0000000000395530
AUTHOR
Marco Mosele
A case of naturally evolving gout in an elderly man
Gout is a common disorder in adults that can lead to severe organ decline, disability and impaired quality of life due to the formation of periarticular tophi. We report a case of massive tophaceous gout in a 78-year-old man with a 16-year-long history of untreated disease. The patient gradually became disabled, his renal function deteriorated, and he finally died of sepsis. Our case demonstrates that chronic gout not only affects the joints, but is also associated with organ function decline and can, even nowadays, lead to death. © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.
Nutritional predictors of cognitive impairment severity in demented elderly patients: The key role of BMI
Introduction: The body mass index (BMI) is commonly used to assess nutritional status and the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) is a validated tool for assessing cognitive status in elderly people. Nutritional and cognitive aspects are closely related in dementia. Objectives: To establish whether BMI predicts cognitive decline in demented patients and whether an "alarm" BMI cut-off exists for declining MMSE scores. Subjects and methods: 82 elderly demented patients underwent clinical, bio-chemical and functional assessment. Design: Transversal study. Results: The mean BMI was 26.08±4.48 kg/m 2 and the mean MMSE 18.68±5.38. Patients with BMI>25 kg/m2 had significantly lower MMSE scores…
A case of hypocalcemia
Hypocalcemia is a common disorder in the elderly, affecting 10% of the elderly population as a whole, 18% of those in hospital and 36% of those in long-term care [1, 2]. Many conditions can lead to hypocalcemia in adults young and old, e.g. primary hypoparathyroidism, chronic renal failure, gastrointestinal diseases (such as celiac disease or Crohn’s disease), drugs (particularly diuretics, bisphosphonates and antiepileptics), acute pancreatitis and thyroid surgery. Rare causes of hypocalcemia include isolated vitamin 1.25(OH)D3 deficiency or vitamin 1.25(OH)D3 resistance. Another, often neglected cause of hypocalcemia relating to functional parathyroid deficiency is hypomagnesemia. Magnesi…