The association between affective temperaments and depressive symptoms in a population of medical university students, Poland.

Background: Compared to their peers, medical students are more exposed to stress, and many present symptoms of depression, making them a group prone to experiencing mental illnesses. Objective: This study investigates a potential link between the occurrence of symptoms of depression and the dominating type of affective temperament in young people studying at a medical university. Methods: One hundred thirty-four medical students were surveyed using two validated questionnaires; the Polish versions of Beck's Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Temperament Evaluation of the Memphis, Pisa, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A). Results: The data analysis revealed a significant link between symptoms of depression and affective temperaments, most significantly in subjects with an anxious temperament. Conclusion: This study confirms the role of various affective temperaments as a risk factor for mood disorders, specifically depression.

Pharmacological Support for the Treatment of Obesity-Present and Future.

Obesity is a growing civilization problem, associated with a number of negative health consequences affecting almost all tissues and organs. Currently, obesity treatment includes lifestyle modifications (including diet and exercise), pharmacologic therapies, and in some clinical situations, bariatric surgery. These treatments seem to be the most effective method supporting the treatment of obesity. However, they are many limitations to the options, both for the practitioners and patients. Often the comorbidities, cost, age of the patient, and even geographic locations may influence the choices. The pharmacotherapy of obesity is a fast-growing market. Currently, we have at our disposal drugs with various mechanisms of action (directly reducing the absorption of calories-orlistat, acting centrally-bupropion with naltrexone, phentermine with topiramate, or multidirectional-liraglutide, dulaglutide, semaglutide). The drugs whose weight-reducing effect is used in the course of the pharmacotherapy of other diseases (e.g., glucose-sodium cotransporter inhibitors, exenatide) are also worth mentioning. The obesity pharmacotherapy is focusing on novel therapeutic agents with improved safety and efficacy profiles. These trends also include an assessment of the usefulness of the weight-reducing properties of the drugs previously used for other diseases. The presented paper is an overview of the studies related to both drugs currently used in the pharmacotherapy of obesity and those undergoing clinical trials, taking into account the individual approach to the patient.

The Structure of Temperament in Caregivers of Patients with Schizophrenia.

The onset of schizophrenia symptoms usually occurs in early youth. As a result, the parents of these patients usually become their caregivers. The role of a caregiver for a person with schizophrenia is a considerable mental and physical burden. Therefore, an interesting issue is what motivates these people to take up this challenge. It is probable that, apart from the moral imperative or kinship, the factor determining this decision is the personality structure of the caregiver. The aim of our study was to compare the structure of temperament (according to the model of temperament as formal characteristics of behavior developed by Jan Strelau) in caregivers of young adults (age 18-25 years) with schizophrenia with the structure of temperament of parents of healthy young adults still living in the family home under their care. The study group consisted of 64 people (51 women), who were taking care of young adults (aged 18-25 years) with schizophrenia, while the control group (53 people, 42 women) consisted of parents of healthy adults still living in the family home. Both groups were asked to complete a questionnaire of the authors' own design on their demographic data as well as The Formal Characteristics of Behavior-Temperament Inventory to assess the temperament traits. The results were given in the number of points obtained on average in each dimension. Both groups did not differ in terms of size and age, with women predominating. Caregivers of young adults with schizophrenia had higher values of briskness (43.22 ± 4.45 vs. 42.90 ± 3.98, p = 0.032), emotional reactivity (46.02 ± 4.39 vs. 41.01 ± 3.12, p = 0.012) and activity level (44.01.89 ± 4.15 vs. 37.59 ± 4.77, p = 0.022) compared to the control group. The remaining dimensions of temperament: perseverance, sensory sensitivity, rhythmicity, and endurance did not differentiate between the two groups. The temperament structure of caregivers of young people with schizophrenia differs from the temperament structure of caregivers of healthy adults. Caregivers of sick people have higher values of briskness, emotional reactivity, and activity level compared to the control group.

[Intellectual disability as an object of research in psychiatry and special pedagogy of subjects with intellectual disabilities]. / Niepelnosprawnosc intelektualna jako przedmiot badan psychiatrii i pedagogiki specjalnej osób z niepelnosprawnoscia intelektualna.

Subjects with intellectual disabilities are dealt with by special educators, clinical psychologists and psychiatrists. The need to provide integrated care for a person with a mental disorder under the conditions of normalized social environment requires paradigmatic compatibility of all three areas of social practice. Contemporary special education cuts itself off from biomedical foundations by formulating a humanistic paradigm. It is based on an assumption of the dominance of qualitative research over quantitative research and emphasizes self-determination of people with intellectual disabilities and normalization of the social environment. Modern psychiatry is based on a biopsychosocial paradigm that takes into consideration both the biomedical and psychosocial aspects of intellectual disability. Additionally, psychiatry points out that a significant intellectual deficit prevents full social participation, which, on the other hand, is postulated by special pedagogy for all types of disability. In order to provide subjects with intellectual disabilities with integrated care, it is necessary to reformate paradigmatically the contemporary special pedagogy towards the recent achievements of social medicine. The training of psychiatrists should pay more attention to the pedagogical and social contexts.

Is asthma with hypersenitivity to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is a risk factor for depression?

The respiratory tract disease exacerbated by non-steroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is characterized by the Widal triad, which includes the presence of bronchial asthma, hypersensitivity to NSAIDs (acetylsalicylic acid) and chronic eosinophilic rhinitis and sinusitis (frequently also coincident with nasal polyps). Idiosyncratic hypersensitivity to NSAIDs in the course of bronchial asthma affects approximately 15% of patients. AIM: The aim of the study is to assess depressiveness and severity of anxiety in the population of patients with partially and poorly controlled asthma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A group of 48 patients with partially and poorly controlled bronchial asthma without hypersensitivity to NSAIDs was selected, as well as 42 patients with partially and poorly controlled bronchial asthma hypersensitive to NSAIDs. All the patients underwent an asthma control test. To assess depression, the Beck Depression Scale - BDI II was used. When assessing anxiety as a trait and anxiety as a state, the Spielberger's STAI - State and Trait Anxiety Inventory - was used. RESULTS: The mean age in the group with no hypersensitivity to NSAIDs was 51 +/- 15 years and did not differ with statistical significance from the group of patients hypersensitive to NSAIDs, where it was 50 +/- 14 years. The mean level of depression in the group without hypersensitivity was 15 +/- 9, and in the hypersensitivity group 23 +/- 8 and the difference reached the level of statistical significance p<0.005. Moreover, anxiety as a state was lower in the group without hypersensitivity compared to the group with hypersensitivity (the result expressed in sten scores: 6 +/- 2 versus 7 +/-2, p<0.001). Anxiety as a trait was 5 +/- 2 in both groups and there was no inter-group difference. CONCLUSIONS: Subjects with partially and poorly controlled bronchial asthma and hypersensitivity to NSAIDs have a higher severity of depression and anxiety compared to those with partially and poorly controlled asthma without hypersensitivity to NSAIDs. In that group, anxiety as a state is also greater than in the group without hypersensitivity to NSAIDs.

Astma jako choroba psychosomatyczna.

In psychosomatic diseases, the damage to organs is overlaid with symptoms induced by a mental factor. Bronchial asthma is a chronic bronchitis, often of an allergic etiology, accompanied by attacks of dyspnea, which can be induced by severe stress. The mechanism involves induction of a bronchospasm, dependent on the cholinergic system, by cold air. Another aspect is the relationship of bronchial asthma with the development of mood disorders. The mechanism of such depression is the product of the psychogenic factor and the effect of inflammatory mediators on the central nervous system. The mental factor plays an important role in the clinical picture of bronchial asthma. However, this issue requires further research, especially regarding the use of psychotherapy in the management of a patient suffering from bronchial asthma.