Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510092
Technology Use to Bridge the Gap of Social Distancing during COVID-19
Kalpana P Padala, MD, MS, Ashlyn M Jendro, MS, Kerrie B Wilson, MS, Prasad R Padala, MD, MS
Article Type: Review Article | First Published: June 29, 2020
Technology use has been recommended as a way to assess and mitigate loneliness. This advice is more applicable now during the COVID pandemic. It is known that social networks mitigate the detrimental effects of loneliness by enhancing physical and mental health. Unfortunately, even in normal circumstances, it is difficult for older adults to maintain social networks. Although face-to-face interaction is the ideal way of social networking, literature supports that technology has a role in combati...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510090
Hearing and Vision Impairment is Associated with Falls Risk among Older Adults
Wells TS, Karl JL, Bhattarai GR, Nickels LD and Yeh CS
Article Type: Original Research | First Published: June 11, 2020
The primary objective was to explore falls risk associated with hearing impairment (HI), vision impairment (VI), and hearing aid use among older adults. Participants (4,414) were categorized into six groups: no HI or VI, aided and unaided dual sensory impairment (DSI), aided and unaided HI only, and VI only. Falls risk included falling, being unsteady, and worried about falling. Individuals with DSI had the highest falls risk, generally followed by VI only and then HI only. The use of hearing ai...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510091
Severe Hypoglycemia in a Nondiabetic Old Woman Treated with a Single Oral Dose of Hydroxychloroquine for Covid-19
Davide Moro, Giacomo Gastaldi, Dina Zekry and Christine Serratrice
Article Type: Original Research | First Published: June 11, 2020
We report the case of a 75-year-old woman, admitted to the emergency geriatrics unit because of asthenia, non-bloody watery diarrhoea, vomitus and flu-like symptoms, started two days earlier. She had also rhinorrhoea without dyspnea, abdominal or chest pain. As far as she knew, she had no contact with Covid-19 infected individuals. She had no relevant medical history and no known allergies. She was non-smoker and had no history of alcohol consumption. She is married, the couple has a son and she...
Open Access DOI:10.23937/2469-5858/1510088
Lubiprostone for the Treatment of Constipation in Patients with Dementia
Atsushi Hamuro, MD, PhD, Minoru Honda, Hideki Kawaguchi and Hoai Noguchi
Article Type: Short Note | First Published: April 23, 2020
Chronic constipation is a common gastrointestinal disorder and it impairs patients’ quality of life (QOL). Because of their reduced cognitive function, dementia patients often find it difficult to verbalize the abdominal discomfort caused by constipation and bloating, and it can lead to ileus and loss of appetite. Although stimulant and osmotic laxatives, and enemas are commonly used to treat constipation, it has been reported that they can cause dependency, cathartic colon, and hemorrhoids...