Predicting successful ageing among older adults seems possible even as far as two decades ahead.

Background: Successful ageing is the term often used for depicting exceptional ageing and can be measured with multidimensional models including physical, psychological and social wellbeing. The aim of this study was to test multidimensional successful ageing models to investigate whether these models can predict successful ageing, and which individual subcomponents included in the models are most significantly associated with successful ageing.

Methods: Successful ageing was defined as the ability to live at home without daily care at the age of 84 years or over.

New reference limits for cardiac troponin T and N-terminal b-type natriuretic propeptide in elders.

Background And Aims: Our aim was to define reference limits for cardiac troponin T (cTnT) and N-terminal pro B-type natriuretic peptide (proBNP) that would better reflect their concentrations in older people. In addition, the incidence of acute myocardial infarctions (AMIs) was studied using these reference limits in an older population with and without previous heart diseases.

Materials And Methods: A population-based study with a ten-year follow-up.

Re-examination of successful agers with lower biological than chronological age still after a 20-year follow-up period.

Background: Successful ageing is the term often used for depicting exceptional ageing but a uniform definition is lacking. The aim was to re-examine and describe the successful agers living at home at the age of 84 years or over after a 20-year follow-up. The purpose was also to identify possible factors leading to their successful ageing.

A novel easy-to-use index to predict institutionalization and death in older population - a 10-year population-based follow-up study.

Background: Various indexes have been developed to estimate the risk for mortality, institutionalization, and other adverse outcomes for older people. Most indexes are based on a large number of clinical or laboratory parameters. An index based on only a few parameters would be more practical to use in every-day clinical practice.

Ceramides and Phosphatidylcholines Associate with Cardiovascular Diseases in the Elderly.

Background: The ceramide- and phospholipid-based cardiovascular risk score (CERT2) has been found to predict the risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, especially cardiovascular mortality. In the present study, our aim was to estimate the predictive ability of CERT2 for mortality of CVD, coronary artery disease (CAD), and stroke in the elderly and to compare these results with those of conventional lipids.

Methods: We conducted a prospective study with an 18-year follow-up period that included a total of 1260 participants ages ≥64 years.

Chronic conditions and multimorbidity associated with institutionalization among Finnish community-dwelling older people: an 18-year population-based follow-up study.

Purpose: The ageing population is increasingly multimorbid. This challenges health care and elderly services as multimorbidity is associated with institutionalization. Especially dementia increases with age and is the main risk factor for institutionalization.

Subjective and objective health predicting mortality and institutionalization: an 18-year population-based follow-up study among community-dwelling Finnish older adults.

Background: Objective health measures, such as registered illnesses or frailty, predict mortality and institutionalization in older adults. Also, self-reported assessment of health by simple self-rated health (SRH) has been shown to predict mortality and institutionalization. The aim of this study was to assess the association of objective and subjective health with mortality and institutionalization in Finnish community-dwelling older adults.

A practical laboratory index to predict institutionalization and mortality - an 18-year population-based follow-up study.

Background: Previously, several indexes based on a large number of clinical and laboratory tests to predict mortality and frailty have been produced. However, there is still a need for an easily applicable screening tool for every-day clinical practice.

Methods: A prospective study with 10- and 18-year follow-ups.

Frailty, walking ability and self-rated health in predicting institutionalization: an 18-year follow-up study among Finnish community-dwelling older people.

Background: In clinical practice, there is a need for an instrument to screen older people at risk of institutionalization.

Aims: To analyze the association of frailty, walking-ability and self-rated health (SRH) with institutionalization in Finnish community-dwelling older people.

Methods: In this prospective study with 10- and 18-year follow-ups, frailty was assessed using FRAIL Scale (FS) (n = 1087), Frailty Index (FI) (n = 1061) and PRISMA-7 (n = 1055).

Frailty and mortality: an 18-year follow-up study among Finnish community-dwelling older people.

Background: There is a lack of agreement about applicable instrument to screen frailty in clinical settings.

Aims: To analyze the association between frailty and mortality in Finnish community-dwelling older people.

Methods: This was a prospective study with 10- and 18-year follow-ups.

Gender-specific change in leptin concentrations during long-term CPAP therapy.

Purpose: Nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) alleviates sleepiness in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome (OSAS), but part of OSAS patients keep gaining weight. Leptin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) interact with energy balance, and CPAP therapy has been suggested to influence these endocrine factors. We hypothesised that leptin would decrease during long-term CPAP therapy, and weight gain would associate with OSAS severity, lower CPAP adherence, lower IGF-1, and leptin concentrations.

Biomarkers of kidney function and prediction of death from cardiovascular and other causes in the elderly: A 9-year follow-up study.

Background: Cystatin C is claimed to be superior to creatinine-based estimates of glomerular filtration rate (eGFRcr). The purpose of the study is to analyze whether cystatin C, creatinine, and/or estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR) predicted cardiovascular and/or non-cardiovascular deaths among Finnish elderly.

Methods: Hazard ratios (HR) of cystatin C, creatinine and eGFRs for cardiovascular and non-cardiovascular deaths.

Detection of Group A Streptococcus from Pharyngeal Swab Samples by Bacterial Culture Is Challenged by a Novel mariPOC Point-of-Care Test.

mariPOC is a novel point-of-care test system for rapid detection of respiratory tract infections. We compared the performance of the mariPOC test to that of bacterial culture for detecting group A streptococcus (GAS) in 219 pharyngitis patients (ages 1-64 years) and 109 healthy asymptomatic controls (ages 19-69 years). In addition, 42 patient samples were analyzed by quantitative PCR (qPCR).

High sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP), cardiovascular events and mortality in the aged: a prospective 9-year follow-up study.

Objective: The clinical utility of application of hsCRP categorization and the association of hsCRP with vascular disease (VD) events are less studied among the aged. This study investigated whether an elevated hsCRP has an additive effect on conventional vascular risk factors in predicting cardiovascular morbidity and all-cause mortality among the aged.

Methods And Results: a prospective population-based study with a 9-year follow-up among persons aged ≥64 and without VD and C-reactive protein (CRP)<10mg/L at baseline (n=771).

Sex hormones and the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A 9-year follow up among elderly men in Finland.

Aim: To analyze whether sex hormone levels predict the incidence of type2 diabetes among elderly Finnish men.

Methods: This was a prospective population-based study, with a 9-year follow up period. The study population in the municipality of Lieto, Finland, consisted of elderly (age ≥64 years) men free of type 2 diabetes at baseline in 1998-1999 (n = 430).

Does high sensitive CRP improve cardiovascular risk prediction in metabolic syndrome among the aged?

Objectives: To analyze whether an elevated level of high hsCRP has an additive effect on metabolic syndrome (MetS) in predicting future cardiovascular events (CVEs) as well as on all-cause mortality among the aged subjects.

Design: A prospective, population-based study with a 9-year follow-up. The study population consisted of persons aged 64 and above in 1998-99 without vascular disease and CRP less than 10 mg/l at baseline (n = 733).

Circulating oxidised LDL lipids, when proportioned to HDL-c, emerged as a risk factor of all-cause mortality in a population-based survival study.

Background And Objective: the data concerning the predictive role of oxidised LDL (ox-LDL) in all-cause mortality are scarce. We investigated whether circulating ox-LDL would stand out as a risk factor of total mortality in the elderly. Study subjects, design and methods: a total of 1,260 elderly inhabitants (533 men, 727 women) aged 64 years or more from Lieto, South-Western Finland participated the study in 1998-99.

Metabolic syndrome defined by modified International Diabetes Federation criteria and type 2 diabetes mellitus risk: a 9-year follow-up among the aged in Finland.

The aim was to analyse the relationship between metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus risk among the aged. This was a prospective population-based study, with a 9-year follow-up. All subjects of the municipality of Lieto in Finland aged ≥64 in 1998-1999 with no type 2 diabetes mellitus at baseline (n=1117) were included.

The temporal relationship between growth hormone and slow wave sleep is weaker after menopause.

Objective: To study the temporal association between growth hormone (GH) and slow wave sleep (SWS) in middle-aged women.

Methods: Seventeen premenopausal and 18 postmenopausal women were studied using all-night polygraphic sleep recordings and blood sampling at 20-min intervals. The postmenopausal women were re-studied after six months on hormone therapy (HT) according to a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled protocol.

Endogenous testosterone and brachial artery endothelial function in middle-aged men with symptoms of late-onset hypogonadism.

In aging men, serum endogenous testosterone is inversely associated with common carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) and directly with beneficial plasma lipid levels; however, the relationship to endothelial function is poorly characterized. We examined the association between serum testosterone and endothelium-dependent brachial artery flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) in middle-aged to elderly men. A group of 83 men aged 40?69 years (mean 55.

Metabolic syndrome and vascular risk: a 9-year follow-up among the aged in Finland.

The aim was to analyze the relationship between metabolic syndrome (MetS) and vascular risk among the aged. A prospective population-based study, with a 9-year follow-up. All subjects of the municipality of Lieto in Finland aged ≥64 in 1998-99 participated (n = 1183).

Blood cell and iron status analytes of preterm and full-term infants from 20 weeks onwards during the first year of life.

Background: The goal of this study was to evaluate the dynamics of blood cell and iron status laboratory analytes in preterm and full-term infants during the first year of life.

Methods: This was a prospective study of 100 preterm and 50 full-term infants. Preterm infants received iron supplementation beginning at 3 weeks of age.

Smoking and low serum testosterone associates with high concentration of oxidized LDL.

Background: The interplay between smoking, oxidized low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (ox-LDL) and gonadal hormones has been scarcely investigated.

Aim: To investigate associations in ox-LDL and gonadal hormones in smokers and non-smokers

Methods: Participants (n=164) were obtained from a population cohort of Finnish men aged 40-70 years. The subjects answered a detailed questionnaire on their health behaviour, medication, diseases, and different symptoms, and the hormonal and lipid profiles were measured.

Hematological parameters in preterm infants from birth to 16 weeks of age with reference to iron balance.

Background: The objective of this study was to describe the natural kinetics of serum soluble transferrin receptor (S-TfR), ferritin and reticulocyte indices in preterm neonates, and to find out whether these analytes relate to hematocrit (Hct) level in determining the need for red cell (RBC) transfusions.

Methods: During a 2-year period, 100 preterm neonates were recruited in a tertiary level neonatal intensive care unit. Inclusion criteria were gestational age < or =34 weeks or birth weight <2000 g.