Fractures in medieval Scotland.

The prevalence of fractures in medieval Scotland is assessed, particular attention being given to excavations of cemeteries beside three Carmelite cemeteries, at Aberdeen, Perth and Linlithgow, and another one at Whithorn Abbey. In the friaries the prevalence of fractures was 7.6% and in Whithorn it was 5.

History of arthritis and bone rarefaction evidence from paleopathology onwards.

Review of medical and archaeological papers reveals that osteoarthritis has been common in humans and hominids since Paleolithic times. In the British Isles, there was a particularly high prevalence in remains from Romano-British and Saxon burials suggesting that, whatever genetic factors there may have been, there was an extremely high level of physical activity. The prevalence of the condition was lower in late Medieval times; and, in at least one study of subjects from the 18th and 19th centuries, lower than in the current population.

Blood pressure and cognitive decline in healthy old people.

Both hypertension and cognitive decline are common in old age. We sought to examine the effects of blood pressure (BP) on rates of cognitive decline in a longitudinal study of community-resident healthy old people. A total of 603 initially healthy old people aged over 69 years were visited at home.

Evaluation of validity of British anthropometric reference data for assessing nutritional state of elderly people in Edinburgh: cross sectional study.

Objectives: To evaluate the appropriateness of two sets of commonly used anthropometric reference data for nutritional assessment of elderly people.

Design: Cross sectional study.

Setting: Two general practices in Edinburgh.

Age-associated cognitive decline in healthy old people.

Background: disease often confounds the identification of risk factors for age-associated cognitive decline in elderly subjects. If the cognitive effects of ageing are to be distinguished from those of disease, healthy people need to be studied.

Methods: we examined the effects of incident disease and drug prescription on cognitive change in a sample of initially healthy old people in a longitudinal study and related these to age, education, social class and blood pressure.

A double-blind comparative study of norfloxacin versus placebo in hospitalised elderly patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria.

Patients over the age of 65 years with clear catch specimens of urine containing organisms sensitive to norfloxacin were blindly randomised to receive either norfloxacin in a dose of 400 mg twice daily for 7 days or a placebo for the same period. Urine cultures were repeated immediately prior to treatment, at the end of treatment and at 7 days, 1 month and 3 months after treatment. Physical and mental function were assessed by performing a Crighton Behavioural Rating Scale at the same time intervals.

Toxoplasma gondii--an unusual cause of myocarditis in old age.

We report the case of an 86-year-old man who was admitted with congestive cardiac failure and chronic renal failure. He was previously known to have a thoracic aortic aneurysm and chronic bronchitis. There was no history of myocardial infarction but his heart failure was assumed to be due to ischaemic heart disease.

The prevalence and characteristics of dizziness in an elderly community.

A postal questionnaire was sent to 1000 subjects aged over 65 years randomly selected from the age/sex register of five group practices, 90% of subjects returning adequate information. Thirty per cent of responders reported dizziness; 27% of these had symptoms more than once per month and 37% had symptoms which lasted longer than 1 minute. Dizziness was most commonly provoked by postural change and head and neck movement.

Hydroxyethylrutosides in elderly patients with chronic venous insufficiency: its efficacy and tolerability.

The efficacy and tolerability of O-(beta-hydroxyethyl)-rutosides (HR) in elderly patients (aged over 65 years) with chronic venous insufficiency or varicose veins was studied in a multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial. Of the 104 patients entered into the trial, data from 102 were available for analysis of tolerability and from 86 for efficacy. Treatment was for 6 months, with monthly examinations.

Geriatric medicine: does teaching alter medical students' attitudes to elderly people?

The development of a questionnaire to assess the attitudes of medical students towards old people is described. Principal components analysis of the responses of 114 first-year medical students revealed two orthogonal factors, named negative attitudes and medical intervention. Scores on these factors were compared among three groups of medical students: first-year students, 64 clinical phase medical students prior to a geriatric medicine course, and 69 medical students who had completed a geriatric medicine course.