Functional Outcome and Safety of Endoscopic Treatment Options for Benign Prostatic Obstruction (BPO) in Patients ≥ 75 Years of Age.

The selection of suitable patients for the surgical treatment of benign prostatic obstruction (BPO) is a challenge in persons ≥75 years of age. : After a systematic literature search of PubMed, 22 articles were included in this review. Clinical and functional parameters were evaluated statistically.

Peripheral cholinesterase activity is not correlated with postoperative delirium in urological surgery.

The value of biomarkers, such as acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase, for guiding perioperative patients suffering from postoperative delirium and/or (possibly related) postoperative cognitive dysfunction is unclear. Only recently have different biomarkers are being explored to assess postoperative delirium's occurrence and/or course. The aim of this work is to investigate whether acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase can help detect increased risks of the development and course of postoperative delirium in urological patients undergoing surgery.

Pulse-echo ultrasound measurement in osteoporosis screening: a pilot study in older patients.

Background: A mere 25% of patients who need treatment for osteoporosis receive appropriate therapy, partly due to the time-consuming and stressful diagnostic workup for older patients with functional decline.

Aims: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the accuracy of pulse-echo ultrasound measurement of the lower leg for the detection of osteoporosis in older patients, and evaluate the effect of a proposed diagnostic algorithm.

Methods: Cortical thickness and the so-called density index (DI) were measured prospectively on the lower leg with a pulse-echo ultrasound (PEUS) device.

Patient perspectives on, and effects of, medication management in geriatric fallers (the EMMA study): protocol for a mixed-methods pre-post study.

Introduction: Pharmacotherapy is critical in geriatric fallers owing to the vulnerability of this population. Comprehensive medication management can be an important strategy to reduce the medication-related risk of falling in this patient group. Patient-specific approaches and patient-related barriers to this intervention have rarely been explored among geriatric fallers.

Psychotherapy: A tool to prevent postoperative delirium?

The value of psychotherapy in surgical patients suffering from postoperative delirium is unclear. Options for the treatment of established postoperative delirium are few; therapy largely relies on the avoidance of postoperative delirium facilitating factors, like specific drugs and environmental factors in the perioperative setting. Established medical therapies' efficacy in terms of decreasing incidence of postoperative delirium is very low.

Value of Geriatric Assessment in Patients With Genitourinary Carcinoma.

Objectives: This work aims to evaluatecomprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) tools to better guide patients with urogenital carcinomas perioperatively and, consequently, to intensify or reduce hospital resource use. Methods: After informed consent, 111patients were included, all aged more than 65 years, with oncological surgery (with proof of a malignancy), a Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of at least 23 points, and a prospective life expectancy of more than 2 months. Patients were divided into 2 groups: prostate cancer (n = 88) and distal urinary tract cancer (n = 29).

Screening for Hazardous Drinking in Nursing Home Residents: Evaluating the Validity of the Current Cutoffs of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption Questions by Using Ethyl Glucuronide in Hair.

Background: Because of physiological changes, elderly people are much more exposed to the adverse effects of alcohol. Therefore, hazardous drinking is defined at lower levels as compared to younger adults. This work aimed to evaluate the validity of the current cutoff levels of the Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test-Consumption (AUDIT-C) questions to detect hazardous drinking in the elderly by using ethyl glucuronide in hair (HEtG).

Optimal inference with suboptimal models: addiction and active Bayesian inference.

When casting behaviour as active (Bayesian) inference, optimal inference is defined with respect to an agent's beliefs - based on its generative model of the world. This contrasts with normative accounts of choice behaviour, in which optimal actions are considered in relation to the true structure of the environment - as opposed to the agent's beliefs about worldly states (or the task). This distinction shifts an understanding of suboptimal or pathological behaviour away from aberrant inference as such, to understanding the prior beliefs of a subject that cause them to behave less 'optimally' than our prior beliefs suggest they should behave.

Estimating the prevalence of drinking problems among physicians.

Objective: Surveys assessing alcohol use among physicians have most commonly employed the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) or the AUDIT-C, the most common short version of the AUDIT. As with other screeners, prevalence estimation is dependent on the accuracy of the test as well as choice of the cutoff value. The aim of the current study is to derive more precise prevalence estimates of alcohol problems in physicians by correcting for false-positive and false-negative results.

Optimizing heroin-assisted treatment (HAT): assessment of the contribution of direct ethanol metabolites in identifying hazardous and harmful alcohol use.

Background: Heavy alcohol consumption may accelerate the progression of hepatitis C-related liver disease and/or limit efforts at antiviral treatment in opioid-dependent patients receiving heroin-assisted treatment (HAT). Our study aims to assess alcohol intake among HAT patients by self-reports compared to direct ethanol metabolites.

Method: Fifty-four patients in HAT were recruited from the centre for HAT at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Addiction and self-determination: a phenomenological approach.

In this article, I focus on possibly impaired self-determination in addiction. After some methodological reflections, I introduce a phenomenological description of the experience of being self-determined. I argue that being self-determined implies effectivity of agency regarding three different behavioural domains.

Neuroprotective treatment with cerebrolysin in patients with acute stroke: a randomised controlled trial.

Background And Purpose: Cerebrolysin is a compound with neurotrophic and neuroprotective activity. It is produced by enzymatic breakdown of purified brain proteins and consists of low molecular weight peptides and amino acids. Cellular and animal models of cerebral ischaemia have shown that it is a potent neuroprotective agent.