Increasing prevalence of dementia among very old people

BACKGROUND: it is unknown whether the age-specific prevalence of dementia among the very old changes over time.METHODS: this study compares the prevalence of dementia in two population-based cross-sectional samples of very old people in northern Sweden in 2000-02 and in 2005-07. In total, 430 individuals aged 85 and older (mean age 89.5 years, 71.4% women) were evaluated for dementia in the first cross-section and 465 individuals (mean age 90.2 years, 70.9% women) in the second. Trained assessors performed assessments and interviews during home visits and collected information from carers, relatives and medical records. Dementia was diagnosed according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition criteria.RESULTS: the prevalence of dementia in the total sample was 26.5% in 2000-02 and 37.2% in 2005-07 (P = 0.001). There was also an increase in the prescription of different antihypertensive agents, antilipemic agents and choline esterase inhibitors, and more people had had heart surgery in the later sample.CONCLUSIONS: in this sample of very old people, an increase in the age-specific prevalence of dementia was detected over 5 years. Possible reasons for this may be extended survival among individuals with risk factors for dementia and among individuals with established dementia.</p

Outcome of the living kidney donor

Renal transplantation from living kidney donors is still relatively marginal in most of the European countries. However, this source of kidney grafts may help to overcome in part the organ donor shortage of cadaveric donors. The living donor strategy implies correct and objective information about donation risks and completely free acceptance of the living candidate of the donation. In this paper, we reviewed the consequences of kidney donation on the living donor health, considering very short term (linked to the surgery), short term (effect of nephrectomy on glomerular filtration rate) and long term (risk of mortality, chronic kidney disease, proteinuria and hypertension) consequences of kidney donation