Clinical interventions in aging
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Little is known about the structural alterations within gray matter (GM) in middle-aged subjects with white matter hyperintense (WMH) lesions. Here, we aimed to examine the anatomical changes within the GM and their relationship to WMH lesion loads in middle-aged subjects. ⋯ We observed that lesion load-associated structural plasticity corresponds to bidirectional changes in regional GM density in the WMH group.
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Observational Study
Geriatric falls in the context of a hospital fall prevention program: delirium, low body mass index, and other risk factors.
Inpatient geriatric falls are a frequent complication of hospital care that results in significant morbidity and mortality. ⋯ Delirium, history of falls, and advanced age seem to be the primary risk factors for geriatric falls in the context of a hospital fall prevention program. Higher BMI appears to be associated with protection against inpatient geriatric falls.
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Observational Study
The prognostic value of the plasma N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide level on all-cause death and major cardiovascular events in a community-based population.
Despite growing evidence that N-terminal pro-brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP) has an important prognostic value for patients with cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, etc, the prognostic significance of NT-proBNP levels in the general population has not been established. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance of NT-proBNP in a community population. ⋯ The plasma NT-proBNP level is a strong and independent prognosis factor for all-cause death and MACEs in the community population. The NT-proBNP cut-point for the prognostic value remains to be further studied. NT-proBNP is a strong and independent prognostic factor for all-cause death and MACEs in individuals older than 65 years and MACEs in individuals younger than 65 years.
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The current study was designed to perform deep analyses of the associations of biomarkers, including high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), N-terminal prohormone of brain natriuretic peptide (NT-proBNP), and homocysteine (Hcy), with insulin resistance (IR), metabolic syndrome (MetS), and diabetes risk and evaluate the abilities of biomarkers to identify IR, MetS, and diabetes risk in Chinese community-dwelling middle-aged and elderly residents. ⋯ Serum HDL-c levels were the major determinant of the associations between serum hs-CRP levels and MetS and the key link between inflammation and MetS. There was no other association of these biomarkers with IR, MetS, and diabetes risk after full adjustment.
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Frailty has been recognized as a risk factor for geriatric adverse events. Little is known of the role of psychosocial factors associated with frailty in explaining negative outcomes of aging. This study was aimed at 1) evaluating the differences in psychosocial factors among robust, prefrail, and frail individuals and 2) investigating whether there was any interaction effect of frailty status with empirically identified clusters of psychosocial factors on autonomy in the activities of daily living (ADLs). ⋯ We performed an analysis of covariance which showed differences between robust, prefrail, and frail individuals for all the psychosocial variables: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, F(2, 205)=18.48, P<0.001; Friendship Scale, F(2, 205)=4.59, P=0.011; UCLA Loneliness Scale, F(2, 205)=5.87, P=0.003, controlling for age and sex. Using the same covariates, the two-way analysis of covariance indicated an interaction effect of frailty with psychosocial factors in determining ADLs, F(4, 199)=3.53, P=0.008. This study demonstrates the close relationship between frailty and psychosocial factors, suggesting the need to take into account simultaneously physical and psychosocial components of human functioning.