Autism Spectrum Disorder and Narcolepsy: A Possible Connection That Deserves to Be Investigated.

Narcolepsy in childhood-adolescence is characterized by a high occurrence of psychiatric comorbidities. The most frequent psychiatric disorders reported in these patients are attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, and schizophrenia. However, narcolepsy can be associated also with introversion, sorrowfulness, feelings of inferiority, impaired affectivity modulation, emotional lability, irritability, aggressiveness, and poor attention, that have been pooled by some authors under a definition of "narcoleptic personality." Some aspects of this "narcoleptic personality," and in particular introversion, impaired affectivity modulation, irritability, and poor attention, partially overlap with the clinical features of the individuals with autism spectrum disorder, considering also those that are not regarded as core autism symptoms. Till now, in literature the number of cases affected by both narcolepsy and autism spectrum disorder (seven patients) has been clearly too small to demonstrate the presence of a pathogenetic link between these two conditions, but this possible connection has not yet been adequately investigated, despite the presence of several points in common. The finding of a connection between narcolepsy and autism spectrum disorder could boost the study of possible etiopathogenetic mechanisms shared between these two apparently so distant disorders. Basing on the literature data summarized in this paper, in the diagnostic work-up of a child with narcolepsy it is essential to evaluate also the social-communicative behavior using standardized tools in order to detect the real recurrence of clinical features suggesting an autism spectrum disorder. At the same time, it appears necessary to screen in the individuals with autism spectrum disorder for the possible presence of evoking symptoms of narcolepsy

Influences of obesity and weight loss on thyroid hormones. A 3-3.5-year follow-up study on obese subjects with surgical bilio-pancreatic by-pass

The effects of changing body size, energy intake and substrate oxidation on serum T4, FT4, T3, FT3 and TSH were investigated in ten morbidly obese subjects (4 men/6 women; age: 37 ± 6 years; BMI: 53.8 ± 6.5 kg/m2; mean ± SD) who had undergone a surgical bilio-pancreatic by-pass in order to reduce their body weight. The starting value of serum FT3 was inversely related to the BMI (r = -0.63; p < 0.05). After 1-3 months, all the subjects were losing weight and their intake of carbohydrates was almost negligible; at this time a significant reduction of T3 (-14.6%, p < 0.0001), T4 (-19.5%, p < 0.0001), and FT3 (-10.5%, p < 0.001) was observed. Nine to 16 months after surgery, all the subjects were still losing weight, although there was no carbohydrate restriction; T3, T4, and FT3 were lower than prior to surgery but were beginning to increase. Finally, after 36-42 months the body weight of all the patients had been stable for at least the previous six months (final BMI: 32.9 ± 4.1) and their body composition, as assessed by bio-impedance, was almost normal; only the concentrations of FT3 proved to be significantly lower than the basal value (-11.2%; p < 0.03). The change in FT3 proved to be independently influenced by the degree of fat malabsorption but not by changes in any of the physical characteristics considered. All values were always in the normal range; FT4 and TSH did not change significantly during the whole period of study. The final concentrations of TSH proved to be independently related to the postabsorptive protein oxidation (g/24h) (TSH = 2.37-0.18·protein oxidation). These results would suggest that nutritional factors have some influence on the blood levels of thyroid hormones, especially of FT3, while the removal of obesity does not seem to have any independent effect in the long-run

Autism Spectrum Disorder and Narcolepsy: A Possible Connection That Deserves to Be Investigated

Narcolepsy in childhood-adolescence is characterized by a high occurrence of psychiatric comorbidities. The most frequent psychiatric disorders reported in these patients are attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, and schizophrenia. However, narcolepsy can be associated also with introversion, sorrowfulness, feelings of inferiority, impaired affectivity modulation, emotional lability, irritability, aggressiveness, and poor attention, that have been pooled by some authors under a definition of "narcoleptic personality." Some aspects of this "narcoleptic personality," and in particular introversion, impaired affectivity modulation, irritability, and poor attention, partially overlap with the clinical features of the individuals with autism spectrum disorder, considering also those that are not regarded as core autism symptoms. Till now, in literature the number of cases affected by both narcolepsy and autism spectrum disorder (seven patients) has been clearly too small to demonstrate the presence of a pathogenetic link between these two conditions, but this possible connection has not yet been adequately investigated, despite the presence of several points in common. The finding of a connection between narcolepsy and autism spectrum disorder could boost the study of possible etiopathogenetic mechanisms shared between these two apparently so distant disorders. Basing on the literature data summarized in this paper, in the diagnostic work-up of a child with narcolepsy it is essential to evaluate also the social-communicative behavior using standardized tools in order to detect the real recurrence of clinical features suggesting an autism spectrum disorder. At the same time, it appears necessary to screen in the individuals with autism spectrum disorder for the possible presence of evoking symptoms of narcolepsy

Personality characteristics and family functioning on alcohol use in Italian adolescents.

Several psychosocial factors are associated with increase in risk of alcohol use in adolescence: personality factors and environment characteristics seem to play a key role (Nation & Heflinger, 2006). Psychological studies on possible predictors of drinking have emphasized the relationship between self-esteem, coping strategies and alcohol use, but findings are not completely coherent (Hamdan-Mansour et al., 2007; Laukkanen et al., 2001). Furthermore, studies of the family environment have shown that family functioning characteristics are related to alcohol use (Clark et al., 2011). The purpose of the present research was to examine the impact of personal and familiar variables on adolescents with different drinking patterns: non-drinkers (N=153), social drinkers (N=152) and binge drinkers (N=129). Four hundred and thirty-four Italian adolescents (M=278; F=156), aged 13 to 16 years, completed measures of family functioning, coping strategies, self-esteem and alcohol use. Results showed several differences on family functioning and personality factors between three categories

Echografic evaluation of thyroid gland in females in climateric age

The thiroid pathologies begin frequently in menopausal age. In this paper women in menopausal age were submitted to ecographic examinations, and over the 50% showed nodular pathology. This pattern was more correlated with the presence of metabolic syndrome

A socio-ecological perspective on alcohol use in adolescence

Alcohol use among adolescents has become a public health problem(Morawska & Oei,2005). Although the frequency and the amount of alcoholic beverages consumed vary greatly from different countries and cultures, in two thirds of the ESPAD countries the vast majority of the students (15-16 years) have drank alcohol at least once in their lifetime. Moreover, in half of the participating countries, 47% of the students had consumed at least one glass of alcohol at the age of 13 or younger, and 14% had been drunk at that age. These changing patterns of consumption are associated with a variety of negative outcomes (Coleman & Cater, 2003). In a socio-ecological perspective, many studies (Nation & Helfinger, 2006) have identified several psychosocial risk factor associated with alcohol use (psychosocial functioning, family environment, peer relationship, and stressful life events). Clark et al. (2011) suggest that several dimensions of parenting affect alcohol use of children in both direct and indirect ways. Furthermore, abuse of alcohol is a response to fluctuations in the family system (Saatcioglu et al., 2006). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of personal and familiar variables on alcohol use. We collected 730 Italian adolescents (M=476; F=249; MS=5), aged between 13 and 16 years. The participants completed measures of family functioning, self-esteem and alcohol use. Results confirmed the effects of family functioning on personal characteristics and alcohol use. In particular results showed that disengaged and chaotic family functioning were the strongest predictors of alcohol use in early adolescence