Metabolic syndrome in mental health and addiction treatment: a quantitative study.

ACCESSIBLE SUMMARY: Patients with mental illnesses have been found to shorter life expectancy due to an increased risk of heart disease. Some medication used to treat mental illnesses have been linked to weight gain and other physical change that make patients susceptible to heart disease. In order to reduce this risk it is important that health professionals regularly measure and monitor signs of these physical changes. This research has found that measuring both waist circumference and blood pressure of patients is a safe and reliable way to way to monitor patients. To identify if combined blood pressure and waist circumference measurements are reliable predictor of metabolic syndrome, a descriptive correlational design was used to examine the sensitivity and specificity of screening techniques used to detect metabolic syndrome. Data were collected regarding waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, triglycerides and high-density lipoproteins. Blood pressure and waist circumference measurements demonstrated high significance, sensitivity and specificity as screening instruments for metabolic syndrome. Combined waist circumference and blood pressure measurements may be clinically useful for a quick and reliable detection of metabolic syndrome in patients with addiction and comorbid mental health problems.

Trends in heavy metal levels in the dissolved and particulate phase in the Dutch Rhine-Meuse (Maas) Delta.

Levels of the heavy metals Cd, Cr, Cu, Pb and Zn, in both the dissolved and particulate phase, were determined in two sampling campaigns in August 1978 and August 1984 in the Dutch Rhine-Meuse (Maas) Delta. Besides the heavy metal concentrations, other important parameters were determined, such as the concentrations of seston, chlorophyll and nutrients. The concentrations of dissolved Cd and of Cd, Pb and Cu in particulate matter were much higher in 1978 than in 1984, especially for Cd. This may be due to the strict regulations implemented in Germany to reduce the pollution of natural waters by heavy metals. The correlation between the high Cd content and the chlorophyll content is explained by the binding of Cd to living and dead organisms. The distribution of the metals between the dissolved and the particulate phase, indicated by the distribution quotient Kd, increases from low values of Kd for Cu and Zn, to higher values for Cd and Cr, and the highest values for Pb. The differences are explained by various binding forms of each of these metals in natural waters.