INTRODUCTION Chronic heart failure (CHF) develops in frail elderly individuals who have suffered an acute or sustained insult to the structural efficiency of the heart due to the presence of underlying heart disease and/or hypertension. It is also more common in individuals with disproportionately high levels of cardiac disease or its risk factors, for example lower socioeconomic status. As suc...

Hospitalists care for elderly patients daily, but few have specialized training in geriatric medicine. Elderly patients, and in particular the very old and the frail elderly, are at high risk of functional decline and iatrogenic complications during hospitalization. Other challenges in caring for this patient population include dosing medications safely, preventing delirium and accidental falls...

million); Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, and New Jersey each had well over 1 million. The 65 or older population was slightly less likely to live in metropolitan areas in 1999 than younger persons. About 50 percent of older persons lived in the suburbs, 27 percent live in central cities, and 23 percent lived in nonmetropolitan areas.2 Living arrangements of America’s older adults are closely linked ...

This study analyzes the technologies used in dealing with frailty within the following areas: prevention, care, diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this paper is, on the one hand, to analyze the extent to which technology is present in terms of its relationship with frailty and what technological resources are used to treat it. Its other purpose is to define new challenges and contributions mad...

Two major forces are changing the shape of health care for the frail elderly with disabling conditions: increasing emphasis on quality of life and growing reliance on an interprofessional team-based approach to care. This article outlines a conceptual framework for organizing discussions of quality of life for elderly persons with disabilities, reviews relevant empirical research, and develops ...

Since the last decades, the elderly population is growing significantly and the projection for the next 20-25 years is that the range of over 80 is increasing. Frailty is accepted as a syndrome of late-life decline and vulnerability that serves as a warning sign for adverse health outcomes and for mortality. The identification of vulnerable, frail, adults may allow the development of preventive...

Studies have shown that some elderly persons who suffer decline in activities of daily living (ADL) functioning experience an improvement. This phenomenon has been examined mainly among elderly persons in the community using summary ADL indices. This article examines functional improvement among 2,527 residents of institutions for semi-independent and frail elders in Israel in four specific ADL...

Ultraviolet (UV) radiation is a proven carcinogen, responsible for more than half of all human malignancies. It also compromises skin appearance and function. Since the UV action spectra for DNA damage, skin cancer and Vitamin D(3) (vit D) photosynthesis are identical and vit D is readily available from oral supplements, why has sun protection become controversial, now that some data suggest co...

In a double-blind, random-order, cross-over study the effects of placebo and 100 mg of caffeine on postprandial sitting and erect blood pressure and heart rate were studied in 20 frail elderly subjects (mean age 84, range 75-93 years) after a standardized 400 K-calorie glucose drink. Maximal postprandial reduction in sitting systolic blood pressure occurred, at 60 minutes post-placebo, of - 11 ...

PURPOSE The Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) is a community-based program providing primary, acute, and long-term care to frail elderly individuals. A central component of the PACE model is the interdisciplinary care team, which includes both professionals and non-professionals. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between the team's overall performance a...