Publications by authors named "Andrea B Maier"

Biomarkers of ageing serve as important outcome measures in longevity-promoting interventions. However, there is limited consensus on which specific biomarkers are most appropriate for human intervention studies. This work aimed to address this need by establishing an expert consensus on biomarkers of ageing for use in intervention studies via the Delphi method.

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  • The study investigates nocturnal lower urinary tract symptoms, specifically nocturia, in geriatric rehabilitation patients, highlighting their prevalence and impact on patient characteristics.
  • It involved a cohort of 641 inpatients who were assessed upon admission and discharge, revealing that over half experienced nocturia more than once a night, with associated factors like urinary incontinence and comorbid illnesses.
  • The findings suggest that repeated episodes of nocturia correlate with worse functional status and quality of life, indicating that targeted interventions could improve symptoms and overall patient outcomes.
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  • Recent advancements in aging research and drug discovery connect basic research with clinical applications, aiming to promote healthy longevity in humans.* -
  • The Aging Research and Drug Discovery Meeting in 2023 highlighted key areas such as AI, biomarkers, geroscience, and clinical trials focused on enhancing healthspan.* -
  • The meeting emphasized the importance of combining generative AI with innovative biological technologies to tackle age-related diseases and extend healthy lifespans.*
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  • Aging involves a decline in bodily functions and greater risk of chronic diseases, with genomic instability being a key factor due to increased mutations in cells.
  • The review highlights three specific age-related conditions—CHIP, MGUS, and MBL—that indicate genomic instability in the blood system and are common in older adults.
  • Understanding these conditions can provide insights into how mutations accumulate as we age, which can improve predictions of biological age and support personalized healthcare approaches.
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  • White matter hyperintensities (WMH) are linked to cognitive impairment but solely measuring their volume doesn't fully explain the cognitive deficits.
  • Lesion network mapping (LNM) offers a new way to assess how WMH connects with brain networks, potentially improving our understanding of their impact on cognition.
  • In a study of 3,485 patients, LNM scores outperformed WMH volumes in predicting cognitive performance, especially in attention, processing speed, and verbal memory, but not for language functions.
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Background: Comprehensive "senior-friendly hospital" (SFH)-programs have been developed to counteract negative health outcomes in hospitalized older adults. The aim of this narrative review was to provide an overview of published SFH-programs and their elements and to summarize evidence of their effect on quality of care and patient satisfaction.

Summary: A search of the databases Pubmed/Medline from inception to July 2023 and of governmental, regional, and hospital websites was performed.

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  • Biomarkers of aging (BOA) are special measurements that can help scientists understand how old someone is on a biological level and how this changes with treatments.
  • Recently, many new BOA have been discovered that could really help people live healthier lives as they age, but there are some problems getting these ideas into actual medical practice.
  • Experts found six main challenges that are stopping BOA from being used more widely and suggested ways to make them better, such as ensuring they are easy to access and useful for everyone.
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While rapid demographic changes in Asia are driving the incidence of chronic aging-related diseases, the limited availability of high-quality in vivo data hampers our ability to understand complex multi-factorial contributions, including gut microbial, to healthy aging. Leveraging a well-phenotyped cohort of community-living octogenarians in Singapore, we used deep shotgun-metagenomic sequencing for high-resolution taxonomic and functional characterization of their gut microbiomes (n = 234). Joint species-level analysis with other Asian cohorts identified distinct age-associated shifts characterized by reduction in microbial richness, and specific Alistipes and Bacteroides species enrichment (e.

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Background: Regaining walking ability is a key target in geriatric rehabilitation. This study evaluated the prevalence of walking ability at (pre-)admission and related clinical characteristics in a cohort of geriatric rehabilitation inpatients; in inpatients without walking ability, feasibility and effectiveness of progressive resistance exercise training (PRT) were assessed.

Methods: Inpatients within RESORT, an observational, longitudinal cohort of geriatric rehabilitation inpatients, were stratified in those with and without ability to walk independently (defined by Functional Ambulation Classification (FAC) score ≤ 2) at admission; further subdivision was performed by pre-admission walking ability.

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Background: Detection and management of late-life depression largely relies on primary care. Yet in Singapore, older adults are unlikely to seek help for their mental health from their primary care providers. This qualitative descriptive study explores how late-life depression manifests to general practitioners (GPs) in the Singaporean primary care setting.

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Importance: The burgeoning landscape of wearable devices warrants a guide for the selection of devices. Existing guidelines and recommendations provide evaluation frameworks with theoretical principles but tend to lack a pragmatic application and systematic approach for device selection. While fitness trackers exemplify the convenience of wearable technologies, their selection for specific health monitoring purposes demands a nuanced understanding of varying functionalities and user compatibilities.

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It is imperative to optimise health and healthspan across the lifespan. The accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) has been implicated in the hallmarks of ageing and inhibiting ROS production can potentially delay ageing whilst increasing healthy longevity. Lipids and lipid mediators (derivatives of lipids) are becoming increasingly recognized as central molecule in tissue and cellular function and are susceptible to peroxidation; hence linked with ageing.

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Urolithin A (UA) is a gut metabolite derived from ellagic acid. This systematic review assesses the potential geroprotective effect of UA in humans. In five studies including 250 healthy individuals, UA (10-1000 mg/day) for a duration ranging from 28 days to 4 months, showed a dose-dependent anti-inflammatory effect and upregulated some mitochondrial genes, markers of autophagy, and fatty acid oxidation.

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Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is prevalent in older adults and can cause falls and hospitalization. Diagnostic intermittent blood pressure (BP) measurements are only a proxy for cerebral perfusion and do not reflect daily-life BP fluctuations. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)-measured cerebral oxygenation potentially overcomes these drawbacks.

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Objective: To determine the prevalence and co-occurrence of common geriatric syndromes in geriatric rehabilitation inpatients.

Design: Restoring Health of Acutely Unwell Adults (RESORT) and Enhancing Muscle Power in Geriatric Rehabilitation (EMPOWER-GR) are observational, longitudinal cohorts.

Setting: Geriatric rehabilitation.

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Protein supplementation has shown to improve muscle mass in older adults. However, its effect may be influenced by supplementation dose, frequency and timing. This systematic review aimed to assess the effect of dose, frequency and timing of protein supplementation on muscle mass in older adults.

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Objectives: Body weight and muscle mass loss following an acute hospitalization in older patients may be influenced by malnutrition and sarcopenia among other factors. This study aimed to assess the changes in body weight and composition from admission to discharge and the geriatric variables associated with the changes in geriatric rehabilitation inpatients.

Design: RESORT is an observational, longitudinal cohort.

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Background: Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is common in older adults with hypertension. Antihypertensive treatment (AHT) prevents cardio- and cerebrovascular events. However, physicians are concerned to cause OH, making them hesitant to initiate or augment AHT in older adults with hypertension.

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Introduction: Foot problems, including musculoskeletal problems, peripheral neuropathy, peripheral arterial disease and dermatologic pathology are common in older adults and are associated with an increased risk of falling. Multicomponent podiatry interventions have been shown to reduce the incidence of falls. This paper aimed to identify older adults requiring podiatry input in a Falls and Balance clinic; to describe the model of foot health care they receive; to explore cross-sectional associations between foot problems and function and ultimately demonstrate the role of podiatry input in the multidisciplinary management of falls risk.

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Geriatric rehabilitation inpatients have high levels of sedentary behaviour (SB) and low levels of physical activity (PA). Biological age predicted by blood biomarkers is indicative of adverse outcomes. The objective was to determine the association between blood biological age at rehabilitation admission and levels of SB and PA during rehabilitation in geriatric inpatients.

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Background: Accelerated biological ageing is a major underlying mechanism of frailty development. This study aimed to investigate if the biological age measured by a blood biochemistry-based ageing clock is associated with frailty in geriatric rehabilitation inpatients.

Methods: Within the REStORing health of acutely unwell adulTs (RESORT) cohort, patients' biological age was measured by an ageing clock based on completed data of 30 routine blood test variables measured at rehabilitation admission.

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