Gerontology
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Admission of older patients to intensive care units is a controversial issue. ⋯ In our study, age was not related with a significant higher mortality. In the older patients included in our study the survival was greater than 70% with a similar resource utilization except for a longer stay in the intensive care unit.
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Explanations for associations found between sensory and cognitive function remain unclear. ⋯ We have documented an age-related correlation between sensory and cognitive function in a normal ageing sample. The association between sensory impairment and likely cognitive impairment remained significant after excluding vision-related MMSE items and adjusting for confounding factors. Our data suggest that age-related decline and the effect of visual impairment on the measurement of cognition only partly explain the association between sensory and cognitive impairments in older persons.
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This review highlights the need to optimize 5-HT3-receptor-antagonist-based antiemetic therapy for elderly cancer patients, particularly during the first 24 h after receiving chemotherapy, based on knowledge of the chemotherapeutic regimen, comorbidity, polypharmacy, dosing convenience and age-related health. ⋯ Chemotherapy-induced emesis in elderly cancer patients needs optimal control by a 5-HT3-receptor antagonist with uncomplicated 24-hour efficacy and good tolerability. Choosing a 5-HT3-receptor antagonist with a long duration of action, low risk of drug-drug interactions and once-daily dosing is important to ensure effective prophylaxis against nausea and vomiting in the elderly and simplify management for patients with cognitive impairment, declining organ function and comorbidity.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Nutritional supplementation of very old people at hospital discharge increases muscle strength: a randomised controlled trial.
Undernutrition is common in older people admitted to hospital, but little is known about how nutritional state changes after discharge. ⋯ Oral nutritional supplementation was associated with a greater increase in handgrip strength than in non-supplemented controls and this observation merits further study.