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

Posted on

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 [...]

Read

New publication shows blood biomarkers for senescence endotypes in osteoarthritis patients

Posted on

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.

 [...]

Read

New publication investigates spontaneous normalization of subclinical hypothyroidism in older adults

Posted on

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, [...]

Read

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

Posted on
photo-1631563019676-dade0dbdb8fc

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, [...]

Read

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

Posted on
phd

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 [...]

Read

Stimulus grant for development of an Emotion Intelligent Care Robot

Posted on
care-robot

The EI robot consortium received a Stimulus grant of € 1.200.000 (€423.775,- for LUMC; dr. Hanneke Smaling) to develop an Emotion Intelligent Care Robot in collaboration with Mentech Innovation, SARA Robotics and care organizations Ipse de Bruggen and Zorggroep Elde Maasduinen.

The Emotion Intelligent Care Robot project seeks to develop an autonomous robot to assist people with dementia and people with intellectual disabilities, who often exhibit challenging behavior due to stress. The robot, developed by Mentech and Sara Robotics, uses [...]

Read

Kick-off ‘Thuis als het kan’ (At home if possible)

Posted on

The number of elderly people is increasing and healthcare is becoming increasingly expensive. Clinicians also notice this in geriatric rehabilitation care (GR). Clients’ wishes are also changing: they increasingly value rehabilitation close to home. We therefore have to design the GR differently: more outpatient (from home) and less in the nursing home or rehabilitation clinic.

On the 1st of June, 2023, various Dutch researchers started a new research project: ‘Thuis als het kan’ (At home if possible), sponsored by [...]

Read

New website UNC-ZH is launched!

Posted on
UNC-ZH

The new website of the University Network for the Care sector South Holland is launched!

The University Network for the Care sector South Holland (UNC-ZH) is a collaboration between Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) and twelve care institutions in the province of South Holland. UNC-ZH aims to initiate, facilitate and conduct scientific research related to healthcare.

Our primary focus is on issues, problems, and questions within the practical context (care institutions). The aim of the joint implementation of scientific [...]

Read

LUMC researchers connect brain lesion shape to long-term dementia risk

Posted on
alz13345-fig-0002-m

Jasmin Keller and others of the LUMC, collaborating with the AGES-Reykjavik study group in Iceland, found that the shape of a type of brain lesion called white matter hyperintensities (WMH) are linked to long-term risk of dementia. WMHs refer to areas of abnormal white matter in the brain that appear bright on certain types of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. These areas are associated with a variety of conditions, including vascular disease and dementia.

The study involved more than [...]

Read

Inaugural lecture Simon Mooijaart: Maintaining quality of life for elderly patients is key

Posted on
simon_oratie_klein

On May 12th, 2023, prof. dr. Simon Mooijaart of the LUMC presented his inaugural lecture in the Academiegebouw in Leiden. The focus of his lecture was to foster interdisciplinary “bench to bedside” approaches for patient-centered elderly care. It is key to prioritize and maintain quality of life during treatments, preferably even in the home environment, by using fitting treatment plans and involving the community. This should also help to counter rising treatment costs and nursing staff shortages.

Professor Mooijaart, [...]

Read