The Loneliness of Aging

Isolation and loneliness have become buzz words when discussing older adults during the coronavirus disease pandemic; yet, these are age-old problems. Both have been studied extensively, yet there currently is no rapid or succinct tool that can be used in the emergency department to screen for either, or a consensus of evidence-based ways to correct these issues. This is of concern because both loneliness and social isolation have been linked to poor health. Poor health, in turn, can lead to worse isolation and loneliness. These health problems may lead to the older adult seeking care in the emergency department where screening and initial treatment could be initiated. Suggestions for questions that emergency nurses can ask to identify an older adult who is lonely or suffers from social isolation, as well as steps to consider when encountering the older adult with complaints of loneliness and/or social isolation, are provided, with the realization that these are only the first steps of many that would need to be taken. The purpose of this article is to bring forward updated information that discusses loneliness and social isolation in older adults, a timely priority during the coronavirus disease pandemic and often listed as a factor in older adult deaths. A review of relevant screening tools for use in the emergency department are provided.     

Limitación auditiva y fragilidad social en hombres y mujeres mayores

ObjectiveTo explore the association between hearing loss and social frailty in a sample of Spanish older adults recruited from primary health care network.MethodCross-sectional study on a sample of 445 non-institutionalized adults aged 65 or more years (190 men and 255 women), recruited from primary care centers in Spain. Three self-reported hearing impairment questions were used to assess hearing loss. Social frailty was deemed to exist when the person presented two or more of the following conditions: living alone, absence of a person to provide help, infrequent contact with family, infrequent contact with friends, lack of confident and lack of help for daily activities in the last 3 months. To study the association between hearing loss and social frailty we used logistic regression models adjusted for potential confounders, including physical frailty.ResultsThe mean age of participants was 76.2 years (77.5 years for women). More than half of the participants (54.4%) reported hearing loss and the frequency of social frailty was 23.2%. Hearing loss was associated with social frailty (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.78; 95% confidence interval [95%CI]: 1.04-3.06). However, the association was sex-dependent (p for interaction = 0.041). In stratified analysis, the association was only found in women (aOR = 3.21; 95%CI: 1.44-7.17).ConclusionsHearing loss was associated with social frailty in women, but not in men. Longitudinal studies are needed to confirm this association and to understand the differential effect of gender.     

Assistive technology for communication of older adults: a systematic review

Objective: Describe the use of assistive technology to enhance communication opportunities for older adults.

Methods: A systematic review was conducted in two databases, PubMed and Web of Science, by using two different searches in each. The search was limited to original articles, in English language, including people aged 60 years and older that used any type of assistive technology for communication. The articles found in the initial search were filtered by title, abstracts and the remaining articles were fully read.

Results: Eighteen studies were included in this review after the reading of full-texts. Most of the studies included apparently healthy participants with communication limitations due to aging related changes and the others included people with some pathology that prevent them from normal communication.

Conclusion: Four categories of assistive technology were identified: assistive technology for people with speech problems; robot or videoconferencing systems; Information and Communication Technologies and, other types of assistive technology for communication, such as hearing aids and scrapbooks. Assistive technology for communication of older adults is not only used by people with disabilities that prevent them from usual communication. They are mostly for older adults without a pathological communication problem.     

辽吉两省部分鹿场鹿茸皮肤病的临床特征与真菌分离初探

目的 研究探讨生茸期梅花鹿、马鹿在鹿茸快速生长期常发生以“白皮茸”、“痂皮茸”为主要症状的皮肤病。方法 研究对吉林、辽宁8个梅花鹿、马鹿养殖场的20份患病鹿进行了临床观察、血细胞计数、病理观察、病原分离及ITS分子鉴定。结果 发现本病仅侵染鹿茸皮肤表层、主要病变为结痂处真皮组织坏死、炎性细胞浸润; 血液中淋巴细胞、白细胞和中性粒细胞数变化不明显。对茸皮患处分离菌的鉴定结果表明68株分离株中44株属于半知菌亚门(64.7%), 24株属于酵母亚门(35.3%), 其中, 半知菌亚门的毛癣菌属、表皮癣菌属以及酵母亚门的念珠菌等可能为本病的条件致病菌。结论 鹿茸“白皮茸”、“痂皮茸”病均符合真菌皮肤病的发病特征,为该类疾病的预防及治疗提供了一定的参考。     

比伐卢定对大鼠胰岛细胞凋亡的影响

目的 探讨比伐卢定(直接凝血酶抑制剂)在大鼠胰岛分离过程中保护胰岛细胞的作用.方法 将SD大鼠分为比伐卢定处理组和对照组,处理组在胰岛分离全过程中加用比伐卢定进行干预,对照组则不加比伐卢定处理,采用Ficoll非连续密度离心纯化后对两组胰岛细胞的凋亡(采用原位末端核苷酸标记法及流式细胞仪检测)、胰岛产量及活力方面进行比较性研究.结果 比伐卢定5000U处理组的胰岛细胞凋亡计数(5±4)个/HPF、凋亡率(16.5±3.6)％、Fas-1基因表达水平(4.6±1.9)％均显著低于对照组(P＜0.01),胰岛产量(315.3±6.1)IEQ、胰岛素释放水平(179.11±2.18)mIU/L和Bcl-2基因表达水平(10.5±1.2)％均显著高于对照组(P＜0.01),差异有统计学意义.结论 胰岛分离过程中加用比伐卢定对胰岛具有抑制凋亡、提高胰岛产量和保护胰岛活力的作用.