RA is a chronic and progressive autoimmune disease affecting approximately 1% of the population worldwide, and has a large risk for causing disability of patients and consequently high costs in... Show moreRA is a chronic and progressive autoimmune disease affecting approximately 1% of the population worldwide, and has a large risk for causing disability of patients and consequently high costs in health care if left un- or improperly treated. To prevent this, patients with RA need to be identified as early as possible and treated adequately to prevent worse outcome. Early recognition, together with prediction of the disease outcome at the individual patient level would allow to achieve personalized medicine. The main scope of this thesis was to identify and evaluate the quality of risk factors for their usefulness in predicting disease course and outcome of RA. To this end, characteristics and disease outcome of RA patients included in the Leiden EAC were studied. Show less
The aim of this thesis was to study cardiovascular risk management in old age, in order to facilitate the development of age specific guidelines. In part one the current status of cardiovascular... Show moreThe aim of this thesis was to study cardiovascular risk management in old age, in order to facilitate the development of age specific guidelines. In part one the current status of cardiovascular prevention in old age is described, including a study into general practitioners__ attitudes and perceived barriers in this respect. The second part explores the incremental value of routine-ECGs for cardiovascular risk management in older persons from the general population, beyond existing information from medical records. The third part focuses on primary prevention, exploring the performance of classic risk factors, and some new biomarkers, in predicting cardiovascular mortality in very old people from the general population. It was concluded that a homocysteine level alone accurately identifies those at high risk of cardiovascular mortality, whereas classic risk factors included in the Framingham risk score do not. Next, in various age strata from age 55 years onwards, the association between blood pressure and mortality was studied. Finally, a systematic review into the diagnostic accuracy of natriuretic peptides for the diagnosis of chronic heart failure in older persons from the general population was performed, followed by a study in a cohort of nonagenarians into the prognostic value of NT-proBNP. A general discussion is provided, including directions for future research. Show less
