Advanced Interventions For Elderly Patients

The medical practice of organ transplantation has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 50 years. Each year the medical profession takes more risk with decisions regarding transplants, how to allocate for organs, and most recently conducting transplants on children with adult organs. “An organ transplantation is a surgical operation where a failing or damaged organ in the human body is removed and replaced with a new one” (Caplan, 2009). Not all organs can be transplanted. The term “organ transplant” typically refers to transplants of solid organs: heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and intestines. There are two ways of receiving an organ transplant: from a living human or an organ from a

I. Imagine yourself or a loved one just diagnosed with a terminal debilitating illness. You are given at best six months to live. During those six months your prognosis will turn from bad to worse. You know you will eventually be in an uncontrollable amount of persistent pain. You will eventually lose the ability to feed, dress, or bathe and toilet yourself. Your once very active life will become one

Although these interventions may improve immediate survival in the short term, only coronary artery revascularization and cardiac transplantation have been shown to improve long-term survival.” (DeMarco & Chatterjee, 1993)

The successful use of cadaver organs was made possible by the development of immunosuppressive drugs like cyclosporine. The practice of utilizing immunosuppressive drugs has led to a decrease of transplant failure-rejection of a new organ- by the recipient’s own immune system (Kaserman, 2007). As research continues to look for new ways to decrease organ rejection rates, the majority of recipients take immunosuppressive drugs and will need to do so indefinitely (Ehlers, 2002). Kaserman states that as the transplant industry grew, a need for guidelines became apparent and hence requested that Congress create a governing body (2007).

Response to Intervention (RtI) is a “data-driven and structured procedure for analyzing students’ learning problems” (Friend 49). The purpose of RtI is to use a systematic approach of increasing interventions for students in order to determine if a student has a learning disability. IRtI is a great program for school to use to help students but it is not mandated by IDEA.

Death is one of the most significant life events people experience. Most people want to die a peaceful death and desire the same outcome for their family and friends. Medical advancements have resulted in people living longer lives with chronic illnesses. Despite the advancements in medicine and the available treatments of today, sometimes the patient is still unable to escape intolerable suffering; the patient’s quality of life diminishes.

There have been several policy-level measures to address the environment of the health care system and how it contributes to health disparities. First, as seen in Figure 3, the uninsured rate in the United States has declined by 43% following the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA. According to National Health Interview Survey data, the increases in insurance coverage under the ACA were substantial across all races and ethnicities [11], increasing access to care for minorities which is an essential step in eliminating disparities. More notably, the ACA has also designated funding towards the diversification of the workforce. These measures took form in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Disparities Action

Advances in medical technology and processes are a double edged sword in regards to patient Quality of Life. Chronic-disease management has changed such that previously, people who would have died are now being kept alive due to the technological and medical advances dramatically increasing life expectancies over the centuries. With the advent of chemotherapy, surgeries and medications, life expectancy can sometimes be prolonged at the expense of Quality of Life.

Since the turn of the 20th century, modern medicine has made significant advancements in treating the progression of disease. Diseases such as tuberculosis, pneumonia, and several cancers are easily managed in today’s medical community. Yet, just a century ago, those diseases would ensure a swift and unfortunate demise. Since the mid 1960s, the emergence of technological advancements and treatment modalities has increased the U.S. population’s life expectancy. Presently, life can be extended for years due to the development and use of ventilators, gastro-intestinal tubes, and hemodialysis in terminally ill patients. With of the spark medical innovation, an unanticipated dilemma has developed within the holds of modern medicine and the U.S.

However, there are side effects when taking this medication, such as: inflamed gums, acne, diarrhoea, increase in weight and abdominal pain. But this can be prevented by the doctor finding the best dosage to compact these side effects. Yet, there are other long term risks that arise from having a kidney transplant. Diabetes is one of them for the reason that people Feel a lot better and decide to eat more, causing a substantial increase in weight. Even certain kinds of immune-suppressants can develop the chance of diabetes. Another long term risk is high blood pressure because a lot of people who need this transplant already have an increased risk of obtaining high blood pressure and it does not help when taking immune-suppressants as it can make it worse. The other long term risk is cancer because the enduring use of immune-suppressants can increase different types of this condition, for example lymphoma (tumour in lymph node), skin cancer and “Kaposi’s sarcoma – a type of cancer that can affect both skin and internal organs” as mentioned by (NHS, 2014).

Senior citizens are the people who are most likely to take multiple medications due to the occurring chronic conditions as the aging process continues. Given the several medicines they take, they are ironically the age group that is very much sensitive to medication side effects, both therapeutic and negative.

Older adults commonly take NSAIDS chronically. There are a lot of adverse effects associated with chronic NSAID use including the risk of peptic ulcer disease, acute renal failure, and stroke/myocardial infarction, as well as exacerbate a number of chronic diseases including heart failure and hypertension, and can interact with a number of drugs (eg, warfarin, corticosteroids) ultimately increasing hospitalizations in the elderly population.

Elderly patients that take several medications compound the risk of developing an adverse drug reaction. Not only does the aging process have an effect on how elderly bodies process medication, but elderly people take more medications than their younger counterparts. According to Conry (2005), the elderly patient takes an average of 5 prescription medications and two non-prescription medications (Conry, 2005). While medications are frequently necessary to enhance the quality of life of the elderly, non-pharmacologic methods should be used whenever possible. Healthcare providers need to understand how aging impacts the body’s response to medications, which drugs pose more risk to

Advances in surgery and immunosuppressive therapy have improved clinical outcomes and opportunities for liver transplantation among those previously excluded (e.g., older adults) (1). During the liver allocation system prior to 2002, liver transplant recipients > 60 years old were reported to have promising graft and patient survival rates similar to younger cohorts (1-12).Other published reports have cited significant mortality and complications among older recipients (13-18), though important clinical outcomes like functional status have been infrequently studied. (7, 13).

Pharmacological and medical technology advances can prolonged life through the development of life sustaining therapies such as antibiotics, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), mechanical ventilation, feeding tubes and hemodialysis (HD). While these advances prolong life,