Search results for "geriatrics"

Biology of Longevity: Role of the Innate Immune System

2006

Genetic factors play a relevant role in the attainment of longevity because they are involved in cell maintenance systems, including the immune system. In fact, longevity may be correlated with optimal functioning of clonotypic and natural immunity. The aging of the immune system, known as immunosenescence, is the consequence of the continuous attrition caused by chronic antigenic overload. The antigenic load results in the progressive generation of inflammatory responses involved in age-related diseases. Most of the parameters influencing immunosenescence appear to be under genetic control, and immunosenescence fits with the basic assumptions of evolutionary theories of aging, such as anta…

Comprehensive geriatric assessment in older people: an umbrella review of health outcomes

2022

Abstract Background Comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) has been in use for the last three decades. However, some doubts remain regarding its clinical use. Therefore, we aimed to capture the breadth of outcomes reported and assess the strength of evidence of the use of comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) for health outcomes in older persons. Methods Umbrella review of systematic reviews of the use of CGA in older adults searching in Pubmed, Embase, Scopus, Cochrane library and CINHAL until 05 November 2021. All possible health outcomes were eligible. Two independent reviewers extracted key data. The grading of evidence was carried out using the GRADE for intervention studies, whil…

Platelets, eicosanoids and aging.

1992

Constant Hierarchic Patterns of Physical Functioning Across Seven Populations in Five Countries

1998

This research was aimed at identifying critical steps in the decline in physical function that often parallels aging. Six basic and nine instrumental activities of daily living (ADLs) were classified into four domains of disability characterized by specific underlying physical impairment. The hierarchical order of this classification was verified in two random samples representative of the older home-dwelling population. The concordance level of disability and results of performance-based measures of physical function were also tested. Finally, the cross-cultural reliability of the model was verified in seven population-based samples of older persons living in five European countries. In ol…

Patterns of Experienced Aging with a Finnish Cohort

1993

A cohort study of eighty-year old residents in Jyväskylä (pop. 66,000), central Finland, was carried out in 1990 as part of the EVERGREEN-project. A total of 262 persons born in 1910 were interviewed in the cohort study. The survey data produced a fairly accurate picture of the respondents' objective situation. In order to shed further light on how the respondents felt about growing old, tape recorded narrative stories were collected from a subsample of twenty persons (10 women and 10 men). The stories revealed the subjective meanings and evaluations attached by the individuals concerned to their own aging. Being members of the same culture and the same age cohort, they also shared the sam…

Epilepsy in the Elderly

2009

Epilepsy is the third most common disease affecting the brain in the elderly. Current demographic trends will lead to an increased prevalence of epilepsy in the general population.A selective literature search revealed 102 relevant publications as of September 2008, 50 of which were original articles.The level of evidence was found to be very low. No guidelines, systematic reviews or meta-analyses are available, and there have been only three randomized, double-blind trials of treatment for epilepsy in the elderly. The seizures often escape clinical attention, because premonitory symptoms (aura) and secondary generalization into tonic-clonic seizures are both rarer in older patients. On the…

Pro-inflammatory status is not a limit for longevity: case report of a Sicilian centenarian

2020

Most studies on centenarians represent them as the best model of ageing. They are defined “delayers”, if they exhibit age-related diseases between 80 and 99 years, “survivors” if they show clinically demonstrable diseases before the age of 80 years, and “escapers” when they attain their 100th year of life without any common age-associated pathologies.

Can the Multidimensional Prognostic Index Improve the Identification of Older Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 Likely to Benefit from Mechanical V…

2022

Objective: Data on prognostic tools for indicating mechanical ventilation in older people with COVID-19 are still limited. The aim of this research was to evaluate if the Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI), based on the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), may help physicians in identifying older hospitalized patients affected by COVID-19 who might benefit from mechanical ventilation.Design: Longitudinal, multicenter study.Settings and Participants: 502 older people hospitalized for COVID-19 in 10 European hospitals.Methods: MPI was calculated using 8 different domains typical of the CGA. A propensity score, Cox's regression analysis was used for assessing the impact of mechanical…

Subjective well-being key elements of Successful Aging: A study with Lifelong Learners older adults from Costa Rica and Spain.

2019

Abstract Subjective well-being is a major psychological construct in the research tradition. Along with literature, authors have distinguished between hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. The aim of this study is to determine the role of some psychosocial variables plays in the perceived well-being is conceived from a hedonic or a eudaimonic perspective. The sample consisted of 1016 people of 55 years and older in a Spanish sample and 277 people of 55 years old or older from a Costa Rican sample. Both samples were part of the Longitudinal Older Learners (LOL) study. A structural model with latent variables was estimated with Mplus. The results point out that, the traditional variables include…

Validation of Abbreviated Form of the Multidimensional Prognostic Index (MPI): The BRIEF-MPI Project

2022

Alberto Cella,1 Nicola Veronese,2 Carlo Custodero,3 Alberto Castagna,4 Lisa A Cammalleri,1 Walter M Capitano,2 Luisa Solimando,2 Luca Carruba,2 Carlo Sabbà,3 Giovanni Ruotolo,4 Mario Barbagallo,2 Alberto Pilotto1,3 1Department of Geriatric Care, Orthogeriatrics and Rehabilitation, E.O. Ospedali Galliera, Genova, Italy; 2Geriatric Unit, Department of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; 3Department of Interdisciplinary Medicine, University of Bari “Aldo Moro”, Bari, Italy; 4Geriatrics Unit, “Pugliese Ciaccio” Hospital, Catanzaro, ItalyCorrespondence: Alberto Pilotto, Via delle Mura Capuccine, 14, Genova, 16128, Italy, Tel +39 010 5634400, Fax +39 …