Ahmet Turan Isik

Dokuz Eylül University | DEÜ · geriatrics

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has seriously affected older adults’ social lives, physical activity, and cognitive functions. Additionally, the lockdowns have disrupted regular healthcare for patients with chronic illnesses or needing acute care. Furthermore, the pandemic has negatively affected different psychosocial influences in each country d...

Background Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a disorder characterized by nocturnally exacerbating pain that leads to significant sleep disturbances. The hormonal and metabolic changes caused by sleep disruption may increase the incidence of muscle‐related diseases like sarcopenia in older adults, which is defined by a progressive loss of muscle stren...

Both osteoporosis and idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus may increase the risk of falls and fractures. This study showed that osteoporosis is more common in older patients with iNPH. It is important to raise awareness of osteoporosis in older patients with iNPH to prevent adverse health consequences. Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (...

Aim: This study aims to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Standard Assessment of Global Everyday Activities (SAGEA) scale in older adults. Methods: The study employed a cross-sectional, methodological design. The SAGEA scale was administered twice, with a two-week interval for test-retest reliability. The study...

Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction is one of the supportive clinical features in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). This study aimed to investigate the frequency of postural and postprandial hypotension in people with DLB. The study group comprised 125 patients with DLB (76 females; mean age 78.4 ± 7.1 years) and 122 controls (88 females; mean age...

Depression questionnaire cutoffs are calibrated for screening accuracy and not to assess prevalence, but the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15) is often used to estimate diagnostic prevalence among older adults, most commonly with scores of ≥ 5. We conducted an individual participant data meta-analysis to compare depression prevalence based on GDS...

Purpose: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNBH) is a neurological disorder associated with ventriculomegaly and normal cerebrospinal fluid pressure and characterized by gait disturbances, cognitive changes and urinary incontinence. We aimed to compare patients' gait characteristics with iNBH before and after the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) t...

Introduction: There is still a requirement for concise, practical scales that can be readily incorporated into everyday schedules and predict the likelihood of dementia onset in individuals without dementia. This study aimed to assess the reliability of the ANU-ADRI (Australian National University Alzheimer's Disease Risk Index)-Short Form in Turki...

Background: Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is a disease that is clinically characterized by gait disturbance and balance impairment. Our purpose was to evaluate the effects of cerebrospinal fluid tap test procedures on gait, turning and balance parameters in the first 24 hours following the procedure in patients. Methods: Twenty-e...

Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH), a classical triad of gait abnormality, cognitive disturbance, and urinary incontinence, increases in prevalence with aging. Sarcopenia is also characterized by low muscle strength and mass, contributing to gait difficulty. Gait abnormality and lower physical activity also lead to the development of s...

It is now well-established practice in dementia that one clinical entity may be caused by various neurodegenerative disorders, each with different histopathological findings, whereas neuropathologically confirmed patients may have different, unusual, and atypical clinical manifestations. This inconsistency in dementia patients leads to neuropatholo...

Primitive reflexes (PRs) are clinical signs that indicate diffuse cerebral dysfunction and frontal lesions. We aimed to present a comprehensive analysis of the prevalence and risk of PRs in patients with dementia. English‐language articles published from January 1990 to April 2021 were searched in PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochrane, and Web of Science...

Background Aging is a process associated with progressive and predictable changes that can cause many diseases. As in other systems, structural changes occur in the brain, behavior, and cognitive functions with age. Older people often complain about the decrease in cognitive skills, especially in the memory area and forgetfulness is one of the most...

Objectives Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) is a life-threatening condition that occurs as an adverse reaction to antipsychotic and antiemetic agents or sudden withdrawal of dopaminergic medications. Given the metabolic and functional reserves and the comorbidities in older adults, NMS may show an atypical course. Methods The medical records o...

Purpose Dysautonomia is one of the supportive clinical features in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of postural and postprandial blood pressure changes as a sign of dysautonomia in DLB patients. Methods The study group comprised 125 patients with DLB (76 females; mean age 78.4 ± 7.1 years) and 126 con...

The Lewy Body Composite Risk Score (LBCRS) has been developed to increase the sensitivity and specificity of the diagnosis attributable to Lewy body pathology outside of specialty centers. We aimed to assess the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the LBCRS in patients with dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) and investigate the discrimi...

Purpose Sarcopenia, associated with morbidity and mortality, is a common geriatric syndrome in older adults. In this study, we investigated the relationship between uric acid, which is a powerful antioxidant and has intracellular proinflammatory activity, and sarcopenia in older adults. Methods This is a cross-sectional retrospective study involvi...

Purpose: Orthostatic hypotension (OH), one of the supportive clinical features in the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), is a significant problem in advanced age because of its severe negative consequences. The aim of this meta-analysis was to investigate the prevalence and risk of OH in patients with DLB. Methods: The indexes and dat...

Objectives To explore the association between physical activity (PA) and urinary incontinence (UI) in Spain. Equipment and methods Cross-sectional data from the Spanish National Health Survey 2017 were analyzed. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form was used to measure level of PA (exposure), and sufficient PA corresp...

ALBA screening instrument (ASI) has been demonstrated to be an effective, cheap, and noninvasive clinical instrument to screen for Lewy body dementia (LBD). We aimed to determine the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of ASI (ASI-T) in patients with LBD and to investigate the discriminative power of the test in patients with Alzheimer’...

Aim: Dementia, sarcopenia, and urinary incontinence (UI) are common geriatric syndromes. UI is a condition that affects the quality of life, results in social isolation, causes falls and, causes morbidity and mortality due to falls. UI also increases caregiver burnout and the burden of care in dementia patients. Continence requires an intact genito...

Introduction/aim Frail and cognitively impaired older patients are particularly vulnerable groups during the pandemic. Lockdowns, social isolation, and physical inactivity considerably affect physical and mental wellbeing. During the pandemic process, routine medical checks and acute medical care services may be disrupted. The study aimed to demons...

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an overlooked cause of morbidity, which was shown to accelerate inflammation, oxidative stress, and neuronal cell loss and is associated with spatial learning and memory impairments and some psychiatric disturbances in older adults. However, there is no effective treatment in order to offer a favorable outcome encomp...

Aim This study aimed to determine the possible interrelationships between sarcopenia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Background Sarcopenia and AD are two common geriatric syndromes; however, sarcopenia has not been evaluated in detail so far. Objective The objective is to evaluate the relationship between AD and sarcopenia. Methods This cross-sect...

Background The aging population and increasing chronic diseases make a tremendous burden on the health care system. The study evaluated the relationship between comorbidity indices and common geriatric syndromes. Methods A total of 366 patients who were hospitalized in a university geriatric inpatient service were included in the study. Sociodemog...

Objective: : Sarcopenia is a geriatric syndrome characterized by age-related reduction in muscle mass and strength. Assessment of handgrip strength (HGS) is an essential measurement for the diagnosis of sarcopenia; however, disorders affecting upper limb muscles and joints may pose challenges in assessing handgrip strength. Therefore, the present...

Objectives Sarcopenia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in older adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This study investigates the effects of dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors (DPP4i) as an add-on therapy for sarcopenia in older adults with T2DM over a six-month follow-up period. Methods This is a retrospective and six-mo...

Background: Widespread prescription of antidepressants and their resulting role in serotonin syndrome (SS) are of great importance for clinical practice in the elderly. This study aims to investigate possible associations of antidepressant drug-induced SS with related variables in these patients. Methods: A total of 238 older adults using antide...

Purpose Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (iNPH) is the leading reversible cause of cognitive impairment and gait disturbance that has similar clinical manifestations and accompanies to major neurodegenerative disorders in older adults. We aimed to investigate whether cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) may be us...

Deliryum akut başlayan dikkat ve bilinçte dalgalanma ile seyreden bir durumdur. Kendi bir hastalık olmayıp farklı birçok sebebin ortak sonucu olan geriatrik bir sendromdur. Yaşlılarda özellikle hastanede ve yoğun bakımda yatan hastalarda insidansı yüksektir. Yüksek sıklığına rağmen günlük pratikte gözden kaçabilmektedir. Sık görülen, hastane yatış...

Aim: Alzheimer's disease (AD) and dementia with Lewy body (DLB) constitute the most common types of dementia, and are two common geriatric syndromes; however, sarcopenia has not been elaborately evaluated in DLB so far. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and DLB in older adults. Methods: In this retros...

Teletıp Dünya Sağlık Örgütü tarafından mesafenin kritik bir faktör olduğu durumlarda, tüm sağ�lık profesyonellerinin, hastalıkların teşhisi, tedavisi, önlenmesi, hastalıkların teşhisi için bilgi alışverişi yapılması, birey ve toplum sağlığının geliştirilmesi ve sağlık hizmeti verenlerin eğitimi için bilgi ve ileitişim teknolojilerini kullanması ola...

Background and aim: Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) is a rare clinical entity that is associated with encephalopathy with alteration of consciousness, presence of high levels of antithyroid antibodies, and exclusion of other suspected etiologies. Methods: We describe a 60-year old lady who had been followed up for about 5 years for possible Alzh...

Introduction/Aim Anticholinergic drugs, which have severe central and peripheric side effects, are frequently prescribed to older adults. Increased anticholinergic drug burden is associated with poor physical and cognitive functions. On the other side, the impact of anticholinergics on nutritional status is not elaborated in the literature. Therefo...

The world population is aging due to increasing life expectancy. The rate of drug use increases, and inappropriate prescribing is frequently encountered with advancing age. In addition, misuse and abuse of prescription drugs is a serious problem in older adults. It is challenging to detect substance and drug abuse in older patients because it may h...

In this chapter, caregivers’ roles in the care of older people are discussed in detail. With older people having multiple comorbid diseases, such as osteoarthritis, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart failure, stroke, and chronic kidney disease, and numerous geriatric syndromes such as polypharmacy, urinary incontinence, malnutriti...

Forgetfulness has many reasons and even more causes. Advancing age has relative increased risks. Although loss of memory is often a prime reason of dementia, forgetfulness, and cognitive impairment, these are not synonymous terms. Cognitive impairment that includes memory, orientation, paying attention, using language, visio-spatialability, and psy...

Purpose Immunization is one of the main components of preventive medicine measures. Influenza, pneumococcal, tetanus, and shingles vaccines are recommended for older adults routinely. This study aimed to show the knowledge and attitudes of the physicians to older adults’ vaccination schemes. Patients and Methods An electronic self-reported questio...

Background Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is still a great global challenge and agents with various mechanisms represent a promising therapeutic opportunity. Theracurmin, a very highly absorbable curcumin formulation, was shown to improve memory and attention in non-demented people. Objective To investigate the effect of Theracurmin on disease course in...

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the fear of falling/the degree of fear of falling (FoF) and orthostatic hypotension (OH) in older adults. This cross-sectional study was conducted with 314 older outpatients. If the total score of the Falls Efficacy Scale–International scale was 16–19, 20–27 and ≥ 28, it was assumed th...

Background Therapeutic options for Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) treatment are highly limited and success rate in new molecules under investigated has been disappointing so that agents with various mechanisms represent a promising therapeutic opportunity. Among these, Theracurmin, a very highly absorbable curcumin formulation, was shown to improve memor...

Life expectancy is getting longer, and the number of older adults in society is increasing. The frequency of comorbidity and multimorbidity increases with age, making polypharmacy a more important problem. Polypharmacy, the most common geriatric syndrome in clinical practice, has unfavorable health and economic consequences. Deprescribing is a valu...

Background: Frailty is a multidimensional and dynamic state that has adverse physical, psychological, and social outcomes. The Tilburg Frailty Indicator (TFI) has the most robust evidence of reliability and validity for assessing frailty. However, the characteristics of TFI have not been investigated in detail. This study aimed to set a cut-off sc...

Purpose To assess the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the Scale for Positive Aspects of Caregiving Experience (SPACE). Design and Methods The methodological descriptive study was conducted with 228 family caregivers of people with dementia (PwD) in Turkey, Izmir, between March 2018 and December 2019. Findings The Turkish version...

Purpose: Innovative activities such as the simulation-based training program can affect nurses’ attitudes toward older adults. This study was aimed to determine the effects of the simulation-based training programs on nurses’ attitudes towards older adults in institutional care settings. Methods: A quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design was use...

Background Orthostatic hypotension (OH) is a clinical sign associated with severe adverse health outcomes in older adults. It has been reported to be common in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The present meta-analysis aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk of OH in AD patients.Methods English-language articles published from January 1...

Objective Corticobasal syndrome (CBS) is one of an atypical parkinsonian syndromes characterized by extrapyramidal features as well as cortical involvement signs. A variety of factors may lead to delirium in older adults with chronic progressive life-limiting neurological illnesses like CBS. Ogilvie's syndrome (OS) is an acute colonic pseudo-obstru...

Aims Older adults are at risk for polypharmacy, which has multidimensional safety, clinical and economic implications. Therefore, the optimization of drug therapy is one of the critical components of geriatrics clinical practice. This study is aimed to investigate the effect of drug rationalization on comprehensive geriatric assessment(CGA) paramet...

It was aimed to investigate the effect of malnutrition with and the risk of malnutrition in elderly individuals with regards to other geriatric syndromes and comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) parameters. Patients who applied to the geriatric outpatient clinic between January 2019 and June 2020 were included in the study. 460 patients were ex...

Amaç: Bu çalışmanın amacı, yaşlılarda beden kütle indeksinin (BKİ) denge ve yürüme özelliklerini ne yönde etkilediğinin araştırılmasıydı. Yöntem: Yüz beş geriatrik birey BKİ’ye göre üç gruba ayrıldı: Normal (18,5<BKİ<24,9, n=30), pre-obez (25,0<BKİ<29,9, n=47), obez (30<BKİ, n=28). Denge ile ilgili değişkenlerin (statik denge, dinamik denge, duyusa...

IntroductionOsteoporosis and sarcopenia are significant health problems that mainly affect older adults. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between sarcopenia and osteoporosis.Materials and methodsThe study included 444 participants who had undergone a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry scan, handgrip test, 4-m walking speed test, and b...

Objective Malnutrition may be an important risk factor for orthostatic hypotension (OH). The aim of the study was to investigate the relationship between malnutrition and OH, and the effect of nutritional improvement on cognitive functions and gait-balance parameters in patients with OH. Research Methods & Procedures A total of 692 patients were i...

Background: It is crucial to evaluate the causes of morbidity and mortality in elderly patients with dementia, such as orthostatic hypotension (OH), which may affect their daily life activities, reduce the quality of life, and increase the caregiver burden. Objective: We aimed to investigate the relationship between OH and the most common subtyp...

Purpose Essential tremor (ET) is the most common movement disorder in which dysautonomia symptoms can be present. We aimed to evaluate the presence of orthostatic hypotension (OH) and its relationship with the clinical features. Patients and Methods Forty-four elderly patients with ET and 118 healthy elderly controls were included. OH was assessed...

Orthostatic hypotension (OH), a geriatric syndrome, is due to the disruption of coordination of the cardiovascular structures, musculoskeletal system, endocrine, and nervous system. When OH results from neurodegenerative processes, it is called as neurogenic OH (nOH). Considered as one of the clinical outcomes of autonomic dysfunction caused by a n...

In the last few decades, Hippocratic medicine has been replaced by syndromal medicine, and the concept of geriatric syndrome has emerged. So far dementia, delirium, depression, incontinence, falls, polypharmacy, malnutrition, pressure ulcers, sarcopenia, and frailty have been accepted as geriatric syndromes. Should orthostatic hypotension (OH), the...

Orthostatic hypertension is a change in postural blood pressure; its effect and importance are not well-known in older adults. It has been suggested that sympathetic nervous system overexpression and baroreceptor reflex insufficiency might be involved in etiopathogenesis. There are no consensus criteria for the diagnosis of orthostatic hypertension...

INTRODUCTION: Sarcopenia is associated with recurrent falls, limited mobilization, depression, increased risk of morbidity and mortality in geriatric patients. It has been reported that the risk of frailty and disability increases more when obesity and sarcopenia coexist. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between obesity and...

Amaç: Düşme, yaşlı kişilerde yaygın olarak görülen ve bireylerin bağımsızlığını tehdit eden önemli bir sağlık sorunudur. Düşme için önlenebilir risk faktörlerinin tanınması ve ortadan kaldırılması bireyin yaşam kalitesi için önemlidir. Yaşlı bireylerde sık görülen sendromlardan biri olan geriatrik depresyonun tanınması ve tedavisinin başlanması ayr...

Aim: The aim of this study was to demonstrate the relationship between nocturia and geriatric syndromes, and comprehensive geriatric assessment parameters (CGA) in older men. Material and Methods: A total of 397 older outpatient men who had undergone CGA were included in this cross-sectional study. For the nocturia variable, the question, ‘General...

Applause sign (AS) was shown to be an indicator of frontal subcortical dysfunction in many neurodegenerative diseases. Idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus (INPH) is one of those in which frontosubcortical disconnection can be displayed. We aimed to examine the presence of AS in the elderly patients with INPH and its possible diagnostic role in...

Background: Quality of life (QoL) is a growing area of interest in dementia research. However, it remains a controversial topic. This study aimed to determine the QoL of people with Alzheimer's disease (PwAD) and investigate the factors affecting patients' and caregivers' QoL scores. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was used. A total of 9...

Background: Despite differences between the studies regarding methods for estimating low muscle mass, the European Working Group on Sarcopenia in Older People (EWGSOP) recommends use of two standard deviations (SDs) below the reference sex-specific means of healthy young adults. Aims: The aim of this study was to determine the cutoff points of s...

Background: Dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) is the second most common dementia. Features of DLB include postganglionic cardiac sympathetic denervation and autonomic instability. Rivastigmine therapy, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, is widely used in the primary treatment of DLB; however, the cardiovascular safety and tolerability of transdermal...

Objectives There are a few studies showing how nutritional parameters are affected according to dementia subtypes. The aim of this study was to compare the parameters characterizing nutritional status and micronutrient levels according to different dementia subtypes. Design Cross-sectional study. Setting and Participants Four hundred forty outpat...

Objectives: Orthostatic hypotension is a well-known disorder, but orthostatic hypertension (OHT) still remains unclear in older adults. The aim of this study was to determine the comparison orthostatic hypotension with OHT according to fall risk and geriatric assessment parameters. Methods: A total of 741 patients who were admitted to the geriat...

The pandemic of the Covid-19 virus has become the main issue all over the world. In its current form, the disease is more severe in geriatric cases and individuals with chronic disease, even causing death. In older adults and atypical presentations, testing strategies for Covid-19, potential drug interactions of experimental Covid-19 therapies, and...

Background The relationship between sarcopenia and orthostatic hypotension (OH) is unclear. Objectives The aim of the present study was to investigate associations between sarcopenia/sarcopenia severity and OH. Design A total of 511 patients attending a geriatric outpatient clinic were included. OH was defined as a decrease in systolic and/or diast...

This study reports the results of the first brain tissue banking experience of Turkey in the Unit for Aging Brain and Dementia at Dokuz Eylul University, Department of Geriatric Medicine, Izmir. Here, we have briefly described our efforts on brain banking in our country, which consist of six brains from autopsies that had at least two years of clin...

Chemobrain is one of the problems that may arise during or after treatment and there is currently no specific treatment for this condition. Our case was a 76-year-old female patient who presented to our clinic with complaints of forgetfulness that did not affect daily living activities for the last year. Breast cancer was diagnosed in 2013 and she...

Purpose Increased nocturia episodes can be a clinical marker of poor health status. The present study aimed to evaluate patterns and temporal trends in nocturia and sociodemographic and lifestyle correlates in the US population. Methods Participants, aged 20 years or older, were included in this repeated cross-sectional study. The National Health a...

Background Malnutrition among older adults plays an important role in clinical and functional impairment. Aims The aim of our study was to evaluate all parameters of Mini-Nutritional Assessment (MNA), according to the nutritional status and to define the risk factors that may cause at risk of malnutrition and malnutrition in more detail. Methods...

Background & Aims Vitamin D deficiency is a public health problem. The resulting data showed that vitamin D is associated not only with calcium homeostasis, skeletal muscle health, but also with some chronic diseases. The aim of the study was to investigate long-term effects of vitamin D deficiency on gait-balance parameters in older adults. Metho...