Is Alcohol Harmful for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis?

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic immune-mediated, inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that affects both thebrain and spinal cord. The cause of MS is not fully understood, but the disease is believed to relate to an abnormal immune response in individuals who are genetically predisposed.

Multiple Sclerosis

An association of personal predisposition and environmental conditions may result in immune-mediated inflammation of the CNS and culminate in neuronal loss. The disease usually manifests in bouts of neurological disabilities and later progresses to dysfunction of many areas of the CNS. It can affect motor and sensory functions, coordination, cognition, and vision and sphincter control. It is often associated with fatigue, pain, depression, and anxiety and sleep disorders, thus leading to considerable personal, social and economic losses. Lifestyle/environmental factors may have an important role in determining the risk of MS. These are harder to accurately study and quantify than are genetic factors. However, it is important to identify these potential determinants of risk and worse outcomes in MS, since they are potentially preventable. Depression, anxiety disorders, social withdrawal and cognitive deficits often affect the quality of life of patients with MS. Chronic diseases like MS may negatively affect friendships and family relations. Read more>>>>>>>>>

Supporting Elderly Patients at Risk in Hospital Environments

Consistently low birth rates and higher life expectancy lead towards an older population structure in Western countries. In Europe, the proportion of people 65 years and older increased from 16.6% in 2005 to 18.9% in 2015, with Germany, Italy and Greece having the highest share of people 65 years and olderin the total population.

The median age of the total population also increased by about 4 years from 2005 to 2015 so that the proportion of older people will increase strongly in the future. Especially the proportion of very old people 80 years and older is rising due to better living standards, lifestyles and education, as well as rapid progress in healthcare and medicine so that it is expected to more than double from 5.3% in 2015 to 10.9% in 2050. Consequently, hospitals are confronted with an increasing number of older patients, which have been shown to exhibit an increased risk of adverse outcomes during and after the hospital stay compared to younger patients. An important factor contributing to this increased risk of adverse outcomes is that many old patients suffer from multi morbidity, defined as the coexistence of 2 or more chronic disease conditions. To know more>>>>>>>>