling and Driving
When an older person gives up driving it’s a loss of independence
Ilnesses that are common when older
Heart conditions
Diabetes
asthma
Arthritis
Top ranking chronic illness later in life
Arthritis
Leading cause of death in middle -aged adults
cancer
Leading cause of death in middle -aged adults
cancer
leading cause of death 75 and older
cardiovascular disease
African americans have higher death rates for which diseases
Stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and breast cancer
Arthritis
Inflammation of the joints accompanied by pain, stiffness, and movement problems, is especially common in older adults
Older adults with health problems receive medical care how often
Only half the time
Continuing-care retirement
Residential complex that provides dif. levels of services
Assisted-living facilities
For those who are experiencing activities of daily living limitations, but do not need 24 hour care
-less medicaly
Day-care programs
For elderly who live with families
-Provides place for impaired elderly to go when caregivers are working
Home health services
Provides care in home: paid care givers who help with daily livin skills
all-inclusive communities
neighborhoods that have grocery stores, laundromats, etc all in the neighborhood and within walking distance
Aspects of successful aging
physical health, cognitive abilities, and strong social relationships
