Sheltered housing or community dwelling: quality of life and ageism among elderly people.

Background: Previous studies have found correlations between negative perceptions of old age and perceived quality of life (QoL) among elderly people. It has also been suggested that a denial of aging mechanism is employed and might support ageist attitudes among private-sheltered housing tenants compared with elderly people who live in the community and experience intra-generational interactions. Therefore, we hypothesized that tenants of sheltered housing will report more ageist attitudes towards people of their own age, and report a lower QoL than elderly people who live in the community.

Delirium in an acute geriatric unit: clinical aspects.

Delirium is a common event in geriatric hospitalized patients. A prospective study was performed in order to characterize predictors, features and outcome in an acute geriatric care unit in a general hospital in Israel. The tools used to detect delirium were the Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) and the Delirium Rating Scale (DRS), supported by clinical observation by an experienced geriatrician.

[Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction without left ventricular hypertrophy treated with ACE inhibitors].

We describe a very unusual case of sudden, severe worsening of congestive heart failure which was caused by ACE inhibitors. Diagnosis was made by echocardiogram showing a typical picture of dynamic, left ventricular outflow tract obstruction without left ventricular hypertrophy, which disappeared on discontinuing ACE inhibitors. This phenomenon has already been described as a complication of other drugs such as nitrates, commonly used as provocative tests for latent obstructive cardiomyopathy.

[Infective endocarditis presenting as polyarticular septic arthritis].

We report acute polyarthritis in an 86-year-old man which was initially considered to be an exacerbation of osteoarthritis. After a delay of a few days a diagnosis of septic polyarthritis as an initial symptom of infective endocarditis was made. Although rheumatic manifestations in infective endocarditis are common, septic polyarthritis is rarely seen.

[Comprehensive geriatric assessment--its clinical, social and economic importance and prospects].

It is well known that many elderly patients are referred to nursing homes because of "functional decline" without being thoroughly investigated. We studied 9 elderly patients, all referred to hospital due to functional decline and diagnosed as follows: spinal stenosis--2 cases, depression--3, thyrotoxicosis--1, Parkinson--1, polypharmacy and congestive heart failure--1 patient each. Proper diagnosis and appropriate treatment prevent unnecessary hospitalization in nursing homes.