4 research outputs found
Short-Term Effects of Traditional Greek Meals: Lentils with Lupins, Trahana with Tomato Sauce and Halva with Currants and Dried Figs on Postprandial Glycemic Responses—A Randomized Clinical Trial in Healthy Humans
Low glycemic index (GI) diets have been associated with decreased chronic disease risk. In a randomized, cross-over study we investigated the GI and glycemic response to three traditional Greek mixed meals: Lentils, Trahana, and Halva. Twelve healthy, fasting individuals received isoglucidic test meals (25 g available carbohydrate) and 25 g glucose reference, in random order. GI was calculated and capillary blood glucose (BG) samples were collected at 0–120 min after meal consumption. Subjective appetite ratings were assessed. All three tested meals provided low GI values. Lentils GI was 27 ± 5, Trahana GI was 42 ± 6, and Halva GI was 52 ± 7 on glucose scale. Peak BG values were lowest for Lentils, followed by Trahana and then by Halva (p for all <0.05). Compared to the reference food, BG concentrations were significantly lower for all meals at all time-points (p for all <0.05). Lentils provided lower glucose concentrations at 30 and 45 min compared to Trahana (p for all <0.05) and at 30, 45, and 60 min compared to Halva (p for all <0.05). BG concentrations did not differ between Trahana and Halva at all time points. No differences were observed for fasting BG, time to peak rise for BG, and subjective appetite ratings. In conclusion, all three mixed meals attenuated postprandial glycemic response in comparison to glucose, which may offer advantages to glycemic control
The Economic Crisis in Greece and Its Impact on the Seasonality of Suicides in the Athens Greater Area
Objective The economic crisis and the implementation of austerity
measures in Greece lead to significant socioeconomic changes. The
effects of the crisis were mainly felt by the Greek population during
the years 2011 and 2012. This study aimed to investigate the impact of
Greece’s economic crisis on the seasonality of suicides in the Athens
Greater Area.
Methods Data were collected for all recorded cases of suicides committed
over a 5-year period (from 2008 to 2012) from the Athens Department of
Forensic Medicine. Two sub-periods were studied in relation to the
economic crisis: 2008-2010 and 2011-2012. Seasonality was estimated with
the Poison regression variant of the circular normal distribution.
Results Suicide seasonality appeared significant during 2008-2010
(relative risk, RR=1.36) and strengthened in the years 2011-2012
(RR=1.69), when the impact of the austerity measures was increasingly
being felt by the Greek society. Regarding the latter sub-period,
seasonality was established for males (RR=1.75), individuals aged 45
years or more (RR=1.75) and suicide by hanging (RR=1.96).
Conclusion The economic crisis in Greece, especially in the period
during its effects had a significant impact on the population’s economic
condition, seems to have strengthened the seasonality of suicides, while
a noteworthy suicide risk of 96% was revealed for suicides by hanging
(peak in early June)
A case-control study of hopelessness and suicidal behavior in the city of Athens, Greece. The role of the financial crisis
This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of Beck
Hopelessness Scale (BHS) in Greek patients with a recent suicide
attempt, the predictive ability of BHS especially in terms of age and
the possible effect of the financial crisis on hopelessness as it has
been identified as a significant suicide risk factor. The study included
a total of 510 individuals, citizens of Athens, Greece. Three hundred
and forty individuals (170 attempted suicide patients, and 170 -age and
gender- matched healthy individuals used as controls) completed BHS
before the financial crisis onset (from 2009 to 2010). A sample of 170
healthy individuals also completed the BHS after the financial crisis
onset (from 2013 to 2014), when the impact of the austerity measures was
being felt by the Greek society. The Greek BHS version demonstrated good
psychometric properties and a sufficient degree of internal consistency.
Attempted suicide patients (M=9) presented higher hopelessness than the
controls (M=3). The patients' age positively correlated with
hopelessness (r(s)=.35, p<.001), and the ROC curve revealed that the BHS
ability to discriminate the individuals with pathological rates of
hopelessness from those without, strengthened as age increased. No
significant differences were found between the individuals evaluated
before (M=3) and after (M=3, p>.05) the crisis onset. Nevertheless,
regarding the latter group, the women, the younger individuals, the less
educated, the unemployed and the participants with low or mediocre
self-reported financial status presented increased hopelessness. Our
findings suggest that BHS could be a useful instrument especially when
screening for suicide risk in people of older age, and that the
financial crisis in Greece had a greater impact on subgroups of the
population regarding hopelessness