Emily Guh: Study Patients Make an Impact BACK

Published by AFAR

At the end of her annual follow up session at the Einstein Aging Study, M looks at me through thick-lensed glasses and tells me in a wavering voice that she is always amazed at the things she can remember and the puzzles that she can solve at her age of 90. In particular, she finds the Block Design Test, where she must take blocks that have all white sides, all red sides, and half red-half white sides and arrange them according to a pattern, particularly challenging and enjoyable even though she has done them in previous years. She goes to pick up her complimentary lunch and excitedly remarks that she has changed it up this year and is getting a turkey sandwich instead of ham! She gets in a cab to go home after spending the morning at the study, and she smiles and waves through the window as the car pulls away from the curb. I imagine that she will change into more comfortable clothes once she gets home as I suspect she had worn her “Sunday’s best” to the session, the highlight of her day.

M is a 90 year old caucasian female who lives in the Bronx and has been a participant of the Einstein Aging Study (EAS) for 14 years now. Since 1980, EAS has been enrolling participants as early as the age of 70 and has continued to follow them until death or diagnosis of dementia. Currently, participants undergo annual cognitive and functional tests, physical examination, gait analysis, blood testing, and voluntary genetic analysis and MRI scanning in order to create a database of information used to determine factors that can predict cognitive decline in populations of community-dwelling elderly individuals. For example, data from the EAS has shown that a certain polymorphism of a cholesteryl ester transfer protein may be associated with slower memory decline and lower incidence of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease risk. Researchers at the EAS have also determined that gait speed of an elderly individual in a clinical setting is an accurate measure of their functional status at home. The data gathered at the EAS sheds light on both the process of aging as well as factors that can predict onset of dementia and cognitive decline, information extremely useful in the clinical setting.

It is participants and patients like M that have drawn me into the area of geriatrics. A friend cautioned me that the elderly individuals willing to participate in a research study are most likely the friendlier, healthier, and better-adjusted individuals, which could cause me to have a misperception of the ease of dealing with elderly patients. However, when I have met geriatric patients this past year, even the grumpy and disgruntled ones, I have still enjoyed working with and talking to them. There is something that is gentler about them, and my compassion seems to come a little more easily for them. The changes that they are experiencing—possible mental and physical deterioration at varying rates of progression—can be scary and painful, and all of my interactions with older adults, whether within a medical institution or not, inspire me to research the process of aging in order to better take care of geriatric patients in the future.

Emily Guh
Albert Einstein College of Medicine

 

 

"Diary of an MSTAR Student" follows scholars in the 2011 Medical Student Training in Aging Research (MSTAR) Program, highlighting their summer experiences. As they continue their path of research, training and clinical practice, read their daily thoughts at www.afar.org/mstarblog. New diary entries are posted every day, so check back soon.