Age-related muscle loss is a phenomenon that has been extensively studied in recent decades. Sarcopenia is a multisystem disease, which predisposes to muscle weakness and frailty. At around 50 years of age, an individual begins to lose muscle strength, although this becomes more evident after 70. Sarcopenia is a condition typically found in older adults but can also affect younger people. Sarcopenia is a preventable and treatable condition. In past years, methods and tools to recognize the condition early have been researched. For the development of therapeutic interventions, agreement on diagnosis is fundamental. In recent years, a possible role of ultrasonography in the diagnosis of sarcopenia has been evaluated, compared with the best-known techniques.

A fall is an event where a person unintentionally and traumatically finds themselves on the floor or a lower level. Falls are very common, especially in the older adult population. One in four people falls at least once a year after age 65. Because of falls, there can be injuries, whereby there can be an impairment of health status. Fractures, reduced mobility, disability, and the need for institutionalization are potential consequences after falls. In older adult patients, especially frail ones, these types of complications are more common. There are several risk factors for falls. Falls generally result from a combination of factors operating simultaneously. Sarcopenia, cognitive impairment, or poly-pharmacotherapy are just a few examples of risk factors that are common in the older people. Through careful clinical evaluation, it is possible to identify risk factors and conditions predisposing to falls. In some cases, it is possible to correct these factors. Several types of treatment are available to restore the health status before the fall and prevent subsequent falls. Using multi-component interventions, the risk of falls can be effectively reduced. Aware that this review will not be exhaustive of such a broad topic, the purpose of this narrative review is to summarize relevant and recent evidence in the current literature to encapsulate fall-related risk factors, risk identification, fall prevention, and management, including various rehabilitation techniques. This article conforms to the Scale for Assessment of Narrative Review Articles (SANRA) guidelines.

Neuropathic pain due to a lesion or a disease of the somatosensory system often affects older people presenting several comorbidities. Moreover, elderly patients are often poly-medicated, hospitalized and treated in a nursing home with a growing risk of drug interaction and recurrent hospitalization. Neuropathic pain in the elderly has to be managed by a multidimensional approach that involves several medical, social and psychological professionals in order to improve the quality of life of the patients and, where present, their relatives.

The development and implementation of the approaches of personalized medicine for disease prevention are still at infancy, although preventive activities in healthcare represent a key pillar to guarantee health system sustainability. There is an increasing interest in finding informative markers that indicate the disease risk before the manifestation of the disease (primary prevention) or for early disease detection (secondary prevention). Recently, the systematic collection and study of clinical phenotypes and biomarkers consented to the advance of Rehabilomics in tertiary prevention. It consents to identify relevant molecular and physiological factors that can be linked to plasticity, treatment response, and natural recovery. Implementation of these approaches would open avenues to identify people at high risk and enable new preventive lifestyle interventions or early treatments targeted to their individual genomic profile, personalizing prevention and rehabilitation. The integration of personalized medicine into prevention may benefit citizens, patients, healthcare professionals, healthcare authorities, and industry, and ultimately will seek to contribute to better health and quality of life for Europe’s citizens.

High mobility group box-1 (HMGB-1) is a nuclear protein also acting as inflammatory mediator, whilst osteoprotegerin (OPG), member of tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, is indicated as marker of vascular calcification. Peripheral artery disease (PAD) and type 2 diabetes (T2D) are clinical conditions characterized by elevated serum inflammatory markers and vascular calcification enhancement. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of HMGB-1, OPG and several inflammatory mediators such as C-reactive protein (HsCRP), tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 (IL-6) on the presence and severity of peripheral artery disease in patients with T2D. In this retrospective observational study, we have analyzed HMGB-1, OPG and inflammatory cytokines serum levels in 1393 type 2 diabetic patients with PAD and without PAD (WPAD). HMGB-1 (7.89 ± 15.23 ng/mL), OPG (6.54 ± 7.76 pmol/L), HsCRP (15.6 ± 14.4 mg/L) and IL-6 (56.1 ± 28.6 pg/mL) serum levels were significantly higher in patients with PAD than in those WPAD (3.02 ± 8.12 ng/mL, P ˂ 0.001; 2.98 ± 2.01 pmol/L, P < 0.001; 7.05 ± 4.4 mg/L, P < 0.001; 37.5 ± 20.2 pg/mL, P < 0.001 respectively). Moreover HMGB-1 (P < 0.001), OPG (P < 0.001), HsCRP (P < 0.001) and IL-6 (P < 0.001) serum levels were positively correlated with clinical severity of PAD. HMGB-1 (adjusted OR 12.32; 95% CI 3.56–23.54, P = 0.023) and OPG (adjusted OR 3.53; 95% CI 1.54–6.15, P = 0.019) resulted independent determinants of PAD in patients with T2D after adjusting for the conventional cardiovascular risk factor and established inflammatory mediators. In T2D patients HMGB-1 and OPG serum levels are higher in patients affected by PAD and independently associated with its occurrence and clinical severity.