The role of older people in our communities.

The proportion of older people in the total population is increasing in most countries because of advances in medical technology and resulting longer life expectancy. The role that older people play in our communities does not reflect this. Sometimes they are reduced to mere statistics and stereotypes in economic and political discussions on the financial burdens of care for older people.

Can nurses contribute to better end-of-life care?

In this article I will argue that futile medical and nursing care is not only inefficacious but that it may be harmful to the patient and also to health professionals, who may be diminished both as clinicians and as persons if they are not able to give appropriate care to dying patients and their families. I discuss futile care in intensive care units because the opportunities and the temptation to provide futile care in these settings is higher than, for instance, in internal medicine and nursing home care. I argue, following two nurse ethicists, Carol Taylor and Colleen Scanlon, that, even if nurses are not the initiators of futile care, they play an important role in its prevention because of their clinical expertise.

Practical dignity in caring.

It is difficult to understand the meaning of 'dignity' in human rights, bioethics and nursing literature because the word is used so vaguely. Unless dignity's meaning is spelt out it can disappear beneath more tangible priorities. In this article we define dignity and show how this can help health workers to maintain the dignity of people in their care.

Ventilatory and metabolic responses to cold and hypoxia in conscious rats with discrete hypothalamic lesions.

We tested the hypothesis that hypothalamic nuclei involved in thermoregulatory control could represent a site of integration of the metabolic and ventilatory response to cold and hypoxia. Electrolytic lesions were performed bilaterally under stereotaxic guide, either within the anterior or posterior hypothalamic areas of adult rats. One week later, oxygen consumption (VO2) and ventilation (VE) were measured in the conscious animals during warm (27 degrees C) or cold (12 degrees C) conditions, in normoxia (21% O2) or hypoxia (10% O2), and compared to measurements obtained in control rats, which were either intact or sham-operated.

Ventilatory response to asphyxia in conscious rats: effect of ambient and body temperatures.

In many mammals the ventilatory response to hypoxia depends on ambient temperature (Ta), largely because of the hypometabolic effects of hypoxia below thermoneutrality. We questioned whether the ventilatory response to asphyxia also depends upon Ta, and the role played by metabolism and body temperature (Tb). Oxygen consumption (VO2) and pulmonary ventilation (VE) were measured in conscious rats at Ta = 27 degrees C (warm) and 11 degrees C (cold), breathing air or two levels of asphyxic gases, moderate (10% O2-4% CO2), or severe (10% O2-8% CO2), for approximately 30 min each.

Dual effect of aminophylline on the ventilatory response to hypoxia in the rat.

Male Hooded Wistar rats were exposed to three five-minute periods of hypoxia in which they breathed a gas mixture comprising 7% O2 and 93% N2. Before the second and third hypoxic exposures rats were injected (i.m.

Respiratory responses to combined hypoxia and hypothermia in rats after posterior hypothalamic lesions.

Urethane-anaesthetised rats were exposed to hypoxia (7% O2 in N2) for 5 min periods while body core temperature (Tbc) was maintained within the normal range (37-38 degrees C) using an abdominal heat exchanger. Animals were exposed to hypoxia and after placement of electrolytic lesions in either the anterior (n = 6) or posterior hypothalamus (n = 6). Neither lesion altered respiration while rats breathed air at either Tbc.