Anxiety and Expressed Emotion in a Sample of Obese Patients

INTRODUCTION Expressed Emotion (EE) is a measure of the intensity of the affective family climate and plays a role in disease course and outcome. Especially in urban settings, obesity is a severe problem with serious implications as far as health risks are concerned. Having a high EE caregiver has been suggested to correlate with a worse treatment compliance in obese patients. OBJECTIVES To measure level of EE, stressful events and anxiety in obese patients and their caregivers; to investigate the possible correlations between compliance with treatment and emotional temperature of families. METHODS We have already recruited more than 150 obese patients and their caregivers. Assessment included: Level of Expressed Emotion Scale (LEE), one version for patients and one for relatives in order to evaluate 4 dimensions: intrusiveness, emotional response, attitude toward disease, tolerance and expectation; the Paykel\u2019s Interview for Recent Life Events; STAI Y1 concerning state anxiety and STAI Y2 concerning trait anxiety. Furthermore we collected demographic characteristics and BMI (Body Mass Index). RESULTS Data collection and analyses are still ongoing. Preliminary results suggest a correlation between obesity and level of anxiety. We expect to find a correlation between level of EE and variation of BMI. CONCLUSIONS Levels of EE and anxiety should be considered when planning treatment interventions to enhance compliance in obese patients and to support change in their life-style

Early Rehabilitation in a Psychiatric Ward for Acute Patients: the Experience of the S.C. Psichiatria, Aou Maggiore Della Carit\ue0, Novara, Italy

Introduction Our Psychiatry Ward (SC Psichiatria, Maggiore della Carit\ue0 Hospital, Novara) has a longstanding tradition in the training of clinicians (psychiatrists, but also non-psychiatrists) about the importance of the approach in helping relationships. This tradition reflects itself in the organization of the assistance to the acute psychiatric inpatients admitted to the Ward. In addition to treatment as usual, patients have the opportunity of being involved in several group activities. The activities are proposed to them, with an approach that varies according to the patient's lifetime diagnosis, current conditions, relational difficulties, etc. In other words, different activities may be proposed to different patients, in different ways. Aims To describe the integrated treatment approach we use in our Psychiatry Ward. Methods Group activities are guided by a group leader who is supported by one or two assistants whose role is to facilitate discussion. Activities include: Newspaper Reading (everyday in the morning, 1 hour); Music Listening Group (once a week; 1 hour); Cinema Group (once a week; 2 hours and a half); Fairytale Group (on alternating days in the evening, 1 hour). Results More details will be supplied regarding the theoretical background for the group, the group features/implementation, and its specific objectives. Conclusions All the group activities integrate themselves in an early rehabilitation project tailored to each patients' characteristics and needs. Briefly, their main objectives include: 1) to help patients endorse their cognitive, emotional and relational skills; 2) to offer support to the crisis they are experiencing, which led them to admission to the Ward

Cardiolipin content in mitochondria from cultured skin fibroblasts harboring mutations in the mitochondrial ATP6 gene.

The role of phospholipids in normal assembly and organization of the membrane proteins has been well documented. Cardiolipin, a unique tetra-acyl phospholipid localized in the inner mitochondrial membrane, is implicated in the stability of many inner-membrane protein complexes. Loss of cardiolipin content, alterations in its acyl chain composition and/or cardiolipin peroxidation have been associated with dysfunction in multiple tissues in a variety of pathological conditions. The aim of this study was to analyze the phospholipid composition of the mitochondrial membrane in the four most frequent mutations in the ATP6 gene: L156R, L217R, L156P and L217P but, more importantly, to investigate the possible changes in the cardiolipin profile. Mitochondrial membranes from fibroblasts with mutations at codon 217 of the ATP6 gene, showed a different cardiolipin content compared to controls. Conversely, results similar to controls were obtained for mutations at codon 156. These findings may be attributed to differences in the biosynthesis and remodeling of cardiolipin at the level of the inner mitochondrial transmembrane related to some mutations of the ATP6 gene