Issue

Mnemonics are frequently used to help physicians remember key facts about clinical problems or illnesses. I have never found these particularly useful, as I for one find it just as easy to remember the facts themselves as trying to figure out what each letter in the mnemonic stands for, and which mnemonic goes with what I am trying to remember. One mnemonic that I have found useful when teaching students and residents, however, relates to treatable/preventable forms of dementia, a cause of approximately 25% of cases. I find this easy to remember primarily because it does not require muc

Case Presentation
Mr. B, Jr, is a 62-year-old man living in Florida. He has been trying to call his 87-year-old father who is living alone in the urban apartment in New Jersey that the family moved into more than half a century ago. His father suffered a stroke that left him with right-sided weakness and slurred speech two years ago. His recovery was complicated by several episodes of aspiration pneumonia requiring hospitalization and a prolonged stay at a rehabilitation center. His wife died while he was receiving rehabilitation, and Mr. B, Jr, felt that without his mother’s help hi

To the Editor:

Thank you for the excellent article, “The Elderly Concentration Camp Survivor,”1 which highlights a very important aspect of the life of the Holocaust/concentration camp survivor.

While it is true that almost 11,000,000 persons perished as a result of the Nazi regime, not all of the victims were in the camps. Some were murdered while hidden, others tried to resist in the woods, and others were victimized in their homes, streets, and communities. All survivors exhibit needs, as do the camp survivors.

As a final point, for the mental health of the survivors, i

Introduction
Hyponatremia is a potentially life-threatening electrolyte disturbance commonly diagnosed by primary care physicians and commonly encountered in the elderly. Hyponatremia is the most commonly diagnosed electrolyte disorder. In the majority of patients, hyponatremia is due to a mismatch of water input and output. Age-related physiologic changes in the kidney, such as decreased glomerular filtration, impaired ability to dilute urine, and impaired ability to excrete a water load, make patients more susceptible to hyponatremia as they grow older.1

The causes of h

Introduction
Consider this common scenario, no doubt very familiar: A patient with moderate Alzheimer’s disease (AD) arrives at the office with his daughter. The daughter has seen advertisements in magazines and asks for medication for her parent. This not only provides an opening for discussions on treatment and expectations of therapy, but also challenges the clinician to translate the clinical trial data and published treatment guidelines into meaningful information for the patient and his relative. Of course, the type of therapy offered will depend on the symptoms displayed by th

Accreditation
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CME activity.

Credit Designation Statement
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine designates this educational activity for a maximum of 1AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participat

September 2007

This continuing medical education activity is presented by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine takes responsibility for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of this CME activity.

These examination questions are based on the article “Urinary Incontinence in Older Men,” which appears on pages 38-45 of this issue of Clinical Geriatrics.

ACCREDITATION
The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Me

As many as 44 million Americans care for older parents, in-laws, grandparents and other older loved ones.

Some older adults need only a little assistance from family caregivers; for example, help with shoveling snow, or rides to and from the grocery store. Others need a lot of help with daily activities like eating, bathing, dressing, taking medications and managing money. Over time, an older adult often needs increasing help from caregivers.

While caring for an older family member can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a lifetime, it can also be stressful and frustrati

As many as 44 million Americans care for aging mothers, fathers, aunts, in-laws, and other elderly relatives, and that number will increase dramatically in the coming decades. Caring for an older loved one can be extremely rewarding, but it can also be overwhelming at times. This is particularly true if the older relative has considerable disabilities or dementia—which affects not only the patient, but also everyone surrounding the patient, especially family members who provide direct personal care, assistance with tasks, and supervision.

In the Cardiovascular Health Study, for example,