NUR 4710- Gerontology: Exam 3
Which of the following statements most accurately captures an aspect of the
relationship between cancer and aging?
A) The incidence and prevalence of cancer in older adults is approximately equal to
that of younger adults.
B) Cancer is the leading cause of death among persons age 65 and older.
C) Age is the most significant risk factor for cancer.
✅✅
D) The prevalence of cancer in older adults is expected to decrease in coming
decades. - -C) Age is the most significant risk factor for cancer.
The most significant risk factor for cancer is age. The incidence and prevalence
exceed those of younger adults and cancer is the second leading cause of death in
older adults. The prevalence is expected to increase as the population ages.
A nurse is conducting a workshop for a group at a senior center. Which member of
the group has the highest statistical risk of developing cancer within the next year?
A) An obese 75-year-old woman
B) An 85-year-old Swedish woman
✅✅-B) An 85-year-old Swedish woman
C) An 85-year-old Italian man
D) A 75-year-old man with a poor diet -
Although an individual's risk can only be estimated statistically, the risk of cancer is
high for all these persons because age is the highest risk factor. The Swedish
woman is probably in the most danger; her fair skin is likely to have been burned at
times, increasing her risk of melanoma, and she is at the beginning of the peak age
for cancer in women. Obesity and poor diet are risk factors, but the persons in
choices A and D are a bit younger. The Italian man probably has darker skin that
provided greater protection from the sun than if he were of northern European
ancestry; also, he has survived the peak years of cancer in men.
The diagnosis and treatment of cancer in older adults is accompanied by
complexities that do not exist in younger populations. Which of the following
phenomena contribute to the additional complexity of cancer diagnosis and
treatment among the elderly? (Select all that apply.)
A) Detection often occurs at later stage in the course of the disease.
B) Older adults tend to have atypical presentations of many types of cancer.
C) The presence of other chronic health problems makes detection more difficult.
D) The potentially harmful effects of many treatment options make treatment more
challenging.
, ✅✅
E) Decreased survival rates in older adults mean that treatment is often not
cost-effective. - -A) Detection often occurs at later stage in the course of the
disease.
C) The presence of other chronic health problems makes detection more difficult.
D) The potentially harmful effects of many treatment options make treatment more
challenging.
Inadequate detection, the presence of multiple health problems, and limits on
treatment options add to the complexity of cancer in older adults. Older people are
not noted to have atypical presentation, and decreased cost-effectiveness is not
cited as a significant factor.
Mammograms (at various intervals) for detecting breast cancer are generally
recommended for all women. Which group is least likely to take advantage of having
them?
A) Elderly women of all ethnicities
B) Middle-aged black women
✅✅
C) Middle-aged Latinas
D) Young Latinas - -A) Elderly women of all ethnicities
Although the elderly have the highest rate of cancer, they are also the group having
the lowest rate of early detection tests.
The family of a 78-year-old male patient is shocked by his recent diagnosis of
pancreatic cancer, citing his lifelong commitment to a healthy diet, consistent
exercise, and avoidance of environmental risk factors. Which of the following factors
most likely contributed to the man's diagnosis?
A) Age-related changes to his immune system may have compromised his body's
ability to recognize cancerous cells.
B) The interplay of existing chronic conditions may have contributed to the etiology of
his cancer.
C) His cancer may have been a consequence of a bacterial or viral infection earlier
in life.
✅✅
D) Autoimmune processes associated with the aging process may have initiated
abnormal cell division. - -A) Age-related changes to his immune system may
have compromised his body's ability to recognize cancerous cells.
While age-related changes to the immune system are thought to contribute to
cancer, the phenomena in answers B, C, and D are not likely true.
Recognizing the high incidence of breast cancer among older adult women, a public
health nurse has included the topic in a health promotion teaching session at a
,senior's center. What should the nurse tell the assembled women about their risk of
developing breast cancer?
A) "Stopping your hormone replacement therapy can greatly reduce your chance of
developing breast cancer."
B) "The substances that you were exposed to during your childbearing years will
largely determine your future risks of breast cancer."
C) "Breast cancer appears to be heavily influenced by heredity."
✅✅
D) "Women who had their children very early in life appear to have an increased risk
of breast cancer." - -C) "Breast cancer appears to be heavily influenced by
heredity."
Genetic factors play a significant role in the development of breast cancer,
superseding the role of hormone replacement therapy (HRT), environmental factors,
and time of childbearing.
When counseling patients, which strategy should a nurse identify as most likely to
help elderly men avoid prostate cancer?
A) Cooking meat at high temperatures
B) Avoiding food additives
✅✅
C) Maintaining weight within an ideal range
D) Avoiding tobacco smoke - -C) Maintaining weight within an ideal range
Obesity increases the rates of cancer of the prostate, pancreas, uterus, colon, ovary,
and breast. Seared or barbecued meats also increase the risk of some cancers, but
not prostate cancer. Food additives have been rumored to be carcinogenic, but there
is no real evidence yet of a link between food additives and prostate cancer. Tobacco
smoke increases the risk of lung and certain other cancers, but not of prostate
cancer.
Cancer is not a disease of only the elderly. Some cancers, however, are more
prevalent in old age. What factor may explain one of the relationships between
cancer and age?
A) Prolonged exposure to carcinogens
B) Age-related weight differences
✅✅-A) Prolonged exposure to
C) Increased T-cell activity with age
D) Alterations in BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes -
carcinogens
Over a lifetime, people are exposed to many carcinogens. Although weight tends to
increase during adult years, people who survive into old age tend to be thinner. T-cell
, activity lessens, not increases, with age. The risk associated with some genes is
independent of age.
When the nursing student identifies which of the following as a risk factor for
developing breast cancer does the nurse educator know that the student will need
additional instruction?
A) Women who had their first menstrual period before age 12.
B) Women who experienced menopause after age 55.
C) Women who have a first-degree relative with breast cancer.
✅✅
D) Women who do not use hormonal replacement therapy with menopause. -
-D) Women who do not use hormonal replacement therapy with menopause.
Long-term hormonal replacement therapy may increase a woman's risk of breast and
ovarian cancer. Women who had their first menstrual period before the age of 12 or
experienced menopause after age 55 have a slightly increased risk of breast cancer.
Women who have a first-degree relative with breast cancer may have increased risk
for developing breast cancer.
The incidence of cancer in a remote rural area was found to be higher than
expected. Of the following possible reasons for the finding, which is the most likely?
A) Fluoridated drinking water
B) Industrial waste in the drinking water
✅✅-C)
C) Nitrate-contaminated drinking water
D) Nitrate-contaminated vegetables such as spinach and beets -
Nitrate-contaminated drinking water
Contamination of drinking water with nitrates from fertilizers has been associated
with increased risk of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but vegetables high in nitrates (such
as spinach and beets) have not. Fluorides have not been proved to be associated
with cancer. If the area is truly remote, industrial wastes are unlikely to be present in
the drinking water.
A nurse is taking the medical history of an elderly patient who has thyroid cancer.
What is an especially important question the nurse should ask?
A) Have you ever smoked cigarettes?
B) Did you have acne as a teenager?
✅✅-B) Did you have acne as a
C) Have you ever experienced stress?
D) Have you ever used artificial sweeteners? -
teenager?
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