Barriers for access and utilization of dementia care services in Europe: a systematic review.

Background: Dementia is a group of chronic diseases characterised by cognitive impairment that progressively disrupts daily functioning and requires increasing levels of healthcare, social support, and long-term care. Support for people with dementia can be provided by formal support systems although most of the care process relies upon informal care givers. Despite the availability of formal support systems and healthcare workers, the utilization of dementia care services remains suboptimal.

Technological interventions in European dementia care: a systematic review of acceptance and attitudes among people living with dementia, caregivers, and healthcare workers.

Background: Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative forms of dementia affect 8 million Europeans. Assistive technologies are suggested to reduce the burden of care and improve the quality of life of person living with dementia. Nonetheless, the acceptance and attitudes toward technological interventions pose challenges not only for people living with dementia and caregivers but also for healthcare workers.

Alzheimer's disease and herpes viruses: Current events and perspectives.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a real and current scientific and societal challenge. Alzheimer's disease is characterised by a neurodegenerative neuroinflammatory process, but the etiopathogenetic mechanisms are still unclear. The possible infectious aetiology and potential involvement of Herpes viruses as triggers for the formation of extracellular deposits of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptide (amyloid plaques) and intraneuronal aggregates of hyperphosphorylated and misfold could be a possible explanation.

Measuring cognitive impairment and monitoring cognitive decline in Huntington's disease: a comparison of assessment instruments.

Background: Progressive cognitive decline is an inevitable feature of Huntington's disease (HD) but specific criteria and instruments are still insufficiently developed to reliably classify patients into categories of cognitive severity and to monitor the progression of cognitive impairment.

Methods: We collected data from a cohort of 180 positive gene-carriers: 33 with premanifest HD and 147 with manifest HD. Using a specifically developed gold-standard for cognitive status we classified participants into those with normal cognition, those with mild cognitive impairment, and those with dementia.

Cognitive impairment is associated with gait variability and fall risk in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), gait abnormalities contribute to poor mobility and represent a relevant risk for falls. To date, gait studies in ALS patients have focused on the motor dimension of the disease, underestimating the cognitive aspects.

Methods: Using a wearable gait analysis device, we compared gait patterns in ambulatory ALS patients with mild cognitive impairment (ALS MCI+; n = 18), and without MCI (ALS MCI-; n = 24), and healthy subjects (HS; n = 16) under two conditions: (1) normal gait (single task) and (2) walking while counting backward (dual task).

Corrigendum: A two-year longitudinal study of retinal vascular impairment in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnagi.2022.

Digital Health Service for Identification of Frailty Risk Factors in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: The SUNFRAIL+ Study Protocol.

This article reports the study protocol of a nationwide multicentric study in seven Italian regions aimed at assessing the effectiveness of a digitally supported approach for the early screening of frailty risk factors in community-dwelling older adults. SUNFRAIL+ is a prospective observational cohort study aimed at carrying out a multidimensional assessment of community-dwelling older adults through an IT platform, which allows to connect the items of the SUNFRAIL frailty assessment tool with a cascading multidimensional in-depth assessment of the bio-psycho-social domains of frailty. Seven centers in seven Italian regions will administer the SUNFRAIL questionnaire to 100 older adults.

Assessment Tools of Biopsychosocial Frailty Dimensions in Community-Dwelling Older Adults: A Narrative Review.

Frailty is a complex interplay between several factors, including physiological changes in ageing, multimorbidities, malnutrition, living environment, genetics, and lifestyle. Early screening for frailty risk factors in community-dwelling older people allows for preventive interventions on the clinical and social determinants of frailty, which allows adverse events to be avoided. By conducting a narrative review of the literature employing the International Narrative Systematic Assessment tool, the authors aimed to develop an updated framework for the main measurement tools to assess frailty risks in older adults, paying attention to use in the community and primary care settings.

Innovative approaches to service integration addressing the unmet needs of irritable bowel syndrome patients and new approaches for the needs of IBS patients.

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common multifactorial condition that affects the large intestine and is characterized by chronic and relapsing abdominal pain and altered bowel habit. IBS is due to a combination of genetic, environmental and dietary factors. It's usually a lifelong problem very frustrating to live with and can have a big impact on quality of life, as single-agent therapy ra.

A two-year longitudinal study of retinal vascular impairment in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Objective: To evaluate the relation between retinal vascular impairment and cognitive decline in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) over time.

Methods: Spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and OCT angiography study was performed in aMCI patients over 2 years follow-up and compared to baseline.

Results: Thirty-eight eyes from 19 aMCI patients were evaluated.

Proposal for innovative and integrated approaches to the unmet needs of patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Preliminary Vigour report.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a common multifactorial condition that affects the large intestine and is characterized by chronic and relapsing abdominal pain and altered bowel habit. IBS is due to a combination of genetic, environmental and dietary factors. It's usually a lifelong problem very frustrating to live with and can have a big impact on quality of life, as single-agent therapy rarely relieves bothersome symptoms for all patients.

Alteration of interoceptive sensitivity: expanding the spectrum of behavioural disorders in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Background: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disorder with progressive loss of upper and lower motor neurons. Non-motor-symptoms, such as cognitive, emotional, autonomic, and somatosensory alterations, have been also described. Interoception represents the link between the body and brain, since it refers to the ability to consciously perceive the physical condition of the inner body, including one's heartbeat (i.

Lower Prevalence of Chronic Pain in Manifest Huntington's Disease: A Pilot Observational Study.

Pain is a minor problem compared with other Huntington Disease (HD) symptoms. Nevertheless, in HD it is poorly recognized and underestimated. So far, no study evaluated the presence of chronic pain in HD.

Radial peripapillary vessel density as early biomarker in preperimetric glaucoma and amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

Purpose: To investigate the vessel density (VD) of the radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) plexus in patients affected by preperimetric glaucoma (PPG), amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) and in a healthy control group using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in order to clarify the pathogenetic mechanisms of these neurodegenerative diseases.

Methods: In this prospective study, we studied 54 eyes of 54 patients with PPG, 54 eyes of 54 patients with aMCI and 54 healthy controls. All subjects underwent structural spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD)-OCT to assess the ganglion cell complex (GCC) and the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL).

Arithmetic Word-Problem Solving as Cognitive Marker of Progression in Pre-Manifest and Manifest Huntington's Disease.

Background: Arithmetic word-problem solving depends on the interaction of several cognitive processes that may be affected early in the disease in gene-mutation carriers for Huntington's disease (HD).

Objective: Our goal was to examine the pattern of performance of arithmetic tasks in premanifest and manifest HD, and to examine correlations between arithmetic task performance and other neuropsychological tasks.

Methods: We collected data from a multicenter cohort of 165 HD gene-mutation carriers.

Autonomic disorders and myocardial 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine scintigraphy in Huntington's disease.

Background: Huntington's disease (HD) patients often present with abnormal modulation of blood pressure and heart rate. We investigated whether cardiac autonomic innervation assessed by 123I-metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) imaging is impaired in HD patients, in comparison with controls (Ctrl).

Methods: Fifteen patients (6 F and 9 M) were assessed by the motor section of the Unified HD Rating Scale, the Total Function Capacity, and the scale for outcomes in Parkinson's disease-autonomic (SCOPA-AUT) questionnaire.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy of tears: toward a diagnostic tool for neurodegenerative disease identification.

Significance: A noninvasive method based on surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) of tears was proposed as a support for diagnosing neurodegenerative pathologies, including different forms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this field, timely and reliable discrimination and diagnosis are critical aspects for choosing a valid medical therapy, and new methods are highly required.

Aim: The aim is to evince spectral differences in SERS response of human tears from AD affected, mild cognitive impaired (MCI), and healthy control (Ctr) subjects.

[F]FDG uptake of the normal spinal cord in PET/MR imaging: comparison with PET/CT imaging.

Background: The lack of visualization of the spinal cord hinders the evaluation of [F]Fluoro-deoxy-glucose (FDG) uptake of the spinal cord in PET/CT. By exploiting the capability of MRI to precisely outline the spinal cord, we performed a retrospective study aimed to define normal pattern of spinal cord [F]FDG uptake in PET/MRI.

Methods: Forty-one patients with lymphoma without clinical or MRI signs of spinal cord or bone marrow involvement underwent simultaneous PET and MRI acquisition using Siemens Biograph mMR after injection of 3.

Optical coherence tomography angiography findings in Huntington's disease.

Objectives: To evaluate the retinal and choriocapillaris vascular networks in macular region and the central choroidal thickness (CCT) in patients affected by Huntington disease (HD), using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and enhanced depth imaging spectral-domain OCT (EDI SD-OCT).

Methods: We assessed the vessel density (VD) in superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and choriocapillaris (CC) using OCTA, while CCT was measured by EDI SD-OCT.

Results: Sixteen HD patients (32 eyes) and thirteen healthy controls (26 eyes) were enrolled in this prospective study.