Substitution Models ofWater for Other Beverages, and the Incidence of Obesity and Weight Gain in the SUN Cohort

Obesity is a major epidemic for developed countries in the 21st century. The main cause of obesity is energy imbalance, of which contributing factors include a sedentary lifestyle, epigenetic factors and excessive caloric intake through food and beverages. A high consumption of caloric beverages, such as alcoholic or sweetened drinks, may particularly contribute to weight gain, and lower satiety has been associated with the intake of liquid instead of solid calories. Our objective was to evaluate the association between the substitution of a serving per day of water for another beverage (or group of them) and the incidence of obesity and weight change in a Mediterranean cohort, using mathematical models. We followed 15,765 adults without obesity at baseline. The intake of 17 beverage items was assessed at baseline through a validated food-frequency questionnaire. The outcomes were average change in body weight in a four-year period and new-onset obesity and their association with the substitution of one serving per day of water for one of the other beverages. During the follow-up, 873 incident cases of obesity were identified. In substitution models, the consumption of water instead of beer or sugar-sweetened soda beverages was associated with a lower obesity incidence (the Odds Ratio (OR) 0.80 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68 to 0.94) and OR 0.85 (95% CI 0.75 to 0.97); respectively) and, in the case of beer, it was also associated with a higher average weight loss (weight change difference = 328 g; (95% CI 566 to 89)). Thus, this study found that replacing one sugar-sweetened soda beverage or beer with one serving of water per day at baseline was related to a lower incidence of obesity and to a higher weight loss over a four-year period time in the case of beer, based on mathematical models

The effects of amisulpride on five dimensions of psychopathology in patients with schizophrenia: a prospective open- label study

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of antipsychotics can be evaluated using the dimensional models of schizophrenic symptoms. The D(2)/D(3)-selective antagonist amisulpride has shown similar efficacy and tolerability to other atypical antipsychotics. The aim of the present study was to determine the efficacy of amisulpride on the dimensional model of schizophrenic symptoms and tolerability in latin schizophrenic patients. METHOD: Eighty schizophrenic patients were enrolled and 70 completed a prospective open-label 3-month study with amisulpride. The schizophrenic symptoms, psychosocial functioning and side-effects were evaluated with standardized scales. RESULTS: The patients showed significant improvement in the five dimensions evaluated. Amisulpride (median final dose 357.1 mg/d) was well-tolerated without treatment-emergent extrapyramidal side-effects. CONCLUSION: Amisulpride showed efficacy on different psychopathological dimensions and was well tolerated, leading to consider this drug a first line choice for the treatment of schizophrenia

Perceived discrimination is associated with severity of positive and depression/anxiety symptoms in immigrants with psychosis: a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Immigration status is a significant risk factor for psychotic disorders, and a number of studies have reported more severe positive and affective symptoms among immigrant and ethnic minority groups. We investigated if perceived discrimination was associated with the severity of these symptoms among immigrants in Norway with psychotic disorders.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Cross-sectional analyses of 90 immigrant patients (66% first-generation, 68% from Asia/Africa) in treatment for psychotic disorders were assessed for DSM-IV diagnoses with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM Disorders (SCID-I, sections A-E) and for present symptom severity by The Structured Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (SCI-PANSS). Perceived discrimination was assessed by a self-report questionnaire developed for the Immigrant Youth in Cultural Transition Study.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Perceived discrimination correlated with positive psychotic (r = 0.264, p < 0.05) and depression/anxiety symptoms (r = 0.282, p < 0.01), but not negative, cognitive, or excitement symptoms. Perceived discrimination also functioned as a partial mediator for symptom severity in African immigrants. Multiple linear regression analyses controlling for possible confounders revealed that perceived discrimination explained approximately 10% of the variance in positive and depression/anxiety symptoms in the statistical model.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Among immigrants with psychotic disorders, visible minority status was associated with perceived discrimination and with more severe positive and depression/anxiety symptoms. These results suggest that context-specific stressful environmental factors influence specific symptom patterns and severity. This has important implications for preventive strategies and treatment of this vulnerable patient group.</p

Use of NON-PARAMETRIC Item Response Theory to develop a shortened version of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS)

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nonparametric item response theory (IRT) was used to examine (a) the performance of the 30 Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) items and their options ((levels of severity), (b) the effectiveness of various subscales to discriminate among differences in symptom severity, and (c) the development of an abbreviated PANSS (Mini-PANSS) based on IRT and a method to link scores to the original PANSS.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Baseline PANSS scores from 7,187 patients with Schizophrenia or Schizoaffective disorder who were enrolled between 1995 and 2005 in psychopharmacology trials were obtained. Option characteristic curves (OCCs) and Item Characteristic Curves (ICCs) were constructed to examine the probability of rating each of seven options within each of 30 PANSS items as a function of subscale severity, and summed-score linking was applied to items selected for the Mini-PANSS.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The majority of items forming the Positive and Negative subscales (i.e. 19 items) performed very well and discriminate better along symptom severity compared to the General Psychopathology subscale. Six of the seven Positive Symptom items, six of the seven Negative Symptom items, and seven out of the 16 General Psychopathology items were retained for inclusion in the Mini-PANSS. Summed score linking and linear interpolation was able to produce a translation table for comparing total subscale scores of the Mini-PANSS to total subscale scores on the original PANSS. Results show scores on the subscales of the Mini-PANSS can be linked to scores on the original PANSS subscales, with very little bias.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The study demonstrated the utility of non-parametric IRT in examining the item properties of the PANSS and to allow selection of items for an abbreviated PANSS scale. The comparisons between the 30-item PANSS and the Mini-PANSS revealed that the shorter version is comparable to the 30-item PANSS, but when applying IRT, the Mini-PANSS is also a good indicator of illness severity.</p

Substitution Models ofWater for Other Beverages, and the Incidence of Obesity and Weight Gain in the SUN Cohort

Obesity is a major epidemic for developed countries in the 21st century. The main cause of obesity is energy imbalance, of which contributing factors include a sedentary lifestyle, epigenetic factors and excessive caloric intake through food and beverages. A high consumption of caloric beverages, such as alcoholic or sweetened drinks, may particularly contribute to weight gain, and lower satiety has been associated with the intake of liquid instead of solid calories. Our objective was to evaluate the association between the substitution of a serving per day of water for another beverage (or group of them) and the incidence of obesity and weight change in a Mediterranean cohort, using mathematical models. We followed 15,765 adults without obesity at baseline. The intake of 17 beverage items was assessed at baseline through a validated food-frequency questionnaire. The outcomes were average change in body weight in a four-year period and new-onset obesity and their association with the substitution of one serving per day of water for one of the other beverages. During the follow-up, 873 incident cases of obesity were identified. In substitution models, the consumption of water instead of beer or sugar-sweetened soda beverages was associated with a lower obesity incidence (the Odds Ratio (OR) 0.80 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68 to 0.94) and OR 0.85 (95% CI 0.75 to 0.97); respectively) and, in the case of beer, it was also associated with a higher average weight loss (weight change difference = 328 g; (95% CI 566 to 89)). Thus, this study found that replacing one sugar-sweetened soda beverage or beer with one serving of water per day at baseline was related to a lower incidence of obesity and to a higher weight loss over a four-year period time in the case of beer, based on mathematical models