Educação em saúde para idosos de um grupo de terceira idade em Governador Valadares: enfoque no uso racional de medicamentos / Health education for a group of elderly in Governador Valadares: focus on the rational use of medicines

Os idosos frequentemente apresentam doenças que requerem a administração de vários medicamentos. A ampla utilização da farmacoterapia contribui para o aparecimento de problemas relacionados ao uso de medicamentos na população idosa. O objetivo deste trabalho é relatar as atividades de educação em saúde, com enfoque no uso racional de medicamentos, desenvolvidas com o grupo de idosos do Serviço Social do Comércio (SESC) de Governador Valadares. As intervenções foram conduzidas por docentes e discentes do Núcleo de Estudos da Pessoa Idosa (NEPI) da Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora campus Governador Valadares. Foram realizados jogos de tabuleiro, feiras, oficinas e rodas de conversa. Acredita-se que a experiência promoveu impacto positivo no conhecimento dos idosos contribuindo para melhorar a qualidade de vida desta crescente parcela da população, influenciando ainda na formação dos estudantes, tornando-os mais conscientes sobre as questões relacionadas ao envelhecimento.

Elderly people often have diseases that require the administration of various medicines. The widespread use of pharmacotherapy contributes to the emergence of drug-related problems in the elderly population. The aim of this study is to report on health education activities, focused on the rational use of medicines, developed with the group of elderly people from Social Service of Commerce (SESC) of Governador Valadares. The interventions were conducted by lecturers and students from the Center for the Study of the Elderly Person (NEPI) of the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Governador Valadares campus. Board games, fairs, workshops and conversation circles were held. It is believed that the experience had a positive impact on the knowledge of the elderly, contributing to improve the quality of life of this growing part of the population, also influencing the training of students, making them more aware of issues related to aging.

Distinct cytokine profiles of circulating mononuclear cells stimulated with Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A in vitro during early and late episodes of chronic osteomyelitis

We investigated the cytokine profile of peripheral mononuclear cells from chronic osteomyelitis (OST) patients following in vitro stimulation with staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA). We demonstrate that stimulation with SEA induced prominent lymphocyte proliferation and high levels of tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-α, interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-10 secretion in both OST and non-infected individuals (NI). Even though stimulation with SEA had no impact on IL-6 production in either patient group, the baseline level of IL-6 production by cells from OST patients was always significantly less than that produced by cells from NI. After classifying the osteomyelitic episodes based on the time after the last reactivation event as "early" (1-4 months) or "late" osteomyelitis (5-12 months), we found that increased levels of TNF-α and IL-4 in combination with decreased levels of IL-6 were observed in the early episodes. By contrast, increased levels of IL-10, IL-2 and IL-6 were hallmarks of late episodes. Our data demonstrate that early osteomyelitic episodes are accompanied by an increased frequency of "high producers" of TNF-α and IL-4, whereas late events are characterised by increased frequencies of "high producers" of IL-10, IL-6 and IL-2. These findings demonstrate the distinct cytokine profiles in chronic osteomyelitis, with a distinct regulation of IL-6 production during early and late episodes.