Leonard Davis School of Gerontology
University of Southern California
Spring 2010
Instructor: Edward Schneider , Ph.D.
Office: GERO 508
Phone:
E-mail:
213.740.1364 eschneid@usc.edu
Welcome
Hello and welcome to Gerontology 508: The Mind and Body Connection through the
Lifespan. Many of you are new to this way of learning and so before I get started, I thought I should go over several things. If you are already familiar with how this course is taught you can begin with the first lecture.
Please study this syllabus carefully and refer to it during the semester. It contains important information about accessing the Electronic Reserves and Cyber Classrooms, as well as course requirements, logistics and grading. I hope you will find it exciting to learn this way and I look forward to seeing you online!
This fall, the course will be taught in 15 weeks. There will be one cyberclasse each weel and one email assignments a week. The site visit and interview will need to be done before week 14. The 15th week is for the preparing and submitting the final exam at the conclusion of the 15th week. I suggest that you contact me as soon as possible if you have problems with the site visit or interview. Grading will include participation in the cyberclasses and depend on the successful completion of the assignments and final paper on time.
Course Description
This course is an interdisciplinary introductory course in geriatrics which examines the processes of normal human aging as well as the common diseases and disorders that affect older adults. Lectures reflect the knowledge and contributions of geriatric experts from the fields of medicine, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, occupational therapy, physical therapy, psychology, and social work. Particular attention is given to preventive strategies that maximize function to help more individuals achieve a healthy old age. As an introduction to the field, it does not attempt to cover all the possible areas in geriatrics.
Instead it will highlight areas of importance and interest to those who will be working with older adults.
The course is divided into four sections: Aging and Health, Health Promotion and
Lifestyle, Diseases and Disorders of Aging, and Issues Affecting Health and Function.

The first section examines the concepts and issues of healthy aging including epidemiology and normal physiological changes. The next section identifies health promoting behaviors (e.g., nutrition, fitness, smoking cessation) that. can prevent chronic illness and disability. The third section presents the major age-related diseases and disorders with their risk factors, symptoms, and treatment. In the final section I will consider some of the other issues that affect health including polypharmacy, oral health, and mental health.
This course is delivered via computer and is entirely web based. The material covered is the same as what would be taught in a traditional classroom. However, in this web based course you will able to use the immense resources available on the World Wide Web
(WWW) to enhance their learning experience.
Since this class does not meet in the traditional fashion (but will, in the virtual sense), additional student responsibilities are required. Every student must have access to a computer with internet connection and Microsoft WORD. Each of the 12 didactic weeks of the course will be conducted asynchronously in one week blocks of time. However, you may log-on to the site at any time you choose during the duration of the week. You will have access to me 7 days a week and 14 hours a day (7 AM to 9 PM) via e-mail. My email address is eschneid@usc.edu
. Each week of this course consists of the following components:
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Required Readings from the Course Reader/Electronic Reserve
 A Web Lecture
Self-Quizzes
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Web Navigation Exercises
 Discussion in a Cyber Classroom
A Weekly Critical Thinking Exercise
 Access to an outstanding Glossary
At the beginning of each lecture, you are required to read the articles in the Course
Reader, which are also available on Electronic Reserve. As you read through the web lecture there will be interactive exercises, charts, graphs, or figures that will enlarge when you click on them. If you click on words that are underlined in the text, they will take you to the glossary. You can click on the icon for self-quizzes to test your understanding of the material. These activities are designed to further explain and illustrate the major concepts of the lecture. Additionally, each week we will be interacting with each other via the Cyber Classroom where our debates and other interactive discussion will occur.
The Weekly Exercise you are required to write at the end of some week's lesson will be approximately 500 words long and relate to the week's material. During the duration of this course, you are expected to deliver your assignments to me within the scheduled 6 day period. The weekly essay needs to be in MS Word, saved as your name followed by the week of the assignment (Smith4 or Jones2) then attach it in an e-mail message to Dr.
Schneider. Before you send the completed assignment be sure to save the file for your own records. These weekly exercises/short essay assignments will be reviewed, commented on, graded and returned to you by mail.

In order to keep up with the course, you should schedule a specific time each week to read the required articles, "attend" the lecture, participate in the Cyber Classroom, and complete the weekly exercise. You should also plan to check e-mail at least every other day for messages from professor, T.A., and fellow classmates. (Note: Readings for each course are available on-line (Electronic Reserve)
It is important for me to get to know you and your interests. Please arrange a time to talk with me about the class and your interest in gerontology. If you have any questions about your work, the course requirements, of are having other problems, please e-mail me at eschneid@usc.edu. You can make an appointment and visit my office if you can, or call me at 213-820-7262.
What are Cyber Classrooms?
Each student is required to participate meaningfully in on-line discussions which occur in cyber classrooms. These cyber classrooms are a virtual space for us to meet to discuss the readings, lecture and assignments. Please contact Technical Support if you have any problem accessing the cyber classes.
The cyber classrooms are also a perfect place to raise questions you may have. There are
12 cyber classrooms that correspond with a specific week. Remember, you will be involved in one cyberclasse per week. Within each cyber classroom, you will find a set of prompting questions meant to highlight issues I think are important and to stimulate discussion. Depending on when you log-in to the classroom, you may also find a conversation in progress. Feel free to jump in at any level: taking up one of my prompting questions or joining the conversation in progress. I also encourage you to introduce issues that interest you that have not been raised. However, to avoid too many threads, I would like to limit the cyberclasses to three threads per week. So the first students to post their commentary will lead the weekly discussion.
Students are required to participate in the cyber classrooms each week. The cyber classrooms will be structured so that all responses will remain accessible to participants during the entire course (i.e., you will be able to read all of what has been contributed to the point where you log-in). However, you may log-in anytime during the day.
Remember, input into the cyber classroom stops at the end of the assigned week.
Note: AgeWorks also has a separate bulletin board for general program comments, technical questions and helpful hints you may want to post. Feel free to post messages to this board anytime. It is located on the AgeWorks Home Page.
Course Objectives
At the conclusion of this course, the student will:
 Recognize lifestyle practices that promote health and prevent disease and/or disability.
 Know the physiologic changes associated with normal aging versus chances associated with age-related disease.
 Recognize the risk factors, symptoms, and treatment of common chronic conditions associated with aging.

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Understand other issues that affect health and function including polypharmacy, oral health, and mental health.
Appreciate the roles of the professionals comprising the interdisciplinary geriatric team in the care of older adults.
Apply knowledge of geriatrics to “real-life” patient studies to prevent disease and promote healthy aging.
Course Requirements
Your grade for the course will be determined as follows:
6 Weekly Exercises
Participation in Cyberclass discussions
Site Visit
Interview Assignment
25%
10%
15%
15%
Final Paper 35%
Weekly Exercises, Assignments, Final Exam
All material must be your own. Direct quotes posted from material on the web or references, and simple summaries from articles are not acceptable in assignments or in email comments. Any material that is not your own will receive zero points and cannot be redone. Regular participation is essential to this course and you are expected to participate in the cyber classroom discussions each week. If, for some very good reason, you must miss a week, please notify Dr. Schneider and he will try to accommodate your needs. However, this should be reserved for emergencies.
COURSE OUTLINE
Section 1: Aging and Health
 January 17th - Introduction to Stress, Health and Aging: Concepts and
Issues o Readings
Textbook: Rowe, J. W., and Kahn, R. L., (1998). Chapter 1-4.
Successful Aging. New York: Pantheon Books, pp. 11-65.
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
 chapter 1 chapter 2,3 chapter 4
Brody, J. and Schneider, E. (1986). Diseases and disorders of aging: an hypothesis. J. Chron Dis. 39(11):871-876

o Print Version
 January 24th - Epidemiology of Aging o Readings
Guralnik, J. M., Fried, L. P., et al. (1996). Disability as a public health outcome in the aging population. Annu Rev Public Health,
17: 25-46.
Fries, J. F., (1980). Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity. N Engl Jour Med, 303:130-135.
Schneider, E.L., and Brody, J. (1983). Aging, natural death, and the compression of morbidity: another view. N Engl Jour Med,
309(14):854-856.
Crimmins, E.M. (2001). Mortality and health in human life spans.
Experimental Gerontology 36:885-897
Fried, L. and Guralnik, J. (1997). Disability in older adults:
Evidence regarding significance, etiology, and risk. Journal of the
American Geriatrics Society, 45:92-100. o Print Version
 January 31st - Normal Physiological Changes of Aging Stress and Coping o Readings
Reed, D. Foley, D. et al. (1998), Predictors of Healthy Aging in
Men with High Life Expectancies. American Journal of Public
Health, 88: 1463-1468.
Gates, G. A. & Rees, T. S. (1997). Hear ye? Hear ye! Successful auditory aging. West J Med, 167:247-252.
McEwen, B.S., & Stellar, E. (1993). Stress and the individual.
Archives of Internal Medicine 153: 2093-2101.
Sapolsky, R.M. (1996). Why stress is bad for your brain. Science
273: 749-750.
Selye, H. (1993). History of the stress concept. In: L. Goldberger
& S. Breznitz (Eds.) Handbook of Stress Theoretical and Clinical
Aspects. New York: The Free Press. pp. 7-17.
Tran, T.V. (1997). Ethnicity, gender and social stress among three groups of elderly Hispanics. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology
12: 341-356. o Print Version
Section 2: Health Promotion and Lifestyle
 February 7th - Nutrition and Aging o Readings

Textbook: Schneider, E.L.(2003) AgeLess.Chapter 2. St. Martin
� s
Press, New York
Francis, R.M. et al. (2006). Calcium and vitamin D in the prevention of osteoporotic fractures.
NIH State-of-the-Science Panel. (2006). National Institutes of
Health State-of-the-Science Conference Statement:
Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements and Chronic Disease
Prevention
Goodman, Gary E., et al. (2004). The Beta-Carotene and Retinol
Efficacy Trial: Incidence of Lung Cancer and Cardiovascular
Disease Mortality During 6-Year Follow-up After Stopping -
Carotene and Retinol Supplements
Lee, I-Min et al. (2005), Vitamin E in the Primary Prevention of
Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer o Print Version
 February 14th - Physical Fitness and Lifestyle Behaviors to Reduce Stress o Readings
Textbook: Rowe, J. W., and Kahn, R. L., (1998). Chapter 7.
Successful Aging. New York: Pantheon Books, pp. 121-124.
Elward, K., Larson, E. (1992). Benefits of Exercise for Older
Adults.: A Review of the Existing Evidence and Current
Recommendations for the General Population. Clinics in Geriatric
Medicine. 8(1):35-50.
Blair, S., Kohl, H., Gordon, N., and Paffenbarger, R. (1992). How
Much Physical Activity is Good for Health? Annual Review of
Public Health. 13: 99_126.
Ornish, D., Scherwitz, L., et al., (1998). Intensive Lifestyle
Changes for Reversal of Coronary Heart Disease.
JAMA.180(23):2001-2007.
Fiatarone, M. A., O'Neill, E., et al. (1994). Exercise training and nutritional supplementation for physical frailty in very elderly people. N Engl J Med 330(25): 1769-75.
Schaller, K.J. (1996). Tai Chi Chih: An exercise option for older adults. Journal of Gerontological Nursing 22: 12-17. o Print Version
Section 3: Disease and Disorders of Aging
 February 21st - Part I: Heart Disease, Hypertension, Hyperlipidemia o Readings

Potrono, Patrono et al. (2005). Low-Dose Aspirin for the
Prevention of Atherothrombosis The New England Journal of
Medicine N Engl J Med 2005;353:2373-83.
Napoli, Claudio et al. (2007). Rethinking Primary Prevention of
Atherosclerosis-Related Diseases Circulation 2006;114;2517-2527
Hankey, Greme J. et al. (2007) Medical Treatment of Peripheral
Arterial Disease JAMA 295: No. 5: 547-53 o Print Version
 February 28th - Part II: Stroke, Diabetes, COPD, Pneumonia, Influenza o Readings
Stern, Robert S., (2004). Treatment of Photoaging New England
Journal of Medicine, 350: 1526-34.
Selim, Magdy, (2007). Current Concepts: Perioperative Stroke
New England Journal of Medicine, 356: 706-13.
Wannamethee, S., Shaper, G. et al., (1998). Lifestyle and 15-Year
Survival Free of Heart Attack, Stroke, and Diabetes in Middleaged British Men. Archives of Internal Medicine, 158: 2433-2440.
Samos, L. F. and Roos, B. A. (1998) Diabetes mellitus in older persons. Med Clin North Am 82: 791-803.
Petty, T. L. (1998). "Can 'old' lungs be restored? Strategies for preserving lung health and preventing and treating COPD."
Postgrad Med 104: 173-182.
Peto J. (2001). Cancer epidemiology in the last century and the next decade. Nature 411:390-395.
Herman, W.H. (1999). Glycaemic control in diabetes. BMJ
319:104-106.
Hu, F.B., Leitzman, M. F., Stampfer, M.J., et al. (2001). Physicical activity and television watching in relation to risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus in men. Arch Intern Med 161:1542-1548. o Print Version
 March 6th - Part III: Osteoporosis, Arthritis, Dementia, Parkinson's and
Alzheimer's Disease o Readings
Manek, N. (2001). Medical management of osteoarthritis. Mayo
Clin Proc 76:533-539.
Cummings, S.R, Nevitt, M.C., Browner, W.S., et al. (1995). Risk factors for hip fracture in white women. NEJM 332:767-773.
Ganz, David A., Bao, Yeran, et al. (2007). Will My Patient Fall?
JAMA 297:77-87.
Inouye, Sharon K. (2006). Delirium in Older Persons New England

Journal of Medicine 354:1157-65.
Raisz, Lawrence G. (2005). Screening for Osteoporosis New
England Journal of Medicine 353:164-71.
Bergland, A.and Wyller, T.B. (2004). Risk factors for serious fall related injury in elderly women living at home Inj. Prev.: 308-313.
Cummings, Jeffrey L. (2004). Alzheimer's Disease New England
Journal of Medicine 351:56-67.
Klafki, Hans-Wolfgang, Staufenbiel, Matthias, et al. (2006).
Therapeutic approaches to Alzheimer’s disease Brain 129:2840–
2855.
NIH Consensus Development Panel. (2001). Osteoporosis
Prevention, Diagnosis, and Therapy JAMA 285:785-796. o Print Version

March 13th - Part IV: Eye Disorders, Incontinence, BPH, Menopause,
Pressure Ulcers o Readings
Seftel, Allen D. (2003). Erectile Dysfunction in the Elderly:
Epidemiology, Etiology and Approaches to Treatment. The Journal of Urology. 169:1999–2007.
Grady, Deboarah. (2006). Management of Menopausal Symptoms.
New England Journal of Medicine. 355:2338-47.
Rosenfeld, Philip J., Brown, David M., et al. (2006). Bevacizumab vs Ranibizumab Treatment for Age-Related Macular
Degeneration. New England Journal of Medicine. 355:1419-1431.
National Institute of Health (2005). NIH State-of-the-Science
Conference Statement on Management of Menopause-Related
Symptoms. NIH Consensus and State-of-the-Science Statements.
22:1. deJong, Paulus T.V.M. (2006). Mechanisms of Disease: Age-
Related Macular Degeneration. New England Journal of Medicine.
355:1474-85.
Gerber, G. (1998). Benign prostatic hyperplasia in older men.
Clinics in Geriatric Medicine. 14: 317-331.
Johnson, T.M. and Busby-Whitehead, J (1998). Urinary incontinence. Clinics in Geriatric Medicine. 14:285-296.
Matthias, R.E., Lubben, J.E., Atchison, K.A., and Schweitzer, S.O.
(1997). Sexual activity and satisfaction among very old adults: results from a community-dwelling Medicare population survey.
Gerontologist 37:6-14.
Lyder, C.H., Preston, J., Grady, J.N., et al. (2001). Quality of care for hospitalized Medicare patients at risk for pressure ulcers. Arch
Intern Med 161:1549-1554.

o Print Version
Section 4: Issues Affecting Health and Function
 March 20th - Mental Health, Aging and Stress o Readings
Cole, Marvin G., Bellavance, Francois, et al. (1999). Prognosis of
Depression in Elderly Community and Primary Care Populations:
A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Am J Psychiatry.
156:1182-1189.
Mitchell, Alex J., and Subramaniam, Hari. (2005). Prognosis of
Depression in Old Age Compared to Middle Age: A Systematic
Review of Comparative Studies Am J Psychiatry. 162:1588–1601.
Simon, Gregory E., von Korff, Michael, et al. (2005). Clinical and functional outcomes of depression treatment in patients with and without chronic medical illness Psychological Medicine. 35: 271–
279.
Tran, T.V., & Dhooper, S.S. (1997). Poverty, chronic stress, ethnicity and psychological distress among elderly Hispanics.
Journal of Gerontological Social Work 27: 3-19
Folkman, S., Lazarus, R.S., Pimley, S., & Novacek, J. (1987). Age differences in stress and coping processes. Psychology and Aging
2: 171-184.
Lebowitz, B.D., Pearson, J.L., Schneider, L.S., et al., (1997).
Diagnosis and Treatment of Depression in Late Life: Consensus
Statement Update. JAMA 278:1186-1190.
Callahan, C.M., Hui, S.L., Nienaber, N.A., et al. (1994).
Longitudinal study of depression and health services use among elderly primary care patients. JAGS 42: 833-838.
Bruce, M.L., Seeman, T. E. Merrill, S. S., et al., (1994) The impact of depressive symptomatology on physical disability: MacArthur studies of successful aging. AJPH, 84: 1796-1799.
Fernandez, M.E., Mutran, E.J., Reitzes, D.C., & Sudha, S. (1998).
Ethnicity, gender, and depressive symptoms in older workers. The
Gerontologist 38: 71-79.
Reid, M.C., Anderson, P.S., Geriatric Substance Use Disorders.
Medical Clinics of North America, 81 4:999-1016.
Witchel, Alex (2003) Sex and Single Senior. New York Times. o Print Version
 March 27th - Principles of Pharmacology o Readings
Osterberg, Lars and Blaschke, Terrence (2005) Adherence to
Medication N Engl J Med 353:487-97

Bresalier, Robert S. and Sandler, Robert S.(2005) Cardiovascular
Events Associated with Rofecoxib in a Colorectal Adenoma
Chemoprevention Trial N Engl J Med 352:1092-102 Williams,
M.E. (ed). (2000) Taking Medications, Ch. 9 in The American
Geriatrics Society's Complete Guide to Aging & Health. New
York: Harmony Books
Montamat, S.C, Cusack, B. (1992), Overcoming problems with polypharmacy and drug misuse in the elderly.Clin Geriatric Med;
8:143-158.
Lamy, P. P. (1990), Adverse drug effects.Clin Geriatric Med
6:293-307.
Zhan, C., Sangl, J., Bierman, A.S., Miller, R., Friedman, B.,
Wickizer, S.W., & Meyer, G.S. (2001). Potentially inappropriate medication use in the community-dwelling elderly.JAMA 286:
2823-2828.
Yuen GJ. (1990). Altered pharmacokinetics in the elderly. Clin
Geriatric Med 6:257-268.
Feely J, Coakly D. (1990), Altered pharmacodynamics in the elderly. Clin Geriatric Med 6:269-283. o Print Version
 April 3rd - Oral Health and Aging (LAST CLASS) o Readings
Ettinger, R. L, (1997) The unique oral health needs of an aging population. Dental Clinics of North America. 41(4): 633-649.
Erickson, Lea, (1997) Oral health promotion and prevention for older adults Dental Clinics of North America. 41(4): 727-750. o Print Version
 Final Paper Due o Readings
Textbook Chapter 12 .