Multiple myeloma is a tumor involving blood cells called plasma cells. Plasma cell tumors often grow in the bone marrow cavities. The growth of these tumors can cause a replacement of other cells in the bone marrow, with a resultant decrease in the production of other blood cells. Normally plasma cells produce a protein, a type of antibody, that circulates in the blood. The tumor produces this protein in amounts that can thicken the blood and slow the circulation, which can affect kidney function.
The drugs called beta blockers are widely used in treatment of a variety of conditions that are common in the elderly. They have an effect on the heart rate and on the blood vessels. They are extensively used in the treatment of angina (heart pain), after heart attacks, in the treatment of high blood pressure, and for patients with heart failure. These drugs are also used in the prevention of migraine headaches, for the treatment of some kinds of anxiety, and for parkinsonism.
Even in an environment in which there is ample food available to eat, older patients may still experience malnutrition. Such malnutrition may represent a failure to eat or may involve a deficiency in a specific element such as a single vitamin. As with most health problems, it is better to prevent malnutrition than to treat it. Each of us has food likes and dislikes. For the older patient, it is a short step from picky eating to poor nutrition. The common causes of poor nutrition are given below. Correction begins with recognizing the potential causes. Often several factors, none alone serious enough to be a problem, combine to produce true malnutrition.
Malignant tumors can occur in any organ system in the body. When the lymph nodes and the lymphatic system are directly involved, the tumor is a lymphoma. Some lymphomas are also called Hodgkin’s disease. These tumors may occur at any age, but there is a progressive increase in their occurrence with advancing age.
The sensations associated with taste are susceptible to changes with aging. These changes in taste may cause a change in your desire to eat. This in turn may affect your nutrition. Your taste sensations may disappear. Physicians call this ageusia. It is much less common than partial loss of taste called hypogeusia or a change in taste sensation called dysgeusia.
The sensation of odor or sense of smell is susceptible to change with aging. Physicians call an absence of the sense of smell anosmia. This is less common as a result of aging than impairment of the sense of smell, which physicians call hyposmia. Sometimes the ability to smell becomes distorted. This physicians call dysosmia. Any of these changes affect the ability of a person to appreciate odors in the environment. When this happens, it changes the ability to appreciate food and other elements of the environment.
This is an advanced directive document in which you can specify how you wish to be treated if you become incapacitated. It is usually used to identify or to limit the use of life-sustaining treatments such as resuscitation and artificial breathing supported by a machine. In some states, it may also be used to limit other forms of therapy.
When blood is present in the urine, it is called hematuria. If the blood is present in quantities large enough to permit it to be seen, it is called gross hematuria. If the blood is only discovered by testing, it is called microscopic hematuria. Blood is not normally present in the urine. If blood is found, your doctor will try to determine the cause.
Coronary artery disease occurs with the development of hardening of the arteries that feed blood to the heart muscle. The deposits of cholesterol that harden these arteries also narrow the artery and limit the amount of blood that can flow through it. Exercise increases the heart rate. Normally this results in an increase in blood flow through the coronary arteries to provide oxygen for the exercising heart’s muscle. When this increase in blood flow fails to occur because of the narrowed arteries, pain in the chest, heart pain, is one result. This pain is called angina pectoris. The occurrence of artery narrowing rises with age. Coronary artery disease is a phenomenon of aging.
Bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract is not a problem of aging, but it is a common problem in elderly patients. The bleeding may come from any site from the nose to the upper portions of the small intestine. Most often the problem is from the stomach, caused by either ulcerations in the stomach wall or gastritis (inflammation of the wall of the stomach). Other possible sources are bleeding duodenal ulcers, bleeding esophageal varices, or arteriovenous malformations. Much less frequently, cancer of the stomach or esophagus, nosebleeds, or bleeding from the lung is the cause.
Walking is a form of activity that most of us engage in daily. In addition to being an activity of normal daily living, it is also a good form of exercise. It is best thought of as a low intensity activity. It is generally safe, produces little injury, and is inexpensive. It suffers a bit from being such a natural and uncomplicated form of exercise that many doubt the benefits that it confers. There are significant benefits. Careful medical studies carried out over a decade have confirmed the health benefits of walking as exercise.
When blood is present in the urine, it is called hematuria. If the blood is present in quantities large enough to permit it to be seen, it is called gross hematuria. If the blood is only discovered by testing, it is called microscopic hematuria. Blood is not normally present in the urine. If blood is found, your doctor will try to determine the cause.
Bleeding from the upper gastrointestinal tract is not a problem of aging, but it is a common problem in elderly patients. The bleeding may come from any site from the nose to the upper portions of the small intestine. Most often the problem is from the stomach, caused by either ulcerations in the stomach wall or gastritis (inflammation of the wall of the stomach). Other possible sources are bleeding duodenal ulcers, bleeding esophageal varices, or arteriovenous malformations. Much less frequently, cancer of the stomach or esophagus, nosebleeds, or bleeding from the lung is the cause.
Walking is a form of activity that most of us engage in daily. In addition to being an activity of normal daily living, it is also a good form of exercise. It is best thought of as a low intensity activity. It is generally safe, produces little injury, and is inexpensive. It suffers a bit from being such a natural and uncomplicated form of exercise that many doubt the benefits that it confers. There are significant benefits. Careful medical studies carried out over a decade have confirmed the health benefits of walking as exercise.
