ABSTRACT
Background: Up to 70% of hospitalized older people experience a deterioration of their functional capacity during the course of hospital stay. This change has a dismal effect of quality oflife and prognosis. Aim: To assess the change in functional status of older people during the course of hospitalization in a geriatric unit. Material and Methods: Review of medical records of83 patients with a mean age of79years (70% women), hospitalized in an acute geriatric unit of a clinical hospital, between 2007 and 2009. Functional capacity was assessed using Barthel and Lawthon scales in a basal period, on admission and on discharge. Results: Mean hospital stay was nine days. Median scores of Barthel scale on the basal period, on admission and on discharge were 90, 50 and 80, respectively. The figures for Lawthon scale were 4,2 and 3 respectively. Seventy eight percent of patients lost functional capacity during hospital stay and 72% recovered their functional status on discharge. Conclusions: A great proportion of older people experience a loss of functional capacity during hospitalization. This deterioration can be reverted with an adequate geriatric management.
Subject(s)
Aged , Female , Humans , Male , Activities of Daily Living/psychology , Geriatric Assessment/methods , Hospitalization , Quality of Life/psychology , Length of Stay , Patient Care Team , Prognosis , Retrospective StudiesABSTRACT
Tanglad, or lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) has been traditionally used as poultice or diluted essential oil in the alleviation of rheumatism, pain, joint stiffness, and sore muscles. However, this anti-inflammatory effect is yet to be tested experimentally Twenty-five mice were randomly assigned to receive high (57.04 g/kg), medium (28.59 g/kg), and low (14.33 g/kg) doses of tanglad extract by oral gavage for both the carrageenan-induced mice paw edema and the cotton pellet granuloma models of inflammation Carrageenan-induced mice paw edema. Carrageenan (1 percent) was injected to the right paw of the mice 30 minutes after the administration of the tanglad extract. Edema formation was determined every 30 minutes for 3 hours using a plethysmometer Cotton pellet granuloma. Cotton pellets were implanted in the right groin area of anesthetized rats. Tanglad extract was administered through oral gavage daily for seven days. On the eighth day, the rats were sacrificed and cotton pellets were retrieved. Both the wet and dry weights were determined Carrageenan-induced mice paw edema. Significantly, the medium dose group had the least mean edema formation (19.82 +/- 0.32) and the greatest percent inhibition (60.13 percent) over the span of 3 hours among the three tanglad treatments. Inversely, the low dose had the greatest mean edema formation (70.84 +/- 0.34) and least percent inhibition among all groups (-49.39 percent), including the negative control. The positive control had the greatest anti-inflammatory effect (9.61 +/- 0.27, 80.67) therefore exhibiting the highest percent inhibition and lowest edema formation as expected. The values obtained revealed a significant difference (at p0.001) between the positive control, high dose, and medium dose groups against the negative control group. A time-dependent pattern were also observed from the test doses Cotton pellet granuloma. Aspirin group possessed the highest anti-inflammatory activity among all the test groups. with the lowest granuloma weights for both wet (24.53 mg) and dry (8.46 mg). The high dose group (wet weight=39.25mg; dry weight=27.21mg) and medium dose group (wet weight=41.25mg; dry weight=25.77mg) had similar anti-inflammatory activities that were statistically significant (p0.05 for dry weight and p0.01 for wet weight). The low dose group had the highest granuloma formation in both the wet (63.25mg) and dry (34.46mg) weights and was not significant different from the negative control This study was able to demonstrate that the aqueous extract of tanglad (Cymbopogon citratus) possesses an activity against both the acute and chronic forms of inflammation in mice and rats. Compared with aspirin (ASA), tanglad extract exhibited a lesser degree of anti-inflammatory activity. Its inhibition of acute inflammation, through the reduction of edema formation, is both time- and dose-dependent. On the other hand, chronic inflammatory reaction, manifested by granuloma formation, is reduced dose-dependently. (Author)
ABSTRACT
Angiogenesis inhibition is one of the fast developing approaches against tumor proliferation and metastasis. The angiogenesis-inhibition property of naturally-occuring peroxisome proliferator-activator receptor (PPAR) ligands, particularly of linoleic and linolenic acids that are present in commercially available soy bean oil, was investigated using chrorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. Human recombinant fibroblast growth factor (rhFGF) was utilized to stimulate human growth conditions on the CAM. Three groups consisting of 20 eggs each were treated with gelatin sponges containing: (1) rhFGF alone, the negative control; (2) soy bean oil and rhFGF, the treatment group; and. (3) rosiglitazone and rhFGF, the positive control. After incubation for 5 days, both macroscopic and microscopic methods of counting were employed. The treatment group demonstrated inhibition although it did not differ significantly from the negative control group (a=0.05, df=35, tcr=2.03, t=1.92). (Author)
ABSTRACT
From July 1987 to June 1988, serum samples from 3,880 pigs from eight geographic locations in Taiwan were examined for Toxoplasma gondii antibodies using the latex agglutination test (LA test) and IgM-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (IgM-ELISA). A total of 1,073 samples (27.65%) were positive by the LA test. The percentage of positive reactions varied by location as follows: Taoyuan 44.44% (128/288), Taichung 27.60% (183/663), Tainan 22.28% (119/534), Kaohsiung 19.60% (98/500), Pingtung 17.92% (86/480), Hualien 33.95% (163/480), Ilan 31.66% (152/480), Taitung 31.64% (144/455). In the IgM-ELISA 1,828 of 3,880 samples (47.11%) were positive and the distribution of positive reactions were: Taoyuan 59.02% (170/288), Taichung 53.69% (356/663), Tainan 52.24% (279/534), Kaohsiung 54.60% (273/500), Pingtung 18.95% (91/480), Ilan 47.50% (228/480), Hualien 42.70% (205/480), Taitung 49.67% (226/455). On one farm, 20 of 120 sows experienced abortion and stillbirths due to Toxoplasma gondii. Lesions and T. gondii were found in lungs, liver, kidneys, heart, and placenta of one of the aborted fetuses.