The Charted Care Collection (01/04/2022)
[ photo by Erik Mclean ]
The Chartered Care Collection (01/04/2022)
The Chartered Care Collection provides a review of the latest, pertinent publications from the medical literature on aging. I have selected interesting articles that describe some of the most current research that may be relevant to the loved one in your care. Each article will be referenced if you desire to read more of the study, but I will give a brief synopsis of each study so you are aware of the latest research. Let’s get to The Collection!
The Chartered Care Collection
Happy New Year, readers! I hope you all had an enjoyable, safe, and relaxing holiday season. I certainly did. I was able to take a couple weeks off from blogging and work to have time to enjoy the kiddos being home from school and be with my family. As is usual, time flew, and here I am again with a new post. We are at the first of the month, so I am ready to get the year started with a review of some of the latest printed scientific research on all things pertaining to health and healthy aging.
Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, COVID has been rearing its ugly head again with the new Omicron variant and the ever-present Delta variant. As the pandemic has dragged on for two years now, there has been more research coming out on the effects of COVID-19, both directly and indirectly.
The first article I came across in the Archives of Bone and Joint Surgery looked more at the indirect effects of COVID-19. This article specifically analyzed a series of femoral neck fracture patients requiring surgical repair from March 1, 2020 to May 15, 2020 and compared these patients with patients treated during the same time frame in 2019. There were very interesting differences/outcomes in treatment from 2019 compared with 2020. The first finding was that 25% of those with fractures in 2020 had delayed surgical procedures versus 11% of those in 2019. Complication rates during the surgeries for 2019 and 2020 were about the same. The 30-day mortality rate for the 2020 group was significantly higher (13.5%) than the 2019 group (4.2%). The statistics I just listed were in all patients (regardless of their status of COVID-19 infection). In patients testing positive for COVID-19, they experienced postoperative complications 71.4% of the time while only 25.9% of those who were COVID negative experienced postoperative complications.
The next study, printed in the European Journal of Neurology, studied neurological complications following COVID-19 infection. The study included patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection and at least one confirmed new onset neurological symptom. These symptoms included altered mental status (43%), headaches (43%), and peripheral weakness (33%). Participants underwent a lumbar puncture in which cerebral spinal fluid (CSF) was collected. The CSF was analyzed for specific proteins and autoantibodies. Three specific proteins were assessed, all three were found to be elevated. Neuronal autoantibody testing was negative in all of the patients. The findings of this study give support to the lasting effects of COVID-19, long after the COVID-19 infection has cleared.
The two studies above lend support to the ongoing need for vaccination and boosters. The need is not just to protect yourself or your loved one from the direct effect of a severe COVID-19 infection but also from the indirect effects, such as delay in other essential medical care that can occur due to staffing and bed shortage from the surge of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
There are many more research articles that have been published that are certainly worth reading, but I am going to discuss just one more for this week. This one goes along the vein of New Year's resolutions, for those of you that are making these resolutions.
The author of this last paper conducted a literature search for studies of dietary patterns and health outcomes. Twelve studies that examined the DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) were reviewed. In reviewing these studies, it was noted that a higher adherence to the DASH diet was associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality. In addition, there were 44 articles reviewed that studied Mediterranean-type diets. A higher adherence to this type of diet also was associated with lower risk of all cause mortality. Overall, the dietary patterns in all of the diets associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality included diets heavy in vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts, fish, non-refined grains, cereals and unsaturated vegetable oils. These diets had a lower consumption of red meat, processed meat, and high-fat dairy products. So if you or your loved one is looking to embark on a New Year’s resolution to improve longevity, science supports the DASH and Mediterranean type diets!
References:
Lim, J., et al. The impact of COVID-19 on neck of femur fracture care: a major trauma center experience, United Kingdom. Arch Bone Joint Surg. 2021, July; 9(4): 453-460.
Virhammar, J., et al. Biomarkers for central nervous system injury in cerebral spinal fluid are elevated in COVID-19 and associated with neurological symptoms and disease severity. Euro J Neurol. 2021, October; 28(10): 3324-3331.
English, L., et al. Evaluation of dietary patterns and all-cause mortality: a systematic review. JAMA Net Open. 2021, August; 4(8): e2122277. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.22277.
That sums it up for the Chartered Care Collection for this month. Take the time to read each of these articles in full, and feel free to leave your comments or questions below!
© 2022 Jessica Kluetz, DO