Second publication of the EAPC taskforce Advance Care Planning in dementia

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Following a publication on defining advance care planning (ACP) in dementia and what it entails, a second publication on the 33-country Delphi study addresses policy and research gaps.

Evidence-based policy should shape strategic priorities to guide professionals. The taskforce of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) chaired by Dr Jenny van der Steen (LUMC) and Dr Ida Korfage (Erasmus MC) has developed policy and research recommendations for ACP. The second article, published in The Lancet Healthy Longevity, was [...]

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Toolkit Vitality Garden is launched!

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The “Toolkit Vitality Garden” is launched!

Going outside is not a luxury, but a necessity. Unfortunately, it seems that going outside is still not a normal part of daily nursing home practice.

With this (Dutch) toolkit you now know how to design a nursing home garden based on evidence-based practice. It is developed based on literature research, preliminary results of an intervention study and expertise of the research- and projectteam.

This research was carried out by the University Network for [...]

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Clustering method for brain phenotypes helps to predict dementia in older adults

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Jasmin Annica Keller and Jeroen de Bresser of the LUMC Radiology department published a paper on the identification of brain MRI phenotypes using a hierarchical clustering model. The results indicate that distinct brain MRI phenotypes are related to varying long-term risks of developing dementia. Brain MRI phenotypes may in the future assist in an improved understanding of the structural correlates of dementia predisposition.

View the new publication in Neurology here.

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First publication of the EAPC taskforce Advance Care Planning in dementia

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Advance care planning is highly relevant for persons with dementia in view of diminishing capacity to express wishes for future care. The commonly cited definitions refer to a continuous process of communication, yet they define advance care planning for person with capacity exclusively. To clarify how to proceed if capacity declines or fluctuates, a taskforce of the European Association for Palliative Care (EAPC) chaired by Dr Jenny van der Steen (LUMC) and Dr Ida Korfage (Erasmus MC), developed a [...]

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Healthful plant-based diet associates with greater well-being in older adults

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A shift towards a more plant-based diet is promoted as healthy as well as sustainable. Whether this also applies to older adults is however less clear: On one hand plant-based diets may lead to energy deficits among vulnerable older adults and therefore negatively impact well-being. On the other hand, plant-based diets have been found to have anti-inflammatory properties, suggesting they could be beneficial to older adults, often prone to chronic inflammation.

Using data of the Lifelines cohort study, we therefore [...]

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New publication shows blood biomarkers for senescence endotypes in osteoarthritis patients

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Accumulation of senescent cells leads to numerous diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA). In this study, we set out to characterize heterogeneity of cellular senescence in aged articular cartilage and explored the presence of corresponding metabolic profiles in blood that could function as representative biomarkers. Hereto we set out to perform cluster analyses, using a gene-set of 131 senescence genes (N=57) in a previously established RNA sequencing dataset of aged articular cartilage, and a generated metabolic dataset in overlapping blood samples.

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New publication investigates spontaneous normalization of subclinical hypothyroidism in older adults

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With age, the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism rises. However, incidence and determinants of spontaneous normalization remain largely unknown. The aim was therefore to investigate incidence and determinants of spontaneous normalization of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels in older adults with subclinical hypothyroidism. Pooled data was used from the (i) pre-trial population, and (ii) in-trial placebo group from two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials (TRUST and IEMO thyroid 80-plus thyroid trial). Included were community-dwelling 65 + adults with subclinical hypothyroidism from the Netherlands, [...]

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LUMC researchers develop new way to quantify brain white matter damage using MRI

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Lesions, or damage, in the white matter of the brain are important markers to track disease progression in several conditions, including multiple sclerosis (MS). Recently, a collaborative study including LUMC and LEGend researchers used a fast MRI approach called multi-component MR Fingerprinting (MRF) to compare components with increased water content in the white matter, often indicating lesions, between patients with and without MS.

They conducted MRI scans on 48 MS patients and 12 healthy controls at two different locations, [...]

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Fourth internal call for PhD projects for innovation themes, deadline October 30th

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On September 26th, a fourth LUMC call for PhD proposals came out. See the link below for the call text and application formatting (in PDF format) of this round and the format for the application. The deadline to send in your application is October 30th.

The primary objectives of this call are to provide support and recognition to promising early career researchers, encourage their active participation in the research themes, and foster new collaborative opportunities within the LUMC.

To be [...]

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