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COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020. The knowledge of COVID-19 pathophysiology soon provided a strong rationale for the early use of both anti-inflammatory and antithrombotic drugs; however, its evidence was slowly and partially incorporated into institutional guidelines. The unmet needs of COVID-19 outpatients were taken care of by networks of physicians and researchers. We analyse the characteristics, management and outcomes in COVID-19 outpatients who were taken care of by physicians within the IppocrateOrg Association. In this observational retrospective study, volunteering doctors provided data on 392 COVID-19 patients. The mean age of patients was 48.5 years (range: 0.5–97), and patients were taken care of in COVID-19 stage 0 (15.6%), stage 1 (50.0%), stage 2a (28.8%) and stage 2b (5.6%). Many patients were overweight (26%) or obese (11.5%), with chronic comorbidities (34.9%), mainly cardiovascular (23%) and metabolic (13.3%). The most frequently prescribed drugs included: vitamins and supplements (98.7%), aspirin (66.1%), antibiotics (62%), glucocorticoids (41.8%), hydroxychloroquine (29.6%), enoxaparin (28.6%), colchicine (8.9%), oxygen therapy (6.9%), and ivermectin (2.8%). Hospitalization occurred in 5.8% of cases, mainly in stage 2b (27.3%). A total of 390 patients (99.6%) recovered; one patient was lost at follow up, and one patient died after hospitalization. This is the first real-world study describing the behaviours of physicians caring for COVID-19 outpatients, and the outcomes of COVID-19 early treatment. The lethality in this cohort was 0.2%, while overall, and over the same period, the COVID-19 lethality in Italy was over 3%. The drug use described in this study appears effective and safe. The present evidence should be carefully considered by physicians and political decision makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The unprecedented growth of the elderly population is posing important social and medical problems as management of this population is highly demanding in terms of assistance and care. Consequently, many studies are focusing on the elderly subjects in order to better understand their needs by identifying various environmental, social, psychological, and genetic factors determining the quality of ageing. Objectives: Our aim was to carry out a survey of the elderly Calabrian population in order to highlight the social and medical conditions of this continuously growing population group. Methods: We have been monitoring the elderly population of Calabria for more than 10 years. For the present study, we collected data regarding 853 subjects by using two specific questionnaires, one for the subjects older than 90 years (400 subjects) and one for the subjects aged between 65 and 85 years (453 subjects). Results: The survey allowed us to carry out an extensive description of the ageing Calabrian population regarding the sociodemographic characteristics, living conditions, cognitive functioning, level of independence in activities of daily living, former and current diseases and health disorders. We could notice that males were in a better condition than females. In fact, male subjects turned out to have better physical performance and lower comorbidity, although their life expectancy is lower. Ultranonagenarians had a lower incidence of serious diseases (such as diabetes, osteoporosis and gastric ulcer), but a higher incidence of non-fatal chronic, debilitating conditions (cataract and bronchitis among others). Conclusion: The data we collected and analyzed offer a portrait of elderly Calabrian subjects, on who they are, how they feel, which social and psychological resources they have, and what their health status is. Analysis of the data highlighted that they are characterized by a lower physical performance in comparison to other European populations. Finally, the data presented here may also serve as a valuable source of information to characterize the ageing Calabrian population and improve the care of these subjects. Copyright © 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: several studies suggest that a decreased thyroid activity might be favourable in oldest-old subjects and that subclinical thyroid hyperfunction may be detrimental.Objectives: to verify whether declining levels of circulating thyroid hormones may contribute to longevity.Design: cross-sectional observational study.Setting: all subjects were born in Calabria (southern Italy) and their ancestry in the region was ascertained up to the grandparents.Subjects: six hundred and four home-dwelling subjects (301 females, 303 males), divided into three groups: 278 individuals 60–85 years old; 179 children or nieces/nephews of centenarians who are 60–85 years old; 147 individuals older than 85 years.Methods: thyroid function parameters were measured in the frame of a comprehensive geriatric assessment.Results: FT3 and FT4 levels were negatively associated with age. Lower levels of FT3, FT4 and TSH were found in centenarians’ children and nieces/nephews with respect to age-matched controls. Indeed, being a relative of centenarians qualified as an independent correlate of thyroid parameters.Conclusions: age-related subtle thyroid hypofunction (either due to a familial component or due to a reset of the thyroid function occurring between the sixth and the eighth decade of life) appears to be related to longevity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The APOE ε4 allele has been associated with a number of neurodegenerative disorders e.g. Alzheimer’s disease. Inconsistent results have been obtained for cognitive decline in ‘normal’ aging. We investigated whether specific aspects of cognitive decline were associated with APOE ε4 among 620 ‘healthy’ elderly subjects living in Calabria, southern Italy. MMSE scores ranged from 11 to 30. A lower MMSE score was unrelated to APOE polymorphism, i.e. a global measure of cognition. However, poorer episodic memory was associated with APOE ε4, both registration (p =0.01) and recall (p =0.01). Temporal and spatial orientation, attention and calculation, language, and constructive function were not affected. We conclude that episodic memory, specifically, is adversely affected by APOE ε4 and urge evaluation of precise phenotypes in genetic association studies of cognitive decline in order to avoid inconsistent results due to phenotypic heterogeneity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]