Takeyoshi Yoneyama

Oral hygiene reduces respiratory infections in elderly bed-bound nursing home patients

In the elderly, aspiration is a common and serious problem. A procedure to minimize respiratory infections caused by silent aspiration was conducted on elderly bed-bound nursing home patients who suffered mainly from cerebral infarction and dementia. Oral care was provided by a dentist and a dental hygienist once a day and the mouth cleansed with povidone iodine by nurses after each meal to restrict respiratory bacterial infection caused by silent aspiration. In period I, neither group of patients received particular care. In period II, the A group was orally cared for and the B group was not cared for. In period III, the A group was not cared for and B group was cared for. During oral treatment for 6 months, febrile days did not improve but degradation of febrile days were prevented by oral care in a limited number of patients. We suggest that oral care may be useful to some extent in elderly patients to prevent respiratory infections.

Effect of oral care on cognitive function in patients with dementia.

. Chewing per-formance might stimulate brain functions and protectagainst the degradation of cognitive functions.However, it has not yet been concluded if oral healthdegenerates cognitive activities in longitudinal studies.In the present study, we carried out oral care and pro-spectively observed whether oral care improved cogni-tive function in dementia patientsA total of 446 patients with dementia staying in 10nursing homes were nominated for the study. The cri-terion for patient selection was that physical symptomsand cognitive impairment must have been stable for thepreceding 3 months. During this 3-month period, nopatient had acute disorders (e.g., severe infection, heartfailure, or stroke requiring special treatment and inten-sive care). Mini mental state examination (MMSE)

Dental status and mortality in institutionalized elderly people

Background:  Inadequate dentition for mastication is one of the major issues associated with systemic health for institutionalized elderly people, but its prognostic value and related deaths have not been fully examined.

High Prevalence of Pseudomonas aeruginosa From Oropharyngeal Biofilm in Patients With Cerebrovascular Infarction and Dysphagia

Funding Support: This research was funded by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (Research on Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases and Research on Regulatory Science of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices) and the Osaka Tuberculosis Foundation. The enzyme immunoassay kits were gifts from TAUNS Laboratory Inc, Shizuoka, Japan. Correspondence to: Seigo Kitada, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, National Hospital Organization National Toneyama Hospital, 5-1-1 Toneyama, Toyonaka-shi, Osaka 560-8552; e-mail: kitadase@toneyama.go.jp