OBJECTIVE: To determine changes in standard laboratory measures of dehydration among residents of a nursing home care unit (NHCU) over a 6-month period. DESIGN: A prospective cohort analytic study. SETTING: A 130-bed NHCU in a Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital. PATIENTS: Fifteen infirm but stable male residents (mean age 77 years; range (R) 62-93) on [...]
No abstract available.
BACKGROUND: Saliva is essential for the maintenance of oral health. The primary constituent of saliva is water and, traditionally, decreased body water homeostasis has been linked with salivary dysfunction. This is consistent with the greater prevalence of dehydration and salivary gland dysfunction among the elderly. However, this association between dehydration and salivary dysfunction has never [...]
No abstract available.
To determine whether responses to dehydration are altered with age, we investigated the thirst, fluid and electrolyte responses, and hormonal responses to 24 hours of water deprivation in seven healthy active elderly men (67 to 75 years old) and seven healthy young men (20 to 31 years old) who were matched for weight loss during [...]
Hypernatremia is a frequent problem at the extremes of age, but particularly so in elderly individuals. Changes in the physiological responses to water deprivation with increasing age may be of particular interest in understanding the pathogenesis of hypernatremia in the elderly. When comparing healthy elderly men to younger controls, there are differences in the response [...]
Elderly patients in long-term care have a high plasma osmolality (pOSM) and associated increased mortality. In these patients, we examined pOSM, thirst (visual analogue scale, VAS) and arginine vasopressin (AVP) response to 16-hour dehydration and 2-hour rehydration. Twelve patients were randomly divided into two groups (A & B). Group A had their fluid balance monitored [...]
OBJECTIVE: To provide a clinical review of issues surrounding reduced fluid intake in palliative care patients and a practical approach to care for these patients. DATA SOURCES: Medline was searched from 1980 to 1995 for articles concerning dehydration in dying patients. In addition, the law databases QUICKLAW, WESTLAW, and MEDMAL were searched. STUDY SELECTION: Key [...]