Commencing opioid therapy places seniors at risk for constipation,
fecal impaction, and bowel obstruction; comorbidities such as neurologic
disorders may contribute to that risk.
In the elderly, acute pancreatitis is most commonly caused by gallstones,
is more likely to be severe, and is associated with higher mortality.
Although people with intellectual disability exhibit considerable
morbidity, the numbers surviving into old age are rapidly increasing.
Even mild or moderate OA hand pain may negatively impact an individual’s
physical and emotional status, with the potential to significantly
reduce quality of life.
Urogenital symptoms, such as vaginal dryness and/or discomfort during
intercourse, recurrent bladder infections, and stress incontinence, need
not reduce quality of life nor be suffered in silence.
A decline in immune function with aging may be viewed as a form of acquired immunodeficiency.
Objective pulmonary function testing helps differentiate these
conditions in seniors, who often become tolerant of severe,
long-standing airway obstruction and underreport respiratory symptoms.
Normal aging, diseases, and drugs can lead to disturbances of fluid balance with symptomatic consequences.
Some patients, particularly the elderly, have persistent or
recurrent pain in the involved nerve distribution that may be permanent
Infiltrative ophthalmopathy, causing exophthalmos, is a hallmark of the autoimmune thyroid disorder, Graves' Disease.
Characteristically, pain is experienced with an extended spine, and is relieved upon flexing the spine.
Since progression of this condition is so gradual, and symptoms may be attributed to normal aging, its severity is often underestimated.
Professionals facilitate and guide, rather than dictate, treatment.
About 50% to 70% of acute cholecystitis occurs in seniors; use of
estrogen replacement therapy in post-menopausal women also increases
risk.
Seniors experience more adverse effects with psychoactive medications,
and the effects tend to be more serious, than those seen in younger
adults.
Focusing on vaccination status can help prevent this inflammatory infection in the elderly. Invasive pneumococcal disease can also be avoided through immunization.
Without intervention, a 50% loss of skeletal muscle is likely by age 75 due to the aging process.
Anemia, cognitive impairment, infections, and poor wound healing are among the associated manifestations of mild vitamin deficiencies in the elderly.
The most frequent infectious cause of death in elderly patients is
pneumonia; the presence of a serious comorbidity increases risk.
This condition is an independent risk factor for atherosclerosis and myocardial infarction in elderly women.
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