The most frequently affected system was cardiovascular (29.2) and 31 of patients declared poor or very poor health. Mean length of stay was 17.9 days, 79 of patients were discharged to their usual residence; in-hospital and 1-month follow up mortality were 7.4 and 11.6, respectively. Physical function explained the highest variation (between 8 and 21), followed by cognitive status and number of Geriatric Giants, for almost all outcomes except readmission.

Conclusions: Factors other than diagnosis

(physical function, cognition and presenting problems) are important in predicting key outcomes of acute hospital care for older people and are consistent across countries. Their inclusion in a standardized system of measurement may be a way of improving quality and equity of medical care in older people.”
“Accumulation of beta-amyloid protein (A beta) CB-5083 in the brain is a key feature of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The build-up of aggregated forms of A beta leads to synaptic loss and to cognitive dysfunction. Although the pathways controlling production and aggregation of A beta are well studied, the mechanisms

that drive the spread of neurodegeneration in the brain are unclear. Here, the idea is presented that AD progresses as a consequence of synaptic scaling, a type of neuronal plasticity that helps maintain synaptic signal selleck chemical strength. Recent studies indicate that brain-derived neurotrophic Oxygenase factor, tumour necrosis factor-alpha and alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (alpha 7 nAChRs) regulate synaptic scaling in the AD brain. It is suggested that further studies on synaptic scaling in AD could reveal new targets for therapeutic drug development.”
“It is hypothesised that focal interictal epileptiform discharges (IED) may exert a deleterious effect on behaviour and cognition in children. This hypothesis is supported by the abnormally high prevalence of IED in several developmental

disorders, like specific language impairment, and of cognitive and behavioural deficits in epileptic children after excluding confounding factors such as underlying structural brain lesions, drug effects, or the occurrence of frequent or prolonged epileptic seizures. Neurophysiological and functional neuroimaging evidence suggests that IED may impact cognition through either transient effects on brain processing mechanisms, or through more long-lasting effects leading to prolonged inhibition of brain areas distant from but connected with the epileptic focus (i.e. remote inhibition effect). Sustained IED may also impair sleep-related learning consolidation processes. Nowadays, the benefits of anti-epileptic treatment aimed at reducing IED are not established except in specific situations like epileptic encephalopathies with continuous spike and waves during slow-wave sleep. Well-designed pharmacological studies are still necessary to address this issue.