The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Aug 2010
The association between noncancer pain, cognitive impairment, and functional disability: an analysis of the Canadian study of health and aging.
Noncancer pain and cognitive impairment affect many older adults and each is associated with functional disability, but their combined impact has yet to be rigorously studied. ⋯ Noncancer pain and cognitive impairment are independently associated with IADL and ADL impairment and IADL impairment is even greater when both conditions are present.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Aug 2010
The development and validation of a brief performance-based fall risk assessment tool for use in primary care.
To report the development, external validity, reliability, and feasibility of a falls risk assessment tool for use in primary care. ⋯ The assessment tool is an externally validated, reliable, and feasible falls risk assessment that can accurately predict multiple falls and assist with guiding interventions in community living older people.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Jul 2010
Correspondence of verbal descriptor and numeric rating scales for pain intensity: an item response theory calibration.
Assessing pain intensity in older adults is critical and challenging. There is debate about the most effective way to ask older adults to describe their pain severity, and clinicians vary in their preferred approaches, making comparison of pain intensity scores across settings difficult. ⋯ This IRT calibration provides a crosswalk between the two response scales so that either can be used in practice depending on the preference of the clinician and respondent.
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J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci. · Jun 2010
Age-associated differences in activation of Akt/GSK-3beta signaling pathways and inhibition of mitochondrial permeability transition pore opening in the rat heart.
Pretreatment with isoflurane decreased myocardial infarction size in young rats (3-5 months) but not in old rats (20-24 months). To understand the mechanisms underlying the failure to protect the old myocardium, differences in phosphorylation of Akt/GSK-3beta and age-associated differences in mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) opening in the aging heart in vivo were measured. Isoflurane significantly increased Akt and GSK-3beta phosphorylation in the young groups. ⋯ Isoflurane preconditioning significantly reduced the fall in NAD(+) levels induced by ischemia/reperfusion injury in the young animals, reflecting the inhibition of mPTP opening. In the old animals, however, isoflurane failed to prevent the fall in NAD(+) levels induced by ischemia/reperfusion injury. Lack of isoflurane-induced cardioprotective effects, seen in the old animals, can be explained by age-related differences in Akt/GSK-3beta signaling pathway and the inability to reduce mPTP opening following ischemia/reperfusion injury.