Effects of Major Depressive Disorder on Monocytes, High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and Monocyte to HDL Ratio: A Case-Control Study.

OBJECTIVE: In this study, we investigated the effects of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) on monocyte counts, High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) levels, and Monocyte to HDL ratios (MHR) among inflammatory markers. METHOD: This is a retrospective case-control study. The case group of our study included 120 major depressive patients. The control group included 124 healthy individuals. The data were collected using a Personal Information Form, the Clinical Global Impression Scale, and the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale. The lipid profiles and complete blood count parameters of the case and control groups were tested and compared. The collected data were analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test, Mann-Whitney U test and independent-samples t-test. RESULTS: A significant increase in the monocyte and MHR values and a decrease in the HDL values of the case group were observed with older ages (p<0.01). In the case group, the MHR and monocyte count values were higher, and the HDL levels were lower in the MDD patients who had never received treatment in comparison to those who had received treatment. As the severity of depression increased, MHR levels also increased. CONCLUSION: Our study is the first study to show that MHR is significantly higher in MDD patients than healthy controls. It was also shown that depression severity and MHR are positively correlated. Consequently, MHR might be a simple, practical, and low-cost parameter which shows inflammation in MDD patients.

A case-control study on depression, anxiety, and belief in sexual myths in trans women.

Objective: The purpose of our study was to investigate depression, anxiety, and belief in sexual myths in trans women. Methods: This is a prospective case-control study. The case group included 60 trans women who were referred to the Medical Biology and Genetics Department from various clinics of the research and training hospital where this study was conducted. The control group consisted of 60 healthy male individuals who presented to the same hospital for routine health follow-ups and collecting documents showing their health. In data collection, we used a Personal Information Form, the Sexual Myths Scale, and the Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories. The IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 25.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: In the case group, 26.7% of the participants were sex workers, and all were single. While 46.7% of the participants in the case group were living with their families, 66.7% were smokers, and 13.3% were receiving hormone treatment. All 60 participants in the control group were also single. The participants in the control group had higher levels of believing sexual myths and lower levels of anxiety and depression than those in the case group (p = 0.000). The mean scores of the participants in the control group in the Sexual Orientation and Sexual Violence subscales of the Sexual Myths Scale were higher than the mean scores of those in the case group (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The trans women who participated in this study had higher levels of anxiety and depression and lower levels of believing sexual myths than the control group. The mental health of trans women can be disrupted due to various treatments they are exposed to in society such as stigma, discrimination, and violence. Their higher anxiety and depression levels in this study could be explained by this exposure. This exposure could also have led to their lower total scores in the Sexual Myths Scale, as well as lower scores in the Sexual Violence and Sexual Orientation subscales.

Awareness of Skin Cancer, Prevention, and Early Detection among Turkish University Students.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine the awareness about skin cancer, prevention, and early detection among university students. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with 404 students in a university located in Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. A 35-item questionnaire was used for data collection. RESULTS: Less than half of the students (37.9%) had knowledge about skin cancer mostly through the internet (24.5%) and media (24.1%). Half of them aware of the risk factors; mostly as avoiding direct exposure to the Sun between 10 am and 4 pm (45.3%); smoking and alcohol (38.4%); having fair skin color (34.9%); and ultraviolet light exposure (25.7%). Only one-third of them (32.9%) are knowledgeable about skin cancer signs and symptoms, such as a change in color and appearance of the nevus/moles (24%). The majority of the responders (77.3%) did not know about screening tests for skin cancer and only 18 (4.5%) students were practicing skin self-examination. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a lack of knowledge about skin cancer, prevention, and early detection among university students and reported the need for educational interventions to raise awareness in this target group.