[Present status and problems in medical care for demented patients using public counselling facilities]

To clarify the present status and problems in medical care for the elderly with dementia, 103 cases were studied according to the descriptive records obtained at a public counselling facility for dementia, based on interviews with patients' families. Their records were analysed based on their background, severity of dementia (clinical dementia rating: CDR), and counselling content. There were 75 demented patients with a CDR score of 1 or more, and 50 of them were women aged 54 to 90, while the remaining 25 men were aged 55 to 88. The consultation content was clustered into 5 codes: code 1, evaluation of dementia and/or dementia-related symptoms including psychiatric symptoms and behavioral disturbance; code 2, methods to manage patients; code 3, methods to take a patient to a medical institution; code 4, questions regarding medical treatment and drugs prescribed at present; code 5, information on the welfare resources provided. In most of the 75 patients, the degree of dementia deteriorated insidiously without any physical symptoms. The key person and/or caregiver was usually an elderly spouse, and the family noticed dementia only after cognitive impairment progressed with or without troublesome symptoms. Hallucination was a common troublesome symptom. Concerning consultation content, codes 1, 2, and 3 were common, while 13 cases had dissatisfaction with their medical treatment. Therefore, it was necessary to explain the significance of early diagnosis of dementia to families and their caregivers. There were also many families who felt strain and wondered about what hospital or department to take the patient to. In addition, it seemed that explanation on the clinical course and adverse drug reactions, advice for the correspondence with psychiatric symptoms and abnormal behaviour, and information services concerning utilization of social resources was not yet sufficient.

[Melanotic schwannoma with a high level of catecholamine in an elderly patient]

A 73-year-old woman suffering from hypertension and asthma had chest radiography, which showed the shadow of a lump on the inner side of the right lung apex. From a chest CT scan, it was diagnosed as an upper mediastinal tumor (circular in shape with a diameter of 19 x 23 mm) adjacent to the right rib and showing a low-absorption range. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis as an Antoni B-type melanotic schwannoma. On suspicion of secondary hypertension, the amount of urinary catecholamine was measured before surgery and this revealed high levels of total catecholamine (184.4 micrograms/day), dopamine (1134.6 micrograms/day) and noradrenaline (169.7 micrograms/day). A normal value of 14.7 micrograms/day of adrenalin was obtained. These measurements were conducted again after surgery, and normal values of 127.8 micrograms/day of total catecholamine, 388.6 micrograms/day of dopamine, 117.9 micrograms/day of noradrenalin and 9.9 micrograms/day of adrenalin were obtained. In view of these findings, the tumor was thought to be a neurogenic tumor of the sympathetic nervous system and capable of generating melanin. Incidentally, after removal of the tumor, the patient's hypertension became less severe and there was improvement in her asthma attacks.

[Causes, diagnosis, and treatment of anemia in the elderly]

Healthy elderly people are mildly anemic peripheral blood data on 3,583 healthy elderly people (1,590 men and 1,993 women aged 65 years or older) from among those undergoing medical examinations at our hospital in the 8 years from 1988 to 1995 were compiled into 5-year age groups. For both men and women the mean values of red blood cell count, hemoglobin, and hematocrit were slightly lower among older subjects. The main causes of this apparent reduction may be a decrease in the number of hematopoietic stem cells and regression of the hematopoietic microenvironment. Observation of arteries in specimens of hematopoietic bone marrow obtained from the spines of elderly people showed arteriosclerotic changes such as greater hypertrophy of the media than of the intima, and adventitial fibrous hypertrophy. The number of venous sinuses was low and the amount of adipose tissue was high compared to the bone marrow of younger people. The cell density and the ratio of hematopoietic tissue to fat tended to be lower in older subjects. The number of erythroid burst-forming units formed after 14 days in culture medium containing erythropoietin was 28 +/- 19 in 32 healthy elderly people, which was significantly lower than the number in 30 young people 54 +/- 30, (p < 0.005). The value for erythroid colony-forming units was 170 +/- 67 in eight healthy people, which was much lower than in young people, 276 +/- 54. In the elderly subjects, the plasma iron disappearance time (PIDT/2) was 60-80 min (mean: 71.9 min), which was similar to that in the young, but the percent red cell iron utilization was 67.6%-84.9% (mean: 79.7%), which was slightly lower than in younger people. When the diagnostic criterion for anemia in the elderly was set at a hemoglobin value of 11.0 g/ dl, about 13% of outpatients who came to our Geriatrics department were found to have anemia, and in most of them the anemia had resulted from another disease. In conclusion, anemia in the elderly is likely to be affected by reduction in the function of various organs and by the decreased reserves associated with aging. The causes of anemia are complex and diagnosis is often difficult. The present article gives a general outline of the diagnosis and treatment of common types of primary and secondary anemia in the elderly.

[A case of hypophosphatemia induced by intravenous administration of saccharated iron oxide]

An 81-year-old woman was hospitalised because of pneumonia in December 1989. In February 1991, an iliac bone biopsy was performed on the suspicion of disturbed bone metabolism due to chronic renal failure. Since she developed anemia due to continuous bleeding from the surgical wounds, saccharated iron oxide was administered beginning in March. Hypophosphatemia was noted 23 days after the beginning of administration. Due to the possibility of osteomalacia, active vitamin D was given but the hypophosphatemia persisted. Following an EDTA-2 Na load test performed to evaluate the reabsorption of phosphorus in the renal tubules, it was considered that the patient had a functional disorder of the parathyroid glands and that reabsorption of phosphorus was interrupted in the renal tubules. Furthermore, abnormal distributions of phosphorus seemed to occur in the same areas where sucrose was metabolized and iron was stored. Therefore, it was considered that these abnormalities induced hypophosphatemia following the intravenous administration of saccharated iron oxide. In addition to these actions, the possibility remained that phosphate absorption was inhibited in the small intestine by calcium lactate.

[Relationship between abdominal fat distribution assessed by computed tomography and serum lipids in the elderly]

A nutritional assessment is necessary to evaluate the pathophysiological state of patients, and serum lipids are one of the factors which must be evaluated. Body fat distribution is considered to be associated with cardiac diseases, metabolic diseases and hypertension. In this study, we performed quantitative measurements of fat distribution by X-ray computed tomography (CT) in 31 elderly outpatients. Thirteen males (mean age 74.8 years) and 18 females (mean age 75.4 years) were examined by abdominal CT. All subjects had body mass indices within the normal range and did not have malignant disease, hyperlipidemia, liver dysfunction or diabetes mellitus. CT scans were carried out at the level of the middle abdomen; these scan slices included intraabdominal fat which consisted of omental, retroperitoneal and perirenal adipose tissues. Subcutaneous fat areas and intraabdominal fat areas were measured from six 10-mm-thick slice films using a 2-dimensional computerized calculator. The relationship between serum lipids and fat distribution was also examined. The ratio of intraabdominal adipose tissue area to subcutaneous adipose tissue area (V/S) was higher in males than in females. V/S correlated positively with serum triacylglycerol and correlated negatively with serum HDL-Ch. These results suggest that the measurement of body fat distribution is important to evaluate lipid metabolism and nutritional states in the elderly.

[A case of megaloblastic anemia with abnormally high urine level of beta-aminoisobutyric acid]

A 78-year-old man was admitted to our hospital with anemia and jaundice. Hematological studies revealed hyperchromic macrocytic anemia, and biochemical studies revealed findings of hemolysis. The folic acid level was low and megaloblasts were observed in the bone marrow. From these findings, the patient was diagnosed as having megaloblastic anemia due to folic acid deficiency. This patient had been a heavy alcohol drinker in the habit of drinking alcohol without meals. He began to eat regular meals in the hospital, and the anemia and jaundice improved gradually. Since liver cirrhosis was suspected, amino acid analysis of the urine was performed, and abnormal excretion of beta-amino-isobutyric acid (BAIB) was found. According to the amount of BAIB excreted, the Japanese population can be divided into low and high BAIB excretors comprising 65% and 36%, respectively. BAIB is also considered to reflect dissimilation of thymine. The present patient was included in the high excretion group because of the abnormally high urine level of BAIB, which was considered to be caused by ineffective hematopoiesis in the bone marrow as a result of his megaloblastic anemia. For this reason, dissimilation of thymine was considered to have been active in this patient.