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GERIATRICS: an Overview Keerti Sharma, MD Assistant Professor of Medicine. AGS. THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY Geriatrics Health Professionals. Leading change. Improving care for older adults. 4 important take-home points. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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GERIATRICS: AN OVERVIEW
Keerti Sharma, MDAssistant Professor of
Medicine
THE AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETYGeriatrics Health Professionals.
Leading change. Improving care for older adults.
AGS
4 IMPORTANT TAKE-HOME POINTS
• Common diseases can have uncommon presentations in the elderly
• Temptation to overtreat should be avoided• Always start low and go slow when
prescribing medications• A new symptom can be a medication side
effect
Slide 2
HISTORY
• Develop a symptom• Perceive a symptom• Communicate
Slide 3
REASONS FOR UNDERREPORTING(THE ICEBERG PHENOMENON)
• Fear of hospitalization• Fear of unpleasant investigations• Fear of treatment• Risk of involuntary removal to residential
care• Imagining that symptoms are not
amenable to treatment• Low health expectations• Lack of Information
Slide 4
GOALS OF CARE
• Focus must remain on keeping the older person functional
• If that goal becomes medically infeasible, the patient’s dignity and comfort must then become the primary focus
Slide 5
NORMAL AGING VERSUSPATHOLOGICAL AGING
• Normal aging = aging-related changes• Pathological aging = aging-associated
changes• Normal aging:
Involves a great number of biologic processes Is characterized by progressive, predictable,
and inevitable changes that are independent of disease
Slide 6
PHYSIOLOGIC CHANGESWITH AGING
GENERAL PRINCIPLESOF NORMAL AGING
• Organs in the same person age at different rates
• Determinants of these rates include genetic makeup, personal choices, environmental exposures, and other factors
• Aging changes are modifiable but inevitable
Slide 8
BLOOD PRESSURE REGULATION
• Higher risk for orthostatic or postural hypotension
• Narrow range within which CNS perfusion maintained
• Changes in antihypertensive drugs should be based on patient’s standing blood pressure
Slide 9
CONTROL OF BODY TEMPERATURE
Increased susceptibility to both hypothermia and hyperthermia
Slide 10
VOLUME REGULATION
• Predisposition to both volume depletion and volume overload
• Decreased thirst• Decreased ADH response to hypovolemia
and renal response to ADH• Greater difficulty in excreting fluid
overload Results in predisposition to hyponatremia and
CHF
Slide 11
BARRIER DEFENSES
• Skin’s effectiveness as a barrier is decreased
• Mucous membranes are less effective barriers
• Ciliary clearance slows• Repair rate of injured skin declines• Disease affects wound healing
Slide 12
PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL DEFENSES
• Urine is less acidic• Prostatic fluid has less antibacterial
activity• Bladder is less completely emptied• Colonization of the vagina is more likely in
estrogen-deficient women• Greater susceptibility to UTI and
incontinence
Slide 13
IMMUNE RESPONSE
• Afebrile infection is common• Humoral antibody-mediated response is
decreased• Antibody response to vaccine is
decreased• Response to tuberculosis skin test
decreases
Slide 14
NERVOUS SYSTEM (1 of 2)
• The weight of the brain decreases• The area of the cerebral ventricles may
increase 34• Most prominent loss occurs in the largest
neurons• Cognitive loss is not a part of normal
aging
Slide 15
NERVOUS SYSTEM (2 of 2)
• Changes affect the older person’s ability to distinguish between different stimuli
• Reduced reaction time, resulting possibly in injuries and burns
• Reduced balance• Greater risk of falls
Slide 16
VISION
• Iris becomes more rigid• Lens yellows (due to photooxidation and
accumulation of insoluble protein)• Increased sensitivity to glare• Decreased static acuity and dynamic
acuity• Decline in contrast sensitivity
Slide 17
AVOID MOSAIC FLOOR PATTERNS
Slide 18
HEARING
• Drier cerumen, leading in greater risk of impaction
• Tympanic membrane thickens• Ossicles undergo degenerative changes• Risk of high-frequency and low-frequency
hearing loss
Slide 19
TASTE AND SMELL
• Olfaction declines May lead to decreased enjoyment of food and
difficulty in sorting the tastes of mixed and combined foods
• Gustatory function unchanged
Slide 20
CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM• Blood vessels: increased intimal thickness,
increased wall thickness, increased smooth muscle
Leads to increased systolic and pulse pressure
• Heart muscle: increased afterloadLeads to LVH, decreased cardiac output
• Heart valves: left sides become sclerotic
• Response to sympathetic stimulation: reducedLeads to reduction in cardiac output during
stress (eg, surgery) and increased risk of CHF
Slide 21
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
• Decreased effectiveness of cough• Decline in PO2
• Decreased pulmonary reserve during stress
• Increased frequency of infection, increased likelihood of hypoxia
Slide 22
GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM(1 of 2)
• Less effective chewing, even with intact teeth
• Food is kept in the mouth longer and larger pieces of food are swallowed
• Swallowing is less coordinated, which increases the risk of aspiration
Slide 23
GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM(2 of 2)
• Lactase levels decline and intolerance of dairy products is common
• Colon: slowed transit and increase in opioid receptor May predispose the older person to drug-
induced constipation• Liver: after age 30 there is 1% per year
decline in liver mass and blood flow every year
Slide 24
RENAL SYSTEM
• After age 20 GFR decreases 0.5% per year and renal blood flow decreases 1% per year
• Serum creatinine is an imperfect marker of renal function in the elderly
• Increased likelihood of adverse outcome from drugs with narrow therapeutic margins (eg, digoxin, aminoglycosides)
Slide 25
MUSCULAR SYSTEM (1 of 2)
Age-related decrease in muscle mass and quality (sarcopenia)
Slide 26
MUSCULAR SYSTEM (2 of 2)
• Lower-extremity strength is lost at a faster rate than upper-extremity strength
• Water content decreases in tendons and ligaments, and stiffness increases
Slide 27
ENDOCRINE SYSTEM
• Slight increase in fasting glucose, not clinically significant
• Thyroid hormone levels unchanged• Vitamin D levels decline
Slide 28
ANATOMY
• Loss of height: 5-cm decrease by age 75 due to increased hip and knee flexion, decreased vertebral body height, vertebral disc compaction, and flattening of foot arch
• Fat compartment expands with age • Total body weight unchanged because of
decrease in lean body mass
Slide 29
COAGULATION
• No change in the absolute number of RBC, WBC, platelets
• Chronic low-grade activation of clotting pathways
• Doubling of d-dimer• ESR rate increases with age
Women = (age + 10) / 2 Men = age / 2
Slide 30
ARTERIAL BLOOD GASES
• Arterial pH and PCO2 do not change with age
• Arterial oxygen content and PO2 decline (3 mm Hg per decade)
100 (age / 3)
Slide 31
SERUM CHEMISTRY
• Electrolytes unchanged• Creatinine unchanged• Minor decline in total protein and albumin• Uric acid and alkaline phosphatase
increase slightly
Slide 32
CHANGES IN THEPHYSICAL EXAMINATION
POSSIBLE EXPLANATIONS
• Multiple comorbidities• Age-related physiological changes may
alter perception to stimulus• Cognitive impairment may prevent patient
from providing an accurate history
Slide 34
GASTROINTESTINAL DISEASES
• Achalasia: lower incidence of chest pain• Respond equally well to pneumatic
dilation
Slide 35
INTRA-ABDOMINAL INFECTIONS
• Less likely to have nausea, vomiting or fever
• More likely to be hypothermic and neutropenic
• More likely to have biliary or pancreatic sources
• Associated with significant mortality and morbidity
Slide 36
APPENDICITIS
• Although more common in the young, associated with higher mortality in the elderly
• Abdominal rigidity, decreased bowel sounds, and the presence of a mass appear to be more common in older patients
Slide 37
CHOLECYSTITIS
May not present with the classic symptoms
Slide 38
BACTEREMIA
• Less likely to have fever, rigors, and chills• More likely to have delirium, weakness, or
fall
Slide 39
MYOCARDIAL INFARCTION
• Dyspnea and CHF are common• Delirium was presenting symptom in 13%• Syncope and stroke were presenting
symptoms in 7%
Slide 40
PNEUMONIA
• Atypical presentations occur more frequently
• Nonspecific deterioration in a patient’s health status: decreased oral intake, fall, and confusion
• Abrupt worsening of an underlying chronic medical condition
Slide 41
URINARY TRACT INFECTIONAND UROSEPSIS
• Bacteriuria is increasingly common with advancing age
• Lower tract infections (dysuria, urgency, suprapubic pain) usually missing
• Upper urinary tract infection (flank pain, fever, and chills) usually missing
• Confusion is a common presenting sign
Slide 42
WORKUP
• Avoid the temptation to overtreat• Treatment side effects must never be
worse than the disease
Slide 43
4 IMPORTANT TAKE-HOME POINTS
• Common diseases can have uncommon presentations in the elderly
• Temptation to overtreat should be avoided• Always start low and go slow when
prescribing medications• A new symptom can be a medication side
effect
Slide 44
Visit us at:
Facebook.com/AmericanGeriatricsSociety
Twitter.com/AmerGeriatrics
www.americangeriatrics.org
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!
linkedin.com/company/american-geriatrics-society
Slide 45