Geriatrics

§  muscular weakness or partial paralysis on one side of
the body

§  :   loss of normal bladder function in which the bladder
cannot empty properly and fills beyond the normal capacity, causing urine to
leak out; caused by damage to part of the nervous system due to stroke,
Parkinson’s disease, MS, disk herniation, etc.

§  first involves the parts of the brain
that control thought, memory and language; may affect a person’s short-term
memory; the person may not recognize family members or have trouble speaking,
reading or writing; they may forget how to brush their teeth or comb their
hair; later, may become anxious or aggressive, or wander from home, and
eventually, they need total care; usually
begins after age 60 and is more likely to occur if there is a family history

§  general
term describing problems with reasoning, planning, judgment, memory and other
thought processes caused by brain damage from impaired blood flow to your
brain; may develop after a stroke blocks an artery to the brain or from other
conditions that damage blood vessels and reduce circulation, which can deprive
the brain of oxygen and nutrients

disease in which
bones become fragile and more likely to fracture. Usually the bone loses
density, which measures the amount of calcium and minerals in the bone.

anemia
(blood with low concentration of hemoglobin) in which the rbc’s are larger than
normal; occurs when there are problems with the
synthesis of the blood cells, as in vitamin B12 or folic acid deficiency

:  type of
macrocytic anemia; cells are larger than normal; due to slow rate of DNA
production as the rbc’s grow, and thus the cells grow too large before
division; associated with B12 or folic acid deficiency that is often related to
chemotherapeutic agents or antiviral drugs; in
patients with liver disease and obstructive jaundice, cholesterol and/or
phospholipids become deposited on the membranes of circulating red blood cells,
leading to larger than normal cells

:   dry mouth resulting from reduced or absent saliva flow

·       distortion of the sense of taste
(different from ageusia or hypogeusia, which are lack of taste and low ability
to taste, respectively)

often
seen right after someone has a stroke; person has severe difficulty speaking and
understanding words & is unable to read or write.

: 
destruction of the stomach lining due to chronic inflammation, which is
most often caused by H. Pylori infection; the bacteria disrupt the mucosal
barrier the protects the stomach lining from acidic digestive juices

·       curving of the spine that causes bowing or rounding of
the thoracic vertebrae

·       wasting syndrome characterized by dramatic weight loss,
muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness, and loss of appetite; often associated with
cancer

·       malnutrition resulting from lack of dietary protein
concurrent with sufficient energy intake; characterized by edema, irritability,
anorexia, and liver enlargement with fatty infiltrates;

:  severe
malnutrition in which all forms of energy intake is insufficient, including
protein intake; emaciation; mostly associated with acute infection, chronic
illness (TB, HIV), droughts; ultimately, marasmus
can progress to the point of no return when the body's ability for protein synthesis is lost. At this point, attempts to correct the
disorder by giving food or protein are futile.

diff b/w kwashiorkor and marasmus

A hormone secreted by
the posterior lobe of the pituitary gland that increases blood pressure by
constricting blood vessels, raises blood pressure, and reduces excretion of
urine; increases the reabsorption of water by the kidney tubules

substance that promotes the urine production;
commonly used to treat high BP; chemically, diuretics are a diverse group of
compounds that either stimulate or inhibit various hormones in body to regulate
urine production by kidneys

a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen; may
be low due to anemia, loss of blood, kidney failure; may be high due to
dehydration

·       blood test that measures the
percentage of the volume of whole blood that is made up of red blood cells.
This measurement depends on the number of red blood cells and the size of red blood cells; may
be low due to anemia, loss of blood; may be high due to dehydration

the average
volume of a red blood cell, or its size; allows classification of anemia

diff b/c microcytic and macrocytic anemia

most abundant plasma protein; made by the liver;
serves as carrier protein for certain molecules through the blood, such as
bilirubin and calcium

a protein that is made in the liver and released
in the blood; ·      
its concentration more closely reflects recent dietary intake rather
than overall nutritional status

: 
iron-storage protein that is produced by the liver and is present in
blood that binds to iron and transports it throughout the body;

transferrin levels ___ with iron deficiency and ___ in iron overload; the remainder of iron is stored in tissues as ferritin

test that shows amount of protein in blood; when protein breaks down, urea nitrogen is formed

national
collaborative effort committed to the identification and treatment of
nutritional problems in older persons

:  part of
the Older Americans Act; grants that are appropriated to the Administration on
Aging for 3 different nutrition programs: 
Congregate Nutrition Services, Home-Delivered Nutrition Services,
Nutrition Services Incentive Program

type of
advance directive that is a legal document that describes your treatment
preferences in end-of-life situations

area of healthcare that focuses on relieving and
preventing pain and the suffering of patients in all aspects of his/her life
via a multidisciplinary approach; different from hospice in that patient can be
in any disease stage

general term for documents that indicate a
patient’s preferences for medical care in times when the patient is unable to
speak for himself; include living will, medical power of attorney, and do not
resuscitate order

refers to an ulcer formed while laying in one spot for
an extended amount of time, while a pressure ulcer is usually from sitting.

·       piece of dead tissue that is cast off from the surface of
the skin, particularly after a burn injury, but also  in gangrene, ulcer, fungal infections; may come off naturally or may require surgical
debridement

·       death of body tissue due to insufficient blood flow
from injury, radiation, or chemicals

Stage I pressure ulcer
Stage II pressure ulcer
Stage III pressure ulcer
Stage IV pressure ulcer