Normal Physiologic Changes With Aging

An anxious 80-year-old woman presents with multiple complaints. You perform a thorough evaluation of this patient, including laboratory work, stress testing with echocardiography, and pulmonary function testing. When evaluating this woman and her test results, which of the following is considered a normal finding for her age?

A. Decrease in creatinine clearance
B. Blood pressure of 160/80
C. Elevated FEV1 value on pulmonary function tests
D. Low-frequency hearing loss
E. Maximum stress test heart rate of 90

Answer :

Evaluation Of the Patient with Delirium

The appropriate evaluation of the patient with delirium includes which of the following?
A) Evaluation of metabolic causes such as electrolytes and glucose.
B) Evaluation for infection such as UTI and pneumonia.
C) Evaluation of a patient’s medications.
D) Evaluation of oxygen saturation.
E) All of the above.

Discussion
The correct answer is

A 79 year old Hospitalized Woman with Acute Confusion.

A 79 year old woman is admitted to the hospital with productive cough, fever and difficulty breathing. She has a fever of 102 F and rales in the right lower lung fields. A chest x ray reveals a right lower lobe infiltrate. On her second day of hospitalization, she becomes acutely confused and is acting abnormal with disturbed orientation.

Q 1. What is your diagnosis?

Answer: Pneumonia along with impaired cognitive function

Q 2. What are the  3 common causes of cognitive dysfunction in an elderly patient?

Supplements That Can Reduce The Risk Of Falls In Elderly Patients.

Which of the following is associated with reducing the risk of falls in elderly patients?

A) Vitamin C
B) Vitamin D
C) Folate
D) Vitamin B12
E) Calcium

Answer and Discussion

An 80 Year Old Man Brought With A Noticeable Change In His Personality

An 80-year-old man is brought in by his wife. She complains her husband has had a noticeable change in his personality. He is impulsive and at times inappropriate with his behavior. Although he has difficulty naming objects, his memory, ability to calculate, and his visuospatial skills appear
to be intact.
The most likely diagnosis is

A) Alzhemier's Disease
B) Pick’s disease
C) Parkinson’s disease
D) Wilson’s disease
E) Lewy body dementia

Answer and Discussion

Age Related Macular Degeneration

A 79-year-old female patient, well known to you from 5 years of treating her hypertension, presents to your office with concerns about her vision and hearing. Over the last year, she has noticed worsening vision in her left eye. She denies eye pain, tearing, and redness. She wears bifocals and last had an eye exam 3 years ago. At that time, she recalls her eye doctor saying her vision was “stable.”  Which of the following is true regarding common visual problems in older adults?

A) Initial symptoms of macular degeneration include decreased visual acuity and central visual field distortion.
B) Cataracts are less common in the older population than is macular degeneration.
C) Symptoms of open-angle glaucoma are dramatic and manifest early in the disease.
D) Initial symptoms of central retinal artery occlusion include severe pain and sudden loss of vision.
E) If a cataract is detectable on physical exam, it should be removed.

Answer: