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Bayer Healthcare has announced that the Home Office, after advice from the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs' (ACMD), has rescheduled Sativex® Oromucosal Spray in the UK. 

This section includes reports from the American College of Cardiology 62nd annual scientific session in San Francisco, USA and latest news from Diabetes UK and the Institute of Diabetes for Older People.

Diabetes is common in patients aged over 50 years. Goals for diabetes management in older adults should be set according to the motivation of the individual, the comorbidities, and the presence of complications, resources and support systems available, and the life expectancy of each individual.  

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the commonest cardiac arrhythmia. Electrophysiologically, it is characterised by the loss of electrical atrial homogeneity due to autonomic, metabolic, structural, inflammatory, or ischaemic defects. It is a major cardiovascular challenge in modern society, with a significant medical, social and economic burden. Prevalence increases with age, and as the general population grows older, physicians will more frequently encounter AF. This is part one of a two part article.  

This section reviews the new basal insulin for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes.  

Angina is a symptom attributable to myocardial ischaemia, most commonly related to underlying occlusive coronary artery disease. Typical symptoms include a constricting discomfort in the chest, often radiating into the neck, shoulders, jaws or arms. Other symptoms may also include breathlessness, dizziness or nausea.

The management of older adults with type 2 diabetes requires careful consideration of the effects that advancing age and changes in health status can have on the competing risks and benefits of therapeutic interventions.  

Dr Edin Lakasing’s article “Palliative care in primary care”1  was a concise summary of some of the issues and important points to consider when providing palliative care in the community. The article dispelled some of the common myths surrounding opioids, but we would like to expand on a point about the myth that they cause respiratory suppression.

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is a vasculitis of large and medium sized vessels. The mean age at diagnosis is approximately 72 years, and the disease is rare in those less than 50 years of age.

Aggression and violent behaviour is common amongst inpatients with dementia. Such behaviours should be taken into consideration when training staff and planning services for patients with dementia. 

Patients attending the geriatric day hospital usually receive a comprehensive geriatric assessment at the beginning with basic investigations such as blood and some radiology tests.

Patients with advanced prostate cancer face a lottery in the standard of care they receive, with wide discrepancies in access to the latest treatment advances depending on the country they live in, according to the Every Month Matters report.

Two reports were published this month which discuss the effects of loneliness on older people. Here, CareKnowledge editor Jim Kennedy's draws together some of their key findings, with a particular focus on those that relate to people with dementia.

Osteoarthritis (OA) is one of the most common causes of disability in the UK. It is common in the elderly, usually affecting the hands, knees, hips, feet and spine. NICE defines OA as persistent joint pain that is worse with use in a patient who is 45 years old and over and there may be morning stiffness lasting no more than half an hour.

Management of abnormalities in water homeostasis is frequently challenging among older people. Age-related changes and chronic diseases are often associated with impairment of water metabolism in older patients.