Journal of American Geriatrics Society

Kupers, Edward C.

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01520.xpmid: 4812804

ABSTRACT Treatment of the elderly cardiac patient should not be limited to the heart alone. Many other factors demand attention, e.g., psychic stress (depression), nutritional deficits and physiologic imbalances. Dietary guidelines are presented, including special references to carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. A nutritional program for the aged cardiac patient should be carried out on an individual basis to allow for appropriate modifications. Mass nutritional programs for the elderly may not be suitable for the specific cardiac patient with his various problems.

Shader, Richard I.; Harmatz, Jerold S.; Salzman, Carl

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01521.xpmid: 4464879

ABSTRACT The importance of diagnostic differentiation between early senile deterioration and depressive disorders in the aged led to the development of Sandoz Clinical Assessment—Geriatric (SCAG) as a new rating instrument especially applicable to the elderly. It is composed of 18 symptom areas rated on a 7‐point format. Study 1 was carried out on 51 geriatric subjects (25 volunteers and 26 hospital inpatients at a health center), tested by SCAG and also by the widely used MSER (Mental Status Examination Record). In Study 2, data were obtained on 8 subjects tested by 4 psychiatrists, to determine interrater reliability. The statistical findings indicated that SCAG is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing psychopathology in the elderly.

Howell, Trevor H.

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01522.xpmid: 4812800

ABSTRACT Disorganized joints seem to have become more common in recent years among patients in geriatric units. Most of the affected patients have either chronic rheumatoid arthritis or osteoarthrosis. Descriptions are given of subluxated shoulders, perforated elbows, wandering hips, and disorganized knees.

Barach, Alvan L.

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01523.xpmid: 4591291

ABSTRACT The exuberance of the younger generation, based on new personal freedoms and a fresh idealism in human relations, ignited a potentially rewarding path for the adult community to follow. However, the youthful revolt could not be sustained by the substitution of emotional activism for thought, and acute self‐interest for former declarations of concern for fellow human beings. Aging is an unprovoked attack on one organ after the other. Yet, our defects may constitute perpetual victories as we declare a new fidelity to whatever powers and passions remain. The creative reader will be fortified in his grasp of the Goethean culture of experience as he communes with the Prometheans who wrote in defense of personal liberty. The aim of this essay is to reveal an unpredictable turn of events in which the brief spark contributed by the younger generation illuminated a vista of a better way of life for older people, a vista of personal freedom which requires only a fresh documentation from an already available humanistic background. Our western tradition of literature and the other liberal arts may be used to define a culture of enhanced experience, without being curbed by the ultra‐cautious counseling and antiquated restraints which society had imposed upon older people.

Burian, Ernst

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01524.xpmid: 4204771

ABSTRACT An ergot alkaloid preparation, Hydergine, when used therapeutically for arteriosclerotic brain disease and after cerebrovascular accidents usually has a beneficial effect. Thus Hydergine was used on the Intermediate Care Service of a Veterans Administration hospital to treat 21 such patients. The dosage of Hydergine was two 0.5‐mg tablets sublingually three times daily for ninety days. A good response was obtained in 62 per cent. Because of this encouraging result, 4 patients with presenile brain atrophy (Alzheimer's disease) were treated similarly. Of these 4 patients, 2 improved and 2 did not. One of the 2 who improved was a 62‐year‐old man who had become a total nursing‐care problem. Alzheimer's disease was confirmed by brain biopsy. His response to Hydergine was so dramatic that his case is reported here. The improvement and the absence of side effects justify further trials of Hydergine in presenile brain atrophy.

Sternlieb, Cheryl M.

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01525.xpmid: 4812801

ABSTRACT Cardiorespiratory failure is relatively common in the geriatric population. Although heart disease is the most frequent cause, the specific etiology should be established for each patient. An unusual cause of cardiorespiratory failure is illustrated in a case report on a 71‐year‐old woman with progressive exertional dyspnea whose symptoms were erroneously assumed to be solely on the basis of hypertensive cardiovascular disease and heart failure whereas actually they were on the basis of tracheal compression due to a large thyroid mass in the superior mediastinum. The more common causes of cardiorespiratory failure in the elderly are discussed.

Kiveloff, Broino

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01526.xpmid: 4812802

ABSTRACT In 7 cases of intermittent claudication due to peripheral vascular disease, pain was relieved and walking ability improved after brief extensive isometric exercise. This form of exercise may be useful in the prevention of intermittent claudication.

Gelperin, Abraham

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01527.xpmid: 4812803

ABSTRACT During the year 1973, sudden death from food aspiration was identified in 3 patients of a geriatric hospital population. The correct diagnosis was made only at autopsy. As is usual under these circumstances, the clinical diagnosis had been myocardial infarction. This article emphasizes the importance of recognizing the possibility of food aspiration in these cases, as immediate bronchial aspiration or tracheostomy is the only life‐saving procedure.

Dorsey, Frederick G.

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01528.xpmid: N/A

doi: 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1974.tb01529.xpmid: N/A