Metabolic syndrome and cognition in patients with manifest atherosclerotic disease: the SMART study.

Background: It is unclear whether the metabolic syndrome (MetS) increases risk of cognitive dysfunction beyond the level expected from its individual components. We examined the association of MetS with cognitive dysfunction and assessed whether MetS increased risk of cognitive dysfunction more than that of the sum of its individual components.

Methods: Data on 823 participants were used from the SMART-study, a cohort study among patients with atherosclerotic disease.

A long-term prospective study of the natural course of sporadic adult-onset lower motor neuron syndromes.

Objective: To determine the natural course of sporadic adult-onset lower motor neuron syndrome in a long-term prospective study of patients with the syndrome.

Design: Inception cohort with a follow-up of 72 months.

Setting: Three university hospitals in the Netherlands (referral centers for neuromuscular diseases).

Fish consumption, n-3 fatty acids, and subsequent 5-y cognitive decline in elderly men: the Zutphen Elderly Study.

Background: Indications have been seen of a protective effect of fish consumption and the intake of n-3 fatty acids on cognitive decline. However, studies are scarce and results inconsistent.

Objective: The objective of the study was to examine the associations between fish consumption, the intake of the n-3 fatty acids eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) from fish and other foods, and subsequent 5-y cognitive decline.

Expected and unexpected gallstones in primary care.

Objective: The aim of this prospective cohort study was to assess the differences in signs and symptoms of primary-care patients with expected and those with unexpected gallstones referred for upper abdominal ultrasound (US).

Material And Methods: A total of 430 patients were referred by 76 general practitioners (GPs) for abdominal US to one of the three participating hospitals in The Netherlands. All GPs were asked to complete a standardized questionnaire before and after abdominal US.

Depression and cardiovascular mortality: a role for n-3 fatty acids?

Background: Recent studies indicate that depression plays an important role in the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). The underlying mechanisms are not well understood.

Objective: We investigated whether dietary intake of the n-3 fatty acids (FAs) eicosapentaenic acid and docosahexaenoic acid could explain the relation between depressive symptoms and cardiovascular mortality.

Effect of non-invasive ventilation on survival, quality of life, respiratory function and cognition: a review of the literature.

Symptoms of nocturnal hypoventilation may negatively influence the quality of life (QoL) of ALS patients long before respiratory failure ensues. Non-invasive mechanical ventilation (NIV) is considered a treatment option for nocturnal hypoventilation. The primary objective of NIV is improving quality of life (QoL).

Chest radiography in general practice: indications, diagnostic yield and consequences for patient management.

Background: Chest radiography (CXR) is frequently performed in Western societies. There is insufficient knowledge of its diagnostic value in terms of changes in patient management decisions in primary care.

Aim: To assess the influence of CXR on patient management in general practice.

Marital status and living situation during a 5-year period are associated with a subsequent 10-year cognitive decline in older men: the FINE Study.

We investigate the association between marital status and living situation (over 5 years) on 10-year subsequent cognitive decline. The study population consisted of 1,042 men aged 70-89 years in 1990, who participated in the longitudinal Finland, Italy, the Netherlands Elderly (known as FINE) Study. We measured cognition by using the Mini-Mental State Examination, and we assessed marital status (married vs unmarried) and living situation (living with others vs living alone) with a standardized questionnaire.

Upper abdominal ultrasound in general practice: indications, diagnostic yield and consequences for patient management.

Background: Abdominal ultrasound (US) is frequently performed in Western societies. There is insufficient knowledge of its diagnostic value in terms of changes in patient management decisions in primary care.

Objective: To assess the influence of upper abdominal US on patient management in general practice.

Homocysteine level and cognitive function in patients with arterial disease: the second manifestations of ARTerial Disease Study.

Objectives: To assess the relationship between total plasma homocysteine (tHcy) level and cognitive function in patients with manifest arterial disease.

Design: Cross-sectional.

Setting: Patients with symptomatic cerebrovascular disease, cardiovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, or abdominal aortic aneurysm included in the Second Manifestations of ARTerial disease study, a single-center, longitudinal study with an extensive screening program at baseline.

Depressive symptoms as risk factor of cardiovascular mortality in older European men: the Finland, Italy and Netherlands Elderly (FINE) study.

Background: Depressive symptoms have been suggested to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, but this may reflect reversed causality. We investigated to what extent depressive symptoms are a true risk factor for cardiovascular mortality in elderly men.

Design: The Finland, Italy and Netherlands Elderly (FINE) study is a prospective cohort study conducted in Finland, Italy and The Netherlands.

Dispositional optimism and the risk of cardiovascular death: the Zutphen Elderly Study.

Background: Dispositional optimism, defined in terms of life engagement and generalized positive outcome expectancies for one's future, may be related to lower cardiovascular mortality. We aimed to determine whether dispositional optimism is a stable trait over time and whether it is independently related to lower cardiovascular mortality in elderly men.

Methods: In a cohort study with a follow-up of 15 years, we included 545 (61.

Frequency of chest radiography and abdominal ultrasound in the Netherlands: 1999-2003.

Chest radiography and abdominal ultrasound are two widely used diagnostic imaging techniques in Western societies. However, little is known about the frequency of these examinations and its determinants. The aim of this descriptive study was to provide detailed information on the number of chest radiography and abdominal ultrasound examinations by age, gender, referring physician and ethnicity.

The meaning of distal sensory loss and absent ankle reflexes in relation to age: a meta-analysis.

Context: Polyneuropathy is a common disease and is more prevalent (at least 3 %) in elderly people. However, routine neurological examination of healthy elderly people may show distal sensory loss and absent tendon reflexes, which can obscure the distinction from polyneuropathy.

Objective: To investigate the relation between age and the prevalence of distal sensory loss, absent tendon reflexes, or muscle weakness, and to ascertain above which age these neurological signs could be considered as normal in ageing.

Median and ulnar nerve injuries: a meta-analysis of predictors of motor and sensory recovery after modern microsurgical nerve repair.

Background: The aim of this study was to quantify variables that influence outcome after median and ulnar nerve transection injuries. The authors present a meta-analysis based on individual patient data on motor and sensory recovery after microsurgical nerve repair.

Methods: From 130 studies found after literature review, 23 articles were ultimately included, giving individual data for 623 median or ulnar nerve injuries.

Functional health status of patients with chronic inflammatory neuropathies.

The functioning of 12 patients with chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) and 18 patients with multifocal motor neuropathy (MMN) was evaluated to obtain health profiles and appropriate clinimetric instruments. Assessment was made in a cross-sectional study by means of a performance-based body function test (hand-held dynamometry), two performance-based activity tests (10-m walk test and Berg balance scale), a self-reported activity test (Canadian Occupational Performance Measure), and a self-reported functioning test (sickness impact profile 68). In both patient groups, CIDP and MMN, specific health profiles were manifest.

Severity of Guillain-Barré syndrome is associated with Fc gamma Receptor III polymorphisms.

Macrophages and ganglioside-specific IgG are involved in the pathogenesis of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). Leukocyte IgG receptors (Fc gammaR) confer potent cellular effector functions to the specificity of IgG. The efficacy of IgG-mediated cellular inflammatory responses is determined by functional polymorphisms of three Fc gammaR subclasses (Fc gammaRIIa: H131/R131; Fc gammaRIIIa: V158/F158; Fc gammaRIIIb: NA1/NA2).

Rehabilitation care for patients with ALS in The Netherlands.

Background: In the Netherlands, rehabilitation medicine plays an important role in the symptomatic and palliative treatment of ALS patients. Detailed information about the actual care of ALS patients in the Netherlands and about the attitude of consultants in rehabilitation medicine towards the management of this disease was lacking.

Objective: To obtain detailed information about the rehabilitation care for patients with ALS in the Netherlands.

Self-reported disability and its association with performance-based limitation in elderly men: a comparison of three European countries.

Objectives: To compare self-reported disability and performance-based limitation and their association in elderly men from three European countries.

Design: Cross-sectional data from a cohort study collected around 1990.

Setting: Three cohorts from Finland, the Netherlands, and Italy.

A randomized sequential trial of creatine in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal disease with no cure. In a transgenic mouse model of ALS, creatine monohydrate showed a promising increase in survival. We performed a double-blind, placebo-controlled, sequential clinical trial to assess the effect of creatine monohydrate on survival and disease progression in patients with ALS.

Predictors for return to work in patients with median and ulnar nerve injuries.

Purpose: One of the consequences of median and ulnar nerve trauma is delayed return to work. The aim of this study was to determine return to work (RTW) and risk factors for delayed RTW in addition to time off work (TOW). Differences among median, ulnar, and combined median-ulnar nerve injuries were examined.

Hemodialysis access imaging: comparison of flow-interrupted contrast-enhanced MR angiography and digital subtraction angiography.

Purpose: To compare flow-interrupted contrast material-enhanced magnetic resonance (MR) angiography with conventional digital subtraction angiography (DSA) for hemodialysis access imaging.

Materials And Methods: Twenty-two accesses (14 arteriovenous grafts [AVGs], eight arteriovenous fistulas [AVFs]) in 18 consecutive patients were imaged with flow-interrupted contrast-enhanced MR angiography and subsequent conventional DSA. MR image quality was assessed as excellent, good, or nondiagnostic.

Cigarette smoking and alcohol consumption in relation to cognitive performance in middle age.

In the elderly, cigarette smoking has been related to reduced cognitive performance and moderate alcohol consumption to increased cognitive performance. It is not clear whether these associations also exist in middle age. The authors examined these relations in a population-based cohort study of 1,927 randomly selected, predominantly middle-aged subjects aged 45-70 years at the time of cognitive testing and living in the Netherlands.

Early psychological stress after forearm nerve injuries: a predictor for long-term functional outcome and return to productivity.

Forearm and wrist injuries can result in a nonfunctional hand caused by loss of motor and sensory functions. Psychological stress is known to accompany traumatic hand injuries and may therefore affect functional outcome. The authors conducted a retrospective study of 107 patients diagnosed with a median, ulnar, or combined median-ulnar nerve injury (79% response rate) who completed a questionnaire package consisting of the Impact of Event Scale (IES); Disabilities of Arm, Shoulder, and Hand; and a questionnaire concerning return to work and time off work.