DIZZINESS IN OLDER PEOPLE

头晕和平衡失调的主诉在老年人中很常见 通常很难确定原因。与之相关的跌倒和恐惧 跌倒会影响他们的生活质量，限制他们的日常生活 活动。我们假设头晕和不平衡不是 衰老的正常结果，而不是特定的病理生理结果 常累及前庭系统的变化。我们的目标是做得更好 了解老年人头晕和平衡失调的原因。 100名患者抱怨头晕和平衡失调，100名患者 年龄匹配的对照组随后进行年度检查，包括 定量视觉前庭测试和姿势描记。的目标是 第一个具体目标是a)记录前庭功能的变化和 与正常衰老相关的平衡；b)定义 老年人头晕和平衡失调的常见原因；以及 C)记录头晕患者的临床病程和 原因不明的不平衡。第二个具体目标是相互关联 正常受试者和苏醒患者的功能与形态 尸检，目的是解释前庭的变化 在前庭通路内可识别的变化方面起作用。 临床诊断的准确性有多高？有头晕和头晕的患者 不明原因的不平衡显示前庭系统的变化 与年龄匹配的对照组不同？它的独特之处在于 研究是指发病时的组织病理学结果的相关性。 尸检与量化检验结果的信息 在生活中获得的。前庭的组织病理学研究 老年人的系统主要集中在颞骨或大脑上，而不是 两者都缺乏详细的临床数据，而且很少包含 关于生活中前庭功能的定量信息。通过 继续这项对经过仔细研究的老年患者的纵向研究 和控制，我们的多学科研究团队处于有利地位 来实现我们的目标。

Complaints of dizziness and disequilibrium are common in older people yet it is often difficult to determine the cause. Associated falls and fear of falling affect the quality of their lives and limit their daily activities. We hypothesize that dizziness and disequilibrium are not a normal result of aging but rather the result of specific pathophysiologic changes often involving the vestibular system. Our goal is to better understand the causes of dizziness and disequilibrium in older people. One hundred patients complaining of dizziness and disequilibrium and 100 age-matched controls are followed with yearly examinations including quantitative visual-vestibular testing and posturography. The goal of the first Specific Aim is to a) document changes in vestibular function and balance associated with normal aging; b) define the natural history of the common causes of dizziness and disequilibrium in older people; and c) document the clinical course in patients with dizziness and disequilibrium of unknown cause. The second Specific Aim is to correlate function with morphology in normal subjects and patients who come to postmortem examination with the goal of explaining changes in vestibular function in terms of identifiable changes within the vestibular pathways. How accurate were the clinical diagnoses? Do patients with dizziness and disequilibrium of unknown cause show changes in the vestibular system different from those of age-matched controls? The unique feature of this research is the correlation of histopathologic findings at the time of postmortem examination with the results of quantitative test information obtained during life. Prior histopathologic studies of the vestibular system in older people have focused on the temporal bone or brain but not both, have lacked detailed clinical data, and rarely have contained quantitative information regarding vestibular function during life. By continuing this longitudinal study of carefully studied older patients and controls, our multidisciplinary research team is in a good position to achieve our goals.