Aging / Alzheimer's
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12503/30429
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Browsing Aging / Alzheimer's by Author "Davis, Sandra"
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Item Efficacy of the Geriatric Depression Scale-30 and 15 for Elderly Patients in a Primary Care Setting(2021) Banh, Debini; Davis, SandraThe Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) was developed to be used as a screening tool specifically for the geriatric population and categorizes patients into no depression, mild depression, moderate depression, and severe depression based on their total scores (Yesavage, 1982). The original GDS-30 (30 survey items) was shortened to GDS-15 (15 survey items) in hopes of maintaining the efficacy in a shorter administration time. The prevalence of geriatric depression is estimated to be about 15-20% of patients (Mitchell). Unfortunately, many of the elderly also believe that they do not need help managing their depression, and thus do not seek help from their primary care physicians (Brenes). Properly screening all patients for depression with a shortened GDS may reduce the number of depression cases missed during the yearly health exams compared to purely relying on patients' reports of their symptoms. The data were collected from the one hundred forty-two patients' first visit over a 12 month period from June 2019 to June 2020. We concluded that the GDS-15 is an easier way to screen all geriatric patients for depression while patients wait to begin the clinic visit with their physician. Further studies will focus on the treatment plan for the mild, moderate, and severe depression as defined by the GDS-30 and GDS-15.Item SLOW RECOVERY OF CEREBRAL PERFUSION DURING HYPOTENSION IN ELDERLY HUMANS(2021) Abdali, Kulsum; Chen, Xiaoan; Cai, Ming; Ross, Sarah; Davis, Sandra; Zhou, Zhengyang; Shi, XiangrongPurpose: Aging affects the cardiovascular function. This study tested the hypothesis that aging diminishes cerebral perfusion during hypotension challenge. Methods: Healthy elderly (n=13) and young (n=13) adults signed a consent form that was approved by IRB at UNTHSC. Heart rate (HR), mean arterial pressure (MAP), and cerebral blood flow velocity of the middle cerebral artery (VMCA) were continuously measured during systemic hypotension, which was induced by rapid-deflation of bilateral thigh-cuffs after 3-min supra-systolic occlusion. This hypotension elicited a transient-decrease in VMCA (ΔVMCA) and a reflexive-increase in HR (ΔHR). Time duration reaching the nadir of MAP and VMCA (T0) and the rate of the recovery response (TR) were compared between the groups. Results: Cuff deflation after occlusion to the legs significantly decreased MAP (ΔMAP) which elicited significant hypoperfusion to the brain in both groups. Although ΔMAP and ΔVMCA were not statistically different between the groups, both T0 and TR for MAP and VMCA were significantly longer in the elderly group. T0 and TR were shorter for ΔVMCA than ΔMAP, suggesting the presence of cerebral autoregulation, which evoked an early recovery of ΔVMCA from its nadir, and also explained an early completion of VMCA recovery before MAP restoration. In addition, the rates of ΔMAP and ΔHR during recovery were diminished with aging, which explained a prolonged recovery of cerebral perfusion. Conclusion: We conclude that aging diminishes the function of maintaining cerebral perfusion during hypotension, which is associated with age-impaired cerebral intrinsic factor and systemic function.