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Vulnerable Individuals (vulnerable + individual)
Selected AbstractsWARNING: LEGAL SYNTHETIC CANNABINOID-RECEPTOR AGONISTS SUCH AS JWH-018 MAY PRECIPITATE PSYCHOSIS IN VULNERABLE INDIVIDUALSADDICTION, Issue 10 2010SUSANNA EVERY-PALMER No abstract is available for this article. [source] Psychological effects of prevention: do participants of a type 2 diabetes prevention program experience increased mental distress?DIABETES/METABOLISM: RESEARCH AND REVIEWS, Issue 1 2009Katrin E. Giel Abstract Objective To evaluate the mental health outcome of a lifestyle intervention for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and to exclude possible harmful psychological effects. Background There is little empirical data on potential harmful effects of prevention programs. However, information, education, diagnostic procedures, phenotyping and risk assessment may cause or intensify psychological distress such as anxiety, depression or somatization in vulnerable individuals. Methods The Tuebingen Lifestyle Intervention Program (TULIP) for the prevention of type 2 diabetes has assessed mental health outcome in the participants after 9 months of program participation using the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R). The 24-months lifestyle intervention TULIP comprises regular exercise and changes in nutrition and assesses both, a broad range of somatic parameters as well as psychometric variables. For an interim analysis of psychological outcome, complete data sets of the SCL-90-R assessed at baseline and after 9 months of intervention were available for 195 participants (125 females, 70 males; age: 46.1 ± 10.6 years). Data on somatization, anxiety, depression and overall psychological distress were compared to baseline levels. Results SCL-90-R scores of the TULIP-participants did not significantly differ from the German healthy reference population. Compared to baseline, a significant decrease in SCL-90-R scores was found for anxiety, depression and overall psychological distress at re-assessment after 9 months. Conclusion The interim analysis on mental health outcome of a type 2 diabetes prevention program comprising extensive phenotyping and risk assessment rules out adverse psychological effects, suggesting rather beneficial changes concerning symptoms of anxiety, depression and overall psychological distress. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Drinking to Cope in Socially Anxious Individuals: A Controlled StudyALCOHOLISM, Issue 12 2003Suzanne E. Thomas Background: Several hypotheses exist to account for the higher than normal rate of alcoholism in individuals with high trait anxiety (or anxiety disorders). Most of these suggest that the practice of drinking alcohol to reduce anxiety leads to an increased risk of alcoholism in vulnerable individuals. The first assumption of the hypothesis is that anxious individuals use alcohol to cope with their anxiety. Few studies have examined this issue systematically, and none have used a nonanxious matched control group. Methods: Twenty-three individuals with high social anxiety and 23 nonsocially anxious matched controls were included in the study. Groups were similar on demographic variables and alcohol use. All participants were queried regarding the use of alcohol to cope, the practice of avoiding social situations if alcohol was not available, and the degree of relief attained by alcohol. Participants also were asked about using alcohol in 11 specific situations. Results: The socially anxious group was significantly more likely than controls to report using alcohol to feel more comfortable in social situations and to avoid social situations if alcohol was unavailable. They also reported a greater degree of relief of anxiety from alcohol. Exploratory analyses revealed that socially anxious individuals reported using alcohol more to cope with social interactions than with social performance situations. Conclusions: Individuals high in social anxiety deliberately drink alcohol to cope with their social fears. They report that alcohol is moderately effective at reducing their anxiety, which is seemingly sufficient to allow them to endure social situations. The data support the first assumption of the self-medication hypothesis,that alcohol is used to reduce social discomfort in socially anxious individuals; however, the study was not designed to address the veracity of the self-medication hypothesis as a whole. Results can help guide future studies that examine the relationship between social anxiety and alcohol. [source] The Proportion of Gaming Revenue Derived from Problem Gamblers: Examining the Issues in a Canadian ContextANALYSES OF SOCIAL ISSUES & PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2004Robert J. Williams The legitimacy of government-sponsored gambling and its continued expansion depends in part on the impact that gambling has on society and the extent to which gambling revenue is derived from vulnerable individuals. The purpose of the present article is to try to establish a valid estimate of the proportion of gaming revenue derived from problem gamblers in Canada. Using recent secondary data collected in eight Canadian provinces, we estimate this proportion to be 23.1%, compared to a problem gambling prevalence rate of 4.2%. This estimate must be seen as tentative, however, as self-reported expenditures are 2.1 times higher than actual provincial gaming revenues. [source] Cyanobacterial neurotoxin BMAA in ALS and Alzheimer's diseaseACTA NEUROLOGICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 4 2009J. Pablo Objective,,, The aim of this study was to screen for and quantify the neurotoxic amino acid ,- N -methylamino- l -alanine (BMAA) in a cohort of autopsy specimens taken from Alzheimer's disease (AD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's disease (HD), and non-neurological controls. BMAA is produced by cyanobacteria found in a variety of freshwater, marine, and terrestrial habitats. The possibility of geographically broad human exposure to BMAA had been suggested by the discovery of BMAA in brain tissues of Chamorro patients with ALS/Parkinsonism dementia complex from Guam and more recently in AD patients from North America. These observations warranted an independent study of possible BMAA exposures outside of the Guam ecosystem. Methods,,, Postmortem brain specimens were taken from neuropathologically confirmed cases of 13 ALS, 12 AD, 8 HD patients, and 12 age-matched non-neurological controls. BMAA was quantified using a validated fluorescent HPLC method previously used to detect BMAA in patients from Guam. Tandem mass spectrometric (MS) analysis was carried out to confirm the identification of BMAA in neurological specimens. Results,,, We detected and quantified BMAA in neuroproteins from postmortem brain tissue of patients from the United States who died with sporadic AD and ALS but not HD. Incidental detections observed in two out of the 24 regions were analyzed from the controls. The concentrations of BMAA were below what had been reported previously in Chamarro ALS/ Parkinsonism dementia complex patients, but demonstrated a twofold range across disease and regional brain area comparisons. The presence of BMAA in these patients was confirmed by triple quadrupole liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry. Conclusions,,, The occurrence of BMAA in North American ALS and AD patients suggests the possibility of a gene/environment interaction, with BMAA triggering neurodegeneration in vulnerable individuals. [source] | ||||||||||