Ruth Peters

..numerous reports have linked impaired kidney function to a higher risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. There are relatively few data relating to kidney function in the very elderly...

..The emphasis has shifted over time from diastolic pressure to systolic pressure and variability in blood pressure. This study examined the impact of transient and sustained diastolic hypertension on later mortality...

..This review will concentrate on the prevention of dementia and attempt to provide an overview of the evidence relating to vascular related dementia and the potential risk factors of hypertension, alcohol use and smoking behaviour...

..Dementia is prevalent in older adults and the population is ageing. Many factors have been associated with dementia and anything that may aid the prevention of dementia is of importance...

..The Clock Drawing Test (CDT) assesses cognition focusing on executive function and praxis in contrast to the more language-based Mini-Mental State Exam. The CDT may allow early identification of cognitive decline...

..fractures may have serious implications in an elderly individual, and fracture prevention may include a careful choice of medications...

..Cardiovascular risk factors have been linked to increased risk of dementia. A previous meta-analysis found that current smokers were at higher risk of subsequent dementia, Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia and cognitive decline...

..depression is common in elderly people and may be associated with increased cardiovascular risk and incident dementia...

..It is well known that the global population is aging and that those over the age of 80 are the fastest growing part of this expansion. Also known is that prevalence of hypertension and cognitive decline both increase with increasing age...

..Dementia risk also increases with age and is thought to be higher in hypertensives...

..Meta-analyses used to explore this area further are inconclusive, and comparative trials are now required...

..The elderly are more at risk of developing dementia and are also more likely to suffer from anaemia, although there is relatively little longitudinal literature addressing this association...

..The Hypertension in the Very Elderly trial (HYVET) was designed to assess the risks and benefits of treatment of hypertension in elderly patients and included an assessment of cognitive function...

..A healthy life both physically and mentally may be the best defence against the changes of an ageing brain. Additional measures to prevent cardiovascular disease may also be important...

..The objective of this protocol is to determine whether treatment of hypertension in this very elderly group affects the incidence of dementia and decline in cognitive function during the period of the HYVET trial...

..Here, we modelled dynamics of cognition in relation to the treatment of hypertension, to see if treatment effects might better be discerned by a model that included baseline measures of cognition and consequent mortality..

..Alcohol has known negative effects in large quantities but may be protective for the cardiovascular system in smaller amounts. Effect of alcohol intake may be greater in the elderly and may impact on cognition...

..The aim of these analyses was to examine the impact of baseline cardiovascular and biochemical factors upon incident dementia and cognitive decline in a very elderly hypertensive group...

..Whether the treatment of patients with hypertension who are 80 years of age or older is beneficial is unclear. It has been suggested that antihypertensive therapy may reduce the risk of stroke, despite possibly increasing the risk of death...

..The authors conclude that the CDT may have value as a brief face-to-face screening tool for moderate/severe cognitive impairment in an older community population but is relatively poor at detecting milder cognitive impairment...

..Those with prior cardiovascular disease had an excess of the known cardiovascular risk factors. The baseline characteristics provide a basis for further understanding of the HYVET results, which have been published recently...

..The association between these measurements and mortality and morbidity in this age group will be addressed...

..Because we estimate that 50% had white coat hypertension in the main study, this condition may benefit from treatment in the very elderly...

..The risks and benefits of treating hypertension in individuals older than 80 years are uncertain. A meta-analysis has suggested that a reduction in stroke events of 36% may have to be balanced against a 14% increase in total mortality...

..This systematic review aims to present and discuss the CDT scoring methods available in the literature, in order to find differences in administration and utility of the CDT...

..The aim was to examine whether health care assistants, trained to provide additional support with feeding, can improve acutely ill elderly in-patients' clinical outcomes...

..Some of these biochemical differences may reflect different methodologies employed in Romanian laboratories, but we could not confirm this possibility...

..To examine the influence of hormone-related factors on the risk of invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (ovarian cancer)...

..We examined these issues as part of a large case-control study of ovarian cancer conducted in Los Angeles between 1992 and 1998...