Relationship between body composition and bone mineral content in young and elderly women.

PRIMARY OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between bone mineral content (BMC), lean tissue mass (LTM) and fat mass (FM) in a large sample of young and elderly women. RESEARCH DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: BMC, LTM and FM were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry in 2009 free-dwelling Caucasian women aged 63 +/- 7 years (mean +/- SD; range: 37-88 years). The majority of women were postmenopausal (96%). RESULTS: LTM explained 13% more variance of BMC than FM (R(2)(adj) = 0.39 vs 0.26, p < 0.0001) but weight (Wt) explained 5% more variance of BMC than LTM (R(2)(adj) = 0.44, p < 0.0001). The prediction of BMC obtained from LTM and FM (R(2)(adj)= 0.46, p < 0.0001) was only slightly better than that obtained from Wt. After the effects of age, Wt and height (Ht) on BMC were taken into account by multiple regression, the contribution of LTM and FM to BMC was just one-fifth of that of Wt (R(2)(adj) for full models < or =0.56, p < 0.0001). After a further correction for bone area (BA), the contribution of LTM and FM to BMC was just one-tenth of that of BA and not different from that of Wt and Ht on practical grounds (R(2)(adj) for full models = 0.84, p < 0.0001). Thus, after inter-individual differences in age, Wt, Ht (and bone size) are taken into account, the relationship between body composition and BMC is substantially weakened. CONCLUSIONS: In Caucasian women, (1) LTM is a stronger predictor of BMC than FM, but (2) Wt is a better predictor of BMC than body composition for practical purposes, and (3) Wt and body composition are not able to explain more than 46% of BMC variance

Cross-calibration of eight-polar bioelectrical impedance analysis versus dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry for the assessment of total and appendicular body composition in healthy subjects aged 21-82 years.

Aim: To calibrate eight-polar bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) against dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for the assessment of total and appendicular body composition in healthy adults.Research design: A cross-sectional study was carried out.Subjects: Sixty-eight females and 42 males aged 21-82 years participated in the study.Methods: Whole-body fat-free mass (FFM) and appendicular lean tissue mass (LTM) were measured by DXA; resistance (R) of arms, trunk and legs was measured by eight-polar BIA at frequencies of 5, 50, 250 and 500 kHz; whole-body resistance was calculated as the sum R of arms, trunk and legs.Results: The resistance index (RI), i.e. the height(2)/resistance ratio, was the best predictor of FFM and appendicular LTM. As compared with weight (Wt), RI at 500 kHz explained 35% more variance of FFM (R-adj(2) =0.92 vs 0.57), 45% more variance of LTMarm (R-adj(2) = 0.93 vs 0.48) and 36% more variance of LTleg (R-adj(2) = 0.86 vs 0.50) (p &lt; 0.001 for all). The contribution of age to the unexplained variance of FFM and appendicular LTM was nil or negligible and the RI x sex interactions were either not significant or not important on practical grounds. The percent root mean square error of the estimate was 6% for FFM and 8% for LTMarm and LTMleg.Conclusion: Eight-polar BIA offers accurate estimates of total and appendicular body composition. The attractive hypothesis that eight-polar BIA is influenced minimally by age and sex should be tested on larger samples including younger individuals

Unexplained falls are frequent in patients with fall-related injury admitted to Orthopaedic wards: the UFO Study (Unexplained Falls in Older patients)

To evaluate the incidence of unexplained falls in elderly patients affected by fall-related fractures admitted to orthopaedic wards, we recruited 246 consecutive patients older than 65 (mean age 82 \ub1 7 years, range 65-101). Falls were defined "accidental" (fall explained by a definite accidental cause), "medical" (fall caused directly by a specific medical disease), "dementia-related" (fall in patients affected by moderate-severe dementia), and "unexplained" (nonaccidental falls, not related to a clear medical or drug-induced cause or with no apparent cause). According to the anamnestic features of the event, older patients had a lower tendency to remember the fall. Patients with accidental fall remember more often the event. Unexplained falls were frequent in both groups of age. Accidental falls were more frequent in younger patients, while dementia-related falls were more common in the older ones. Patients with unexplained falls showed a higher number of depressive symptoms. In a multivariate analysis a higher GDS and syncopal spells were independent predictors of unexplained falls. In conclusion, more than one third of all falls in patients hospitalized in orthopaedic wards were unexplained, particularly in patients with depressive symptoms and syncopal spells. The identification of fall causes must be evaluated in older patients with a fall-related injury

Lifelong calorie restriction affects indicators of colonic health in aging C57Bl/6J mice

Diminished colonic health is associated with various age-related pathologies. Calorie restriction (CR) is an effective strategy to increase healthy lifespan, although underlying mechanisms are not fully elucidated. Here, we report the effects of lifelong CR on indicators of colonic health in aging C57Bl/6J mice. Compared to an ad libitum control and moderate-fat diet, 30% energy reduction was associated with attenuated immune- and inflammation-related gene expression in the colon. Furthermore, expression of genes involved in lipid metabolism was higher upon CR, which may point towards efficient regulation of energy metabolism. The relative abundance of bacteria considered beneficial to colonic health, such as Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus, increased in the mice exposed to CR for 28 months as compared to the other diet groups. We found lower plasma levels of interleukin 6 and lower levels of various metabolites, among which bile acids, in the colonic luminal content of CR-exposed mice as compared to the other diet groups. Switching from CR to an ad libitum moderate-fat diet at old age (24 months) revealed remarkable phenotypic plasticity in terms of gene expression, microbiota composition and metabolite levels, although expression of a subset of genes remained CR-associated. This study demonstrated in a comprehensive way that CR affects indicators of colonic health in aging mice. Our findings provide unique leads for further studies that need to address optimal and feasible strategies for prolonged energy deprivation, which may contribute to healthy aging

La valutazione multidimensionale geriatrica.

Il capitolo si propone una dettagliata e schematica descrizione della valutazione multidimensionale geriatrica

Confusione mentale e delirium

Il capitolo descrive secondo schemi ed algoritmi diagnostici e terapeutici il problema del delirium nell'anziano

Lìiperomocisteinemia nella popolazione anziana: non solo un fattore di rischio vascolare

L'articolo affronta il significato dell'iperomocisteinemia nell'anziano, non solo un fattore di rischio cardiovascolare di patologia aterotrombotica ma ance un indicatore di stato di malnutrizione e un fattore di rischio indipendente di patologia involutiva cerebral

Stosowanie niezbednych fosfolipidow (EPL) w marskosci watroby (Administration of essentiial phospholipids (EPL) in liver cirrhosis)

The work deals with the modifications of cell membranes lipid content during the course of liver chronic diseases and the effect of essential phospholids administration in this kind of patient

Personal Digital Assistant-PDA: un nuovo strumento per una corretta terapia nel paziente anziano con scompenso cardiaco congestizio.

Il lavoro si propone di dimostrare l'utilit\ue0 di metodiche i-tech, come il Personal Digitant Assistant, nella gestione del paziente anziano con patologie croniche, con particolare riferimento allo scompenso cardiaco