Gait disorders are associated with non-cardiovascular falls in elderly people: a preliminary study.

Background: The association between unexplained falls and cardiovascular causes is increasingly recognized. Neurally mediated cardiovascular disorders and hypotensive syndromes are found in almost 20 percent of the patients with unexplained falls. However, the approach to these patients remains unclear.

Gait velocity as a single predictor of adverse events in healthy seniors aged 75 years and older.

Purpose: Although gait velocity (GV) measurement could predict poor outcomes, few studies regarding its usefulness as a single test in well functioning elderly persons have been pursued. The aim of this study was to asses whether GV could be sufficient to predict adverse events such as hospitalization for any cause, requirement for a caregiver, nursing home placement, falls, fractures, or death in healthy elderly persons.

Methods: Ours was a cohort study comprising 102 well functioning participants aged 75 and older.

Is collectionism a diagnostic clue for Diogenes syndrome?

Background: Diogenes syndrome (DS) is characterized by extreme self-neglect, domestic squalor, and social withdrawal. Despite having been described decades ago, it is still difficult to persue a correct diagnosis in primary care clinics.

Methods: This paper reports a case of an elderly man with extreme self neglect and an abnormal collecting pattern whose condition remained undetected for many years.

Health care for older persons in Argentina: a country profile.

Argentina is a large country situated at the southern end of the Americas. It is highly urbanized, and almost one-third of the population lives in the capital city and its surrounding area (Buenos Aires). The population is composed of heterogeneous groups, formed primarily by descendants of European immigration who constitute 85% of the inhabitants.

[Polymyalgia rheumatica revisited].

Polymyalgia rheumatica is an inflammatory disorder that usually affects persons over the age of 50 causing proximal muscle pain and stiffness, and an elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Although increasingly recognized in this age group, it remains a diagnosis of exclusion and although several diagnostic criteria have been proposed, none has been clearly accepted. While polymyalgia rheumatica is associated with giant cell arteritis, obtaining a temporal artery biopsy is not recommended in patients with polymyalgia rheumatica without symptoms of giant cell arteritis.