[Literature and medicine: dementia]. / Literatur und Medizin: die Demenz.

Due to demographic change, dementia and related illnesses have become more apparent in our everyday lives. This is also apparent in the many books dealing with this illness and with the outlook facing those affected in the world of the supposedly healthy. This article looks at selected authors and what motivated them to make dementia the subject of a literary story and deals with the question about whether literature can contribute toward a better medical understanding of dementia and help us to deal better with those suffering from this illness.

Spleen peptides (Polyerga) inhibit development of artificial lung metastases of murine mammary carcinoma and increase efficiency of chemotherapy in mice.

There are numerous attempts to find novel anticancer drugs or to improve therapeutic protocols based on application of chemotherapeutic agents and immunomodulators (biological response modifiers, cytokines, various plant or bacterial products). Among the preparations that have beneficial effects for the cancer bearing organism are preparations of spleen peptides (Polyerga). Hence, we analyzed if treatment with spleen oligopeptides GP-1 (active substance for the manufacture of Polyerga ampoules' solution injected as 0.5 microgram/kg every second day) if given alone or combined with chemotherapy (Endoxan 50 mg/kg single i.p. dose) of mice bearing artificial lung metastases of mammary carcinoma will have an impact on the metastases count and survival of the animals. The results obtained have shown that chemotherapy reduced metastases count and increased survival of the tumor bearing mice, while the use of GP-1 alone did not affect metastases development. However, combined GP-1 treatment and chemotherapy were more efficient in prevention of the metastases development than chemotherapy alone. Thus, in mice treated with GP-1 and Endoxan, the average metastases count was four times lower than in the mice treated by chemotherapy only, while 2/12 animals were without tumor nodules in the lungs. Finally, all the animals treated by chemotherapy alone died until the 42nd day after tumor transplantation, while at the same time, only 5/10 animals died receiving combined therapy. Thus, these results give an experimental support for the use of the spleen peptides in biotherapy (or combined therapy) of cancer.

[How do we deal with the mentally retarded in nursing homes?]. / Wie halten wir es im Pflegeheim mit dem geistig Retardierten?

The author casts a retrospective glance on move recent results of research, which shook unbalanced structure of the construction of "mental retardation". He discusses some problems of rehabilitation of mentally retarded people in nursing homes (several years of hospitalisation, different degrees of impairment, scarce contacts to networks outside nursing homes). He comprises the pros and cons of popular ideology of rehabilitation and goes into details of social support of mentally retarded people. The author recapitulates, that work with mentally retarded people finds itself in an unbalanced situation between obstructive (complex care with conventional methods) and advanced forces (as to the rehabilitation of the education of patients).

[The record book of a general nursing station--a reflection of daily interventions?]. / Das Berichtsbuch der allgemeinen Pflegestation--ein Spiegelbild der alltäglichen Intervention?

There were analyzed report books of three nursing stations to win starting points for a milieu therapeutical reform. The methodical inventory included the analysis of the contents as well as rules of functional-communicating linguistic description. The qualitative analysis showed that most texts should be classified as texts of the class 'inform'. The members of the staff fall back upon the emotional report in problematical daily situations. The quantitative analysis of the dates showed the tendency for describing live at the nursing stations in the report books with routine notes. In cases the text included a statement there was dominating the medical-careful contents. Social stiking behavior of the inhabitants is more documented as an observation of there global rights and duties or individual and/or social useful activities. An improvement of this situation is possible if the state of affairs is not only told but based too and if the consequences are fixed. The script-approach by SCHANK and ABELSON should be tested for it's usefulness to improve the reports. Isolate requirements must be embed in a general conscions processing of social informations.

[Ethical aspects of the complex management of elderly humans needing help and care]. / Ethische Aspekte der komplexen Betreuung älterer hilfs- und pflegebedürftiger Menschen.

Alone the high number of collaborators and citizens in the homes for old age people in the GDR force to discuss these as an ethical questions. This is the idea of the author. Determined qualitative characteristics of these number (for example: polarity of the structure of age of the citizens, qualification of the collaborators) intensify the contour so far earlier not clear moral problems. The scientific-technical revolution leads to rapid changes of labour contents in the gerontology. For the collaborator in this medical part and also for needing care old age people leads this to consequences; it is accompany with the search for obligatory recommendations for an other form of action and higher responsibility of individuums. For example such problems are discussed: the dialectic association of activity and inactivity of needing care old age people, the relation between energy and personality of old age people, change of relations between doctor-nurse-citizen or the higher responsibility of the doctor of the houses for old age people in connection with so-called "Triage".

[Management of young and middle-aged psychiatric patients in general nursing homes]. / Zur Betreuung psychisch Kranker jüngeren und mittleren Alters in allgemeinen Pflegeeinrichtungen.

The author discusses the international tendency of increasing admission of psychic sick persons of young and medium age to general nursing centres. He modifies the aim of the care for these patients in these centres and points out the specialties of intercourse with that social group (specific behaviour, therapeutic techniques). There are discussed open problems such as cooperation with special psychiatric clinics, possible forming of general nursing centres, quantitative and qualitative stabilization of the members of the staff and scientific questions connect with concentration psychic sick persons in general nursing centres.

[The critical life event "admission to a retirement and nursing home" and the problem of self help]. / Das kritische Lebensereignis "Aufnahme in ein Feierabend- und Pflegeheim" und das Problem der Selbsthilfe.

By showing us the admission of seniors to a home for aged people the authors have given a topical example for the explanation that social self-help plays an important role for mastering this problematic situation. The for-life capability of the individual to manage the appearance of living-problems very consciously, the authors remark, represents the new quality of aged peoples self-help in socialism. They refer to the comprehensive possibilities for aged people to develop their personal active potencies and self confidence in a home for aged people. Individual unfolding that depends on the sociable conditions is mainly discussed in two parts of interrogation: What form and idea of aged people does the society have? How do the seniors think about the specific sociable function of homes for aged people? The direct importance of the individual conditions of self-help is emphasized by giving notes which refers to the age, sex, social status and state of health of the aged people in the homes for aged people of today.

[Quality of medical information on admission to a nursing home]. / Zur Qualität ärztlicher Informationen bei Aufnahme in ein Krankenpflegeheim.

In this paper one aspect of social relation in health and social service is investigated by means of documentation analysis: the quality of medical information on admission to a nursing home. In 6% of all cases (n = 120) the nursing home received detailed data on the diagnosis and therapy, the status praesens and on the clinical symptoms, on the social and psychological situation of the aged person in need of care and his/her clinical parameters. With 6% the basic data (name, date of birth, diagnosis) were incomplete. With 66.7% the data were available on the day of admission. There was no dependence on age, sex and stage of care of the person in need of care. The data were less extensive if the person in need of care was referred to from an out-patient department and inquiries could not be made with him/her or his/her relatives/acquaintances. An improvement of this situation is possible if the cooperation between hitherto attending doctor, the care institution of the municipal district for aged people and the nursing home is coordinated better.