Articles
Plain explanations of what these assessments measure, written for the person having them and for the clinician reading the report.
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Malnutrition in Obesity: Screening the Patient a BMI Hides
Malnutrition in Obesity: Screening the Patient a BMI Hides Malnutrition in obesity is diagnosed at any BMI under the GLIM criteria, for example reduced muscle mass plus inflammation. The usual screens miss it: among older outpatients with a BMI of 25 or more, 58.8% of those malnourished passed the short-form screen. A patient can carry…
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Remitted Depression and Cognitive Decline: A Screening Trigger
Remitted Depression and Cognitive Decline: A Screening Trigger Remitted depression is a screening trigger for cognitive decline: in one cohort of older adults whose depression had lifted, about one in four developed dementia within five years. That history is a reason to set a standardized cognitive baseline and follow it. Remission ends the mood episode,…
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Body Fat Distribution and Dementia Risk: Screening Beyond the Scale
Body Fat Distribution and Dementia Risk: Screening Beyond the Scale Body fat distribution shifts dementia risk: among 412,691 UK Biobank adults, a central fat pattern and fat concentrated in the arms each predicted more neurodegenerative disease, and muscle strength predicted less. Where fat sits and how much muscle surrounds it predicted neurodegenerative disease in a…
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Modifiable Risk Factors for Dementia: What Primary Care Can Measure
Modifiable Risk Factors for Dementia: What Primary Care Can Measure Primary care can measure four of the 14 modifiable dementia risk factors in the 2024 Lancet Commission with a number: blood pressure, glucose regulation, LDL cholesterol and adiposity. The others have to be asked about, and some were settled long before the visit. A population…
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Gut Bacteria, Stress and the Clock Your Body Runs On
Gut Bacteria, Stress and the Clock Your Body Runs On Gut bacteria help set the daily rhythm of your stress response, which runs highest around waking and lowest at night. In mice, removing gut bacteria left the stress hormone released at the wrong times of day, not in the wrong amount. The same bad news…
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Metabolic Osteoarthritis: Screening the Hand and Younger Joint
Metabolic Osteoarthritis: Screening the Hand and Younger Joint Metabolic osteoarthritis screening belongs in two presentations: osteoarthritis in the finger joints, which carry almost no load, and osteoarthritis that starts unexpectedly young. In both, a glycemic, insulin and lipid panel is the right first test. Load explains the knee. It does not explain the interphalangeal joint,…