Depression treatment selectively modifies arterial stiffness in older participants.

Background: Depression is emerging as an independent cardiovascular disease risk factor. We investigated whether treating depression in older participants impacted on arterial stiffness, a known cardiovascular disease risk factor and a clinical marker of arterial aging.

Methods: Seventy-five participants with pulse wave velocity (PWV), the gold standard measure for arterial stiffness, at baseline and at 12-month follow-up were included.

Opioids for the treatment of chronic non-cancer pain in older people.

Chronic pain occurs in 45-85% of the geriatric population and the need to treat chronic pain is growing substantially. Unfortunately, treatment for chronic pain is not always correctly targeted, which leads to a reduced quality of life, with decreased socialization, depression, sleep disturbances, cognitive impairment, disability and malnutrition. Considering these consequences, healthcare professionals should aim at improving the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain in older persons.

Decreased nocturnal systolic blood pressure fall in older subjects with depression.

Depressed subjects have a two-fold increased risk of CV events than non-depressed ones. Altered blood pressure (BP) circadian profile may be one mechanism underlying this association. We studied 135 elderly subjects (mean age 78+/-6 yrs, range 69- 93; 30 M, 87 F).

Arterial stiffness is an independent risk factor for cognitive impairment in the elderly: a pilot study.

Background: Loss of cognitive function is a common condition in the elderly population. Cognitive impairment is defined as the transitional stage of cognitive decline, between normal aging and early dementia. We tested whether arterial stiffness, evaluated as pulse wave velocity (PWV), is associated with cognitive impairment in older subjects, and whether PWV is increased at a comparable extent in older subjects with cortical or subcortical cerebral lesions when compared with age-matched controls referred for memory deficits.