Which older adult patient's medical conditions appear to support ...

[Capo]

Which older adult patient's medical conditions appear to support the hypothesis upon which the immunologic theory of aging is based? Select all that apply.
 
  a. Has, at age 64, been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes
  b. Has been treated for multiple sclerosis since age 30
  c. Is managing a 36-year history of chronic Graves' disease
  d. Has begun to experience symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis
  e. Is experiencing a flare up of celiac disease, which was diagnosed at age 26

Question 2

According to most biological theories of aging, predisposing factors create the affects seen in aging. Which behaviors are considered predisposing factors regarding aging? Se-lect all that apply.
 
  a. Diagnosis of a chronic genetic disease
  b. Lack of healthy diet and regular exercise
  c. Family history of several different cancers
  d. Occupation that involved working with toxins
  e. Radiation exposure from numerous diagnostic studies

[BUTTHOL369]

Answer to Question 1

ANS: A, D
Immune function significantly declines with aging. Rheumatoid arthritis and mature-onset diabetes are two diseases that are commonly experienced during older age that are caused by alterations to the immune system. Although the remaining options reflect disease processes associated with the immune system, they manifested in early adulthood.

Answer to Question 2

ANS: A, C, D, E
One method of classifying biologic theories of aging relates to categorizing predisposing factors as intrinsic or extrinsic to the organism. Intrinsic or genetic theories focus on the pro-cess of aging as internal to the organism. Certain genetic diseases, including several types of cancers and high-cholesterol syndromes that lead to heart disease, have a negative impact on life expectancy. Extrinsic or nongenetic theories propose that aging occurs as a result of en-vironmental factors that act on the organism, such as radiation, ozone, drugs, and toxic sub-stances which, researchers have theorized, damage cellular structures, thereby leading to ag-ing and death. Diet and exercise are not considered either intrinsic or extrinsic factors to bio-logical theories of aging.