Can Elderly Recover From Fracture
Even if you do break a bone, remember that plenty of older adults do make a full recovery and get back to their normal lives. Take quick action. Some fractures are emergencies including skull, neck, back, hip, pelvis and upper leg fractures and warrant a call to 911.
What Helps Swollen Ankles In The Elderly
Swollen ankles in the elderly are due to a variety of causes. When they appear, seniors and caregivers should be vigilant if other symptoms manifest. A call to the doctor can help pinpoint the cause of the swollen ankles. Many cases of ankle swelling can be alleviated with home remedies.
Consequences Of Falls In The Elderly
Above, we mentioned that 25 percent of the elderly will fall each year, so its a pretty common problem. Some of them will be lucky enough to bounce back without harm. But for most, after a fall, the likelihood of future falls doubles. This can be scary for older adults to think about, and the fear may, unfortunately, prohibit them from living an active independent lifestyle.
There are many consequences that may happen when an elderly person falls. Most injuries are the result of weak muscles, brittle bones, and fragile joints. Hips and wrists are the most common broken bones in the elderly.
When a senior falls down, they may hit their heads, causing head trauma and concussions. Brain damage from a fall can bring on or worsen dementia.
To make matters worse, many seniors live alone, or are alone for the majority of the day. If they were to fall and no one was around, there is a danger of them not getting help when they need it.
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Recovering From Hip Surgery
The aim after surgery is to speed up recovery to help you regain mobility.
The day after surgery, you should have a physiotherapy assessment and be given a rehabilitation programme that includes realistic goals for you to achieve during your recovery. The aim is to help you regain your mobility and independence so you can return home as soon as possible.
How long you’ll need to stay in hospital will depend on your condition and mobility. It may be possible to be discharged after around 1 week, but most people need to stay in hospital for around 2 weeks.
Evidence suggests that prompt surgery and a tailored rehabilitation programme that starts as soon as possible after surgery can significantly improve a person’s life, reduce the length of their hospital stay and help them recover their mobility faster.
Find out more about recovering from a hip fracture.
It may also be useful to read our guide to social care and support services, which is not only for people with care and support needs, but their carers and relatives too. It includes information and advice on:
Complications can happen from surgery, including:
Your surgeon should discuss these and any other risks with you.
Common Fractures In Seniors
There are many different types of fractures, but those most commonly suffered by seniors include:
- Hip fractures. This serious fracture can significantly debilitate a person and almost always requires surgical repair or replacement. To speed this long recovery process, physical therapy and caregiver assistance are important.
- Femoral shaft fractures. Femurs are one of the longest and strongest bones, making them difficult to break. For seniors, however, trips and tumbles on hard surfaces are enough to cause a femoral shaft fracture. Treatment often requires a surgical procedure, a full body cast, and 24 hour assistive care.
- Adult forearm fractures. Typically the result of falling on an outstretched arm, forearm fractures can weaken or numb the fingers or wristrendering the arm semi-useless until recovery.
- Wrist fractures. Broken wrists can either be displaced breaks, requiring setting before recovery, or stable, non-displaced breaks. In seniors, these fractures are often the result of falling onto an outstretched hand or a twisting injury.
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Small Steps For A Dementia Friendly Home
It’s hard to know what you can do to keep your loved ones safe in their home if they have dementia. We look at some small steps you can take as a start.
Lets make no bones about it, dementia is tough. Today theres little we can do to fix it, and theres so much that we dont yet understand. It affects around 850,000 people across the UK. Thats more people than live in Leeds. More even than Glasgow, the busiest city in Scotland. For those living with dementia, and their carers, every day brings new challenges.
We use the word dementia to cover what happens when someones brain cells stop working properly. Theyll have memory loss, and difficulties solving day-to-day problems. You may also notice fast-changing moods or odd behaviour. As dementia worsens, it becomes severe enough to affect their daily life at home. Its hard to know what to do to keep them safe.
A mixed-up memory means they may not know if they have taken their pills or taken too many. They may get confused just making a sandwich. Theyll do things in the wrong order or use the wrong kitchen utensils. They may have problems judging distances, so its hard to go upstairs or into the garden.
The difference between safe and unsafe may be plain as day to us, but not for our loved one.
Creating A Safe Home For Dementia Sufferers
One small step is to create a safer home, preventing injuries for them and stress for you. That means taking a fresh pair of eyes to everyday risks. Hazards can be found in garages and tool sheds but also living areas, kitchens and bathrooms.
Start out by de-cluttering indoors. Those loose rugs may be beautiful, but they can also cause broken bones. And while good lighting is important, top-heavy floor lamps are a bad idea. At the very least, you should put them against a wall and keep electric leads tucked away.
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Making Sheds And Garages Safer
Another obvious job is to lock sheds and garages, as they contain tools and chemicals. A new latch or lock may help, simply because its unfamiliar. Think about using keyed deadbolts, or extra locks up high or down low. If your loved one is prone to wandering off, put secure locks on all outside doors and windows. A GPS tracker alarm can trigger a call to our Emergency Resolution Centre when the device strays outside of pre-set geo-ringfenced areas.
What Are The Side Effects Of Omeprazole
Omeprazole is an active ingredient that is used against conditions such as heartburn, reflux disease or stomach ulcers. It inhibits so-called protons in the gastric mucosa from releasing stomach acid and thus reduces the amount of stomach acid in the body. The stomach acid performs important functions: It helps with digestion and kills bacteria in the stomach. The aggressive acid can also attack the esophagus and stomach lining and lead to complaints. Omeprazole protects the irritated stomach lining and esophagus, and relieves symptoms such as acid regurgitation, stomach pain, and nausea.
For heartburn, the drug can be used for a period of two weeks as self-medication and is available in pharmacies up to 20 mg without a prescription. This can lead to effects like sleep disorders or diarrhea, and rarely sweating, hair loss or skin rashes.
However, if the drug has to be taken over a longer period of time and in higher doses such as 40 mg or 80 mg, this can lead to further side effects than usual. Omeprazole is suspected, among other things of promoting osteoporosis and dementia, damaging the kidneys and causing a decline in liver values. In the case of long-term intake, it is therefore advisable to discuss with the doctor beforehand what the risks are and what can be done to counteract the undesirable effects.
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What To Do If You Suspect Elder Abuse: 6 Ways To Report A Problem
If you see signs of elder abuse, its important to intervene on your older adults behalf.
You may be able to fire and report a hired caregiver, move your older adult out of a neglectful care community, or prevent an abusive family member from seeing your older adult.
When you need help from authorities, there are 6 main options for reporting elder abuse.
To make a report, you dont need to prove that abuse is occurring. Its up to the professionals to investigate the suspicions.
What Kind Of Drug Interactions Can Occur
If other medications are taken in addition to Omeprazole or if there are already previous illnesses, interactions and undesirable side effects can occur. In this case, the patient should speak to their doctor before starting treatment with the drug. Further information can be found on the product information leaflet.
During pregnancy
Many women experience increased heartburn during pregnancy. During this time and while breastfeeding, however, a doctor must first be consulted regarding whether Omeprazole can be taken. In general, the dosage and duration of use should be kept as low as possible.
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How To Prevent Infections
Preventing infection for a person with any cognitive impairment may prove difficult. They may lack the ability to practice proper hygiene.
You can help by:
- making sure they stay vaccinated against the flu each year
- vaccinating yourself as well
- having everybody wash hands and sanitize upon entering the home
- washing and sanitizing your loved ones hands regularly
- offer them fluids frequently to encourage proper hydration
Even in the early stages of dementia, little tasks like hand washing might slip their mind. If you cannot always be around during the earlier stages, keeping reminder signs near sinks can help.
Various Causes Of A Broken Foot In A Nursing Home Resident
Elderly citizens of a nursing home facility are at a greater risk for falls when compared to senior citizens who consider themselves to be able-bodied. This is largely because of the care they receive in the nursing home that otherwise keeps them alive. Some of the most common causes of a broken foot and other fractures in a nursing home setting include:
- Lifting the patient into or out of the bed in an improper way
- Failing to give the resident devices to help them to stand or move into a wheelchair
- Failing to put the patients feet in their chair holds securely so that they are off the ground and nowhere near the wheels of the wheelchair
- Missing or ignoring the diagnosis of certain bone diseases, including osteoporosis or osteosarcoma
- Wearing the wrong kind of footwear for the activities planned for the day
- Keeping too much clutter in the residents room or having heavy and large objects to be stored in a high or in a precarious position
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Complications Of Bone Fractures
Other problems caused by bone fracture can include:
- Blood loss bones have a rich blood supply. A bad break can make you lose a large amount of blood
- Injuries to organs, tissues or surrounding structures for example the brain can be damaged by a skull fracture. Chest organs can be injured if a rib breaks
- Stunted growth of the bone if a childs long bone breaks close to the joint where the growth plates are found.
Femur Pelvic Fractures Pose Similar Risk As Hip Fractures
- Date:
- The Endocrine Society
- Summary:
- Broken bones among older people increase their risk of death for up to 10 years, according to a new study. The study included all individuals in Denmark over the age of 50 who first experienced fragility fractures in 2001 and were followed up to 10 years for their mortality risk.
Broken bones among older people increase their risk of death for up to 10 years, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Older people with broken bones face a higher risk of death, and that risk can stay elevated for years. Hip fractures are known to increase the mortality risk among older people, and this is the first study to identify how long this risk lasts for different fractures. Non-hip fractures contribute to more than two-thirds of all fragility fractures and can include fractures of the femur, pelvis, clavicle or lower leg.
“A fracture is the starting point for much wider health issues that persist long after the fracture has healed and can ultimately result in earlier death,” said Jacqueline Center, M.B.B.S., Ph.D., of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia. “We tracked the increased risk of death for fractures in different bones and found that they vary. The heightened risk can last for over a decade after a hip fracture, and for most other fractures , the increased risk is for about five years.”
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Can A Person With Dementia Recover After A Hip Fracture
Although dementia makes it more challenging and decreases the likelihood of full recovery, people can regain their previous level of functioning. Dementia influences the recovery process, but research demonstrates that functioning level prior to hip fracture is a stronger predictor of successful rehabilitation than cognitive status.
In other words, if you were quite strong and mobile before breaking your hip, you are more likely to regain that strength and mobility, even if you have some memory loss or a diagnosis of dementia.
Increased Risk Of Death
In Australia, standard clinical care following a hip fracture begins with timely assessment, including X-rays, and pain and cognitive assessments. Australian data indicate more than three-quarters of people who sustain a hip fracture undergo surgery, the most common procedure being a joint replacement. Surgical intervention will generally occur within 48 hours.
But some patients may prefer not to undergo surgery. Or, their medical team may determine the risks are too great to expose the person to surgery.
Combined with the trauma of a fracture and surgery, an existing health condition may significantly increase the risk of death. Death after a hip fracture may also be related to additional complications of the fracture, such as infections, internal bleeding, stroke or heart failure.
One study showed heart disease, stroke and pneumonia resulted in a long-term doubling of risk of death after hip fracture, and this risk remained high for up to ten years in women and 20 in men.
Studies suggest issues related to the hospitalisation, surgery, or immobility after a fracture lead to other complications that ultimately result in earlier death.
Read more:Hip fractures and depression quicken frailty in the elderly
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Hip Fracture As A Predictor Of Cognitive Decline
The above discussion has focused on the trajectory from dementia to hip fracture, but there is some evidence that a hip fracture can in turn lead to cognitive decline. In a study by Melton et al, 25 of 26 Alzheimer disease patients with hip fracture had the onset of Alzheimer disease after the hip fracture. The authors postulate that either the hip fracture brought the dementia to clinical attention or that patients who were marginally compensated prior to the event had further cognitive deterioration.
Delirium is certainly a major risk following hip fracture surgery, occurring in 35% to 65% of patients with hip fracture. Delirium can persist for months in one study, 32% had delirium at 1 month and 6% had it at 6 months. There is also a growing appreciation of an overlap of delirium and dementia that is, delirium may unmask a dementia that did not come to attention prior to the onset of the delirium.
In one study, patients with dementia were 4 times more likely to have depression immediately after a hip fracture than patients without dementia . In another study, 38% of patients with cognitive impairment had depression. This could, in turn, lead to worsening cognition.
Failing Hearts Linked To Broken Bones
Although heart failure seems to have little in common with broken bones, accumulating evidence suggests they are somehow tied to each other.
Mayo Clinic researchers followed the health of nearly 1,000 men and women newly diagnosed with heart failure and an equal number without it, matched for age and gender. The investigators tracked their health for at least seven years and sometimes for as long as 20 years. Those with heart failure had more broken bones mostly broken hips both before and after the onset of heart failure than those without failing hearts .
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Dementia And Delirium The Outcomes In Elderly Hip Fracture Patients
Accepted for publication 30 July 2016
10 March 2017Volume 2017:12 Pages 421430
Introduction
Hip fractures are an important cause of hospitalization in elderly people and, even those with major comorbidities, are in need of surgical intervention. The number of persons aged > 70 will double within the next three decades, which will result in an increase in the incidence of hip fractures.1
More than any other type of fracture, a hip fracture in elderly is associated with loss of independence, high morbidity and mortality , and high health care costs.2
A major complication in elderly hip fracture patients is delirium, with an incidence rate varying from 13% to 70%.36 Postoperative delirium is associated with poor outcomes, such as impaired functional and cognitive recovery, increased hospital length of stay, higher costs, and increased mortality.312
Dementia is one of the most important risk factors for delirium in the elderly and its prevalence is increasing.23 The effects of dementia on the outcome after delirium have been rarely described and, to the best of our knowledge, never in elderly hip fracture patients.24,25
The goal of this study was to add to the previous knowledge on the risk factors for delirium in elderly hip fracture patients. In addition, this study investigated the effects of dementia on delirium and the outcomes after an episode of delirium in this patient category.
Patient and methods
Patient selection
Preoperative data
Factors of frailty
Treatment