Effects of dental implant treatment on sleep quality in edentulous older people: A prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Edentulism and sleep disturbances are commonly seen among older people and cause serious negative effects on their daily lives. Edentulism can induce sleep problems by changing maxillo-mandibular anatomy and surrounding soft tissues. The effect of the treatment of complete edentulism on sleep disturbances is not sufficiently understood. The purpose of this cohort study is to detect how different treatment options affect sleep quality, daytime fatigue and sleep disorder breathing in totally edentulous elderly people. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Ninety-six individulas (50 male and 46 female) participated in this prospective cohort study. The patients were non-randomly assigned to three groups, fixed implant-supported prostheses (FP), removable implant-supported prostheses (RP) and conventional total prostheses (CP). The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the STOP-Bang questionnaire were calculated before (T0) and one year after (T1) their prosthetic rehabilitations. RESULTS: Although there was no statistically significant difference between groups in terms of mean PSQI (p=0.524), ESS (p=0.410) and STOP-Bang (p=0.697) scores at T0, there was a significant difference between groups in terms of mean PSQI (p=0.011), ESS (p=0.030) and STOP-Bang (p=0.024) scores at T1. The FP group, when compared to CP group was associated with significantly better scores in the PSQI (Δ = -3.399, 95% CI= -4.612 to -2.187), ESS (Δ = -1.663, 95% CI= -3.149 to -0.176) and STOP-Bang (Δ = -0.994, 95% CI= -1.592 to -0.397). CONCLUSIONS: Within the limitations of this study FP was associated with a positive influence on sleep disturbances. Randomized controlled trials will be needed to provide reliable inference on this association.

The effects of vaping electronic cigarettes on periodontitis.

BACKGROUND: Electronic cigarettes (E-cigs) have been gaining popularity, increasingly used to help reduce or cease smoking traditional cigarettes (T-cigs). Although E-cigs are considered a far less harmful alternative to T-cigs, there is not enough information regarding the effects of vaping E-cigs on periodontal health. AIM: The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of vaping E-cigs, smoking T-cigs and smoking cessation on oxidative stress markers, proinflammatory cytokines levels and periodontal clinical parameters in patients with periodontitis. METHODS: The study included a total of 57 individuals who were divided into three groups: T-cig smokers (Group I, n = 19), E-cig vapers (Group II, n = 19) and former smokers (Group III, n = 19). Full-mouth clinical periodontal parameters were recorded and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) samples were collected. RESULTS: The mean interleukin-8 (IL-8) level of Group I (70.47 ± 2.76) was significantly lower than in Groups II and III. The mean tumour necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) level of Group I (4.20 ± 0.14) was significantly higher than in Groups II and III. CONCLUSIONS: T-cigs and vaping E-cigs had the same unfavourable effects on the markers of oxidative stress and inflammatory cytokines.

Effects of short and long-term lithium treatment on serum prolactin levels in patients with bipolar affective disorder.

1. In this study, the authors sought to test the hypothesis that Li (lithium) treatment can induce alterations in PRL (prolactin) secretion in euthymic bipolar patients compared to controls and that short and long-term administration can lead to prolactin changes different from each other. 2. Twenty euthymic bipolar male patients on long-term lithium carbonate treatment for more than 6 months and 15 euthymic male bipolar patients on short-term Li treatment for shorter than 6 months who met DSM-IV criteria for bipolar affective disorder were included in the study. Seventeen age-matched healthy control males were chosen among the hospital staff. The mean +/- SD duration of Li use was 68.93+/-46.31 months in the long-term lithium-treated group and 4+/-3.42 months in the short-term lithium-treated group. 3. Serum PRL values in the long-term Li-treated group were significantly lower than those of the control group, while there was no significant difference in PRL values between the short-term Li-treated group and the control group. 4. Our study documents that short-term (<6 months) Li treatment does not induce any significant changes in PRL release in bipolar patients compared to normal control subjects while long-term Li treatment (>6 months) leads to lower PRL release compared to the controls. Furthermore, PRL has wide intra-interindividual and circadian variations Li-PRL relationship seems to be very complex and probably depends on various interactions among dopamine, serotonin and PRL. Therefore, further studies are needed to confirm the data.

Changes in regional cerebral blood flow demonstrated by single photon emission computed tomography in depressive disorders: comparison of unipolar vs. bipolar subtypes.

Single photon emission tomography (SPECT) with 99mTc-HMPAO was used to compare regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in patients with unipolar and bipolar depression. The study group consisted of 10 unipolar depressed patients and seven bipolar depressed patients who met the DSM-III-R criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD). Nine physically and mentally healthy volunteers served as control subjects. SPECT images were obtained in the patients at two time points: (1) during the major depressive episode before patients had received medication; and (2) at the beginning of the remitted state while patients were receiving antidepressant medication. During the depressive episode, unmedicated unipolar depressed patients showed relatively increased left frontal rCBF compared both with the control subjects and the bipolar patients (P < 0.05). No significant differences in rCBF emerged between the bipolar patients and the control subjects. The data suggest that unipolar depressed patients, unlike bipolar patients, have relatively increased rCBF in the left frontal lobes during the depressive episode, but these differences tend to disappear during the period of remission.

Transient frontal hypoperfusion in Tc-99m hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime single photon emission computed tomography imaging during alcohol withdrawal.

BACKGROUND: Regional brain perfusion in patients during alcohol-withdrawal has been relatively less studied with brain SPECT technique. In this study, the hypothesis that possible regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) alterations due to alcohol withdrawal might be transitory in a homogenous group of alcoholic patients in terms of their physical-nutritional and cognitive functional conditions was investigated. METHODS: Fifteen right-handed male inpatients with alcohol-withdrawal, diagnosed according to DSM-IIIR criteria, and 6 male physically-mentally healthy control subjects were included in the study. The first Technetium 99m-hexamethylpropyleneamineoxime (Tc-99m-HMPAO) brain SPECT investigation was performed on the day of admission in nonmedicated conditions and the second one was performed after all the withdrawal symptoms had subsided in the patients. As an indicator of the change in the brain perfusion, a relative perfusion index was used and the relative tracer activity was expressed as the ratio of mean cortical region of interest activity to mean the whole cortical brain activity. RESULTS: We found significantly reduced left frontal and right frontal, parietal and temporal rCBF values in the patients during the alcohol-withdrawal compared to those of their remitted state while they were not different from in the control group (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that the alterations in rCBF during the alcohol-withdrawal are more pronounced both in the frontal cortex and in overall right hemisphere regions. Furthermore, the frontal hypoperfusion may be transitory with recovery from alcohol-withdrawal whereas temporal hypoperfusion may continue after recovery probably depending on the previously administered high-dose benzodiazepines.