Publications by authors named "Emanuele Villani"
Article Synopsis
- * Approximately 17.4% of residents used at least one strong anticholinergic medication, with significant variation across countries (from 1.3% in China to 27.1% in Italy).
- * The findings indicated higher usage among residents with cognitive impairment and those classified as most frail, suggesting the need for targeted deprescribing to minimize medication-related risks.
Article Synopsis
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the leading cause of death and illness in Western countries, with differences in how they affect men and women.
- Hormonal factors such as the menstrual cycle and menopause in women, along with variations in gut microbiota (GM) composition between sexes, may play a role in these differences.
- The review explores how GM and its metabolites influence CVD and kidney disorders, aiming to uncover the mechanisms behind sex disparities in cardiovascular health and potential treatment options.
Background: Individuals with Down syndrome (DS) experience premature aging. Whether accelerated aging involves changes in body composition parameters and is associated with early development of sarcopenia is unclear.
Aims: To compare parameters of body composition and the prevalence of sarcopenia between adults with DS and the general population.
Neurological disorders are a large and heterogeneous field of research that can be tackled through a variety of approaches, ranging from epidemiology to molecular biology, through clinical, biostatistical, and laboratory experiments [...
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Frailty, disability, and polypharmacy are prevalent in nursing home (NH) residents, often co-occurring with multimorbidity. There may be a complex interplay among them in terms of outcomes such as mortality. Aims of the study were to (i) assess whether nursing home residents with polypharmacy (5-9 medications) or hyperpolypharmacy (≥10 drugs), have an increased risk of death and (ii) whether any association is modified by the co-presence of frailty or disability.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHead trauma and delirium are two common conditions in the elderly population. They both carry a heavy burden in terms of mortality and morbidity and are associated with one another through several environmental and clinical factors, such as comorbidities, age, and sex. One factor that may play a role in both these conditions is inflammation, which might also represent a link between them.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Up to 26% of residents in nursing homes (NHs) are affected by cancer. Their care represents a challenge, because NHs are not usually considered a setting focused on oncologic management and care. The aim of this paper is to describe socio-demographic and clinical features of patients with cancer residing in European NHs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Frailty is a significant issue among older adults with ischemic heart disease (IHD), leading to worse health outcomes and higher mortality rates, but a systematic review examining their relationship has been lacking.
- In a comprehensive analysis of 37 studies, it was found that the prevalence of IHD in frail individuals is about 17%, while frailty occurs in about 19% of those with IHD, indicating a notable overlap.
- The study emphasizes the importance of recognizing frailty in older IHD patients for tailored cardiovascular care and calls for more research into the underlying connections between the two conditions.
Background: Population of oldest old will grow dramatically in the next future and cancer, physiologically related to aging, will be very prevalent among them. Lack of evidence is a huge problem to manage cancer in oldest old and will be more and more in the next years.
Aims: Our purpose was to investigate the characteristics of a population of oldest old patients with cancer treated in the Radiation Oncology Unit of Fondazione Policlinico A.
Background: 1.5-8% of older adults live in nursing homes (NHs), presenting a high prevalence of frailty and polypharmacy.
Aims: To investigate the association of frailty with polypharmacy and drug prescription patterns in a sample of European Nursing Home (NH) residents.
Article Synopsis
- People with Down Syndrome (DS) often experience various physical and mental health issues, including early-onset dementia, which may have been aggravated by the social isolation measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- A clinical study assessed the impact of lockdown on 46 adults with DS, using standardized assessments to evaluate changes in psychosocial, cognitive, and functional well-being before and after lockdown.
- Findings indicated that while symptoms of depression and social withdrawal worsened post-lockdown, there was a noted improvement in aggressive behavior, highlighting the complex effects of isolation on this demographic.
Background: Among the unknowns posed by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak, the role of biological sex to explain disease susceptibility and progression is still a matter of debate, with limited sex-disaggregated data available.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed to assess if sex differences exist in the clinical manifestations and transitions of care among hospitalized individuals dying with laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection in Italy (February 27-June 11, 2020). Clinical characteristics and the times from symptoms' onset to admission, nasopharyngeal swab, and death were compared between sexes.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the respiratory disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 and is characterized by clinical manifestations ranging from mild, flu-like symptoms to severe respiratory insufficiency and multi-organ failure. Patients with more severe symptoms may require intensive care treatments and face a high mortality risk. Also, thrombotic complications such as pulmonary embolisms and disseminated intravascular coagulation are frequent in these patients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Older adults are a complex population, at risk of adverse events during and after hospital stay.
Aim: To investigate the association of walking speed (WS) and grip strength (GS) with adverse outcomes, during and after hospitalization, among older individuals admitted to acute care wards.
Methods: Multicentre observational study including 1123 adults aged ≥ 65 years admitted to acute wards in Italy.
Article Synopsis
- The study examines the impact of COVID-19 on individuals with Down syndrome (DS) who died in Italian hospitals, highlighting their higher risk due to health complications.
- Researchers analyzed data from 3,438 COVID-19-related deaths and found that those with DS were significantly younger and more likely to experience severe comorbidities like autoimmune diseases and obesity.
- The findings emphasize the need for targeted strategies to protect individuals with DS from severe COVID-19 outcomes due to their increased vulnerability.
Data on clinical characteristics of adults with Down syndrome (DS) are limited and the clinical phenotype of these persons is poorly described. This study aimed to describe the occurrence of chronic diseases and pattern of medication use in a population of adults with DS. Participants were 421 community dwelling adults with DS, aged 18 years or older.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Elderly patients are often excluded from advanced treatments owing to clinical complexity or frailty. Magnetic resonance-guided radiotherapy (MRgRT) represents a new frontier of radiotherapy delivery that can play an important role in the management of these patients.
Aim: To assess MRgRT feasibility in elderly patients, describe their compliance with this treatment, and provide a scoring system for elderly patient selection.
Objective: Bevacizumab maintenance following platinum-based chemotherapy is an effective treatment for epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC), both in primary and recurrent disease. Our aim was to identify criteria to select elderly patients who can safely benefit from bevacizumab addition.
Methods: This is a case-control study on patients with primary or recurrent EOC who received platinum-based chemotherapy plus bevacizumab, between January 2015 and December 2016.
Objectives: To assess 1-year incidence and factors related to deprescribing in nursing home (NH) residents in Europe.
Design: Longitudinal multicenter cohort study based on data from the Services and Health for Elderly in Long TERm care (SHELTER) study.
Setting: NHs in Europe and Israel.
Background: People with Down syndrome (DS) experience premature aging. Whether this accelerated aging also involves early declines in muscle mass, strength and physical performance is presently unclear. The present study investigated the prevalence of sarcopenia parameters in adults with DS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: To investigate: (1) the cross-sectional association between polypharmacy, hyperpolypharmacy and presence of prefrailty or frailty; (2) the risk of incident prefrailty or frailty in persons with polypharmacy, and vice versa.
Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was performed according to PRISMA guidelines. We searched PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase from 01/01/1998 to 5/2/2018.
Administration of Enalapril Started Late in Life Attenuates Hypertrophy and Oxidative Stress Burden, Increases Mitochondrial Mass, and Modulates Mitochondrial Quality Control Signaling in the Rat Heart.
Biomolecules
December 2018
Mitochondrial dysfunction is a relevant mechanism in cardiac aging. Here, we investigated the effects of late-life enalapril administration at a non-antihypertensive dose on mitochondrial genomic stability, oxidative damage, and mitochondrial quality control (MQC) signaling in the hearts of aged rats. The protein expression of selected mediators (i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAtrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac arrhythmia and its prevalence increases with age. There is a significant correlation between frailty, morbidity and mortality in elderly patients with cardiovascular disease, but the relation between AF and frailty is still under debate. The aim of this study is to systematically review evidence on the association between AF and frailty.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: To test the association between polypharmacy and 1-year change in physical and cognitive function among nursing home (NH) residents.
Design: Longitudinal multicenter cohort study based on data from the Services and Health for Elderly in Long TERm care (SHELTER) study.
Setting: NH in Europe (n = 50) and Israel (n = 7).