Randomized controlled trials for Alzheimer disease and Parkinson disease.

The continuous increase in elderly and oldest-old population, and subsequent rise in prevalence of chronic neurological diseases like Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD), are a major challenge for healthcare systems. These two conditions are the most prevalent neurodegenerative diseases in older persons and physicians should engage treatment for these patients. In this field, Randomized Clinical Trials (RCTs) specifically focused on elderly populations are still lacking.

Thyroid cancer incidence by histological type and related variants in a mildly iodine-deficient area of Northern Italy, 1998 to 2009.

Background: The incidence of thyroid cancer is increasing in several countries. However, the issue of whether this applies to all different histological types and related variants is poorly addressed.

Methods: All incident thyroid cancers diagnosed between 1998 and 2009 in a mildly iodine-deficient area in northern Italy were derived from a population-based tumor registry.

Subclinical thyroid disease in elderly subjects.

Subclinical thyroid disease (STD) is defined as circulating concentrations of free T4 and free T3 within their respective reference ranges in the presence of abnormal circulating concentrations of TSH. SCD is being diagnosed more frequently in clinical practice and is reported to be more prevalent in elderly as compared to young or adult subjects. The clinical impact of subclinical thyroid dysfunction is still a matter of debate, although it has been associated with various negative clinical outcomes, such as increased cardiovascular risk, reduction in bone density, decline in cognitive function, and increased risk of overt thyroid dysfunction.