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Biomedical subjects

D E Sharland

Publications and source records attributed to D E Sharland.

12 recordsLinked to original sources

Copper and zinc levels in "healthy" and "sick" elderly.

Healthy elderly as a group have a wider range for serum copper, ceruloplasmin, and serum zinc than the adjusted ranges for the laboratory. In disease serum copper and/or ceruloplasmin act as acute-phase reactants in vascular disease, inflammation, and malignancy. Serum zinc values likewise are affected by the presence of inflammation and malignancy. The reported low level of copper in patients with osteoporosis was not confirmed by the present study. Neither was there any evidence found for zinc deficiency in patients with dementia.

Age Factors↗

Erythrocyte sedimentation rate: the normal range in the elderly.

A study was made of the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) in 258 normal nonhospitalized elderly subjects (189 women and 69 men). Their ages ranged from 70 to 89 years. Those who had been followed for at least one year showed a mean ESR of 13 mm/hr, with a range of 3-65 mm. A subgroup of 55 (47 women and 6 men) who had been followed for periods of 3 to 11 years showed a mean ESR of 14 mm/hr, with a range of 3-69 mm. The findings indicate that an ESR above the accepted normal range may be consistent with continued good health in the elderly. Thus the ESR determination may be of very limited diagnostic value in this age group.

Aged↗

Clinical value of serum alkaline phosphatase isoenzyme estimations in the elderly.

The value of the estimation of liver and bone isoenzyme of alkaline phosphatase in a series of 500 admissions to a geriatric unit is described. A raised total alkaline phosphatase was found in 40 patients and this was due to raised levels of the bone isoenzyme in about two-thirds of these. Its value in diagnosis of treatable bone disease is emphasized.

Aged↗