scholarly journals Profiling Cognitive Performance and Sleep Quality Measures in Patients with Age-Related Macular Degeneration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amirsaeid Moloodi ◽  
Hooman Rezaie ◽  
Behzad Khademi ◽  
Mohammad Nami

Objective: This study aimed at profiling cognitive functions in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).Method: This cross-sectional investigation enrolled 45 patients with AMD and 45 age- and sex-matched controls. The overall cognitive performance in AMD sufferer versus control subjects was asses using the Persian version of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination battery (ACE-R). Subjects’ sleep quality was also evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The mean global assessment and subscale scores were statistically compared between groups.Results: The mean global scores for ACE-R in AMD and control groups (80.4±12.3 and 86 ± 9.6, respectively) were found to be statistically different (p=0.018). On the other hand there was no significant difference (p=0.793) between the AMD and control groups in terms of PSQI scores (9.7±2.8 and 9.8±2.8, respectively). Conclusion: AMD patients seem to have cognitively underperformed in memory and verbal fluency domains compared to the control group. Evidence on cognitive impairments in patients with AMD may possibly herald neurocognitive insufficiencies and have common pathological mechanisms with dementias.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mehrdad Afarid ◽  
Hooman Rezaie ◽  
Behzad Khademi1 ◽  
Mohammad Nami

BACKGROUND This study aimed at profiling cognitive functions in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). OBJECTIVE The aim of our study was to evaluate cognitive functions in patients diagnosed with AMD METHODS This cross-sectional investigation enrolled 45 patients with AMD and 45 age- and sex-matched controls. The overall cognitive performance in AMD sufferer versus control subjects was asses using the Persian version of the Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination battery (ACE-R). Subjects’ sleep quality was also evaluated using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The mean global assessment and subscale scores were statistically compared between groups. RESULTS The mean global scores for ACE-R in AMD and control groups (80.4±12.3 and 86 ± 9.6, respectively) were found to be statistically different (p=0.018). On the other hand there was no significant difference (p=0.793) between the AMD and control groups in terms of PSQI scores (9.7±2.8 and 9.8±2.8, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AMD patients seem to have cognitively underperformed in memory and verbal fluency domains compared to the control group. Evidence on cognitive impairments in patients with AMD may possibly herald neurocognitive insufficiencies and have common pathological mechanisms with dementias.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-86
Author(s):  
Caner Kara ◽  
Pınar Ç. Özdal ◽  
Emrullah Beyazyıldız ◽  
Nurgül E. Özcan ◽  
Mehmet Y. Teke ◽  
...  

Purpose: To investigate the levels of circulating CD34+ stem cells in patients with neovascular type age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and its relation with clinical and optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings. Methods: The study consisted of 55 patients: 28 patients (18 male and 10 female) with neovascular type AMD as a study group and 27 patients (12 male and 15 female) scheduled for cataract surgery as a control group. The level of CD34+ stem cells was measured by flow cytometry. Demographic and clinical data were recorded. Results: The mean ages of patients in the study and control groups were 71 ± 8 and 68 ± 6 years, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in terms of age, sex, or systemic disease association between study and control groups. However, smoking status was significantly higher in the study group (67.9% vs 37.0%; p = 0.02). Stem cell levels were significantly higher in the study group (1.5 ± 0.9 vs 0.5 ± 0.3; p<0.001), but there was no relation between stem cell levels and clinical and OCT findings. Conclusions: Increased circulating CD34+ stem cell levels were observed in patients with choroidal neovascular membrane associated with AMD, but no significant relation was found between cell levels and clinical and OCT findings.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0251931
Author(s):  
Yan Xin ◽  
Kang Zefeng ◽  
Li Ling ◽  
Guan Ruijuan

Objective To investigate the association between the nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kB) gene polymorphism and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a high-altitude population. Methods Fifty-five patients with AMD and 57 control subjects were recruited from the Qinghai Provincial People’s Hospital, China. Genomic DNA was extracted from the blood sample of each participant. Four NF-kB polymorphisms (rs3774959, rs3774932, rs3774937, and rs230526) were genotyped using a MassARRAY system. The genotype and allele frequencies were compared between the case and control groups using the chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test. Results There was no significant difference in sex, age, hypertension, diabetes, blood lipid level or smoking and drinking status between the AMD and control groups (P > 0.05). The genotype distributions of four NF-kB polymorphisms were in accordance with Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in the control group (P > 0.05). The frequencies of genotype AA of rs3774932 and genotype CC of rs3774937 were nominally significantly higher in the AMD group than in the control group (P = 0.046 and 0.023, respectively), although these associations did not survive the Bonferroni correction (corrected P > 0.05). Genotype distributions of rs3774959 and rs230526 were not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.08 and 0.16, respectively). No significant difference in the allele frequencies of the four polymorphisms was found between the AMD and control groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions Genotype AA of rs3774932 and genotype CC of rs3774937 in NF-kB might be risk factors for AMD.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Harun Çakmak ◽  
Tolga Kocatürk ◽  
Sema Oruç Dündar ◽  
Mehmet Dündar ◽  
Müjdat Karabulut

Purpose. To evaluate association between erectile dysfunction (ED) and neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).Methods. 195 men enrolled in this cross-sectional study. 90 of them had neovascular AMD and 105 of them were healthy volunteers. The International Index of Erectile Function (IIEF) questionnaire’s erectile function (EF) domain was used to assess ED. The patients in the study and control groups were statistically compared according to visual acuity, EF score, and body mass index.Results. The mean ages were 62 (54.5–73) and 60 (54–68), in the neovascular AMD and control groups, respectively. The total EF scores were 9 (6–16) in neovascular AMD and 18 (9.5–27) in control group. The results of IIEF questionnaire on neovascular AMD patients revealed that 85 men (94.4%) had some degree of ED, whereas 68 men (64.8%) had some degree of ED on control group. Patients with neovascular AMD had a significantly higher incidence of ED than control patients (). There was a significant association between ED and neovascular AMD ().Conclusions. Our results suggested that neovascular AMD has a high association with ED.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsen Farvardin ◽  
Seyed esmaeil mousavi ◽  
Kamran Zare ◽  
Somaye Bazdar ◽  
Zahra Farvardin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is regarded amongst as a common conditions resulting in visual impairment in elderly. Age and gender are unmodifiable risk factors for AMD, obesity, smoking, and hyperlipidemia are known to be modifiable culprits. This has remained controversial for hypertension and thyroid dysfunction. The present study attempted to investigate possible links between thyroid dysfunction and incidence of wet AMD.Methods: The present case-control study enrolled a total number of 90 patients with wet AMD and 90sex-, age-matched control subjects through a convenient sequential sampling method. Thyroid hormones were profiled in serum assay. Statistical measures were done to compare means between groups.Results: Our findings showed a significant difference in free T4 levels between the between wet AMD and control groups (p = 0.002), though this has not been the case for T3 and TSH l. In addition, there were no differences in serum lipid profile between groups. Although there found to be no significant difference in the past history of hypertension and hyperlipidemia between wet AMD and control groups, history of smoking was higher in controls) (p = 0.039).Conclusion: Based on our findings retinal examination and proper screening need to perhaps be a part of the overall health examination especially in elderly subjects with thyroid dysfunction. The clinical significance and related recommendations on the above need ti substantiated in future community-based research.


2020 ◽  
pp. bmjstel-2020-000657
Author(s):  
Rebecca Singer ◽  
Grace Leo ◽  
Tessa Davis ◽  
Ben Lawton ◽  
Henry Goldstein ◽  
...  

Previous research has examined the utilisation of musical cues to improve the performance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) delivered in training environments. We postulated a musical cue that is both contemporary and transcends cultures may improve CPR performance. Our aim was to establish whether chest compressions are performed with improved rate and depth if a song of a fixed beat (PinkFong’s ‘Baby Shark’ with a tempo of 115 beats per minute (bpm) and 15 beats in each verse) is played to a healthcare professional immediately before undertaking CPR compared to whale noises (a non-metronomic rhythm). 58 Participants of a paediatric conference (majority doctors) were randomly assigned to listen to a minute of Baby Shark (28) or whale song (30) and then undertake a minute of CPR. There was no significant difference in the mean compression rate between the Baby Shark and control groups, with the groups achieving 121 and 125 bpm, respectively (p=0.18). In relation to compression depth within the target zone, the Baby Shark group had more compressions completed within the target zone (55%) than the control group (39%) although this difference was not significant (p=0.08). Listening to Baby Shark prior to undertaking simulated CPR does not improve overall performance, but there is a potential tendency to improve adequate compression depth which may be beneficial in training exercises.


QJM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 113 (Supplement_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M S Abdaltawab ◽  
Z F Ismail ◽  
W M A Ebeid ◽  
S M Fawzy

Abstract Aim of the Work The aim of this work is to compare the response of treatment with ranibizumab in terms of visual acuity in cases of CNV secondary to pathological myopia versus CNV secondary to age-related macular degeneration. Methods This prospective, comparative study included ten eyes newly diagnosed as having CNV secondary to pathological myopia, and 10 eyes newly diagnosed as having subfoveal active CNV secondary to AMD. All patients had 3 monthly intravitreal Injections of 0.50 mg (in 0.05 ml of solution) ranibizumab with monthly evaluation of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) by Landolt C chart, and also calculated in Logarithm of Minimum Angle of Resolution (Log MAR). Results pretreatment there was no significant difference between the two groups as the mean VA (Log Mar) was 1.31 ± 0.2 in AMD group and 1.17 ± 0.3 in MCNV group of P value = 0.431 and also post three IVI of ranibizumab showed no significant difference between the two groups as the mean VA (Log Mar) was 1.22 ± 0.2 for AMD and 1.22 ± 0.5 for MCNV of P value = 0.635. Conclusion there was no significant difference in BCVA between AMD and MCNV groups after three intravitreal injections of ranibizumab.


Author(s):  
Salim Ahmed Saif Al-rashdi

    The present study aimed at uncovering the effectiveness of employing the enrichment activities for mental thinking on the development of mathematical thinking and achievement among Grade 7 students. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher used the semi experimental design known as the design of the control group with the tribal and remote tests. In light of the experimental design, the average Grade 7 students tested the sample of the study in the second semester of 30 students who were divided into 15 students for the experimental group and 15 students for the control group after checking the validity and stability of the tools. The results showed that there was a statistically significant difference at (0.05) between the mean scores of the experimental and control groups in the cognitive achievement test related to the unit of Engineering in the second semester and the mathematical thinking test for the average of the experimental group. The results also showed a statistically significant difference) between the average scores of the experimental group students in the tribal and remote applications in the cognitive achievement test and the mathematical thinking test, and in favor of the average post-implementation. In the light of these results, the study presented a number of recommendations and suggestions.   ، ، ، ،


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianqing Li ◽  
Jiayi Xu ◽  
Yiyi Chen ◽  
Jiaju Zhang ◽  
Yihong Cao ◽  
...  

Purpose. Intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy has been widely used for the treatment of neovascularization (NV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This study aimed to compare the efficacy among different subtypes of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Methods. PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for eligible studies. We performed meta-analysis using Review Manager 5.3 and Stata/SE 12.0. Results. A total of 24 studies met our inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review. At 3 months, the mean logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) improvements were −0.09, −0.18, and −0.23 for type 1, 2, and 3, respectively, while the mean macular thickness (MT) changes were −104.83, −130.76, and −196.29 μm. At 12 months, the mean changes in Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters were 6.38, 8.12, and 9.37, while the MT decrease was 126.51, 126.52, and 139.85 μm, respectively. However, statistically significant difference was only found between type 1 and 3 in vision improvement, both in the short term (p=0.0002) and long term (p=0.01). Conclusions. The reactivity to VEGF inhibitors varied among different subtypes of nAMD. The efficacy of intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy in type 3 nAMD was statistically better than type 1 when considering vision improvement at 3 and 12 months. Thus, the lesion subtype is a predictor for the treatment outcome which can help guide prognosis.


2019 ◽  
Vol 65 (3) ◽  
pp. 446-451
Author(s):  
Dilek Karaman ◽  
Funda Erol ◽  
Dilek Yılmaz ◽  
Yurdanur Dikmen

SUMMARY OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the effect of virtual reality application on experimental ischemic pain created with a blood pressure instrument in healthy volunteers. METHODS: The research sample consisted of 172 volunteer adult students who conformed to the inclusion criteria. These individuals were assigned into an experimental (n=86) and a control group (n=86) by a simple randomization method. All individuals in the experimental and control groups wereexperimentally subjected to pain for two minutes by applying 260 mmHg of pressure 3-4 cm above the antecubital region of the left arm with an aneroid adult-type blood pressure instrument. During the procedure, the volunteers in the experimental group watched virtual reality images, while those in the control group received no intervention. Immediately after the procedure, the pain levels of the individuals in both groups were assessed with a Visual Analog Scale (VAS). RESULTS: We found that the mean pain score of the individuals in the experimental group was 2.62±1.82, and that of individuals in the control group was 5.75±1.65. Results of the statistical analysis showed a statistically significant difference between the mean pain scores of the individuals in the experimental and control groups (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: This study found that the use of virtual reality was effective in reducing the level of pain in healthy individuals. This method used a smartphone with widespread availability and ease of transportation, which can be used by health professionals as a non-pharmacological method in the management of pain.


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