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Younger Subjects (younger + subject)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	87%

Distribution within Medical Sciences

Geriatric Medicine	20%
Psychiatry	13%

Selected Abstracts

Behavior of the Electrocardiographic T Peak to End Interval in Childhood

ANNALS OF NONINVASIVE ELECTROCARDIOLOGY, Issue 1 2010
Abraham Benatar M.B., Ch.B., F.A.C.C., F.C.P.(S.A.), Ph.D.
Background: The T-wave peak to T-wave end (TpTe) interval reflects spatial and transmural dispersion in repolarization and serves as an arrhythmogenic index. Normal TpTe interval data in children are lacking. We evaluated the effects of age, gender, heart rate, leads (II and V5) on TpTe and T-wave voltage. Methods: Four hundred healthy children (age 4 days to 16.7 years) were enrolled. From a resting 12-lead digital ECG, TpTe, RR, QT, JT intervals, and T amplitude were measured (leads II and V5). Bazett and Fridericia formulas were applied to TpTe for heart rate correction and TpTe/QT and TpTe/JT were calculated. Descriptive and analytical statistics were applied, significance level set at P , 0.05. Results: TpTe in leads II and V5 correlate well. Contrary to adults, no gender differences in TpTe were observed in childhood. TpTe lengthens with increasing age, and is inversely related to heart rate. TpTe 98th percentile is 85 msec in first 5 years, increasing to 92 msec in adolescence. TpTe Fridericia is a good correction formula in childhood; TpTe Bazett overcorrects in the younger age. TpTe/QT and TpTe/JT are longer in younger subjects due to greater QT shortening than the TpTe interval at higher heart rates. Conclusions: In children, TpTe in lead II and V5 correlate well. The TpTe interval lengthens with advancing age as heart rate diminishes. TpTe Fridericia is a good correction formula in children. Younger subjects have higher TpTe/QT and TpTe/JT indices compared to older children. T-wave voltage increases with age, tallest in the 5,10-year-age group particularly in V5. Ann Noninvasive Electrocardiol 2010;15(1):11,16 [source]

Improvement in borderline personality disorder in relationship to age

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 2 2009
M. Tracie Shea
Objective:, It is commonly believed that some features of borderline personality disorder (BPD) improve as individuals reach their late 30s and 40s. This study examined age-related change in borderline criteria and functional impairment, testing the hypothesis that older age would be associated with relatively more improvement than younger age. Method:, A total of 216 male and female participants with BPD were followed prospectively with yearly assessments over 6 years. Results:, Participants showed similar rates of improvement in borderline features regardless of age. A significant age by study year interaction showed functioning in older subjects to reverse direction and begin to decline in the latter part of the follow-up, in contrast to younger subjects who maintained or continued improvement over the 6 years. Despite the decline, functioning for the older subjects was comparable with or slightly better at year 6 than at year 1. Conclusion:, Improvement in borderline features is not specific to the late 30s and 40s. There may be a reversal of improvement in functioning in some borderline patients in this older-age range. [source]

Correlation between attenuated psychotic experiences and depressive symptoms among Japanese students

EARLY INTERVENTION IN PSYCHIATRY, Issue 3 2010
Hiroyuki Kobayashi
Abstract Aims: To examine the emergence of attenuated psychotic experiences, self-disturbance or affective symptoms among younger subjects in the general population and to investigate the intergroup differences on each symptom between adolescents and post-adolescents. Methods: A total of 781 participants, 496 university students (mean age: 19.3 ± 1.1 years) and 285 high school students (mean age: 16.0 ± 0.3 years), were administered self-reported questionnaires. Psychotic prodromal symptoms were evaluated using the PRIME Screen-Revised (PS-R), a 12-item self-reported questionnaire. To measure the cognitive, emotional and physical symptoms associated with depression, the Zung Self-rating Depression Scale (ZSDS), a 20-item self-reported questionnaire, was administered. Results: There were no intergroup differences on the factor score of the PS-R, except the self-demarcation factor (post-adolescents > adolescents), whereas there were significant differences in the factor score of the ZSDS, except for the anxiety factor. Among the post-adolescents, the factors of the PS-R showed a moderate correlation to the cognitive factor on the ZSDS; among the adolescents, the PS-R factors showed a greater correlation to the anxiety factor on the ZSDS than other factors. There were no differences in the distribution of each item of the PS-R between the two groups. Conclusions: The disturbance of self results in difficulty to precisely objectify, especially among adolescents, which would induce more primitive reactions such as agitation, irritability or anxiety; probably, the self disturbance would become an explicit symptom from an implicit experience with advancing age of the subject. Although these data are only preliminary, they could explain the pathway of progression prior to the onset of psychosis, from disturbance within the self to exaggerated self-absorption. [source]

Involvement of Helicobacter pylori Infection and Impaired Glucose Metabolism in the Increase of Brachial,Ankle Pulse Wave Velocity

HELICOBACTER, Issue 5 2007
Hiroyuki Yoshikawa
Abstract Background: The role of Helicobacter pylori in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis remains controversial. The present study was designed to elucidate the pathogenic role of H. pylori in the early stages of atherosclerosis by measurement of brachial,ankle pulse wave velocity (baPWV) in relation to glucose metabolism. Materials and methods: baPWV level, anti- H. pylori antibody, fasting blood glucose (FBG), and glycosylated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and other conventional risk factors for cardiovascular diseases were measured in 947 subjects who attended their annual medical check-up. Results: Multiple regression analyses indicated that age, gender (male), body mass index, FBG, systolic blood pressure, and smoking habits were each independently related to baPWV values. In younger subjects (30,49 years), H. pylori seropositivity was significantly correlated with an increase of baPWV levels (r = 0.100, p = .0445). baPWV values in the H. pylori- positive subjects with impaired glucose metabolism (IG: FBG , 110 mg/dL and/or HbA1c , 5.9%) were significantly greater than those in the H. pylori- negative subjects with IG (p = .0078). Furthermore, H. pylori- positive subjects with IG were at higher risk for increase of baPWV, in younger (r = 0.203, p < .0001) as well as in older subjects (50,69 years, r = 0.099, p = .0009). Conclusions: These results suggest that H. pylori seropositivity is a potential risk factor for increased baPWV levels, and that H. pylori infection accelerates the effect of IG on an increase of baPWV, especially in younger subjects. Thus, the possible interaction between H. pylori infection and IG may contribute to the early development of atherosclerosis. [source]

The neural control of bimanual movements in the elderly: Brain regions exhibiting age-related increases in activity, frequency-induced neural modulation, and task-specific compensatory recruitment

HUMAN BRAIN MAPPING, Issue 8 2010
Daniel J. Goble
Abstract Coordinated hand use is an essential component of many activities of daily living. Although previous studies have demonstrated age-related behavioral deficits in bimanual tasks, studies that assessed the neural basis underlying such declines in function do not exist. In this fMRI study, 16 old and 16 young healthy adults performed bimanual movements varying in coordination complexity (i.e., in-phase, antiphase) and movement frequency (i.e., 45, 60, 75, 90% of critical antiphase speed) demands. Difficulty was normalized on an individual subject basis leading to group performances (measured by phase accuracy/stability) that were matched for young and old subjects. Despite lower overall movement frequency, the old group "overactivated" brain areas compared with the young adults. These regions included the supplementary motor area, higher order feedback processing areas, and regions typically ascribed to cognitive functions (e.g., inferior parietal cortex/dorsolateral prefrontal cortex). Further, age-related increases in activity in the supplementary motor area and left secondary somatosensory cortex showed positive correlations with coordinative ability in the more complex antiphase task, suggesting a compensation mechanism. Lastly, for both old and young subjects, similar modulation of neural activity was seen with increased movement frequency. Overall, these findings demonstrate for the first time that bimanual movements require greater neural resources for old adults in order to match the level of performance seen in younger subjects. Nevertheless, this increase in neural activity does not preclude frequency-induced neural modulations as a function of increased task demand in the elderly. Hum Brain Mapp, 2010. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Maximum Daily 6 Minutes of Activity: An Index of Functional Capacity Derived from Actigraphy and Its Application to Older Adults with Heart Failure

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 5 2010
Jason Howell BA
OBJECTIVES: To compare the correlation between the maximum 6 minutes of daily activity (M6min) and standard measures of functional capacity in older adults with heart failure (HF) with that in younger subjects and its prognostic utility. DESIGN: Prospective, cohort study. SETTING: Tertiary care, academic HF center. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty, ambulatory, adults, New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class I to III, stratified into young (50.9 ± 9.4) and older cohorts (76.8 ± 8.0). MEASUREMENTS: Correlation between M6min and measures of functional capacity (6-minute walk test; 6MWT) and peak oxygen consumption (VO2) according to cardiopulmonary exercise testing in a subset of subjects. Survival analysis was employed to evaluate the association between M6min and adverse events. RESULTS: Adherence to actigraphy was high (90%) and did not differ according to age. The correlation between M6min and 6MWT was higher in subjects aged 65 and older than in those younger than 65 (correlation coefficient (r=0.702, P<.001 vs r=0.490, P=.002). M6min was also significantly associated with peak VO2 (r=0.612, P=.006). During the study, 26 events occurred (2 deaths, 10 hospitalizations, 8 emergency department visits, and 6 intercurrent illnesses). The M6min was significantly associated with subsequent events (hazard ratio=2.728, 95% confidence interval=1.10,6.77, P=.03), independent of age, sex, ejection fraction, NYHA class, brain natriuretic peptide, and 6MWT. CONCLUSION: The high adherence to actigraphy and association with standard measures of functional capacity and independent association with subsequent morbid events suggest that it may be useful for monitoring older adults with HF. [source]

Exploratory Analysis of Cerebral Oxygen Reserves During Sleep Onset in Older and Younger Adults

JOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 5 2008
Barbara W. Carlson RN
OBJECTIVES: To explore differences in cerebral oxygen reserves during sleep in old and young adults. DESIGN: Descriptive cross-sectional study. SETTING: General clinical research center. PARTICIPANTS: Nine old (aged 65,84) and 10 young (aged 21,39) adults. MEASUREMENTS: Subjects were monitored during the first nightly sleep cycle using standard polysomnography, including measures of arterial oxyhemoglobin saturation (SaO2). Changes in regional cerebral oxyhemoglobin saturation (rcSO2) were used to estimate cerebral oxygen reserves. General linear models were used to test group differences in the change in SaO2 and rcSO2 during sleep. RESULTS: Older subjects had lower SaO2 than young subjects before sleep (baseline) (F(1,18)=5.1, P=.04) and during sleep (F(1,18)=10.7, P=.01). During sleep, half of the older subjects and none of the younger ones had SaO2 values below 95%. In addition, the older subjects had more periods of oxygen desaturation (drops in SaO2,4%) (chi-square=24.3, P=.01) and lower SaO2 levels during desaturation (F(1,18)=11.1, P<.01). Although baseline values were similar, rcSO2 decreased during sleep 2.1% in older subjects (F(1,8)=3.8, P=.05) but increased 2.1% during sleep in younger subjects (F(1,9)=4.6, P=.04). When the older subjects awakened from sleep, rcSO2, but not SaO2, returned to baseline; both returned to baseline in younger subjects. CONCLUSION: This exploratory analysis generated the hypothesis that lower SaO2, combined with declines in regional blood flow, contributes to decline in cerebral oxygen reserves during sleep in older subjects. Further study will assess the effects of factors (e.g., medical conditions, subclinical disorders, and sleep architecture) that might account for these differences. [source]

Recognition of coagulation factor VIII by CD4+ T cells of healthy humans

JOURNAL OF THROMBOSIS AND HAEMOSTASIS, Issue 10 2003
G-L. Hu
Summary., Hemophilia A patients treated with coagulation factor (F)VIII may develop an anti-FVIII immune response. Anti-FVIII antibodies may occur also in healthy subjects. To understand the extent to which an immune response to FVIII occurs in healthy subjects, we investigated the proliferative response of blood CD4+ T cells from 90 blood donors to FVIII and to pools of overlapping synthetic peptides spanning the sequences of individual FVIII domains (A1,A3, C1,C2). Most subjects responded to FVIII and several FVIII domains. Men had stronger responses to FVIII than women, and older subjects than younger subjects. The domain-induced responses were weaker than the FVIII-induced responses, yet their intensity in individual subjects correlated with that of the response to FVIII. We examined whether Th1 and/or Th2 cells responded to FVIII in 68 subjects, by determining the CD4+ T cells that secreted interferon-, (IFN-,) or interleukin (IL)-5 after stimulation with FVIII: 25 subjects had FVIII-specific IFN-,-secreting cells, and seven of them had also FVIII-specific IL-5-secreting cells. None had only IL-5-secreting cells. Thus, a CD4+ T cell response to FVIII, which first involves Th1 cells, is common among subjects with a normal procoagulant function. [source]

Age-related changes in the human thymus studied with scanning electron microscopy

MICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 8 2008
Carlo Cavallotti
Abstract This investigation describes some morphological, age-related changes in different compartments and cells of the human thymus. Scanning electron microscopic observations were done on human thymus samples obtained from four young and eight elderly patients during thoracic surgery and/or diagnostic biopsy of the thymus, after receiving authorization from the Ethical Committee of our university. The morphological data were submitted to quantitative image analysis so as to obtain quantitative results. Subsequently, the related values were used for statistical analysis. Our findings demonstrate that (1) all thymus compartments (subcapsular spaces, cortical, medullar, thymus microenvironment) contain numerous thymocytes even after the thymus has aged. (2) In older humans, residual thymus lymphoid islets contain, in addition to fatty cells and/or fibrous cells, also the same types of resident and nonresident cells (permanent and moving cells) that are found in young and adult subjects. (3) Endothelial cells of thymus microvessels contain numerous gaps. These gaps are tight in young subjects and become loose with age. (4) Thymocytes, in older subjects, are always found near these loose endothelial gaps of thymus microvessels. (5) While thymus cortical microvessels are provided with pericytes and/or periarteriolar spaces, microvessels of the thymus medullar are free of such spaces. Our morphological and quantitative results lead us to consider the possibility that the thymus fraction of resident and permanent cells (including thymocytes and reticular epithelial cells) is larger in younger subjects compared with older ones. The endothelial loose gaps of thymus microvessels, in older subjects, can allow the bidirectional transit of thymocytes through the wall of the said microvessels. Microsc. Res. Tech., 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Iris color and age-related changes in lens optical density,

OPHTHALMIC AND PHYSIOLOGICAL OPTICS, Issue 5 2000
Billy R. Hammond Jr.
Summary Purpose: Epidemiologic evidence indicates that dark iris color increases risk of age-related cataract. No information is currently available, however, on the effects of iris color on the lens prior to cataract development. In this study, we relate iris color to lens optical density (OD) in individuals without frank cataract. Methods: 90 subjects with blue or green irises (light color) were compared with 87 subjects having hazel, brown, or black irises (dark color). Lens OD was measured psychophysically by comparing scotopic thresholds obtained at 410 (measuring) and 550 nm (reference). Stimuli were presented in Maxwellian view. Results: The groups with light and with dark iris color did not differ significantly in smoking habits, dietary patterns, or age. Despite other similarities between the groups, lens OD was significantly(p<0.024) higher in the group with dark irises. The higher OD of the dark iris group was due to differences in the older subjects (>45 years,p<0.005), rather than the younger subjects (20,45 years) who showed no differences in lens OD. Conclusion: Our data indicate that iris pigmentation may be directly related to age-associated increases in lens OD. [source]

Relationship of age to symptom severity, psychiatric comorbidity and health care utilization in persons with borderline personality disorder

PERSONALITY AND MENTAL HEALTH, Issue 1 2008
Nancee Blum
Background,The objective of the study was to test the association of age with symptom severity, frequency and pattern of psychiatric comorbidity, health care utilization and quality of life in subjects with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Methods,The analysis is based on a sample of subjects with Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disroders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) BPD (n = 163) recruited for participation in a clinical trial at an academic medical center. The subjects were assessed using structured and semi-structured instruments of known reliability. Results,Tests of trend with age showed relationships with important variables assessing symptom severity, comorbidity, quality of life and health care utilization. As expected, younger subjects were less likely to be married, to be employed or to receive disability payments. The frequency of most lifetime comorbid Axis I disorders was not related to age, although posttraumatic stress disorder was more frequent in the 35- to 44-year age group, and younger patients were more likely to have comorbid histrionic and narcissistic personality disorders. Baseline severity variables were mostly unrelated to age, with the exception of impulsivity, which was more common in younger patients, as were acts of deliberate self-harm. As expected, older patients reported poorer quality of life in categories indicating worse health perception and greater pain levels, and tended to use more health care resources than younger patients. Conclusion,Most characteristics of patients with BPD are unrelated to age, yet impulsivity and acts of deliberate self-harm were less frequent in older patients. Expected age-related changes, such as reports of worse physical health, greater pain levels and greater health care utilization, were observed in older subjects. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Behavior of the Electrocardiographic T Peak to End Interval in Childhood

Significance of Abnormal Q Waves in the Electrocardiograms of Adults Less than 40 Years Old

ANNALS OF NONINVASIVE ELECTROCARDIOLOGY, Issue 3 2006
Rex N. MacAlpin M.D.
Background: Abnormal Q waves (AQW) in the electrocardiogram are commonly ascribed to underlying myocardial infarction (MI). As an imperfectly specific sign of MI, the usefulness of AQW in identifying MI depends on its incidence in the population studied. Methods: Eighty-two subjects under 40 years of age with AQW were compared with 82 subjects from the same institution aged ,40 years with similar AQW to determine the presence or absence of cardiac disease or MI. Results: Cardiac disease was present in 90.2% and 92.7% of the younger and older subjects, respectively, whereas MI was present in only 15.9% of younger subjects and in 68.3% of older subjects. Etiologies of cardiac disease differed between younger and older subjects. Some types of AQW were more useful than others in ruling MI in or out. Conclusions: AQW were a strong indicator of organic heart disease in both adult age groups, but their utility to indicate MI was age-dependent. In the population studied, MI was present in only a small minority of subjects under 40 years of age with AQW, but was usually present in older subjects with similar AQW. [source]

Evaluation of the diagnostic utility of spinal magnetic resonance imaging in axial spondylarthritis

ARTHRITIS & RHEUMATISM, Issue 5 2009
A. N. Bennett
Objective Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is increasingly used for the diagnosis of axial spondylarthritis (SpA), but it is unknown whether characteristic lesions are actually specific for SpA. This study was undertaken to compare MRI patterns of disease in active SpA, degenerative arthritis (DA), and malignancy. Methods Fat-suppressed MRI of the axial skeleton was performed on 174 patients with back pain and 11 control subjects. Lesions detected by MRI, including Romanus lesions (RLs) and end-plate, diffuse vertebral body, posterior element, and spinous process bone marrow edema (BME) lesions, were scored in a blinded manner. An imaging diagnosis was given based on MRI findings alone, and this was compared with the gold-standard treating physician's diagnosis. Results The physician diagnosis was SpA in 64 subjects, DA in 45 subjects, malignancy in 45 subjects, other diagnoses in 20 subjects, and normal in 11 subjects. There was 72% agreement between the imaging diagnosis and physician diagnosis. End-plate edema, degenerative discs, and RLs were frequently observed in patients with any of the 3 major diagnoses. Single RLs were of low diagnostic utility for SpA, but ,3 RLs (likelihood ratio [LR] 12.4) and severe RLs (LR infinite) in younger subjects were highly diagnostic of SpA. Posterior element BME lesions of mild or moderate grade were also highly diagnostic of SpA (LR 14.5). The most common diagnostic confusion was between SpA and DA, since both had RLs present and the presence/absence of degenerative discs did not change the diagnostic assessment. Conclusion This study confirms the high diagnostic utility of MRI in axial SpA, with severe or multiple RLs evident on MRI being characteristic in younger patients and mild/moderate posterior element lesions being specific for SpA. However, MRI lesions previously considered to be characteristic of SpA could also be found frequently in patients with DA and patients with malignancy, and therefore such lesions should be interpreted with caution, particularly in older patients. [source]

Genetic variants in cell cycle control pathway confer susceptibility to bladder cancer

CANCER, Issue 11 2008
Yuanqing Ye PhD
Abstract BACKGROUND Cell cycle checkpoint regulation is crucial for the prevention of carcinogenesis in mammalian cells. METHODS To test the hypothesis that common sequence variants in the cell cycle control pathway may affect bladder cancer susceptibility, the effects of a panel of 10 potential functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 7 cell cycle control genes, P53, P21, P27, CDK4, CDK6, CCND1, and STK15, were evaluated on bladder cancer risk in a case-control study of 696 bladder cancer cases and 629 healthy controls. RESULTS Overall, on individual SNP analysis only individuals with the p53 intron 3 16-bp duplication polymorphism variant allele had a significantly reduced bladder cancer risk (odds ratio [OR] = 0.74, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.56,0.96). This effect was more evident in former smokers and younger subjects. We then applied the Classification and Regression Tree (CART) statistical approach to explore the high-order gene-gene and gene-smoking interactions. In the CART analysis, smoking status was identified as the most influential factor for bladder cancer susceptibility. The final decision tree by CART contained 6 terminal nodes. Compared with the second-lowest risk group the ORs for terminal nodes 1 and 3 to 6 ranged from 0.46 to 6.30. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that cell cycle genetic polymorphisms may affect bladder cancer predisposition through modulation of host genome stability and confirm the importance of studying gene-gene and gene-environment interactions in bladder cancer risk assessment. Cancer 2008. © 2008 American Cancer Society. [source]

Dizziness is associated with decreased vasoreactivity in right cerebral hemisphere for head-down manoeuvre , near-infrared spectroscopy study

CLINICAL PHYSIOLOGY AND FUNCTIONAL IMAGING, Issue 1 2005
Nobusada Shinoura
Summary To investigate the vasoreactivity of cerebral hemisphere in patients with dizziness and syncope, we compared changes in total haemoglobin (THbl) and regional oxygen saturation (rSO2) of the right and left frontal lobes in response to head-down manoeuvre. Ninety-six right-handed subjects (aged 59 ± 19 years) were asked to perform a head-down or a standing manoeuvre. Head-down manoeuvre produced a greater increase in right side THbl in subjects under 70 years of age (8·5 ± 3·1) when compared with subjects older than 70 years (0·40 ± 0·08). In contrast, the head-down manoeuvre had no effects on left side THbl, irrespective of patient age. Similarly, the head-down manoeuvre resulted in a greater decrease of right side rSO2 in subjects under 70 years of age (,5·2 ± 2·1%) when compared with subjects older than 70 years (0·31 ± 0·9%). In contrast, the head-down manoeuvre had no effects on left side rSO2, irrespective of patient age. The head-down manoeuvre produced a smaller increase in right side THbl in subjects with dizziness (0·38 ± 0·19) than in those without dizziness (9·4 ± 3·5). A standing manoeuvre produced a smaller increase in right side THbl in subjects with syncope (,0·057 ± 0·047) than in those without syncope (0·063 ± 0·028). The head-down manoeuvre produced a decrease in right side rSO2 in subjects without dizziness (,6·4 ± 2·4%) and a slight increase in right side rSO2 in subjects with dizziness (1·1 ± 0·4%). Subjects with dizziness (67 ± 2·1 years) were significantly older than those without dizziness (53 ± 2·7 years) or those with syncope (44 ± 4·2 years). These data indicate that reduced vasoreactivity to right hemispheric pressure changes is associated with dizziness in older subjects. Further, decreases in right hemispheric THbl during a standing manoeuvre are associated with syncope in relatively younger subjects. [source]