Articles related to Geriatrics

A 70-year-old woman with a skin lesion on her right temple is referred for assessment. She claims that the site originally came to light about a year ago and has grown in size ever since. An erythematous, fibrotic plaque with a depressed center is discovered during examination. What is the most likely cause of the lesion?

This report on learnings shows that it is crucial to educate primary healthcare professionals on how to spot people who may commit suicide in their later years (eg, using “The 5 Ds” — Deadly methods, Depression, Disease & Disability, Disconnectness, and Development) and how to adopt prevention measures.

85-year-old woman with Hx of stage 3 chronic kidney disease New onset dyspnea and intermittent mild fever Slight difficulty opening her mouth; no dental caries or cervical lymphadenopathy Elevated CRP Elevated BUN Follow the case as it develops.

The optimal dose of daily steps—the amount with the greatest dementia risk reduction—was 9,826 steps, with the minimum step dose, or the amount at which dementia risk was half of the maximal reduction, was 3,826 steps per day. See the original article on JAMA Neurology.

To assess short-term risk for severe cardiovascular events (excluding myocarditis and pericarditis) after COVID-19 vaccination, adults younger than 75 years hospitalized for PE, acute MI, hemorrhagic stroke, or ischemic stroke (73,325 events) were reviewed in relation to a 1st or 2nd COVID vaccine dose. No association was found between the Pfizer–BioNTech or Moderna vaccine and severe cardiovascular events. The first dose of the Oxford–AstraZeneca vaccine was associated with acute MI and PE in the second week after vaccination. An association with MI in the second week after a single dose of the Janssen vaccine could not be ruled out.

Among 150 people ages 65 to 88, investigational transcranial alternating current stimulation for 20 minutes over 4 consecutive days produced selective improvements in working and long-term memory in older adults that lasted for at least a month The rate of memory improvement over 4 days predicted the size of memory benefits 1 month later, the researchers found. Moreover, people with lower baseline cognitive function experienced larger and longer lasting memory improvements. “We found that by applying extremely weak electrical current safely and noninvasively to the prefrontal cortex at a high frequency, we could selectively improve long-term memory in older people aged 65 to 88 years old without changing short-term memory.” Robert Reinhart, PhD, Boston University in Nature Neuroscience