The presence of depressive symptoms and cognitive performance among older individuals with and without self-reported chronic diseases.

Dementias secondary to cardiovascular diseases are the second cause of neurogenerative diseases. These conditions can be prevented by controlling risk factors, and it is necessary to observe the relationship between chronic diseases. Objective: to know the influence of chronic non-communicable diseases on cognition and depressive symptoms in the elderly, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: 578 older adults were evaluated using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Brazilian Telephone version of the Mini Mental State Examination (Braztel-MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and an open questionnaire related to NCDs. Results: the association of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) with age, depressive symptoms and schooling was confirmed. Conclusion: no association with cognitive decline was evident due to the relationship of high schooling of participants and control of NCDs.

As demências secundárias às doenças cardiovasculares são a segunda causa de doenças neurodegenerativas. Essas condições podem ser prevenidas pelo controle de fatores de risco, sendo necessário observar a relação entre doenças crônicas. Objetivo: Conhecer a influência das doenças crônicas não transmissíveis (DCNT) na cognição e nos sintomas depressivos em pessoas idosas, em meio à pandemia da COVID-19. Métodos: Foram avaliados 578 idosos utilizando um questionário sociodemográfico, o Brazilian telephone version of the Mini Mental State Examination (Braztel-MMSE), a Escala de Depressão Geriátrica (GDS-15) e um questionário aberto relacionado às DCNT. Resultados: Foi confirmada a associação das DCNT crônicas com idade, sintomas depressivos e escolaridade. Conclusão: Nenhuma associação com declínio cognitivo foi evidente em razão da relação da alta escolaridade dos participantes com o controle das DCNT.

The presence of depressive symptoms and cognitive performance among older individuals with and without self-reported chronic diseases / A presença de sintomas depressivos e o desempenho cognitivo entre pessoas idosas com e sem doenças crônicas autorreferidas

ABSTRACT. Dementias secondary to cardiovascular diseases are the second cause of neurogenerative diseases. These conditions can be prevented by controlling risk factors, and it is necessary to observe the relationship between chronic diseases. Objective: to know the influence of chronic non-communicable diseases on cognition and depressive symptoms in the elderly, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: 578 older adults were evaluated using a sociodemographic questionnaire, the Brazilian Telephone version of the Mini Mental State Examination (Braztel-MMSE), the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) and an open questionnaire related to NCDs. Results: the association of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) with age, depressive symptoms and schooling was confirmed. Conclusion: no association with cognitive decline was evident due to the relationship of high schooling of participants and control of NCDs.

RESUMO. As demências secundárias às doenças cardiovasculares são a segunda causa de doenças neurodegenerativas. Essas condições podem ser prevenidas pelo controle de fatores de risco, sendo necessário observar a relação entre doenças crônicas. Objetivo: Conhecer a influência das doenças crônicas não transmissíveis (DCNT) na cognição e nos sintomas depressivos em pessoas idosas, em meio à pandemia da COVID-19. Métodos: Foram avaliados 578 idosos utilizando um questionário sociodemográfico, o Brazilian telephone version of the Mini Mental State Examination (Braztel-MMSE), a Escala de Depressão Geriátrica (GDS-15) e um questionário aberto relacionado às DCNT. Resultados: Foi confirmada a associação das DCNT crônicas com idade, sintomas depressivos e escolaridade. Conclusão: Nenhuma associação com declínio cognitivo foi evidente em razão da relação da alta escolaridade dos participantes com o controle das DCNT.

Knee osteoarthritis associated with different kinds of amyloid deposits and the impact of aging on type of amyloid.

Amyloidosis is a protein conformational disorder in which amyloid fibrils accumulate in the extracellular space and induce organ dysfunction. Recently, two different amyloidogenic proteins, transthyretin (TTR) and apolipoprotein A-I (Apo A-I), were identified in amyloid deposits in knee joints in patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA). However, clinicopathological differences related to those two kinds of amyloid deposits in the knee joint remain to be clarified. Here, we investigated the clinicopathological features related to these knee amyloid deposits associated with knee OA and the biochemical characteristics of the amyloid deposits. We found that all of our patients with knee OA had amyloid deposits in the knee joints, especially in the meniscus, and those deposits were primarily derived from TTR and/or Apo A-I. Some patients with knee OA, however, had unclassified amyloid deposits. One of our interesting observations concerned the different effects of aging on each type of amyloid formed. The frequency of formation of ATTR deposits clearly increased with age, but that of AApo A-I deposits decreased. Furthermore, we found that ∼16% of patients with knee OA developed ATTR/AApo A-I double deposits in the meniscus. Amyloid deposition may therefore be a common histopathological feature associated with knee OA. Also, aging may induce ATTR formation in the knee joint in elderly patients with knee OA, whereas AApo A-I formation may be inversely correlated with age.

A study of ten Japanese patients with seronegative spondylarthropathy: a tentative proposal.

We reviewed ten patients with seronegative spondylarthropathy (SNSA), who all fulfilled the European Spondylarthropathy Study Group criteria for spondylarthropathy (SpA); seven patients also met the Amor criteria for SpA. Seronegative spondylarthropathy was not a uniform syndrome but rather a wide spectrum of complex disease with characteristics of sacroiliitis and enthesopathy. The most frequent symptom at diagnosis of SNSA was inflammatory low back pain, followed by asymmetric oligoarthralgia and Achilles tendonitis and/or plantar fasciitis. Systemic complications were revealed as eye and skin involvement. Imaging methods including pelvic radiography, scintigraphy, and computed tomography scanning were useful in detecting spondylarthropathic changes, which were characteristic of SNSA. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) typing showed various patterns among patients, in which HLA-B27 was positive in three patients with ankylosing spondylitis. HLA-B51, which is a well-known genetic factor associated with Behçet's disease (BD), was positive in two patients who were apparently distinct from BD. Two patients with palmoplantar pustulosis showed symptoms and signs characteristic of SNSA. Although we have few SNSA patients in the present study, we would like to propose that HLA-B51 positive SpA would be considered as a subset of SNSA, and that pustulotic SpA also would be classified as a member of SNSA. This led us to suggest the possibility to change the concept of SNSA proposed by Moll et al. The optimal treatment remains to be defined, but sulfasalazine was effectively used with almost all patients in combination with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.