In older persons without known cardiovascular disease, the use of low-dose aspirin resulted in a significantly higher risk of major hemorrhage and did not result in a significantly lower risk of ...cardiovascular disease than placebo.
Dietary patterns may be related to quality of life (QoL) of older adults, although evidence from literature is conflicting. The demographic shifts toward ageing populations in many countries ...increases the importance of understanding the relationship between diet and QoL in older adults. This review was designed to investigate associations between dietary patterns and QoL in older adults. The systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Eight electronic databases were searched to identify articles published in English from January 1975 to March 2018 that investigated associations between dietary patterns and QoL in older adults. Relevant studies were identified based on set inclusion and exclusion criteria, data were extracted and analysed to examine the relationships and possible implications for public health recommendations. The systematic review included 15 articles (One randomized control trial, six prospective cohorts and eight cross sectional). The studies looked at correlations between different dietary patterns and/or adherence to particular dietary patterns and self-reported QoL or self-rated health status. Excluding two studies which showed no significant association, healthy dietary patterns were associated with better self-rated health and QoL in one or more domains, and adherence to healthy dietary patterns like the Mediterranean diet were significantly associated with improvement in at least one of the QoL domains.
In a trial comparing 100 mg of aspirin with placebo in nearly 20,000 community-dwelling persons 70 years of age or older in Australia and the United States, aspirin use had no effect on the rate of ...survival free from dementia or physical disability.
After a median follow-up of 4.7 years, there were 1.6 more deaths per 1000 person-years among healthy older adults who were randomly assigned to receive aspirin than among those who received placebo. ...Cancer-related death accounted for much of the excess mortality.
There is compelling evidence to support an aetiological role for inflammation, oxidative and nitrosative stress (O&NS), and mitochondrial dysfunction in the pathophysiology of major neuropsychiatric ...disorders, including depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Alzheimer's disease (AD). These may represent new pathways for therapy. Aspirin is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is an irreversible inhibitor of both cyclooxygenase (COX)-1 and COX-2, It stimulates endogenous production of anti-inflammatory regulatory 'braking signals', including lipoxins, which dampen the inflammatory response and reduce levels of inflammatory biomarkers, including C-reactive protein, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin (IL)--6, but not negative immunoregulatory cytokines, such as IL-4 and IL-10. Aspirin can reduce oxidative stress and protect against oxidative damage. Early evidence suggests there are beneficial effects of aspirin in preclinical and clinical studies in mood disorders and schizophrenia, and epidemiological data suggests that high-dose aspirin is associated with a reduced risk of AD. Aspirin, one of the oldest agents in medicine, is a potential new therapy for a range of neuropsychiatric disorders, and may provide proof-of-principle support for the role of inflammation and O&NS in the pathophysiology of this diverse group of disorders.
Both grip strength and gait speed can be used as markers of muscle function, however, no previous study has examined them in the same population with respect to risk of falls.
In this prospective ...cohort study, utilising data from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial and ASPREE-Fracture substudy, we analysed the association of grip strength and gait speed and serious falls in healthy older adults. Grip strength was measured using a handheld dynamometer and gait speed from 3-metre timed walks. Serious falls were confined to those involving hospital presentation. Cox regression was used to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for associations with falls.
Over an average of 4.0±1.3 years, amongst 16,445 participants, 1,533 had at least one serious fall. After adjustment for age, sex, physical activity, body mass index, Short Form 12 (state of health), chronic kidney disease, polypharmacy and aspirin, each standard deviation (SD) lower grip strength was associated with 27% (HR 1.27, 95% CI 1.17-1.38) higher risk of falls. The results remained the same for males and females. There was a dose-response relationship in the association between grip strength and falls risk. The higher risk of falls was observed in males in all body mass index (BMI) categories, but only in obese females. The association between gait speed and falls risk was weaker than the association between grip strength and falls risk.
All males and only obese females with low grip strength appear to be at the greatest risk of serious falls. These findings may assist in early identification of falls.
The provision of timely, relevant and reliable information on patient care to clinicians has been shown to drive improvements in health care quality. Well constructed clinical quality registries ...collect and report information on both the appropriateness of care (process) in keeping with clinical practice guidelines and the effectiveness of care (outcomes). Notwithstanding the successful establishment of several new registries and improvements in established registries, barriers persist for clinical groups wishing to improve the quality of information and level of participation in registries in Australia. To address these barriers, the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has developed the Framework for Australian Clinical Quality Registries. The Framework describes a mechanism by which government jurisdictions and private hospital groups can authorise and secure record-level data, within high priority clinical domains, to measure, monitor and report the appropriateness and effectiveness of health care. The provision of benchmarked information back to clinicians on the appropriateness and outcomes of care is expected to improve adherence to evidence-based practice and drive improvement in outcomes.
Poor social health is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). Recent research suggests that different social health domains should be considered separately as the implications ...for health and possible interventions may differ.
To assess social isolation, low social support and loneliness as predictors of CVD.
Secondary analysis of 11,486 community-dwelling, Australians, aged 70 years and over, free of CVD, dementia, or significant physical disability, from the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial. Social isolation, social support (Revised Lubben Social Network Scale), and loneliness were assessed as predictors of CVD using Cox proportional-hazard regression. CVD events included fatal CVD, heart failure hospitalization, myocardial infarction and stroke. Analyses were adjusted for established CVD risk factors.
Individuals with poor social health were 42 % more likely to develop CVD (p = 0.01) and twice as likely to die from CVD (p = 0.02) over a median 4.5 years follow-up. Interaction effects indicated that poorer social health more strongly predicted CVD in smokers (HR 4.83, p = 0.001, p-interaction = 0.01), major city dwellers (HR 1.94, p < 0.001, p-interaction=0.03), and younger older adults (70-75 years; HR 2.12, p < 0.001, p-interaction = 0.01). Social isolation (HR 1.66, p = 0.04) and low social support (HR 2.05, p = 0.002), but not loneliness (HR 1.4, p = 0.1), predicted incident CVD. All measures of poor social health predicted ischemic stroke (HR 1.73 to 3.16).
Among healthy older adults, social isolation and low social support may be more important than loneliness as cardiovascular risk factors. Social health domains should be considered in future CVD risk prediction models.
Objective: To develop an evidence-based monitoring protocol for clozapine-induced myocarditis.
Methods: Potential cases of clozapine-related myocarditis occurring between January 1994 and January ...2009 and a comparative group of patients taking clozapine for at least 45 days without cardiac disease were documented from the patients’ medical records.
Results: A total of 75 cases and 94 controls were included. Nine cases died. The time to onset was 10–33 days with 83% of cases developing between days 14 and 21 inclusive.
At least twice the upper limit of normal troponin was found in 90% of cases, but 5 cases had C-reactive protein more than 100 mg/L and left ventricular impairment by echocardiography without a clinically significant rise in troponin.
The proposed monitoring protocol recommends obtaining baseline troponin I/T, C-reactive protein and echocardiography, and monitoring troponin and C-reactive protein on days 7, 14, 21 and 28. Mild elevation in troponin or C-reactive protein, persistent abnormally high heart rate or signs or symptoms consistent with infective illness should be followed by daily troponin and C-reactive protein investigation until features resolve. Cessation of clozapine is advised if troponin is more than twice the upper limit of normal or C-reactive protein is over 100 mg/L. Combining these two parameters has an estimated sensitivity for symptomatic clozapine-induced myocarditis of 100%. The sensitivity for asymptomatic disease is unknown.
Conclusion: This protocol recommends active monitoring for 4 weeks, relying predominantly on troponin and C-reactive protein results. It encourages continuation of clozapine in the presence of mild illness, but defines a threshold for cessation.
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