Ageism

莉亚·阿亚隆教授发表了关于年龄歧视的出色主题。根据WHO 2016年的一项调查，大约60％的老年人认为自己没有受到尊重。鉴于这种歧视可以由医疗保健和社会工作者表达，因此年龄歧视也对健康有影响。例如，老年人利用更多医疗保健资源的污名化意味着他们通常不太可能获得更先进的治疗形式，并且由于固有的假设，在相同情况下，比年轻人更可能接受鉴别诊断。

More directly, older people with a negative perception of their own age are more likely to die earlier than those with a positive perception. Language and culture are key factors here; the words we use when communicating with older people are important, as is fostering a more tolerant and accepting environment; however, the concept of ‘ageism’ doesn’t exist in all languages, which makes this more complex. From a societal perspective, older people have a lot to offer including experience, wisdom, and the preservation of traditions, and so we need to change the way we think, feel and act towards older people.

Loneliness

The topic of loneliness was covered in great detail during the congress, and塔希尔·穆德（Tahir Masud）博士讨论了在英国流行的孤独。Approximately 5-16% of people over the age of 65 experience loneliness most of the time, whilst a third experience it sometimes. There are a number of triggers including bereavement, retirement, disability, moving into care, poor health, and a fear of falling.

The consequences of loneliness can be physiological as well as psychological, and there are several scales used to measure it – such as the De Jong Gierveld Scale (DJGLS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) questionnaire. Applying these to secondary care showed that a third of ‘falls and bone clinic’ patients experience loneliness most of the time; this goes up to 50% in geriatric ward in-patients. Thus, it is clearly important for governments to create initiatives to tackle loneliness and social isolation. To that end, former Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a ‘Minister for Loneliness’ (possibly the first minister of its kind). £20 million was invested into a loneliness scheme, and loneliness was embedded into all government departments. The drive for this focus was largely provided by the late MP Jo Cox, who was an advocate for tackling loneliness.

Prof. Sylvie Bonin-Guillaumediscussed the importance of also assessing the loneliness ofcaregivers, particularly given their high percentage of psychotropic drug use and prevalence of frailty. Also, a consequence to护理接收者is an increased risk of emergency room visits. However, social support is less accepted by caregivers experiencing loneliness and they perceive their needs to not be as well addressed (compared to their non-lonely counterparts.) What about the risk factors?Marja Aartsen教授使用挪威人生，衰老和世代（NORLAG）的数据进行了对孤独轨迹的潜在阶级增长分析。成为女性，主观心理健康（使用MCS-12）增加了阴性轨迹的风险，而患有伴侣则具有保护性。

查尔斯·沃尔德格雷夫教授使用NZLSA队列提供了来自新西兰的数据。较高的身心健康水平与较低的孤独感有关。相反，高度易受虐待和歧视的脆弱性，较低的生活水平以及更高的艰辛导致孤独感增加。可以做什么？不断增加的娱乐活动和改善经济生活水平都与孤独感的减少有关 - 从政策的角度来看，这都是可修改的风险因素，但与健康干预措施相比，往往没有得到充分的资金。

Sarcopenia

欧洲老年人肌肉减少症的工作组（EWGSOP2）提出了修订的肌肉减少症的定义. According to this, sarcopenia is defined as muscle failure and is linked with an increased likelihood of adverse outcomes, such as falls as mortality. To aid diagnosis, they’ve proposed a new clinical algorithm: Find cases, Assess, Confirm, and Severity (F-A-C-S). The new definition also distinguishes between acute- and chronic sarcopenia, and provides cut-off points for diagnosis.

失智

彼得·尼尔森教授discussed the association between hypertension and poor cognitive function (in particular mid-life hypertension and later life dementia). Statin therapy may reduce the risk of dementia, and lifestyle interventions may also be effective.

To that end,Alina Solomon教授提出了手指试验的结果 - 一种多域生活方式干预，导致痴呆症风险总体下降。进一步的分析表明，从社会角度来看，干预措施也具有成本效益。Silke Kern博士提出了一些来自H70队列的有趣数据，研究了神经丝蛋白（NFL）作为阿尔茨海默氏病临床前阶段的生物标志物的实用性。在认知正常患者中，具有神经退行性和tau磷酸化证据的患者中的NFL水平较高。

该国会（来自64个国家 /地区的1600多名代表）为讨论一系列刺激主题的论坛提供了一个很好的论坛，并强调了歧视老年人的流行和后果。需要寻找更有效的解决方案来打击孤独和社会隔离；以及可能有助于诊断和治疗的肌肉减少症和痴呆症的进步。