Drugs and Aging

ISBN-13: 9783642707902 / Angielski / Miękka / 2011 / 216 str.

Dieter Platt

Opis

Experimental gerontological research is necessary to obtain optimal information and thus ensure proper drug therapy for the elderly. Most older persons acquire multiple diseases, first of all chronic diseases. They involve complex problems of a physical, social, and psychological nature. The multimorbidity of the elderly raises many questions in drug therapy. By contrast with our extensive knowledge of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics in younger age groups, few facts are available in respect of the elderly. A variety of factors may influence drug therapy. Physiological and pathological age-related changes of molecules, cells, organs, and the total organism may interact to enhance or inhibit drug therapy in higher age groups. It is well known that elderly patients are overmedicated and therefore the incidence of adverse drug reactions increases with age. Elderly patients with multimorbidity often have a diminished body clearance of drugs; age-related changes of the kidney seems to be one of the most important factors in this regard. Far less important than the elimination of drugs through the kidney is their excretion in the bile. So far results have disclosed that oxidative steps in drug clearance are more likely to be disturbed than phase II reactions. Furthermore; changes in distribution volume and age-related alterations in receptor sensitivity also influence the clearance of drugs in the elderly.

Spis treści

Age-Related Changes of Transcription and RNA Processing.- Aging and Drug Testing in Cultured Normal Human Cells.- Aging, Cancer, and the Life Span of Cells In Vitro.- The Effect of Age on Rat Liver Drug Metabolism.- Effects of Hydrocortisone and Heparin on Growth and Glycos- aminoglycan Synthesis of Cultured Human Fibroblasts (WI-38).- The Influence of Esberitox on the Phagocytic Activity of Young and Old Isolated Perfused Rat Livers.- Age-Dependent Differences of the Therapeutic Effect on Experimental Liver Fibrosis and Cirrhosis (Morphology and Biochemistry).- Developmental and Age-Dependent Changes of Proteoglycan Metabolism in Normal and Experimentally Injured Liver and the Effects of Drugs.- Age Dependence of the Structure and Metabolism of Joint Cartilage and the Influence of Drugs.- Hypoxia and Ischemia of the Aged Brain: Pharmacotherapeutic Implications.- Age-Dependent Actions of Benzodiazepines.- Influence of Age and Weight on Glycoside Therapy.- Pharmacokinetics of Acebutolol in the Elderly.- Pharmacodynamics of Acebutolol in Geriatric Patients with Multiple Diseases.- Age-Dependent Pharmacokinetics of Atenolol in Patients with Multiple Diseases.- Long-Term Effects of Heterologous Fetal Testis Material on the Biological Age of the Male Rat.- Drug Albumin Binding Kinetics in the Aged: Conformational Changes and the Effect of Fatty Acids.- Drug Interactions in Geriatrics Patients.- Plasma Concentration Measurement and Clinical Parameters in a Geriatric Population Treated for Cardiac Insufficiency Using the Nonrenal Dependent Cardiac Glycoside Pentaformylgitoxin (Gito- formate).- Pharmacokinetic Studies of Doxycycline in Geriatric Patients with Multiple Diseases.