The clinical status and survival in elderly dialysis: example of the oldest region of France.

Background: The number of elderly (≥75 years) patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) has increased markedly, including in the Limousin region, which has the oldest population in France. We retrospectively compared outcomes in elderly and non-elderly ESRD patients who started dialysis during two time periods.

Methods: Baseline clinical characteristics, care, and survival rates were assessed in 557 ESRD patients aged ≥75 and <75 years who started dialysis in 2002-2004 and 2005-2007.

Adverse drug reactions in patients with Alzheimer's disease and related dementia in France: a national multicentre cross-sectional study.

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) occurring in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) or other dementia in France.

Methods: A cross-sectional multicentre study was conducted by the French network of the 31 regional pharmacovigilance centres on a given day. The subjects were selected by random draw to be a representative sample of French patients with dementia: consultations of dementia clinics, nursing-homes, acute and long care geriatric units, rehabilitation care geriatric units.

Potentially inappropriate medications in the elderly: a French consensus panel list.

Objective: To evaluate drug-related problems in the elderly, various lists of potentially inappropriate medications have been published in North America. Unfortunately, these lists are hardly applicable in France. The purpose of this study was to establish a list of inappropriate medications for French elderly using the Delphi method.

Is inappropriate medication use a major cause of adverse drug reactions in the elderly?

Aim: To study the occurrence of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) linked to inappropriate medication (IM) use in elderly people admitted to an acute medical geriatric unit.

Methods: All the elderly people aged > or = 70 years admitted to the acute medical geriatric unit of Limoges University hospital (France) over a 49-month period were included, whatever their medical condition. For all the patients, clinical pharmacologists listed the medications given before admission and identified the possible ADRs.

Impact of hospitalisation in an acute medical geriatric unit on potentially inappropriate medication use.

Background And Objective: Potentially inappropriate medication use is a major safety issue in the elderly and may cause a substantial proportion of drug-related hospital admissions. Hospitalisation could result in a change in the quantity and type of drugs, but its effect on potentially inappropriate drug use is still unknown. The aim of this study was to estimate the potentially inappropriate medication prevalence in patients > or =70 years of age at admission to and at discharge from an acute medical geriatric unit, and to identify the factors associated with no longer being a potentially inappropriate drug user at hospital discharge.

Predicting and preventing adverse drug reactions in the very old.

The size of the elderly population has been increasing steadily for several years. Individuals in this age group often have several concomitant diseases that require treatment with multiple medications. These drugs, for various reasons and especially as a consequence of potential accumulation, may be associated with adverse reactions.

Paraoxonase 1 192/55 gene polymorphisms in Alzheimer's disease.

An esterase, paraoxonase 1 (PON1), protects against organophosphate neurotoxicity and decreases lipoprotein oxidation. Two polymorphisms of PON1 [192 (R or Q) and 55 (M or L)] exist and are associated with coronary artery disease. We have previously shown that serum PON1 activity (PON1a) is lower in vascular dementia (VaD) than in Alzheimer's disease (AD), suggesting that PON1a may distinguish VaD from AD.

Paraoxonase 1 activity: a new vascular marker of dementia?

Paraoxonase 1 (PON1), an A-esterase with peroxidase-like activity present on the surface of HDL, decreases the peroxidation of LDL. Serum PON1 activity (PON1a) decreases with aging and in disorders associated with a high risk of adverse cardiovascular events (acute myocardial infarction, diabetes mellitus, and chronic renal failure). The implication of vascular factors in Alzheimer-type dementia (ATD) is strongly suspected.