Dysautonomia is a common non-motor symptom in Parkinson’s disease (PD). Most dysautonomic symptoms appear due to alterations in the peripheral nerves of the autonomic nervous system, including both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The degeneration of sympathetic nerve fibers and neurons leads to cardiovascular dysfunction, which is highly prevalent in PD patients. Cardiac alterations such as orthostatic hypotension, heart rate variability, modifications in cardiogram parameters and baroreflex dysfunction can appear in both the early and late stages of PD, worsening as the disease progresses. In PD patients it is generally found that parasympathetic activity is decreased, while sympathetic activity is increased. This situation gives rise to an imbalance of both tonicities which might, in turn, promote a higher risk of cardiac damage through tachycardia and vasoconstriction. Cardiovascular abnormalities can also appear as a side effect of PD treatment: L-DOPA can decrease blood pressure and aggravate orthostatic hypotension as a result of a negative inotropic effect on the heart. This unwanted side effect limits the therapeutic use of L-DOPA in geriatric patients with PD and can contribute to the number of hospital admissions. Therefore, it is essential to define the cardiac features related to PD for the monitorization of the heart condition in parkinsonian individuals. This information can allow the application of intervention strategies to improve the course of the disease and the proposition of new alternatives for its treatment to eliminate or reverse the motor and non-motor symptoms, especially in geriatric patients.

Magnesium (Mg) has a vital role in the human body, and the kidney is a key organ in the metabolism and excretion of this cation. The objective of this work is to compile the available evidence regarding the role that Mg plays in health and disease, with a special focus on the elderly population with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and the eventual sex differences. A narrative review was carried out by executing an exhaustive search in the PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane databases. Ten studies were found in which the role of Mg and sex was evaluated in elderly patients with CKD in the last 10 years (2012–2022). The progression of CKD leads to alterations in mineral metabolism, which worsen as the disease progresses. Mg can be used as a coadjuvant in the treatment of CKD patients to improve glomerular filtration, but its use in clinical applications needs to be further characterized. In conclusion, there’s a need for well-designed prospective clinical trials to advise and standardize Mg supplementation in daily clinical practice, taking age and sex into consideration.

The diurnal rodent Octodon degus (O. degus) is considered an attractive natural model for Alzheimer’s disease and other human age-related features. However, it has not been explored so far if the O. degus could be used as a model to study Parkinson’s disease. To test this idea, 10 adult male O. degus were divided into control group and MPTP-intoxicated animals. Motor condition and cognition were examined. Dopaminergic degeneration was studied in the ventral mesencephalon and in the striatum. Neuroinflammation was also evaluated in the ventral mesencephalon, in the striatum and in the dorsal hippocampus. MPTP animals showed significant alterations in motor activity and in visuospatial memory. Postmortem analysis revealed a significant decrease in the number of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral mesencephalon of MPTP animals, although no differences were found in their striatal terminals. We observed a significant increase in neuroinflammatory responses in the mesencephalon, in the striatum and in the hippocampus of MPTP-intoxicated animals. Additionally, changes in the subcellular expression of the calcium-binding protein S100β were found in the astrocytes in the nigrostriatal pathway. These findings prove for the first time that O. degus are sensitive to MPTP intoxication and, therefore, is a suitable model for experimental Parkinsonism in the context of aging.

Background: After its introduction in the ICD-10-CM in 2016, sarcopenia is a condition widely considered to be a medical disease with important consequences for the elderly. Considering its high prevalence in older adults and its detrimental effects on health, it is essential to identify its risk factors to inform targeted interventions. Methods: Taking data from wave 2 of the ELSA, using ML-based methods, this study investigates which factors are significantly associated with sarcopenia. The Minimum Redundancy Maximum Relevance algorithm has been used to allow for an optimal set of features that could predict the dependent variable. Such a feature is the input of a ML-based prediction model, trained and validated to predict the risk of developing or not developing a disease. Results: The presented methods are suitable to identify the risk of acquired sarcopenia. Age and other relevant features related with dementia and musculoskeletal conditions agree with previous knowledge about sarcopenia. The present classifier has an excellent performance since the “true positive rate” is 0.81 and the low “false positive rate” is 0.26. Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of sarcopenia in elderly people, with age and the presence of dementia and musculoskeletal conditions being strong predictors. The new proposed approach paves the path to test the prediction of the incidence of sarcopenia in older adults.

Objective: To analyze the evidence found in the scientific literature of the impact of psycho-educational interventions on anxiety management, carried out online or in person with the participation of nursing professionals. Method: Narrative and integrative review of scientific literature by searching for publications in the main metasearch engines and in the indexed articles of the SciELO, MEDLINE and LILACS databases. Results/Discussion: The search for articles based on online psycho-educational interventions for anxiety management and nursing, provided 4,295 publications, of which, after the three stages of reading and filtering, only 11 were selected: two systematic reviews, eight RCTs and one quasi-experimental study. The psycho-educational aspect is transversal in each publication, being effective for the management of anxiety in various clinical situations. Although there are several studies that show the realization of face-to-face psycho-educational interventions led by nursing, we did not find any specific investigation or research carried out by nurses in an entirely online format. Conclusion: The intervention modalities, strategies and psycho-educational programs that take advantage of the ease of use and impact provided using ICT should be evaluated from the perspective of the clinical field in a more exhaustive way, since these tools facilitate the incorporation of psychoeducation into the clinical routine. The lack of evidence on the efficacy of these interventions when they are designed and implemented entirely by nurses makes it necessary to propose research that evaluates the results. Objetivo: analizar las evidencias encontradas en la literatura científica sobre el impacto de las intervenciones psico-educativas en el manejo de la ansiedad, desarrolladas en línea o presenciales con participación de profesionales de enfermería.Método: revisión narrativa e integradora de literatura científica mediante la búsqueda de publicaciones en los principales metabuscadores y en los artículos indexados de las bases de datos de SciELO, MEDLINE y LILACS.Resultados/Discusión: la búsqueda de artículos basados en intervenciones psico-educativas en línea para el manejo de la ansiedad y enfermería, aportó 4.295 publicaciones que, tras las tres etapas de lectura y filtrado, sólo 11 fueron seleccionados: dos revisiones sistemáticas, ocho ECAs y un estudio cuasiexperimental. El aspecto psico-educativo es transversal en cada publicación, siendo efectivo para el manejo de la ansiedad en diversas situaciones clínicas. Aunque hay diversos estudios que evidencian la realización de intervenciones psico-educativas presenciales lideradas por enfermería, no se encontró ningún estudio o investigación específica desarrollada por enfermeras íntegramente en formato on-line. Conclusión: Las modalidades de intervención, estrategias y programas psico-educativos que aprovechan la facilidad de uso e impacto que aporta el uso de las TICs, deben ser valorados desde el ámbito clínico de forma más exhaustiva, ya que estas herramientas facilitan la incorporación de la psico-educación en la rutina clínica. La falta de evidencia sobre la eficacia de estas intervenciones cuando son diseñadas y desarrolladas íntegramente por enfermeras hace necesario plantear investigaciones que evalúen sus resultados.