Psychiatric Comorbidity and Stress in Medical Students Using Neuroenhancers

Background: Pharmacological neuroenhancement (PN) is a common healthcare problem at least among students. PN seems to be associated with stressful situations. There is a lack of data about personal characteristics, comorbidities, and coping strategies regarding stress and factors of resilience in students and medical staff. Methods: A web-based survey about the non-medical use of PN drugs with a focus on neuroenhancement was developed and distributed among medical students throughout Germany; the questionnaire was open in April and May of 2020. The survey contained questions about the use of well-known PN drugs, frequency, special purposes, reasons for the use, psychiatric disorders, use of psychotropic drugs apart from PN purposes, and factors of resilience using the brief resilience scale. Results: Data of 1,159 students of medicine were analyzed. The most frequently used substances for PN were coffee (78.8% lifetime prevalence rate), energy drinks (45.7%), caffeine tablets (24.3%), methylphenidate (5.2%), illicit amphetamines (2.0%), and cocaine (1.7%). 98.4% suspected that PN drug use could lead to addiction. PN drug use specifically for PN was significantly associated with the use of (a) any psychotropic drug (other than neuroenhancers), (b) any psychiatric disorder, and (c) higher values of feeling pressure to perform in professional/students' life and in private life as well as (d) the subjective feeling of pressure to perform to be burdening and (e) harmful to one's own health. PN drug use in general was significantly associated with being less resilient. The use of illicit PN drugs, over the counter drugs and prescription drugs was associated with being less resilient. Conclusion: This study indicates that PN with legal and illegal drugs is a widespread phenomenon among German medical students. Users seem to be more often burdened by psychiatric disorders, especially addictive disorders, the perception of stress, pressure to perform and low levels of resilience. These aspects should be considered in further investigation of PN drug use

Just “Like Coffee” or Neuroenhancement by Stimulants?

Introduction: Pharmacological neuroenhancement (PN) is a topic of increasing importance and prevalence among students. However, there is a lack of differentiating PN substances, according to their psychoactive effects. In particular, there is a lack of data about PN by caffeinated drinks, even if coffee is a common and broadly used Neuroenhancer because of its cognitively enhancing effects regarding wakefulness, alertness and concentration. Materials and Methods: A web-survey was developed for German students and alumni about the non-medical use of caffeine for PN contained questions about coffee, caffeinated drinks and energy drinks, caffeine pills and methylxanthine tea regarding frequency and further contextual factors. Results: Six hundred and eighty-three participants completed the survey. Nearly all participants knew about PN (97.7%). 88.1% admitted using some over-the-counter substances. For PN purposes, coffee was used by 72.9% followed by energy drinks (68.2%) and cola drinks (62.4%). Methylxanthine containing tea was used for PN purposes, too (black tea 52.3%, green tea 51.7%). 1.8% admitted using illegal substances or prescription drugs, too. Discussion: Using legal methylxanthine containing drinks for PN seems to be extremely common with coffee and energy drinks being the preferred substances, while illegal and prescription drugs are only minimally used. Further studies should investigate the awareness of methylxanthine containing drinks as well as its character to be a flavoring drink or a neuroenhancer

Headache severity in patients with post COVID-19 condition: a case-control study.

Post COVID-19 conditions (PCC) present with a wide range of symptoms. Headache is one of the most frequently reported neurological symptoms by patients with PCC. We aimed to assess the prevalence of headache in patients with PCC who attended the Post-COVIDLMU outpatient department at LMU University Hospital in Munich. We hypothesized that headaches occur more frequently in patients with PCC than in the control group. Patients answered a questionnaire containing sociodemographic characteristics, their current symptoms, and prior psychiatric and somatic diagnoses, the WHO Quality of Life assessment (WHOQOL-BREF), 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). 188 PCC patients were included in this study and compared to a control group of patients with a history of COVID-19 or a different infectious disease - but no consecutive post-infectious condition (nc=27). 115 (61%) of our PCC patients were female. The median age was 41 years. 60 (32%, p = 0.001) had a pre-existing psychiatric diagnosis. PCC was associated with worse outcomes in all four domains of the WHOQOL-BREF (p < 0.001), high levels of fatigue (FSS; p < 0.001), and a higher likeliness for symptoms of depression (PHQ-9; p < 0.001). We were able to confirm that psychiatric disorders are more frequently associated with headaches in PCC patients. Headache should be assessed and treated in the context of PCC not only by neurologists but by multi-professional teams and regarding all PCC symptoms

Dietary habits, traveling and the living situation potentially influence the susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection: results from healthcare workers participating in the RisCoin Study.

PURPOSE To explore occupational and non-occupational risk and protective factors for the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in healthcare workers (HCWs). METHODS Serum specimens and questionnaire data were obtained between October 7 and December 16, 2021 from COVID-19-vaccinated HCWs at a quaternary care hospital in Munich, Germany, and were analyzed in the RisCoin Study. RESULTS Of 3,696 participants evaluated, 6.6% have had COVID-19 at least once. Multivariate logistic regression analysis identified working in patient care occupations (7.3% had COVID-19, 95% CI 6.4-8.3, Pr = 0.0002), especially as nurses, to be a potential occupation-related COVID-19 risk factor. Non-occupational factors significantly associated with high rates of the disease were contacts to COVID-19 cases in the community (12.8% had COVID-19, 95% CI 10.3-15.8, Pr < 0.0001), being obese (9.9% had COVID-19, 95% CI 7.1-13.5, Pr = 0.0014), and frequent traveling abroad (9.4% had COVID-19, 95% CI 7.1-12.3, Pr = 0.0088). On the contrary, receiving the basic COVID-19 immunization early during the pandemic (5.9% had COVID-19, 95% CI 5.1-6.8, Pr < 0.0001), regular smoking (3.6% had COVID-19, 95% CI 2.1-6.0, Pr = 0.0088), living with the elderly (3.0% had COVID-19, 95% CI 1.0-8.0, Pr = 0.0475), and frequent consumption of ready-to-eat meals (2.6% had COVID-19, 95% CI 1.1-5.4, Pr = 0.0045) were non-occupational factors potentially protecting study participants against COVID-19. CONCLUSION The newly discovered associations between the living situation, traveling as well as dietary habits and altered COVID-19 risk can potentially help refine containment measures and, furthermore, contribute to new mechanistic insights that may aid the protection of risk groups and vulnerable individuals