Review Series: Old age: Pneumonia in old age

Old Age

In his sixty-fifth year George Sanders took his own life, leaving a note saying that he was bored. Writing in her sixty-fourth year, Simone de Beauvoir is determined that she, at any rate, will not be bored by old age. This book is a tribute to her energy in researching the sociological, psychological and anthropological aspects of old age?historically and in the present day. Its length (over 5...

Vascular calcification: an age-old problem of old age.

V ascular calcification, once considered a passive consequence of aging, is now recognized to be a highly regulated process akin to bone formation. Vascular calcification is prevalent across ethnicities and age groups, and observational studies show an interaction with aging in asymptomatic adults and in individuals with established coronary artery disease. Recent findings from the HORUS study ...

Obesity in old age.

Many older people in developed countries are overweight or obese. The prevalence is increasing as more people reach old age already overweight. Obesity in old age is associated with increased morbidity and a reduction in quality of life. The relative increase in mortality is less in older than young adults and the body weight associated with maximal survival increases with advancing age. Althou...

Spirometry in old age.

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are highly prevalent in older people [1–4]. This well established fact has not, however, overcome the problem of underdiagnosis or misdiagnosis of both conditions in old age, with the inevitable effect on morbidity , and possibly mortality [1, 5]. Properly performed spirometric measurements of Forced Expiratory Volume in 1 second (FEV1) an...

Disability in Old Age