Tuesday, December 16, 2008 9:34 AM
posted by Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D. Comfort Foods or Foods that Comfort? Our attraction to specific foods that we think makes us feel better is based in our heads. Specifically, the insular cortex is associated with feelings of warmth on both physical and interpersonal levels. In an experiment involving two groups of undergraduate students who were exposed to holding warm and cold objects, in the first part of the study involving the rating of a person's psychological traits, the student's who held the warm object (cup of coffee) rated the person "significantly warmer" but no different in other traits.The students who held the cold beverage rated the person as "less warm" but similar in the other rating categories. In the second part of the study, the subjects were asked to evaluate a product and to pick up and hold either a warm or cold object. Afterward, they were offered a gift for their participation. Those who picked up the warm pad were more likely to select a gift for another person than a reward for themselves.
Do the foods that we regard as comfort foods work to uncover our memories of pleasant experiences? Do we conjure up images of Mom serving our favorite childhood meal? Proust talked about the smells of a bakery emanating from the street to a balcony where he was standing and being flooded with memories of the past.Our perceptions are influenced by many factors, some internal and some external. Obviously, a part of our brain brokers these perceptions with stored memories and contributes to our judgment of a situation as well as our related behavior.
So, when that Christmas dinner comes out of the oven next week and we feel the warmth of family and friends, do enjoy the moment.
link to this post  9:03 AM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR Link between lower childhood IQ and adult psychiatric disorders A recent study, which was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, has discovered a link between lower childhood IQ and adult psychiatric disorders. According to the study mental health disorders including depression and schizophrenia may be predicted by lower childhood IQ. The researchers found that each standard deviation lowering IQ resulted in increased odds of depression (23%) and schizophrenia (42%). The study also found that lower childhood IQ was associated with more severe psychiatric illness. According to Karestan C. Koenen, Ph.D., of the Harvard School of Public Health, and colleagues, "Patients with lower cognitive ability could have difficulty accessing services or difficulty understanding and complying with treatment protocols... These individuals may benefit from interventions aimed at improving mental health literacy." The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that discusses the findings more:
Childhood IQ averaged across assessments at ages seven, nine, and 11 years predicted a spectrum of psychiatric disorders at age 32.
With every 15 point increase -- one standard deviation -- above the mean in childhood IQ, the findings were:
* 42% lower odds of lifetime schizophrenia spectrum diagnosis (95% confidence interval 16% to 59%).
* 23% lower odds of an adult depression diagnosis (95% CI 6% to 37%).
* 26% reduced odds of an adult anxiety disorder diagnosis (95% CI 12% to 38%).
* No difference in alcohol, marijuana, or other drug dependence.
These results generally remained significant after adjustment for potentially confounding factors including childhood socioeconomic status, perinatal problems, low birth weight, and childhood maltreatment, although the association for schizophrenia became nonsignificant (P=0.07).
Higher IQ also appeared to reduce the risk of specific anxiety disorders, including 29% lower likelihood of generalized anxiety disorder (95% CI 8% to 45%) and 40% reduced odds of social phobia (95% CI 23% to 53%).
Although post-traumatic stress disorder and agoraphobia had similar effect sizes as seen for major depression and generalized anxiety disorder, the associations were not significant, likely because of the small number of cases, the researchers said.
Childhood IQ was likewise a significant factor associated with more severe adult psychiatric illness.
Click here to read the rest of this article from Medpage Today
link to this post Friday, December 12, 2008 1:30 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR Genetic mutation may contribute to overeating According to a recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, a genetic mutation may contribute to overeating. The study focused on a group of children who carried a variant of rs9939609, a fat mass and obesity-associated (FTO) gene; in their tests, the researchers found that children who carried the variant gene ate more at meal times than controls. According to Colin N.A. Palmer, Ph.D., of the University of Dundee's Biomedical Research Institute at Ninewells Hospital and Medical School, and colleagues, there are “indications that there is no defect in metabolic adaptation to obesity... In the total study group, the A allele of rs9939609 was associated with significantly increased weight (P =0.003) and BMI (P=0.003)." The following is an excerpt of an article by Medpage Today that discusses the findings more:
On the basis of the skinfold measurements, "children who carried the A allele had an estimated fat mass that was 1.78 kg greater than that of non-carriers (P=0.01) and an estimated lean mass that was less than 400 g greater than that of non-carriers ( P=0.46).
The authors said that their data "suggest that the [fat mass and obesity-associated] gene influences the 'input' side of the energy-balance equation," a finding already reported in animal studies.
Thus the key to preventing obesity in people with this genotype, which occurred in 0.385% of the population studied, would be "moderate and controlled restriction of energy intake."
In an editorial, Rudolph L. Leibel, M.D., of Columbia University in New York, wrote that the frequency of the rs9939609 A allele has been estimated as "0.45 in Europeans, 0.52 in West Africans, and 0.14 in Chinese."
And even though the "locus accounts for only a small proportion of differences in BMI in the entire population, it plays a substantial role -- in these people, in these environments -- in conveying the risk of actually becoming overweight or obese."
Click here to read the rest of this article from Medpage Today
link to this post Thursday, December 11, 2008 5:08 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR Panic attacks may increase the risk for heart attack and coronary disease Panic attacks may increase the risk for heart attack and coronary disease, according to recent findings published in the European Heart Journal. According to the findings, panic attacks, or disorder, before the age of 50 were associated with a 44% higher risk of coronary heart disease and a 38% higher risk of MI. According to the researchers the link may be due to misdiagnosis of heart problems as panic in the first place; however, "clinicians should be vigilant for this possibility when diagnosing and treating people presenting with symptoms of panic," they wrote. The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that reviews the study:
After adjustment for age, sex, socioeconomic factors, traditional risk factors for heart disease, and psychiatric co-morbidity, a diagnosis of panic disorder or attacks was associated with a significantly increased risk of MI in younger individuals (HR 1.38, 95% CI 1.06 to 1.79), but not those 50 or older (HR 0.92, 95% CI 0.82 to 1.03).
Young women 16 to 39 at study entry were particularly at risk, with a 3.34 times higher incidence of coronary heart disease compared with controls (95% CI 1.59 to 7.02).
A trend also appeared for greater MI risk the more panic attacks a patient had recorded in the database before age 50, but the researchers cautioned that this was based on low event numbers and wide confidence intervals.
Panic sufferers under age 50 were also at greater risk for broader coronary heart disease diagnoses, including cardiac ischemia, angina, acute coronary syndromes, MI, and coronary revascularization.
But the coronary risk associated with panic disorder and attacks was significant at all ages (HR 1.44 under 50, 95% CI 1.25 to 1.65, and HR 1.11 for 50 and over, 95% CI 1.03 to 1.20).
Again, women under 40 were most at risk, with 3.03-fold higher coronary heart disease risk than those without panic disorder or attacks (95% CI 2.15 to 4.27) and the more panic attacks over the years the more the risk tended to increase.
Click here to read the rest of this article from Medpage Today
link to this post Wednesday, December 10, 2008 12:46 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR Mechanism linking binge drinking and atherosclerosis Researchers believe they have found a mechanism linking binge drinking and atherosclerosis. According to John Cullen, Ph.D., of the University of Rochester, and colleagues, heavy drinking, binge drinking, causes an abundance of acetaldehyde which increases the adhesion of monocytes to cultured endothelial cells. This connection, between binge drinking and atherosclerosis, has been shown in previous studies but without specifying a mechanism. Researchers commenting stated, "These in vitro findings support novel effects of acetaldehyde on processes involved in the initiation of atherosclerosis... yet further studies are warranted to investigate whether these effects are relevant in vivo, and whether these actions of acetaldehyde may underlie, in part, the detrimental effects of binge drinking on cardiovascular disease."
Binge drinking is defined as five or more drinks within a two hour period for men, four or more for women. It is important to note, however, that moderate alcohol consumption has been shown by various studies to be associated with lower cardiovascular risk. The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that discusses the study more:
Because monocyte recruitment plays an important role in the development of atherosclerosis, the researchers set out to evaluate how acetaldehyde affects this process.
They cultured human umbilical venous endothelial cells, primary blood monocytes, and THP-1 monocytes and treated them with acetaldehyde at concentrations ranging from 0.1 µM to 25 µM for six hours, which approximates the amount of time the chemical would remain in the blood after a bout of binge drinking.
The concentrations of acetaldehyde "are physiologically relevant and cover a range of concentrations that are found in the blood following the consumption of moderate and binge amounts of alcohol," the researchers said.
Acetaldehyde increased the number of THP-1 monocytes expressing CCR2, a receptor involved in attracting the immune cells to damaged endothelial cells (P<0.05). The most significant effect -- a 50.6% increase -- was seen with 10 µM of acetaldehyde.
There was also a significant increase in the number of endothelial cells expressing P-selectin -- which is involved in initially tethering monocytes to endothelial cells and rolling them down the line of cells -- and in P-selectin receptor density when the cells were exposed to acetaldehyde (P<0.05 for both comparisons).
Click here to read the rest of this article from Medpage Today
link to this post Tuesday, December 09, 2008 8:25 PM
posted by Aric Thorpe, MHR A happy friend or family member living in close proximity can increase one's own happiness significantly According to the Framingham Heart study, published online in BMJ, a happy friend or family member living in close proximity can increase one's own happiness significantly. Conversely, however, associations with person's who were sad had much less of an impact. According to the study, having a happy friend or family member less than one mile away increases the likelihood of happiness by 25%. Additionally, a happy next door neighbor increases the likelihood of happiness by 34%. Lastly, having a happy spouse increased the likelihood of happiness by 8%. The study found that happiness extended not only to a happy person's friend or family member, but also to the happy friend's friend. The Framingham study included data from 4,739 participants from 1983 to 2003. According to Nicholas A. Christakis, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., of Harvard, and James H. Fowler, Ph.D., of the University of California San Diego, the clusters of people who were happy or unhappy reflected in the Framingham network were "significantly larger than expected by chance." The following is an excerpt of an article from Medpage Today that discusses the study more:
Happy people had a perfect score (12) on all four measures -- a 3 awarded for those who answered positively most or all of the time, down to a score of zero for those who said they rarely or never experienced the "happy" characteristics.
Not only does happiness seem catching, those with acne in adolescence also keep close company with others who have the skin condition, according to another study of the effects of social networks, also published online in BMJ. So do those who have headaches or have similar heights.
This second social network study analyzed data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to "detect implausible social network effects in acne, height, and headaches."
Ethan Cohen-Cole, an economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, teamed with Jason M. Fletcher, Ph.D., M.S., of the Yale School of Public Health, to analyze the teen data and found on first blush a correlation with acne, headaches, and height.
The authors analyzed data from 4,300 to 5,400 male and female participants in the health survey. All had at least one friend who was also a survey participant and both were longitudinally surveyed. They used data collected in the 1994-95, 1995-96, and 2000-1 surveys.
But when the adolescent data were adjusted for environmental confounders they became uniformly smaller.
Click here to read the rest of this article from Medpage Today
link to this post Friday, December 05, 2008 11:21 AM
posted by Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D. Holidays in Rehab The holiday season is a particularly rough time for individuals in treatment and their loved ones. For many who are in treatment during this season , it is a time of intense struggles, filled with feelings about being away from family and friends and managing cravings. Let's call the holiday period "a trigger" time for people who are in treatment. Family members and friends need to be aware of how much additional support their person needs. There may be additional guilt or shame about missing the holidays or affecting the lives of their family. Relapse is common during the holiday season which starts with Thanksgiving as individuals experience stressors in their lives and feelings of loss. Managing feelings to prevent relapse involves the person and those around him or her. Recognition of the what causes the problems is very important to getting through the holiday times.
Some ideas:
- Avoid leaving treatment during the holidays. There may be intensified cravings or heightened emotional states that the person needs to recognize. Don't give in and discharge. Family members need to be aware of the "come and get me" calls.
- Stay focused on treatment and work with your therapist to deal with those issues and problems which distract you from treatment.
- Attend self-help and support groups in the community. Ask your loved ones to attend self-help groups, such as Al-Anon. Increase the number of meetings you attend and work with your sponsor and other supports.
- Avoid being in places associated with substance abuse. That may mean staying away from people, holiday parties and social events if those environments were places where you "used".
- If you are dining out with family members and friends, look for restaurants where alcohol is not served.
- Structure your time with activities which support abstinence and sobriety. Avoid "down time" and long periods which are unstructured.
- Keep your resource names and telephone numbers handy and call at the first signs of relapse.
We know the holiday season is a tough time, let's work to keep life on track!
link to this post 10:43 AM
posted by Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D. Self Help Groups Found "Effective" Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous: do these groups really work?
According to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, supported by SAMHSA; participation in self-help and support groups works to maintain abstinence and sobriety. Almost one-third of the participants also attended specialty treatment for substance abuse while attending AA and NA groups. 45.1% abstained from substance use. The study covered 2006 and 2007 and involved 135,672 people. The study supports self-help group attendance in conjunction with specialized treatment to maintain long term abstinence and sobriety.
To read the study summary, click here:
http://oas.samhsa.gov/2k8/selfHelp/selfHelp.htm
link to this post |
Rolf B. Gainer, Ph.D., Diplomate ABDA, is the Chief Executive Office at Brookhaven Hospital and the Vice President of Rehabilitation Institutes of America. Dr. Gainer has been involved in the design and operation of treatment programs since 1977.
Stephen Harnish, MD is the Medical Director of Brookhaven Hospital. Dr. Harnish is a member of the American Psychiatric Association and is well known in Oklahoma for his informative radio and television appearances.
Aric Thorpe, MHR, is Brookhaven Hospital's Pastoral Liaison Representative. He conducts the quarterly Minister's Lifeline series and provides mental health information to pastors and clergy.
Sarah McGee, BA, serves as the Community Education Provider for Brookhaven Hospital. She provides information on mental health and drug and alcohol treatment to healthcare professionals in Oklahoma and surrounding states.
Michael Mason- A versatile and prolific writer, Michael is the author of the book, "Head Cases: Stories of Brain Injury and Its Aftermath," and regularly delivers engaging talks and readings to audiences nationwide. Michael serves at Brookhaven Hospital as an advocate for individuals with brain injury. |
