Healthy and Unhealthy Dietary Patterns Are Related to Depression: A Case-Control Study

OBJECTIVE: Major depressive disorder is the leading cause of disability around the world. The relationship between depression and dietary patterns has been reported in a few studies but with controversial results. This study aimed to investigate this relationship in an Iranian population. METHODS: In our study, 330 depressed patients (cases) and healthy people (controls) (1:2) were individually matched according to age, sex and area of residence. New cases of depression were recruited from two psychiatric clinics in Tehran. Interviewers went to each patient's residential area, and invited qualified individuals to participate in the study as controls. Food intake over the past year was collected using a validated semi quantitative food frequency questionnaire. Dietary patterns were determined by the principal components method. Binary logistic regression was used to test the effect of dietary patterns on depression. RESULTS: We identified two major dietary patterns by using factor analysis: the healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns. We categorized the scores of these patterns to quartiles. After adjusting for non-depression drug use, job, marital status, children number, and body mass index, the relations of depression and quartiles of two dietary patterns are significant (p=0.04 & p=0.01, respectively). Compared with participants in the lowest quartile, those in the highest quartile had significantly lower odds ratio (OR) for depression in healthy dietary pattern, and higher OR for depression in unhealthy dietary pattern. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that healthy and unhealthy dietary patterns may be associated with the risk of depression. The results can be used for developing interventions that aim to promote healthy eating for the prevention of depression.

Effect of group mindfulness-based stress-reduction program and conscious yoga on lifestyle, coping strategies, and systolic and diastolic blood pressures in patients with hypertension

Healthy lifestyle and ineffective coping strategies are deemed significant variables among patients with hypertension. This study attempted to determine the status of these variables following intervention via the mindfulness-based stress-reduction program [MBSRP] in patients with hypertension. This study was a randomized clinical trial. The study sample, consisting of 30 patients referring to the Hypertension Clinic of Imam Hossein Hospital in 2013, was assigned either to the intervention [recipient of the MBSRP and conscious yoga] or to the control group [recipient of yoga training]. The intervention group had 8 training sessions over 8 weeks. Lifestyle and coping strategies as well as blood pressure were measured in the intervention group before intervention and then immediately thereafter and at 2 months' follow-up and were compared to those in the control group at the same time points. The mean age of the patients in the intervention [40% women] and control [53% women] groups was 43.66 +/- 5.14 and 43.13 +/- 5.04 years, respectively. The results showed that the mean scores of lifestyle [p value < 0.05], emotion-focused coping strategies [p value < 0.001], problem-focused coping strategies [p value < 0.001], diastolic blood pressure [p value < 0.001], and systolic blood pressure [p value < 0.001] were significantly different between the intervention and control groups after the intervention. Applying an intervention based on the MBSRP may further improve the lifestyle and coping strategies of patients with hypertension

relationship between substance dependency, antisocial personality disorder and adult antisocial behaviors

To examine the relationship between substance dependency and personality disorders. Ninety eight patients with substance dependency who had referred to a psychiatry and substance rehabilitation center in Tehran took part in this study. Data were collected using questionnaire and a semi-structured interview. Participants were examined for conduct and antisocial personality disorders. Non-parametric tests were used for data analysis. Eighty eight percentage of the participants showed adult antisocial behaviors. Forty two percentage of the patients with substance dependency were diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, while 47.9% [n = 47] suffered from conduct disorder. Only 22 participants had such problems before beginning substance abuse. Abuse frequency, financial status, previous attempts to quit drugs, educational level and family background did not significantly affect the status of antisocial personality disorder and conduct disorder. However, smoking and using alcohol were found to be playing a role in suffering from such disorders. The results of the present study demonstrate a direct relationship between substance abuse and personality disorders. This indicates the need for more preventive measures to control substance abuse especially among teenagers in order to have fewer individuals with personality disorders in the society