Association between Oral Frailty and Dietary Variety among Community-Dwelling Older Persons: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the association between the severity of oral frailty (OF), which is one of the comprehensive oral functions evaluated, and dietary variety in community-dwelling older persons. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Community-based. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 769 community-dwelling older persons aged 65 and over. INTERVENTIONS: We examined basic demographic information, functional status, cognitive status, depressive symptoms, medical history, and oral functions of the participants. MEASUREMENTS: OF was defined by 1-2 and 3 or more of 6 items of oral function evaluation in the pre-oral frailty and oral frailty groups, respectively. Dietary variety was assessed using the dietary variety score (DVS). The participants were categorized into 3 groups for evaluation: those with a low score (0-2), medium score (3-5), and high score (≥6). Ordinal logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between OF and DVS. RESULTS: The rate of OF in the participants was 21.6%, and its severity was significantly associated with DVS after adjusting for potential confounders (Pre-OF; adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.687, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.219-2.335, OF; adjusted OR = 2.857, 95% CI = 1.489-5.484). CONCLUSION: The severity of OF was significantly associated with DVS in community-dwelling older persons. This suggests that DVS may be useful in understanding the effects of OF on the nutritional status. Further longitudinal studies are needed to elucidate the association between OF and DVS.

[Familial occurrence of von Hippel-Lindau disease--a case report].

It is well known that von Hippel-Lindau disease is defined as the association of retinal angiomatosis and cerebellar hemangioblastomas. This disease is frequently associated with extra-neural vascular neoplasma, especially visceral angiomatous tumors. In this paper we report the familial occurrence of von Hippel-Lindau disease in a 55-year-old mother and her 24-year-old son. The mother had simultaneous multiple angiomas of the liver, stomach and head of the pancreas. The initial symptom was sudden onset of vertigo, possibly caused by a slow-growing cystic cerebellar lesion. An apparent genetic factor indicates that clinical settings begin in the early life of the patients.

Progressive isoinertial lifting evaluation. II. A comparison with isokinetic lifting in a disabled chronic low-back pain industrial population.

The Progressive Isoinertial Lifting Evaluation (PILE), as described in Part I of this series of articles, is a simplified test combining psychophysical and isoinertial protocols to provide an unconstrained lifting assessment. In the second part of this study, 100 chronically disabled low-back pain patients (57 men and 43 women) were studied at two points: 1) at initial evaluation, when referred for possible entry into a comprehensive Functional Restoration treatment program; and 2) at the conclusion of the treatment (an average 7 weeks later). Results of simultaneous lumbar PILE and Cybex Liftask (Lumex, Ronkonkoma, NY) tests are presented, showing that patients may frequently double or triple initial lifting capacity after undergoing the functional restoration training program, achieving lifting levels at or above normal for incumbent industrial workers. Overall, results demonstrate that the PILE test can be an effective baseline screening test for lifting capacity under certain circumstances. Although several drawbacks affecting the PILE as an isolated test are discussed, its usefulness as part of a battery of physical capacity tests making up a quantitative functional evaluation is clearly demonstrated. Finally, the potential use of PILE as a safe, inexpensive, simple, and relevant screening test for frequent lifting capacity in worker selection is discussed.

Tuberculosis in employees at a Vermont furniture plant.

In a case-contact investigation of a patient (A) with smear- and culture-positive pulmonary tuberculosis, we found that co-workers in one room of a furniture factory had a higher prevalence of significant reactions to 5 Tu PPD tuberculin than other furniture factory workers. One co-worker also had active pulmonary tuberculosis. It was concluded that Patient A probably transmitted mycobacteria in a well-ventilated, spacious work setting; and that Patient A's disease and the subsequent outbreak could have been prevented.

Magnetic resonance imaging in the diagnosis of the posterior fossa and the spinal column.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is more advantageous for evaluation of the posterior fossa and spinal column because it can delineate the brain stem and the spinal cord in multidimensional planes without intrathecal contrast and ionizing radiation. In 18 cases with posterior fossa tumors, MRI was definitely superior to computed tomography (CT) in 11 cases (61%) and was equally diagnostic in 5 cases (28%). In investigations in 58 cases of spinal disorders examined by MRI, MRI was useful in diagnosing intramedullary cord tumors, syringomyelias, herniated discs, and infections, but CT was still more diagnostic in spondylosis, ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament, and canal stenosis.