The administration of artificial nutrition by means of a percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) tube in older persons in the advanced stages of dementia is commonplace, yet the treatment is associated with significant treatment burdens and unclear benefits in this population. In addition, there is wide and unexplained geographic variability in the use of PEG in advanced dementia, which may stem partly from physicians' lack of understanding about its indications, risks, benefits, and effect on quality of life in advanced dementia. This study was a mail survey undertaken to assess physician knowledge regarding tube feeding in advanced dementia and explore whether certification in geriatrics or other physician characteristics are associated with physician knowledge. To assess knowledge about tube feeding, we asked participants to rate the importance of commonly cited, but non-evidence based, indications for tube feeding in advanced dementia, including recurrent aspiration pneumonia, abnormal swallowing evaluations, abnormal nutritional parameters, preventing an uncomfortable death, and others. Discrepancies between physician knowledge and current evidence regarding tube feeding in advanced dementia were found, indicating a need for improved education ofprimary care physicians in order to ultimately provide better end-of-life care for patients with advanced dementia.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1891/cmaj.7.2.79 | DOI Listing |
PLoS One
January 2025
Center for Innovation in Brain Science, University of Arizona Health Sciences, Tucson, Arizona, United States of America.
Translational validity of mouse models of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is variable. Because change in weight is a well-documented precursor of AD, we investigated whether diversity of human AD risk weight phenotypes was evident in a longitudinally characterized cohort of 1,196 female and male humanized APOE (hAPOE) mice, monitored up to 28 months of age which is equivalent to 81 human years. Autoregressive Hidden Markov Model (AHMM) incorporating age, sex, and APOE genotype was employed to identify emergent weight trajectories and phenotypes.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies "G. F. Ingrassia", University of Catania, Catania, Italy.
Background: To date, few data to transcranial Doppler sonography (TCD) are available in patients with mild vascular cognitive impairment (VCI) at risk for vascular or mixed dementia. In a previous study in patients with mild VCI and cerebral small vessels disease, a hemodynamic pattern of cerebral hypoperfusion and enhanced vascular resistance were observed; however, longitudinal data are currently lacking. Here, we perform a clinical, psychopathological, and neurosonological follow-up of patients with VCI in order to monitor any progression and to identify TCD measures to detect it.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCNS Neurosci Ther
January 2025
Department of Neurology, Mental and Neurological Disease Research Center, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the role of glymphatic function of cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy, subcortical infarcts, and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL), the most common monogenic small vessel disease caused by NOTCH3 mutation, and to explore potential therapeutic strategies to improve glymphatic function.
Methods: We assessed glymphatic influx and efflux function in CADASIL mouse models (Notch3) and correlated these findings with brain atrophy in CADASIL patients. We also investigated the underlying mechanisms of glymphatic impairment, focusing the expression of AQP4 in astrocytic endfeet.
J Fungi (Basel)
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY 11210, USA.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) are incurable neurodegenerative disorders sharing pathological and genetic features, including mutations in the gene. FUS is an RNA-binding protein that mislocalizes to the cytoplasm and aggregates in ALS/FTD. In a yeast model, FUS proteinopathy is connected to changes in the epigenome, including reductions in the levels of H3S10ph, H3K14ac, and H3K56ac.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pers Med
January 2025
Department of Informatics and Telecommunications, University of Ioannina, Kostakioi, 47100 Arta, Greece.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that poses critical challenges in global healthcare due to its increasing prevalence and severity. Diagnosing AD and other dementias, such as frontotemporal dementia (FTD), is slow and resource-intensive, underscoring the need for automated approaches. To address this gap, this study proposes a novel deep learning methodology for EEG classification of AD, FTD, and control (CN) signals.
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