Study protocol of the OrkA project: orofacial and communicative activation in old age- a cluster randomized prevention study in long-term care facilities in Lower Saxony, Germany.

Background: The process of aging involves numerous changes in the body, influencing physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Age-related changes and degradation can impact various functions of the swallowing process and lead to delayed word retrieval. Individuals with limited linguistic stimulation may experience a more rapid decline in cognitive performance.

An accurate fully automated panel of plasma biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease.

Introduction: There is a great need for fully automated plasma assays that can measure amyloid beta (Aβ) pathology and predict future Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia.

Methods: Two cohorts (n = 920) were examined: Panel A+ (n = 32 cognitively unimpaired [CU], n = 106 mild cognitive impairment [MCI], and n = 89 AD) and BioFINDER-1 (n = 461 CU, n = 232 MCI). Plasma Aβ42/Aβ40, phosphorylated tau (p-tau)181, two p-tau217 variants, ApoE4 protein, neurofilament light, and GFAP were measured using Elecsys prototype immunoassays.

[Alzheimer's disease-Which substances are at present in phase III studies?].

Background: The recent approval of aduhelm/aducanumab by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in June 2021 raised hopes that further substances against Alzheimer's disease might be approved in the near future.

Objective: The current status of phase III studies for Alzheimer's disease was evaluated.

Material And Methods: The American database www.

Post-discharge adjustment of medication in geriatric patients : A prospective cohort study.

Background: Little is known to what extent general practitioners (GP) change hospital discharge medications in older patients.

Objective: This prospective cohort study aimed to analyze medication changes at the interface between hospital and community in terms of quality, quantity and type of drugs.

Methods: A total of 121 out of 248 consecutively enrolled patients admitted to an acute geriatric hospital unit participated in the study.

Trial of Solanezumab for Mild Dementia Due to Alzheimer's Disease.

Background: Alzheimer's disease is characterized by amyloid-beta (Aβ) plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. The humanized monoclonal antibody solanezumab was designed to increase the clearance from the brain of soluble Aβ, peptides that may lead to toxic effects in the synapses and precede the deposition of fibrillary amyloid.

Methods: We conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial involving patients with mild dementia due to Alzheimer's disease, defined as a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score of 20 to 26 (on a scale from 0 to 30, with higher scores indicating better cognition) and with amyloid deposition shown by means of florbetapir positron-emission tomography or Aβ1-42 measurements in cerebrospinal fluid.

Effect of concomitant use of memantine on mortality and efficacy outcomes of galantamine-treated patients with Alzheimer's disease: post-hoc analysis of a randomized placebo-controlled study.

Background: A large, prospective, 2-year, randomized study in patients with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer's disease or mixed dementia demonstrated reductions in mortality and cognitive/functional decline in galantamine-treated patients. A post-hoc analysis was conducted to study the effect of (the presence or absence of) concomitant memantine use on treatment outcome.

Methods: Randomized patients (N = 2045) were divided into subgroups based on memantine use.

Living with and dying from advanced heart failure: understanding the needs of older patients at the end of life.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a life-limiting illness and patients with advanced heart failure often suffer from severe physical and psychosocial symptoms. Particularly in older patients, HF often occurs in conjunction with other chronic diseases, resulting in complex co-morbidity. This study aims to understand how old and very old patients with advanced HF perceive their disease and to identify their medical, psychosocial and information needs, focusing on the last phase of life.

Effects of galantamine in a 2-year, randomized, placebo-controlled study in Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Currently available treatments for Alzheimer's disease (AD) can produce mild improvements in cognitive function, behavior, and activities of daily living in patients, but their influence on long-term survival is not well established. This study was designed to assess patient survival and drug efficacy following a 2-year galantamine treatment in patients with mild to moderately severe AD.

Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind study, patients were randomized 1:1 to receive galantamine or placebo.

'Who is going to explain it to me so that I understand?' Health care needs and experiences of older patients with advanced heart failure.

Heart failure is a leading cause of death and can result in significant palliative care needs. The aim of this study was to explore the needs of older patients with advanced heart failure, and their experiences with health care delivery in Germany. Qualitative interviews were carried out with 12 patients (6 men, 6 women; age 73-94 years; heart failure in an advanced stage according to the New York Heart Association Functional Classification) recruited in two geriatric hospitals.

Proteins induced by telomere dysfunction and DNA damage represent biomarkers of human aging and disease.

Telomere dysfunction limits the proliferative capacity of human cells by activation of DNA damage responses, inducing senescence or apoptosis. In humans, telomere shortening occurs in the vast majority of tissues during aging, and telomere shortening is accelerated in chronic diseases that increase the rate of cell turnover. Yet, the functional role of telomere dysfunction and DNA damage in human aging and diseases remains under debate.

Lipoic acid as an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective treatment for Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that destroys patient memory and cognition, communication ability with the social environment and the ability to carry out daily activities. Despite extensive research into the pathogenesis of AD, a neuroprotective treatment - particularly for the early stages of disease - remains unavailable for clinical use. In this review, we advance the suggestion that lipoic acid (LA) may fulfil this therapeutic need.

Effectiveness of open-label donepezil treatment in patients with Alzheimer's disease discontinuing memantine monotherapy.

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of donepezil in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) who discontinue memantine due to a lack of efficacy or not being well tolerated.

Methods: This study enrolled patients with moderate-to-severe AD (Mini-Mental State Examination [MMSE] score 5-17) who had a history of treatment with memantine monotherapy (10 mg/BID) for > or = 3 months prior to screening and maintained until study baseline. For inclusion in this study, the patient's memantine treatment had to have been judged as lacking efficacy or not well tolerated at the screening visit.

Lipoic acid as a novel treatment for Alzheimer's disease and related dementias.

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that destroys patient memory and cognition, communication ability with the social environment and the ability to carry out daily activities. Despite extensive research into the pathogenesis of AD, a neuroprotective treatment - particularly for the early stages of disease - remains unavailable for clinical use. In this review, we advance the suggestion that lipoic acid (LA) may fulfil this therapeutic need.

Identification of novel biomarker candidates by differential peptidomics analysis of cerebrospinal fluid in Alzheimer's disease.

The objective of this work was the application of peptidomics technologies for the detection and identification of reliable and robust biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease (AD) contributing to facilitate and further improve the diagnosis of AD. Using a new method for the comprehensive and comparative profiling of peptides, the differential peptide display (DPD), 312 cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from AD patients, cognitively unimpaired subjects and from patients suffering from other primary dementia disorders were analysed as four independent analytical sets. By combination with a cross validation procedure, candidates were selected from a total of more than 6,000 different peptide signals based on their discriminating power.

Protein glycation, oxidation and nitration adduct residues and free adducts of cerebrospinal fluid in Alzheimer's disease and link to cognitive impairment.

Increased damage to proteins by glycation, oxidation and nitration has been implicated in neuronal cell death leading to Alzheimer's disease (AD). Protein glycation, oxidation and nitration adducts are consequently formed. Quantitative screening of these adducts in CSF may provide a biochemical indicator for the diagnosis of AD.

A multinational, randomised, 12-week study comparing the effects of donepezil and galantamine in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

Objectives: To compare directly, in the same patient cohort, the ease of use and tolerability of donepezil and galantamine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease (AD), and investigate the effects of both treatments on cognition and activities of daily living (ADL).

Methods: Patients with mild to moderate AD from 14 European centres were randomised to receive open-label donepezil (up to 10 mg once daily) or galantamine (up to 12 mg twice daily) for 12 weeks, according to the approved product labelling. Physicians and caregivers completed questionnaires rating satisfaction with treatment/ease of use in daily practice.

Treatment with the selective muscarinic m1 agonist talsaclidine decreases cerebrospinal fluid levels of A beta 42 in patients with Alzheimer's disease.

The amyloid beta-peptides A beta 40 and A beta 42 are highly amyloidogenic constituents of brain beta-amyloid plaques in Alzheimer's disease (AD). Lowering their formation may be achieved by modulating the activities of proteases that cleave the amyloid precursor protein (A beta PP), including alpha- beta-, and gamma-secretases. Talsaclidine is a functionally selective muscarinic m1 agonist that stimulates non-amyloidogenic alpha-secretase processing in vitro.