Publications by authors named "Sara Garcia Ptacek"
Article Synopsis
- The study examines the prevalence of cerebrovascular and Alzheimer's disease co-pathologies in patients with dementia with Lewy bodies against various other cognitive states, including mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.
- A multi-cohort dataset of 4,549 participants was analyzed, revealing that 43% of dementia with Lewy bodies patients had a high load of white matter hyperintensities, indicating a significant difference compared to other groups.
- Findings showed that white matter hyperintensities in dementia with Lewy bodies correlate with medial temporal atrophy, suggesting that the impact of these co-pathologies is particularly pronounced in this group compared to others.
Background And Objectives: Preclinical studies suggest that acute kidney injury (AKI) results in biochemical and pathologic changes in the brain. We aimed to explore the association between experiencing AKI and subsequent risks of developing dementia.
Methods: We conducted a study involving individuals aged 65 years and older in Stockholm from 2006 to 2019, who were free from dementia diagnosis and had data on kidney function.
Article Synopsis
- * Conducted as a nationwide cohort study in Sweden, it focused on stroke patients from 2019 to 2022, assessing factors like treatment access, rehabilitation assessments, and discharge practices based on national guidelines.
- * Results showed that stroke patients with dementia consistently received lower quality care compared to those without dementia; however, care quality remained unchanged for both groups across the different pandemic periods.
•Compared to Swedish-born people, foreign-born people were less likely to receive dementia diagnostic tests.•Being born in Africa or Europe was associated with lower chance of receiving cholinesterase inhibitors.•Asian-born people had higher chance of receiving cholinesterase inhibitors, but were less likely to receive memantine.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Disturbances in brain cholesterol homeostasis may be involved in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lipid-lowering medications could interfere with neurodegenerative processes in AD through cholesterol metabolism or other mechanisms.
Objective: To explore the association between the use of lipid-lowering medications and cognitive decline over time in a cohort of patients with AD or mixed dementia with indication for lipid-lowering treatment.
Importance: Little is known about the specific timing and sequence of incident psychiatric comorbidities at different stages of dementia diagnosis.
Objectives: To examine the temporal risk patterns of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, stress-related disorders, substance use disorders, sleep disorders, somatoform/conversion disorders, and psychotic disorders, among patients with dementia before, at the time of, and after receipt of a diagnosis.
Design, Setting, And Participants: This population-based, nationwide cohort study analyzed data from 796 505 participants obtained from 6 registers between January 1, 2000, and December 31, 2017, including the Swedish registry for cognitive/dementia disorders.
Article Synopsis
- Long-term care significantly boosts independence and quality of life for people with dementia (PWD), but access is influenced by socioeconomic factors, which have been overlooked in research.
- A study involving nearly 15,000 Swedish PWD found that those with compulsory education were less likely to receive any long-term care or home care, compared to those with university degrees, indicating a disparity based on education level rather than income.
- The findings highlight existing inequalities in access to long-term care services, with lower-educated individuals experiencing less care and fewer hours of home assistance, especially among those with Alzheimer’s disease.
Background: A reduction in mortality risk of COVID-19 throughout the first wave of the pandemic has been reported, but less is known about later waves. This study aimed to describe changes in hospitalizations and mortality of patients receiving inpatient geriatric care for COVID-19 or other causes during the pandemic.
Methods: Patients 70 years and older hospitalized in geriatric hospitals in Stockholm for COVID-19 or other causes between March 2020-July 2021 were included.
Machine learning (ML) could have advantages over traditional statistical models in identifying risk factors. Using ML algorithms, our objective was to identify the most important variables associated with mortality after dementia diagnosis in the Swedish Registry for Cognitive/Dementia Disorders (SveDem). From SveDem, a longitudinal cohort of 28,023 dementia-diagnosed patients was selected for this study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: We examined (1) the magnitude of mortality attributed to Alzheimer's disease (AD), and (2) the effect of mortality in cost-effectiveness modeling of hypothetical disease-modifying treatment (DMT) in AD.
Method: Data were derived from Swedish Dementia Registry ( = 39,308). Mortality was analyzed with survival analysis and multinomial logistic regression.
Background: Physical activity is essential to improve health and reduce the risk of recurrence of stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA). Still, people post stroke or TIA are often physically inactive and the availability of physical activity promotion services are often limited. This study builds on an existing Australian telehealth-delivered programme (i-REBOUND- Let's get moving) which provides support for home-based physical activity for people post stroke or TIA.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPreclinical evidence shows that activation of the cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway (CAP) may have direct and indirect beneficial effects on the kidney. Cholinesterase inhibitors (ChEIs) are specific Alzheimer's dementia (AD) therapies that block the action of cholinesterases and activate CAP. Here, we explored a plausible effect of ChEIs on slowing kidney function decline by comparing the risk of CKD progression among patients with newly diagnosed AD that initiated ChEI or not within 90 days.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: The Mini-Mental Status Examination (MMSE) and the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) are 2 frequently used brief cognitive screening tasks. Here, we provide a conversion method from MMSE to MoCA for patients with Alzheimer's dementia, frontotemporal dementia, and Parkinson dementia/Lewy body dementia, as well as for patients with dementia and with or without previous stroke. This conversion is needed as everyday clinical practice varies in their use of the 2 scales, which makes comparisons between studies, meta-analysis, and patient cohorts difficult.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Periodontal disease has been proposed as a putative etiological factor for dementia. The aim of this investigation was to compare the incidence of dementia in individuals with or without deep probing pocket depths (DPPD), serving as a proxy for periodontitis.
Methods: In this cohort study, conducted in Sweden, we identified 7992 individuals with DPPD and 29,182 matched individuals without DPPD (non-DPPD), using the Swedish Quality Registry for Caries and Periodontal Diseases (SKaPa).
Background: The effectiveness of glucose-lowering drugs (GLDs) is unknown among patients with dementia.
Objective: To analyze all-cause mortality among users of six GLDs in dementia and dementia-free subjects, respectively.
Methods: This was a longitudinal open-cohort registry-based study using data from the Swedish Dementia Registry, Total Population Register, and four supplemental registers providing data on dementia status, drug usage, confounders, and mortality.
Background: The effect of antidiabetic medication on cognitive function is unclear. We analyzed the association between five antidiabetic drugs and change in Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores in patients with diabetes and dementia.
Methods: Using the Swedish Dementia Registry and four supplementary Swedish registers/databases, we identified 1873 patients (4732 observations) with diagnosis of type 2 diabetes (diabetes) and Alzheimer's disease or mixed-pathology dementia who were followed up at least once after dementia diagnosis.
The activation of the brain renin-angiotensin system (RAS) plays a pivotal role in the pathophysiology of cognition. While the brain RAS has been studied before in the context of hypertension, little is known about its role and regulation in relation to neuronal function and its modulation. Adequate blood flow to the brain as well as proper clearing of metabolic byproducts become crucial in the presence of neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To explore the dementia diagnostic process and drug prescription for persons with dementia (PWD) with different socioeconomic status (SES).
Design: Register-based cohort study.
Setting And Participants: This study included 74,414 PWD aged ≥65 years from the Swedish Dementia Register (2007-2018).
Objective: The first antiseizure medication (ASM) is ineffective or intolerable in 50% of epilepsy cases. Selection between more than 25 available ASMs is guided by epilepsy factors, but also age and comorbidities. Randomized evidence for particular patient subgroups is seldom available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To describe temporal changes in treatment, care, and short-term mortality outcomes of geriatric patients during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design: Observational study.
Setting And Participants: Altogether 1785 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 and 6744 hospitalized for non-COVID-19 causes at 7 geriatric clinics in Stockholm from March 6 to July 31, 2020, were included.
Objective: Community-based reports regarding the association between the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and dementia risk show conflicting results. The aim of this study is to investigate the links among kidney function, kidney function decline, and dementia incidence.
Methods: We analyzed the association of eGFR with the risk of dementia (defined as a new dementia diagnosis or initiation of dementia treatments) among 329,822 residents of Stockholm who accessed health care during 2006 to 2011, were ≥65 years of age, had no history of dementia, or underwent kidney replacement therapy.
Background: Stroke and dementia are interrelated diseases and risk for both increases with age. Even though stroke incidence and age-standardized death rates have decreased due to prevention of stroke risk factors, increased utilization of reperfusion therapies, and other changes in healthcare, the absolute numbers are increasing due to population growth and aging.
Objective: To analyze predictors of death after stroke in patients with dementia and investigate possible time and treatment trends.