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The authors offered to 296 consecutive cancer patients aged > or = 70 to undergo a joint comprehensive geriatric and oncological assessment. After pluridisciplinary discussion, several reflections have emerged: the need in 15 - 32% of cases to reinforce the role of the paramedical staff; the correlation between age, low clinical indices, alteration of renal function as well as geriatric characteristics; 67% of evaluated cases presented a significant geriatric profile; recommendations for patients' management in relation to their pattern of frailty and health aging (standard, adapted or palliative treatment).

Unlabelled: SUMMARY BACKGROUND/AIMS: The aim of this study was to assess gait characteristics during simple and dual task in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and compare them with those of healthy elderly subjects and mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients., Methods: We proposed a gait analysis to appreciate walking (simple task and dual task) in 14 MCI, 14 controls and six AD subjects who walked at their preferred speed. A 20-second period of stabilized walking was used to calculated stride frequency, stride length, symmetry and regularity. Speed walking was measured by electrical photocells., Results: Variables measured during simple and dual tasks showed an alteration of motor function as well in mild AD patients as in MCI patients., Conclusion: At the end of this preliminary study, we defined a specific gait pattern for each cognitive profile. Further researches appear necessary to enlarge the study cohort.

Assessment of fall risk in the elderly is clearly documented in the literature. However, intervention preventive strategies are not well identified. Two types of methods can be discussed: on the one hand, classical techniques using different tests and exercises in balance with materials and/or sensitization by dual task; on the other hand, rhythmic exercises. Their results and value are not quite established and further studies are needed to assess their prospective benefit, even if they seem interesting in some Parkinson's population. Physical activity and global fall management allow a better outcome in different gait parameters of the elderly.

In the elderly, gait disorders and cognitive frailty may influence each other and increase the risk of falling. The aim of the present study was to determine gait parameters in elderly people with different cognitive profiles (controls, individuals with mild cognitive impairment [MCI] and Alzheimer's disease [AD] patients) with the Locometrix three-axis accelerometer and establish whether or not this tool is more useful than conventional clinical tests (the timed "get up and go" test, the pull test and the single-leg balance test). Study subjects were all over 65, living at home and free of known gait impairments. A neuropsychological battery was applied to 14 control subjects, 14 MCI subjects and six AD patients. A motor evaluation (in single- and dual-task paradigms) was performed with three conventional clinical tests and the Locometrix (standardized gait). Our results showed that in a single-task paradigm, the Locometrix was more accurate than validated, conventional tests and generated a characteristic gait profile for each of the three cognitive profiles. In a dual-task paradigm, the gait of MCI subjects more closely resembled that of AD patients than that of control subjects. We conclude that the Locometrix is a high-performance tool for defining gait profiles, which correspond to given cognitive profiles. The use of a dual-task paradigm is a good way to screen for gait abnormalities in MCI.

Falls are frequent in the elderly and are responsible for an increased morbi-mortality. The elderly who has a tendency to fall is at higher risk of repeated hospitalisation and of institutionalisation. A link between cognitive and gait disorders is put forward by several recent studies. This paper is concerned with the various gait abnormalities encountered in the elderly, especially seriale gait, and the means to detect them.

The continuum of clinical phenotype between different autoimmune thyroid diseases and mainly the common pathophysiological mechanisms have lead to a novel classification of these disorders into three types: (1) Type 1 autoimmune thyroiditis (euthyroidism associated with the presence of anti-thyroglobulin and anti-thyroperoxydase autoantibodies); (2) Type 2 autoimmune thyroiditis or Hashimoto's disease (hypothyroidism with anti-thyroglobulin and anti-thyroperoxydase autoantibodies). Postpartum thyroiditis falls into this category and is characterized by transient hyperthyroidism followed by hypothyroidism; and (3) Type 3 autoimmune thyroiditis or Graves-Basedow's disease (hyperthyroidism with anti-TSH receptor "stimulating" auto-antibodies, often associated with anti-thyroglobulin and anti-thyroperoxydase autoantibodies). Thyroid orbitopathy often complicates Type 3 autoimmune thyroiditis and is thought to result from an autoimmune response against an autoantigen common to thyroid and orbital fibroblasts/adipose cells. We present the actualized knowledge about the immunological parameters that can be detected and quantified in autoimmune thyroid diseases, about the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in these disorders, and about the options of their treatment that are currently offered to the medical community.