Blood pressure variability and risk of dementia in an elderly cohort, the Three-City Study.

Background: The relationship between blood pressure and dementia is incompletely understood in elderly individuals. Blood pressure variability may have a role in the risk of dementia.

Methods: This investigation was a cohort study of 6506 elderly individuals followed-up for 8 years (1999-2001 through 2008) with assessments at years 2, 4, and 7-8.

[Paquid 2012: illustration and overview].

Paquid (personnes âgées quid) is a population-based cohort specifically designed to study the epidemiology of brain aging and dependency in activities of daily living in elderly people. At baseline screening, 3.777 subjects older than 65 were randomly selected in 75 different parishes from Gironde and Dordogne, and two administrative districts around Bordeaux in South-Western France.

Infrared spectroscopy: a reagent-free method to distinguish Alzheimer's disease patients from normal-aging subjects.

The physiopathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is related to various biochemical mechanisms that may be reflected by changes in plasma components. In the current study, Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy was used to identify these biochemical variations by monitoring spectral differences in the plasma of 40 AD patients compared with those of 112 control subjects. A hierarchical classification in the whole mid-infrared region allowed a clear separation between AD and controls (C) that was optimized by using a restricted spectral range (1480-1428 cm(-1)).

One-year incidence of hyperosmolar states and prognosis in a geriatric acute care unit.

Background: Hyperosmolar syndromes are associated with high mortality rates, yet little is known about their incidence and their prognosis.

Objective: To determine the 1-year incidence of hyperosmolar states and the prognostic factors for in-hospital and 1-year mortality.

Method: A 6-month prospective cohort study was conducted in a 40-bed acute care geriatric unit and included all patients who developed plasma osmolarity of 320 mosm/l or greater.

Delirium symptoms and low dietary intake in older inpatients are independent predictors of institutionalization: a 1-year prospective population-based study.

Objective: To assess the effects of delirium on the institutionalization rate, taking into account geriatric syndromes and nutritional status.

Methods: This population-based study took place in an acute care unit and included participants older than 75 years, arriving from home and later discharged. Confusion Assessment Method (CAM) symptoms were recorded by the nurses within 24 hours after admission and every 3 days.

Prospective audit of diabetes care and outcomes in a group of geriatric French care homes.

Background: In geriatric institutions, diabetes prevalence varies from 10 to 20%. However, little is known about patterns of care and their outcomes. To assess both, an 18-month prospective audit was conducted in 240-bed nursing and 80-bed residential care homes.

[Comprehensive geriatric assessment: a useful tool for prevention of acute situations in the elderly].

Comprehensive geriatric assessment is a useful complement to the standard clinical examination of elderly people. It focuses on a systematic evaluation of functional status, dependency, cognitive functions, psychological status, continence, nutritional status and social way of life, administered by a multidisciplinary team. Standardized test, well-validated in the elderly, are used.

Occupation during life and risk of dementia in French elderly community residents.

Objective: To determine whether principal occupation during life is a risk factor for incident Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, or dementia with parkinsonism.

Methods: This study was carried out from the PAQUID (Personnes Agées QUID) cohort, an epidemiological study on normal and pathological aging after 65 years in the south west of France. At baseline, 2950 non-demented people living at home were identified and re-examined 1, 3, 5, 8, and 10 years later with identical standardised neurological and neuropsychological measures.

Antioxidant defences and oxidative stress markers in erythrocytes and plasma from normally nourished elderly Alzheimer patients.

Objectives: to investigate blood markers of oxidative stress, and enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants in normally nourished elderly people with Alzheimer's disease.

Design: case-control study.

Subjects: twenty patients with Alzheimer's disease and 23 elderly control subjects, living at home, free from disease and not undergoing any treatment known to have a strong influence on blood oxidative stress markers or antioxidant defence systems.

Incidence and predictors of drug-treated diabetes in elderly French subjects. The PAQUID Epidemiological Survey.

Aims: To estimate the incidence and predictors of drug-treated diabetes in elderly subjects.

Methods: The PAQUID epidemiological survey, a population-based study, has followed up 3,777 subjects older than 65 years since 1988. At each visit (baseline, 1, 3, 5 and 8 years), treatment regimen was used to identify new drug-treated diabetic subjects.

[Effects of aging on kidney function and implications for medical practice].

PHYSIOLOGICAL AGING: Anatomical and physiological renal changes occur during normal aging in humans. These changes are different from the renal effects of many diseases frequently linked to aging and which require specific diagnosis, prevention and therapy. Renal aging varies from one patient to another or from one population to another.

Prospective audits of quality of PEM recognition and nutritional support in critically ill elderly patients.

Background And Aims: Undereating is a frequent concern in acute care geriatric settings and is supposed to worsen the outcomes of the underlying diseases, while the quality of nutritional support could be improved.

Methods: Two consecutive and prospective audits (A and B) with team training over a 1 year period investigated the quality of malnutrition recognition and nutritional support and outcomes in immobilized, critically ill elderly subjects.

Results: Audit A included 170 patients (86.

Five-year mortality in elderly French subjects from the PAQUID epidemiologival survey: the burden of diabetes.

We describe the 5-year mortality and its risk factors in a cohort of elderly people with and without known diabetes mellitus. The PAQUID cohort was representative of the population older than 65 living in Gironde, south-west France. Potential mortality risk factors were collected during a baseline evaluation, using a health questionnaire, from 68.