Controlling nutritional status score and geriatric nutritional risk index as a predictor of mortality and hospitalization risk in hospitalized older adults.

Background: The COntrolling NUTritional Status (CONUT) score and the Global Nutrition Risk Index (GNRI) are screening tools for assessing the risk of malnutrition based on widely available biochemical parameters. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the predictive value of CONUT and GNRI score on 36 months mortality and hospitalization risk in hospitalized older patients.

Methods: Data of 382 patients (196 women, mean age 80.

Interrelations between clinical-psychological features and bone mineral density changes in post-menopausal women undergoing anti-osteoporotic treatment: a two-year follow-up.

Introduction: Psychological features have been bidirectionally associated with osteoporosis, but it is still unclear whether patient's anxiety fluctuations during the anti-osteoporotic treatment can have an impact on bone mineral density (BMD) variation. The aim of this study was to investigate the interrelations between psychological distress features, such as anxiety, depression, health-related QoL (HRQoL) and bone health in women receiving anti-osteoporotic treatment.

Methods: 192 post-menopausal osteoporotic women were treated with alendronate or risedronate according to the standard procedure.

Postprandial Hypotension and Impaired Postprandial Sustained and Selective Attention in Older Inpatients: Is There a Link?

Objectives: The study aimed to investigate the prevalence of postprandial hypotension (PPH) in older inpatients, to verify the overall postprandial behavior of blood pressure and attentional performances, and to explore the overall associations between blood pressure (including PPH) and attentional performances. Eventually, we aimed to investigate differences on PPH, blood pressure values and attentional performances based on the subjects' frailty status.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Early Changes of VEGF Levels After Zoledronic Acid in Women With Postmenopausal Osteoporosis: A Potential Role of Vitamin D.

Zoledronic acid (Zol) is a widely used intravenous aminobisphosphonate to treat both benign and malignant skeletal diseases, and bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ) is a serious side effect whose pathophysiology remains poorly understood. Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) has been recognized to mediate BRONJ in cancer patients undergoing Zol treatment, however data on VEGF are lacking in patients with osteoporosis. Increasing evidences demonstrate that vitamin D influences VEGF levels.

The Interplay between Anticholinergic Burden and Anemia in Relation to 1-Year Mortality among Older Patients Discharged from Acute Care Hospitals.

Anticholinergic burden (ACB) and anemia were found associated with an increased risk of death among older patients. Additionally, anticholinergic medications may contribute to the development of anemia. Therefore, we aimed at investigating the prognostic interplay of ACB and anemia among older patients discharged from hospital.

Prevalence of obesity and diabetes in older people with sarcopenia defined according to EWGSOP2 and FNHI criteria.

Background: Although the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity is increasing, nowadays a universally accepted definition still does not exist. Because, this clinical entity is defined as the combination of obesity and sarcopenia, the diagnosis appears to be strictly linked to criteria used for sarcopenia and the available prevalence data are not uniform. To investigate the prevalence of sarcopenic obesity in older persons according to EWGSOP2 and FNIH criteria.

Anxiety Levels Predict Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women Undergoing Oral Bisphosphonates: A Two-Year Follow-Up.

Clinical psychological factors may predict medical diseases. Anxiety level has been associated with osteoporosis, but its role on bone mineral density (BMD) change is still unknown. This study aimed to investigate the association between anxiety levels and both adherence and treatment response to oral bisphosphonates (BPs) in postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Prognostic interplay of kidney function with sarcopenia, anemia, disability and cognitive impairment. The GLISTEN study.

Background: Interactions between chronic kidney disease (CKD) and several comorbidities may potentially affect prognosis of older hospitalized patients. This study aims at evaluating the prognostic interactions between estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), anemia, sarcopenia, functional and cognitive dysfunction, and 3-year mortality among older patients discharged from acute care hospitals.

Methods: Our series consisted of 504 older adults enrolled in a multicenter observational study carried out in twelve Acute Geriatric and Internal Medicine wards throughout Italy.

Rates of hypomagnesemia and hypermagnesemia in medical settings.

Magnesium (Mg) is critically involved in the pathophysiology of multiple human diseases; nevertheless, Mg disorders are often poorly considered in the clinical practice. To update the prevalence and incidence of hypomagnesemia and hypermagnesemia in a real-life scenario, which better represents clinical practice, we analyzed data from 12,696 patients whose Mg serum levels were measured from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2017 at our University Hospital. Hypomagnesemia and hypermagnesemia were defined by Mg concentrations <1.

Vitamin D Boosts Alendronate Tail Effect on Bone Mineral Density in Postmenopausal Women with Osteoporosis.

Vitamin D modulates bisphosphonate (BP) efficacy, but its contribution to bone mineral density (BMD) after BP discontinuation is not known. To address this topic, we performed a retrospective analysis of postmenopausal women exposed to alendronate (ALN) to treat osteoporosis who regularly continued the supplementation of cholecalciferol or calcifediol at recommended doses. In the ninety-six recruited women (age 61.

A Clinical Bridge between Family Caregivers and Older Adults: The Contribution of Patients' Frailty and Optimism on Caregiver Burden.

The association between caregiver burden and the physical frailty of older adults has been the object of previous studies. The contribution of patients' dispositional optimism on caregiver burden is a poorly investigated topic. The present study aimed at investigating whether older adults' multidimensional frailty and optimism might contribute to the burden of their family caregivers.

Association between cognitive reserve dimensions and frailty among older adults: A structured narrative review.

Frailty is a broadly investigated geriatric condition, which is characterized by an increased vulnerability to stressors. It represents an extremely relevant public health issue, increasingly conceptualized in a multidimensional perspective. The concept of cognitive reserve (CR), as originally conceptualized by Stern, has been developed in the past decades as a potential factor able to determine individual differences in cognitive vulnerability and trajectories occurring with aging.

Sclerostin and Vascular Pathophysiology.

There is cumulating evidence for a contribution of Wnt signaling pathways in multiple processes involved in atherosclerosis and vascular aging. Wnt signaling plays a role in endothelial dysfunction, in the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) and intimal thickening. Moreover, it interferes with inflammation processes, monocyte adhesion and migration, as well as with foam cell formation and vascular calcification progression.

Frailty and COVID-19: A Systematic Scoping Review.

Older people have paid a huge toll in terms of mortality during the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic. Frailty may have contributed to the vulnerability of older people to more severe clinical presentation. We aimed at reviewing available evidence about frailty and COVID-19.

Comparing EWGSOP2 and FNIH Sarcopenia Definitions: Agreement and 3-Year Survival Prognostic Value in Older Hospitalized Adults: The GLISTEN Study.

Background: Sarcopenia is common among older hospitalized adults but estimates vary according to definitions used. Aims of this study were to investigate the agreement between the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP2) and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) Sarcopenia Project criteria and to compare the predictive value of both definitions for 3-year mortality.

Methods: Analysis was performed on 610 older hospitalized patients enrolled in the GLISTEN study.

Magnesium and elderly patient: the explored paths and the ones to be explored: a review.

Magnesium is an essential bivalent cation. Its fine balance in human organism is extremely important and is involved in a wide range of functions. We need to maintain its amount in human organism within range considered as physiological.

Polypharmacy and sarcopenia in hospitalized older patients: results of the GLISTEN study.

Background: Recently the Berlin Aging Study II (BASE-II) showed that polypharmacy is associated with clinically relevant sarcopenia among community-dwelling older persons. Here we report findings from the GLISTEN study about the association of polypharmacy with sarcopenia among older medical in-patients.

Methods: The GLISTEN study investigated prevalence and clinical correlates of sarcopenia in older patients admitted to geriatric and internal medicine acute care wards of 12 Italian hospitals.

Association between hospitalization-related outcomes, dynapenia and body mass index: The Glisten Study.

Objective: To compare the prognostic value of dynapenia, as evaluated by handgrip, and body mass index (BMI) on length of stay (LOS), days of bed rest, and other hospitalization-related outcomes in a population of older adults admitted to 12 italian acute care divisions.

Methods: Data on age, weight, BMI, comorbidities, ADL, physical activity level, muscle strength, were recorded at hospital admission. LOS, days of bed rest, intrahospital falls, and discharge destination were also recorded during the hospitalization.

Anticholinergic burden and 1-year mortality among older patients discharged from acute care hospital.

Aim: The association between anticholinergic burden and mortality is controversial. We aimed to investigate whether the anticholinergic cognitive burden (ACB) score predicts 1-year mortality in older patients discharged from acute care hospitals.

Methods: Our series consisted of 807 hospitalized patients aged ≥65 years.

Adverse Events of Proton Pump Inhibitors: Potential Mechanisms.

Objective: We aimed at summarizing current evidence about mechanisms for potentially harmful effects of Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPIs).

Methods: A Pubmed search was performed, and 207 studies concerning the relationship between use of PPIs and cardiovascular diseases, kidney impairment, nutritional disorders, fractures, infections, functional decline, and mortality were selected and reviewed.

Results: PPIs may cause potentially harmful effects by several mechanisms, including endothelial dysfunction, hypomagnesemia, drug interactions, reduced absorption of selected nutrients, increased gastric microbiota and small intestine bacterial overgrowth, reduced immune response, tubular-interstitial inflammation, increased bone turnover, accumulation of amyloid in the brain.

The association between delirium and sarcopenia in older adult patients admitted to acute geriatrics units: Results from the GLISTEN multicenter observational study.

Background & Aims: To date, studies assessing the relationship between sarcopenia and delirium, two of the most common geriatric syndromes, are lacking. We sought to explore this association by investigating the co-occurrence of these two conditions and the independent association between them in a population of hospitalized older adults.

Methods: Cross-sectional multicenter analysis of older adults consecutively admitted to 12 acute geriatric units (AGUs).

The incidence of sarcopenia among hospitalized older patients: results from the Glisten study.

Background: New evidence is emerging on the importance of lean body mass during periods of illness and recovery. The preservation of lean body mass during such periods of intense stress impacts both patient and treatment outcomes. However, data concerning the incidence of sarcopenia among older people during hospitalization are scarce.

Prevalence and Clinical Correlates of Sarcopenia, Identified According to the EWGSOP Definition and Diagnostic Algorithm, in Hospitalized Older People: The GLISTEN Study.

Background: Prevalence of sarcopenia is substantial in most geriatrics settings, but estimates vary greatly across studies because of difference in population characteristics, diagnostic criteria, and methods used to assess muscle mass, muscle strength, and physical performance. We investigated the feasibility of the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) algorithm assessment in hospitalized older adults and analyzed prevalence and clinical correlates of sarcopenia.

Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of 655 participants enrolled in a multicenter observational study of older adults admitted to 12 acute hospital wards in Italy.