Age-associated breathlessness

2017 ◽  
pp. 1129-1132
Author(s):  
Chang Won Won ◽  
Sunyoung Kim
Keyword(s):  
Elevated Level ◽  
Respiratory Muscles ◽  
Underlying Disease ◽  
Specific Marker ◽  
Common Symptom ◽  
Small Airways ◽  
Elastic Recoil ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Impact

Breathlessness in older adults is a common symptom of cardiovascular, respiratory diseases, psychological disorders such as panic disorder, and respiratory muscle weakness, but this symptom is also prevalent during daily activities as a result of age-related changes. With ageing, physical fitness, the strength of respiratory muscles and elastic recoil of the small airways all decline, and, as a result, breathing becomes more difficult and gas exchange less efficient. Differentiation between cardiac and pulmonary cause of dyspneoa is very important and sometimes difficult. In acutely breathless elderly patients, an elevated level of brain natriuretic peptide is a sensitive and specific marker for the presence of ventricular failure. Once a diagnosis is made, the reversible factors contributing to the breathlessness should be corrected as far as possible, and the initial focus should be on optimizing treatment of the patient’s underlying disease, followed by reducing the impact of breathless on everyday activities and quality of life.

Spa-therapy can improve quality of life in chronic musculoskeletal disorder subjects: a narrative review

2020 ◽  
Vol 96 (2) ◽  
pp. 3-6
Author(s):  
M.C. Maccarone ◽  
G. Magro ◽  
U. Solimene ◽  
S. Masiero
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Randomized Clinical Trials ◽  
Thermal Environment ◽  
Narrative Review ◽  
Spa Therapy ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Therapy Interventions ◽  
The Impact

Chronic Musculoskeletal Disorders (MSDs) are age-related conditions, linked to functional impairment and decreased quality of life (QoL). As a result of the increased life expectancy in Europe, great attention has been focused on investigating the impact of these diseases on QoL. Thermal environment is a suitable place for providing interventions (mud therapy, bath, exercise, etc.) for chronic MSD patients. Our narrative review aims to assess if Spa therapy may improve QoL in patients with chronic MSDs. We searched randomized clinical trials and clinical trials screening PubMed and Google Scholar databases from 2016 up to March 2020. We included 14 trials testing Spa therapy interventions concerning osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, chronic shoulder pain and fibromyalgia. In conclusion, even though limitations must be considered, evidence shows that Spa therapy, especially in combination with rehabilitation approach, can significantly improve QoL of patients with chronic MSDs.

scholarly journals Considerations for the Development of Innovative Foods to Improve Nutrition in Older Adults

Nutrients ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariane Lutz ◽  
Guillermo Petzold ◽  
Cecilia Albala
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Functional Limitations ◽  
Chronic Illnesses ◽  
Consumer Market ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Swallowing Problems ◽  
Global Burden Of Diseases ◽  
The Impact

The population of older adults is growing globally. This increase has led to an accumulation of chronic illnesses, so-called age-related diseases. Diet and nutrition are considered the main drivers of the global burden of diseases, and this situation applies especially to this population segment. It relates directly to the development of coronary heart disease, hypertension, some types of cancer, and type 2 diabetes, among other diseases, while age-associated changes in body composition (bone and muscle mass, fat, sarcopenia) constitute risk factors for functional limitations affecting health status and the quality of life. Older adults present eating and swallowing problems, dry mouth, taste loss, and anorexia among other problems causing “anorexia of aging” that affects their nutritional status. The strategies to overcome these situations are described in this study. The impact of oral food processing on nutrition is discussed, as well as approaches to improve food acceptance through the design of innovative foods. These foods should supply a growing demand as this group represents an increasing segment of the consumer market globally, whose needs must be fulfilled.

scholarly journals Survival, Functional Capacity and Quality of Life after Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation: Present Considerations and Future Perspectives

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 319-325
Author(s):  
Crina-Ioana RADULESCU ◽  
Dan DELEANU ◽  
Ovidiu CHIONCEL
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Aortic Valve ◽  
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation ◽  
Severe Aortic Stenosis ◽  
Transcatheter Aortic Valve ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Aortic Valve Implantation ◽  
Valve Implantation ◽  
The Impact

Severe aortic stenosis (AS) is the most common valvular heart disease, with an increasing prevalence due to age-related degenerative modifi cations of the valve. Once AS becomes symptomatic, the survival of patients is significantly reduced with an annual mortality rate of 25%. Depending on surgical risk, anatomical and technical aspects, and the patient’s option, correction can be made either by surgical valve replacement (SAVR) or by transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI). Although aortic valve implantation brings relief of symptoms, there is little data on the quality of life (QoL) of patients undergoing TAVI and the factors that directly influence it. Even if age and comorbidities are known modifiers of survival, there is no specific tool to assess the impact of AS and to determine the appropriate treatment strategy.

scholarly journals Social Media Listening to Understand the Lived Experience of Presbyopia: Systematic Search and Content Analysis Study (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
James S Wolffsohn ◽  
Claudia Leteneux-Pantais ◽  
Sima Chiva-Razavi ◽  
Sarah Bentley ◽  
Chloe Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
The United States ◽  
Older Individuals ◽  
Near Vision ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Manual Review

BACKGROUND Presbyopia is defined as the age-related deterioration of near vision over time which is experienced in over 80% of people aged 40 years or older. Individuals with presbyopia have difficulty with tasks that rely on near vision. It is not currently possible to stop or reverse the aging process that causes presbyopia; generally, it is corrected with glasses, contact lenses, surgery, or the use of a magnifying glass. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to explore how individuals used social media to describe their experience of presbyopia with regard to the symptoms experienced and the impacts of presbyopia on their quality of life. METHODS Social media sources including Twitter, forums, blogs, and news outlets were searched using a predefined search string relating to symptoms and impacts of presbyopia. The data that were downloaded, based on the keywords, underwent manual review to identify relevant data points. Relevant posts were further manually analyzed through a process of data tagging, categorization, and clustering. Key themes relating to symptoms, impacts, treatment, and lived experiences were identified. RESULTS A total of 4456 social media posts related to presbyopia were identified between May 2017 and August 2017. Using a random sampling methodology, we selected 2229 (50.0%) posts for manual review, with 1470 (65.9%) of these 2229 posts identified as relevant to the study objectives. Twitter was the most commonly used channel for discussions on presbyopia compared to forums and blogs. The majority of relevant posts originated in Spain (559/1470, 38.0%) and the United States (426/1470, 29.0%). Of the relevant posts, 270/1470 (18.4%) were categorized as posts written by individuals who have presbyopia, of which 37 of the 270 posts (13.7%) discussed symptoms. On social media, individuals with presbyopia most frequently reported experiencing difficulty reading small print (24/37, 64.9%), difficulty focusing on near objects (15/37, 40.5%), eye strain (12/37, 32.4%), headaches (9/37, 24.3%), and blurred vision (8/37, 21.6%). 81 of the 270 posts (30.0%) discussed impacts of presbyopia—emotional burden (57/81, 70.4%), functional or daily living impacts (46/81, 56.8%), such as difficulty reading (46/81, 56.8%) and using electronic devices (21/81, 25.9%), and impacts on work (3/81, 3.7%). CONCLUSIONS Findings from this social media listening study provided insight into how people with presbyopia discuss their condition online and highlight the impact of presbyopia on individuals’ quality of life. The social media listening methodology can be used to generate insights into the lived experience of a condition, but it is recommended that this research be combined with prospective qualitative research for added rigor and for confirmation of the relevance of the findings.

How Old Do You Think I Am? Speech-Language Predictors of Perceived Age and Communicative Competence

2019 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 2455-2472
Author(s):  
Jean K. Gordon ◽  
Kim Andersen ◽  
Gabriella Perez ◽  
Eileen Finnegan
Keyword(s):  
Communicative Competence ◽  
Speech Rate ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Speech And Language ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Primary Means ◽  
Perceived Age ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Spoken language serves as a primary means of social interaction, but speech and language skills change with age, a potential source of age-related stereotyping. The goals of this study were to examine how accurately age could be estimated from language samples, to determine which speech and language cues were most informative, and to assess the impact of perceived age on judgments of the speakers' communication skills. Method We analyzed narratives from 84 speakers aged 30–89 years to identify age-related differences and compared these differences to factors affecting perceptions of age and communicative competence. Three groups of raters estimated the speakers' ages and judged the quality of their communication: 44 listeners listened to audio-recorded narratives, 51 readers read transcripts of the narratives, and 24 voice raters listened to 10-s samples of speech extracted from one of the narratives. Results Older speakers spoke more slowly but showed minimal linguistic differences compared to younger speakers. Speakers' ages were estimated quite accurately, even from 10-s samples. Estimates were largely based on cues available in the acoustic signal—speech rate and vocal characteristics—so listeners were more accurate than readers. However, an overreliance on these cues also contributed to overestimates of speakers' ages. Communication ratings were not strongly related to perceived age but were influenced by various aspects of speech and language. In particular, speakers who produced longer narratives and spoke more quickly were judged to be better communicators. Conclusion Speakers tend to be judged on relatively superficial aspects of spoken language, in part because age-related change is most evident at these levels. Implications of these findings for age-related theories of stereotyping and speech-language intervention are discussed.

Concept «quality of life» and method of its assessment in patients after surgical treatment of the aortal valve faults

2019 ◽  
pp. 46-50
Author(s):  
A. N. Molchanov
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Surgical Treatment ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Underlying Disease ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Optimal Method ◽  
Surgical Interventions ◽  
Age Related

The review of the literature examines the study of the quality of life of patients in the older age group after cardiac surgery for heart disease. In recent years, the number of elderly people has increased significantly in many countries. As a result of this phenomenon, cardiologists and cardiac surgeons are increasingly confronted in their practice with elderly patients. There are features of the management of cardiac and cardiac surgical patients of advanced age, caused both by the specifics of the underlying disease and by concomitant diseases. With the emergence of new options for evaluating the effectiveness of various methods of surgical correction of heart disease in age patients, new questions arise that require evidentiary consideration and an optimal answer. Opinions of experts about the feasibility of surgical interventions in the elderly are often different. The urgency of the problem is due to the recent increase in the number of heart operations in the group of age-related patients. The study of the quality of life of patients in the postoperative period helps to determine the most rational and optimal method of surgical treatment, not only from the point of view of the cardiac surgeon, but also from the standpoint of assessing the patient himself. In addition, frequent postoperative complications and recurrences of diseases force specialists to focus on the quality of life of patients after surgery, which makes the problem extremely urgent.

scholarly journals Sensory impairments and cognitive disorders in older age

2017 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giancarlo Logroscino ◽  
Francesco Panza
Keyword(s):  
Oldest Old ◽  
Cognitive Disorders ◽  
Motor Systems ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dementia Risk ◽  
Sensory Impairments ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Older Subjects ◽  
The Impact

Age-related and neuropathological changes in the olfactory, visual, auditory, and motor systems suggesting that sensory and motor changes may precede the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) by several years and may signify increase the risk of developing AD. In particular, peripheral age-related hearing impairment and social isolation have been identified as potentially modifiable dementia risk factors. The impact of age-related hearing and vision impairments on cognition appeared to be especially important among the oldest old suggesting a strong link of these connections with frailty, a critical intermediate status of the aging process at higher risk for negative health-related outcomes. The link among age-related hearing and vision impairments and cognition suggested the potential for correcting hearing and vision losses so that older subjects can function better cognitively with improved social involvement, quality of life, and lifetime cognitive health.

Change in vision-related quality of life and influencing factors in Asians receiving treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration

2017 ◽  
Vol 102 (3) ◽  
pp. 377-382 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva K Fenwick ◽  
Gemmy Chui Ming Cheung ◽  
Alfred TL Gan ◽  
Gavin Tan ◽  
Shu Yen Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Macular Degeneration ◽  
Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽  
Reading Scores ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Related Quality ◽  
The Impact

AimTo assess the change in vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) after treatment for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and factors influencing this change in an Asian population.MethodsIn this longitudinal study, 116 patients (mean age±SD=66.5±9.9 years; 59.5% male) who underwent treatment for nAMD were recruited from a tertiary eye centre in Singapore. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the Impact of Vision Impairment (IVI) questionnaire were evaluated at baseline and month 12. We defined three categories of BCVA change in the treated eye: BCVA gain ≥2 lines; no change in BCVA; BCVA loss ≥2 lines. The main outcome measures were the Rasch-derived IVI Reading, Mobility, and Emotional Scores. Multivariable linear regression analyses assessed the influence of sociodemographic, clinical and treatment-related factors on change in VRQoL.ResultsFollowing treatment, mean treated-eye BCVA improved by almost 2 lines (−0.22±0.40 logMAR, p<0.001) and 43% (n=50) patients reported a gain in BCVA of ≥2 lines. Mean±SD scores for Reading, Mobility and Emotional demonstrated positive changes of 0.43±1.73, 0.45±1.54 and 0.66±1.6, respectively (p<0.001 for all). In multivariable models, a ≥2 line improvement in BCVA was independently associated with a 47% (β=0.20; CI 0.01 to 0.39) increase in Reading Scores, but was not independently associated with Mobility or Emotional Scores.ConclusionNearly half of patients undergoing treatment for nAMD reported a 2-line improvement in vision which was, in turn, associated with substantial positive increases in Reading Scores. Improvements in Mobility and Emotional Scores appear to be driven by factors other than visual acuity.

Quality of life: Investigating the impact of two major mental disorders, anxiety and depression, in patients with age-related macular degeneration

2020 ◽  
pp. 026461962097370
Author(s):  
Marios Papalamprou ◽  
Constantine D Georgakopoulos ◽  
Nikolaos Pharmakakis
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Visual Acuity ◽  
Mental Disorders ◽  
Macular Degeneration ◽  
Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Cart Analysis ◽  
Age Related ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact on the quality of life of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in relation to common mental disorders, namely anxiety and depression, and determine specific factors (e.g., thoughts/feelings, sociodemographic characteristics) that may be used to refer such patients to psychiatrists. Materials–Methods: To classify the patients into different categories, regarding the development of the mental disorders under consideration, the “Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale” (HADS) has been utilized. The main statistical methodologies applied are classification and regression trees (CART) techniques and logistic regression. For the purposes of the aforementioned statistical analysis, the R software package has been used. Results: Both depression and anxiety scores varied considerably across visual acuity (VA) severity. Patients with severe visual acuity problems tend to have also higher HADS scores. Women were more likely to be affected by depression; sociodemographic factors did not have any significant effect. According to the performed CART analysis, responses to two HADS items (namely, “I can enjoy a good book or radio or television program” and “I have lost interest in my appearance”) identified the vast majority of severely to moderately depressed patients. Furthermore, the level of VA severity was found as a main driver for diagnosing an AMD patient with depression. Conclusions: VA impairment (or decline) severity level was found to be the main factor associated with depression in patients with AMD. Moreover, specific thoughts/feelings present in patients with AMD have been found as significant regarding the level of their mental disorders under consideration and could be asked by the ophthalmologist to refer (or not) them to psychiatrists.

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