: Pages Home About Videos Links Tweets Tuesday , January 31, 2012 The Aging Homeless : Geriatrics on the Streets The demographic picture of the homeless has shifted markedly over the last 20 years , with a marked increase in the average age of homeless persons . Currently , nearly 1 3 of the homeless are over the age 0f 50. A remarkable study paints a concerning portrait of the struggles faced by the aging homeless . It was led by Geriatrician Rebecca Brown who conducted the study while a Geriatrics Fellow at Harvard Medical School . Dr . Brown is currently our colleague in the UCSF Geriatrics Division . The senior author was Harvard Senior Life Geriatrician , . Dr Susan Mitchell The study was published in the Journal Of General Internal . Medicine This study examined prevalence of
Men are more likely than women to develop mild cognitive impairment, with and without memory problems, researchers found.Nursing home residents with dementia face a significantly increased risk of injurious falls if they are taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, according to a Dutch retrospective study.
: Pages Home About Videos Links Tweets Sunday , January 22, 2012 The MMSE Saga : An Assault of the Values of the Academic Profession The MMSE saga has attracted great attention here on GeriPal and elsewhere since the breakthrough NEJM article of Newman and Feldman . As readers Eric Widera's previous posts here and here know , the MMSE was one of the most widely used tests in medicine . It was a brief , easy to use screen to identify older persons with cognitive impairment . A generation of students learned to assess using cognitive function with the MMSE , and the MMSE was reproduced in textbooks . worldwide But after allowing widespread use of the MMSE for decades , the developers enforced their copyright . The MMSE disappeared . A tool that was used to improve the care of older patientsIndividuals who were cognitively normal at the time of death can nevertheless be given a diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease on the basis of autopsy findings alone, according to newly released guidelines.Another failure in phase III clinical testing has finally sent the investigational Alzheimer's disease drug dimebon to the trash heap, according to its commercial sponsors.Virtual reality exercise games, like the Wii Fit, may help older adults fight cognitive decline, researchers found.Hospice use may be slowly rising in the U.S., but for shorter periods of time, which could shortchange patients, according to a national report.A new contrast agent can make neurofibrillary tangles and beta-amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease visible on imaging, preliminary studies suggest. Also in this week's Lab Notes: telomere length dictates birds' lifespan.Constant-current deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease patients increased symptom control and decreased medication use in Parkinson's disease, a study has found.Dementia was associated with higher hospitalization rates in patients 65 and older and many of the admissions were preventable, a longitudinal study found.
Suffering from Bad Breath Problems ? The NMDA receptor antagonist memantine (Namenda) was not an effective treatment for cognitive impairment and dementia in Down syndrome patients older than 40, according to a European study.Patients with major depressive disorder can be safely and effectively treated with antidepressants even if they have multiple comorbid medical conditions, a secondary analysis of a randomized trial found.Nicotine patches may sharpen memory and other mental skills for nonsmokers with mild cognitive impairment, a preliminary study suggested.Physical activity may help ward off Alzheimer's disease for individuals with genetic risk factors, researchers found.