1,720,969 research outputs found
Alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in older lifelong wine drinkers: The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging.
No full textAbstract. BACKGROUND AND AIMS: A protective effect of moderate alcohol consumption on the cardiovascular system has consistently been reported, but limited evidence has been produced on the association of alcohol with metabolic factors in the elderly. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between different levels of current alcohol consumption and cardiovascular risk factors in a representative sample of elderly Italian men, mainly wine drinkers. METHODS AND RESULTS: This is a cross-sectional multi-centre study on a population-based sample of Italian men aged 65-84 years, drawn from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA) cohort. The analyses included 1896 men. Almost all the drinkers (98%) drank wine as a lifelong habit. Adjusted ORs for risk levels for cardiovascular factors (BMI, waist circumference, fibrinogen, α2 protein, white blood cells, HDL cholesterol, Apo A-I, total cholesterol, Apo B-I, triglycerides, LDL, glycated hemoglobin, insulin, fasting plasma glucose, HOMA IR, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) were estimated, comparing drinkers with teetotalers using multivariate logistic regression models. We found alcohol consumption in older age associated with healthier hematological values of fibrinogen, HDL cholesterol, Apo A-I lipoprotein and insulin, but it was also associated with a worse hematological picture of total, LDL cholesterol levels, and systolic pressure. CONCLUSION: Our results indicated in elderly moderate wine drinkers a noticeably safe metabolic, inflammatory and glycemic profile that might balance higher blood pressure, leading to a net benefit. These findings however need to be placed in relation to the known adverse social and health effects of heavy drinking
Consumo di alcol e funzionalità renalein una coorte di maschi anziani italiani
No full textOBIETTIVO: In letteratura non è ancora stata investigata la relazione tra
consumo moderato di alcol e funzione renale nelle persone anziane. Lo
scopo del presente studio è stato quello di indagare il rapporto tra consumo
di alcol e funzione renale nella popolazione anziana italiana maschile.
MATERIALI E METODI: Il campione di questo studio è costituito da 1.785
uomini di età compresa tra i 65-84 anni inclusi nell’Italian Longitudinal Study
on Aging (ILSA) il cui obiettivo era studiare la prevalenza e l’incidenza di
patologie croniche della popolazione anziana, identificando i fattori di rischio
e di protezione. Lo studio ILSA è iniziato nel 1992 con due successive
rilevazioni di follow-up nel 1995 e 2000. Ogni indagine prevedeva due fasi,
un momento di valutazione di screening per tutti i partecipanti (consistente
in anamnesi, esame fisico, esami di laboratorio e test diagnostici) ed una
fase successiva solo per i positivi ad una o più malattie croniche attraverso
una valutazione clinica specialistica. Nel questionario anamnestico utilizzato
vi erano anche domande per valutare il consumo di alcol nei diversi periodi
della vita. Escludendo 315 ex-bevitori, nella presente analisi, i restanti 1470
soggetti sono stati ripartiti in cinque classi di consumo di alcol: astemi, ≤12g/
die, 13-24g/die, 25-47 g/die, e” 48 g/die. In questo studio, per le stime di
prevalenza si sono analizzati i dati rilevati al tempo basale (1992), mentre per
l’incidenza si sono utilizzate le informazioni raccolte al primo follow-up (1995).
RISULTATI: Sono state stimate la prevalenza e l’incidenza cumulativa di
insufficienza renale (IR) (GFR ≤ 60 ml / min), nei gruppi di anziani maschi
con differente consumo alcolico. L’analisi di regressione logistica aggiustata
per fattori confondenti (età, istruzione, fumo, BMI e assunzione di farmaci
ant-iipertensivi ed anti-ipercolesterolemici) e fattori intermedi (colesterolo,
fibrinogeno, ipertensione sistolica, e diabete) ha dimostrato una relazione
inversa tra consumo di alcol e deficit nella funzionalità renale, evidenziando
come il consumo moderato di alcool riduca il rischio di sviluppare insufficienza renale lieve rispetto al non consumo, con un rischio minimo [OR 0.26 (IC
95% 0.07-0.99) ] tra i consumatori da 24-48 g/die di alcol .
CONCLUSIONI: I nostri risultati suggeriscono che, in conformità con le
raccomandazioni sul consumo di alcol negli anziani, quantità moderate di
alcol non siano dannose per la funzionalità renale in uomini anziani
Dementia is a major predictor of death among the Italian elderly
No full textBACKGROUND:
Neurologic diseases are rarely listed on death certificates because death is more often attributed to cardiovascular and pneumonic events occurring during terminal stages.
OBJECTIVE:
To evaluate the effect of major age-associated neurologic and non-neurologic diseases on survival in a cohort of Italian elderly.
METHODS:
A population-based multicenter survey, carried out in eight Italian municipalities, with a sample of 5,632 individuals aged 65 to 84 years. The entire sample was screened for all the diseases under study, and all individuals were interviewed about risk factors. Those who screened positive underwent clinical assessments by specialists. Two years after the baseline survey, the study population was followed up to determine the vital status either directly from the individuals or from proxy respondents. A copy of the death certificate was obtained for each individual who had died. The risk of dying (mortality risk ratio [MRR]) was calculated using the Cox proportional hazards model in which we included all the diseases under study, age, gender, and years of education.
RESULTS:
At follow-up (mean duration 26.7 +/- 5.4 months) 444 individuals had died. The Cox proportional hazards model selected the following as significant predictors of death: age (for year of age MRR = 1.12; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.08 to 1.15), male gender (MRR = 1.72; 95% CI, 1.27 to 2.34), institutionalization (MRR = 4.17; 95% CI, 2.20 to 7.94), dementia (MRR = 3.61; 95% CI, 2.55 to 5.11), neoplasm (MRR = 2.01; 95% CI, 1.20 to 3.38), heart failure (MRR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1.27 to 2.76), and diabetes (MRR = 1.62; 95% CI, 1.12 to 2.34).
CONCLUSIONS:
These data provide further evidence on the malignancy of dementia, which proved the major predictor of death in the elderly, with an MRR higher than neoplastic diseases and other severe age-associated conditions
Change of diagnoses in probable and possible mild cognitive impairment: The Italian longitudinal study on aging
No full textMild cognitive impairment (MCI) defines a transitional stage between normal aging and dementia that is used to classify older persons without dementia with mild memory or cognitive impairment and no significant disability. In the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA), a population‐based study with a 3.5‐year follow‐up involving 2,963 individuals aged 65 to 84, we found a progression rate to dementia of 38 per 1,000 person‐year
Prevalence of diabetes and depressive symptomatology and their effect on mortality risk in elderly Italians: The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging
No full textAIM: This study assessed the prevalence of depressive symptomatology (DS) in older individuals with diabetes to determine whether diabetes and DS are independent predictors of mortality, and if their coexistence is associated with an increased mortality risk.
METHODS: Analyses were based on data from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging (ILSA), a prospective community-based cohort study in which 5632 individuals aged 65-84years were enrolled. The role of diabetes and DS in all-cause mortality was evaluated using the Cox model, adjusted for possible confounders, for four groups: 1) those with neither diabetes nor DS (reference group); 2) those with DS but without diabetes; 3) those with diabetes but no DS; and 4) those with both diabetes and DS.
RESULTS: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) was present in 13.8% of the participants; they presented with higher baseline rates of DS compared with the non-diabetic controls. During the first follow-up period, participants with DS but not diabetes had a 42% higher risk of all-cause mortality compared with the reference control group (HR=1.42; 95% CI: 1.02-1.96), while participants with diabetes but not DS had an 83% higher risk of death than the reference group (HR=1.83; 95% CI: 1.19-2.80). The risk of death for those with both disorders was more than twice that for the reference group (HR=2.58; 95% CI: 1.55-4.29). Analyses of deaths from baseline to the second follow-up substantially confirmed these results.
CONCLUSION: The prevalence rate of DS is higher in elderly people with diabetes and their coexistence is associated with an increased mortality risk
Frailty syndrome and the risk of vascular dementia: The Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging
No full textBACKGROUND: Frailty is a clinical syndrome generally associated with a greater risk for adverse outcomes such as falls, disability, institutionalization, and death. Cognition and dementia have already been considered as components of frailty, but the role of frailty as a possible determinant of dementia, Alzheimer's disease (AD), and vascular dementia (VaD) has been poorly investigated. We estimated the predictive role of frailty syndrome on incident dementia and its subtypes in a nondemented, Italian, older population.
METHODS: We evaluated 2581 individuals recruited from the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging sample population consisting of 5632 subjects aged 65 to 84 years and with a 3.9-year median follow-up. A phenotype of frailty according to a modified measurement of Cardiovascular Health Study criteria was operationalized. Dementia, AD, and VaD were classified using current published criteria.
RESULTS:Over a 3.5-year follow-up, 65 of 2581 (2.5%) older subjects, 16 among 252 frail individuals (6.3%), of which 9 were affected by VaD (3.6%), developed overall dementia. In a proportional hazards model, frailty syndrome was associated with a significantly increased risk of overall dementia (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.85; 95% confidence interval: 1.01-3.40) and, in particular, VaD (adjusted hazard ratio: 2.68; 95% confidence interval: 1.16-7.17). The risk of AD or other types of dementia did not significantly change in frail individuals in comparison with subjects without frailty syndrome.
CONCLUSION: In our large population-based sample, frailty syndrome was a short-term predictor of overall dementia and VaD
Depressive symptoms, vascular risk factors and mild cognitive impairment: The Italian longitudinal study on aging
No full textWe evaluated the impact of depressive symptoms on the rate of incident mild cognitive impairment (MCI) after a 3.5-year follow-up, and we assessed the interaction between depressive symptoms and vascular risk factors for incident MCI.
A total of 2,963 individuals from a sample of 5,632 65- to 84-year-old subjects were cognitively and functionally evaluated at the 1st and 2nd surveys of the Italian Longitudinal Study on Aging, a prospective cohort study with a 3.5-year follow-up. MCI and dementia were classified using current clinical criteria. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Geriatric Depression Scale.
Among the 2,963 participants, 139 prevalent MCI cases were diagnosed at the 1st survey. During the 3.5-year follow-up, 105 new events of MCI were diagnosed. We did not observe any significant association between depressive symptoms and incident MCI (RR = 1.25, 95% CI = 0.85-1.84, chi(2) = 1.30, p < 0.25). No sociodemographic variables or vascular risk factors modified the relationship between depressive symptoms and incident MCI.
In our population, depressive symptoms were not associated with the rate of incident MCI. Our findings did not support a role of sociodemographic variables or vascular risk factors in the link between depressive symptoms and incident MCI
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
- …
