Mortality and COVID Infection: Predictors of Mortality 10 Months after Discharge.

Background: The long-term survival of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and the factors associated with poorer survival months after infection are not well understood. The aims of the present study were to analyze the overall mortality 10 months after admission.

Methods: 762 patients with COVID-19 disease were included.

Sarcopenic Obesity in People with Alcoholic Use Disorder: Relation with Inflammation, Vascular Risk Factors and Serum Vitamin D Levels.

In recent years, the terms sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, and osteosarcopenic obesity (OSO) were coined to define a situation in elderly people strongly associated with frailty and increased mortality. Possibly, a complex interplay of several hormones and cytokines are involved in its development. Ongoing research detected that OSO may occur at any age and in several conditions.

Sclerostin, vascular risk factors, and brain atrophy in excessive drinkers.

Objective: Heavy alcohol consumption causes several organic complications, including vessel wall calcification. Vascular damage may be involved in the development of brain atrophy and cognitive impairment. Recently, sclerostin (whose levels may be altered in alcoholics) has emerged as a major vascular risk factor.

Prognostic value of muscle mass assessed by DEXA in elderly hospitalized patients.

Objectives: To analyze the prognostic value of lean mass measured by DEXA and to compare it with lean muscle mass assessed by anthropometrics, calf circumference, subjective assessment and with physical muscle function tests in elderly hospitalized patients.

Methods: We study 187 hospitalized patients aged ≥65 years. We assessed nutrition by anthropometrics, mid arm muscle area, triceps skinfold and calf circumference, by subjective nutritional assessment and by DEXA, lean and fat mass and bone mineral density (BMD); muscle function by handgrip strength, gait speed, standing balance and stand-up test; disability and activities of daily living and the clinical frailty score; and comorbidity by Charlson index.

Prognostic value of physical function tests and muscle mass in elderly hospitalized patients. A prospective observational study.

Aim: To determine the prognostic value for mortality of physical function tests, muscle mass loss, disability and frailty in elderly hospitalized patients.

Methods: We prospectively included 298 hospitalized patients aged >60 years (152 men and 146 women). We assessed comorbidity using the Charlson Comorbidity Index; nutrition by body mass index, midarm muscle area and subjective nutritional score; physical muscle function by handgrip strength, gait speed, standing balance and stand up test; disability using the Barthel test and activities of daily living; frailty by the clinical frailty scale and Fried frailty index; and cognitive impairment by the Pfeiffer test.

[Prognostic value of serum homocysteine levels in elderly hospitalized patients].

Background And Objectives: Increased serum homocysteine levels are related to vascular disease and increased mortality. The decrease of homocysteine is also associated with a worse prognosis in patients on hemodialysis; however, this relationship has not been well studied in other patients. Our goal is to study the prognosis of increased and decreased serum homocysteine levels in elderly patients admitted to a general internal medicine unit.

Prognostic value of physical function tests: hand grip strength and six-minute walking test in elderly hospitalized patients.

To discern if physical function test are better mortality predictors than muscle mass in elderly hospitalized patients, we analyzed the prognostic value of muscle mass malnutrition and compared it with physical muscle function tests, including the six-minute walking test (6 MWT) and hand grip strength. We included the ankle brachial index (ABI) to assess arterial disease, related to muscle atrophy due to hypoperfusion. We also analyzed the relationship of ABI with malnutrition, physical function tests and survival.

Factors involved in the paradox of reverse epidemiology.

Background & Aims: The hypothesis of reverse epidemiology holds that some cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, hypercholesterolemia and hypertension, in the elderly or in some chronic diseases are not harmful but permit better survival. However, this phenomenon is controversial and the underlying reasons are poorly understood.

Objective: To search for factors simultaneously linked to reverse epidemiology and to short or long term survival.