How strong is the will-to-live in frail older persons? A survey study in acute geriatric wards and nursing homes in Belgium.

Introduction: Will-to-live is defined as the psychological expression of one's commitment to life and the desire to continue living. It is an important indicator of subjective wellbeing. This study aimed to assess the will-to-live in frail older hospitalized patients and nursing home residents as well as to evaluate its association with physical frailty, tiredness of life, depression and wish-to-die.

Screening for atrial fibrillation in hospitalised geriatric patients.

Objectives: To assess whether daily short-term rhythm strip recordings on top of routine clinical care could increase the atrial fibrillation (AF) detection rate in the hospitalised elderly.

Methods: A hand-held device storing a bipolar ECG during 1 min was used for daily rhythm recording in hospitalised elderly patients.

Results: During 2 months, all patients admitted to the Department of Geriatric Medicine were screened (n=327).

Geriatric syndromes: medical misnomer or progress in geriatrics?

Both in geriatric and internal medicine journals, and in medical textbooks certain (aggregates of) symptoms are labelled as 'geriatric syndromes'. In frail elderly patients a large number of diseases present with well-known and highly prevalent atypical symptoms (e.g.

Secondary prevention of breast cancer in older women.

Periodic mammography is well studied and widely applied as a screening programme to reduce breast cancer-related mortality and morbidity in women aged 50 to 69 years. Despite the fact that age is a major risk factor for breast cancer, no evidence-based data are available on survival benefit of screening in women older than 69 years. The most commonly cited guidelines for screening in breast cancer disagree on the upper age limit of the target population.

Cardiovascular response to graded lower body negative pressure in young and elderly man.

Lower body negative pressure (LBNP) reduces central venous pressure (CVP) and cardiac output. The elderly are reported to have a limited capacity to increase cardiac output by increasing heart rate (HR), are especially dependent on end diastolic volume to maintain stroke volume and therefore should be especially vulnerable to LBNP. The present study compared the effects of LBNP in the young and old.