Results of a survey among opioid addiction treatment providers on the importance of physical exercise

Background: Physical exercise has significant benefits for mental and physical health. The Federal Office of Public Health in Switzerland defined exercise as a medium-term treatment goal in the manual of heroin-assisted treatment. Methods: Sixty-four opioid agonist treatment providers and specialized psychosocial treatment centers across the German-speaking part of Switzerland were asked to fill in a brief, self-developed questionnaire to find out whether exercise programs are offered and what they consist of. The questionnaire additionally addressed the caregivers’ assessment of their respec- tive treatment facilities importance to their patients, their attitude towards exercising programs, and the frequency of mentioning exercise in patient encounters. In addition, we asked what kind of sports programs caregivers would like to see introduced in their treatment services. Results: Fifty-one questionnaires were returned. According to the caregivers, 76% of patients considered their treatment facility to be the first point of contact in case of an emergency. Caregivers who deemed the provision of exercise programs more important also mentioned exercise more often in their patient encounters and motivated patients more often. While the importance of exercise programs was rated high by 45% of caregivers, only seven respondents reported that regular exercise has been implemented as part of their treatment services. The most com- mon suggestion of a sports program was (Nordic) walking, followed by yoga and endurance sports. Conclusions: There is a mismatch between what is recommended and known regarding cost effectiveness of physical exercise in general, any form of walking in opioid addiction treatment, and what is actually offered and put into practice. Since this intervention allows the inclusion of most patients regardless of their fitness level or health condition, the reasons for this mismatch remain elusive and should be further explored

Comments and illustrations of the WFUMB CEUS liver guidelines: Rare benign focal liver lesion, part II.

It is important to be familiar with the typical imaging features of the uncommon or even extremely rare focal liver lesions (FLL). Current guidelines of the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB) is aimed at assessing the usefulness of contrast enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in the management of various FLL. In this review, we aim to summarize the ultrasound and CEUS characteristics with literature review of some extremely rare benign FLL, which might be helpful for improving diagnostic efficiency clinically

In Bonobos Yawn Contagion Is Higher among Kin and Friends

In humans, the distribution of yawn contagion is shaped by social closeness with strongly bonded pairs showing higher levels of contagion than weakly bonded pairs. This ethological finding led the authors to hypothesize that the phenomenon of yawn contagion may be the result of certain empathic abilities, although in their most basal form. Here, for the first time, we show the capacity of bonobos (Pan paniscus) to respond to yawns of conspecifics. Bonobos spontaneously yawned more frequently during resting/relaxing compared to social tension periods. The results show that yawn contagion was context independent suggesting that the probability of yawning after observing others\u27 yawns is not affected by the propensity to engage in spontaneous yawns. As it occurs in humans, in bonobos the yawing response mostly occurred within the first minute after the perception of the stimulus. Finally, via a Linear Mixed Model we tested the effect of different variables (e.g., sex, rank, relationship quality) on yawn contagion, which increased when subjects were strongly bonded and when the triggering subject was a female. The importance of social bonding in shaping yawn contagion in bonobos, as it occurs in humans, is consistent with the hypothesis that empathy may play a role in the modulation of this phenomenon in both species. The higher frequency of yawn contagion in presence of a female as a triggering subject supports the hypothesis that adult females not only represent the relational and decisional nucleus of the bonobo society, but also that they play a key role in affecting the emotional states of others

Über Nutzen und Machbarkeit von Bewegungsinterventionsstudien bei Patienten, die an einer Opioidabhängigkeit oder einer Abhängigkeit von illegalen Substanzen leiden

Einleitung: Patienten mit einer Opioidabhängigkeit oder mit einer Abhängigkeit von illegalen Substanzen leiden häufig auch an weiteren psychischen und somatischen Erkrankungen. Für viele Erkrankungen wurde bereits gezeigt, dass sich Bewegungsinterventionen positiv auf Krankheitssymptome auswirken. Inwiefern gezeigt wurde, ob Patienten mit einer Opioidabhängigkeit oder mit einer Abhängigkeit von illegalen Substanzen von Bewegung profitieren und falls ja, inwiefern Behandlungsempfehlungen hiervon abgeleitet werden können, ist Gegenstand dieses Reviews. Methoden: Es erfolgte eine systematische Literaturrecherche mit der Suchmaschine pubmed. Die folgenden Suchbegriffe wurden verwendet: (Illicit drug*) AND (addiction OR SUD OR drug dependence OR drug abuse OR substance use disorder) AND (exercise OR physical activity) AND (treatment OR therapy). Berücksichtigt wurden randomisierte, kontrollierte Studien. Die Suche ergab 106 Artikel, wovon zwei Artikel schlussendlich berücksichtigt wurden – zusammen mit zwei weiteren, durch eine unsystematische Suche gefundene Artikel. Ergebnisse: Die erste Studie zeigte, dass eine Bewegungsintervention mit Patienten, die an einer Opioidabhängigkeit leiden, machbar ist; insgesamt gab es wenige Patienten, die als compliant eingestuft wurden. Die zweite Studie zeigte, dass Patienten mit einer Abhängigkeit von Methamphetamin von einer angeleiteten Bewegungsgruppe profitieren, da hierunter Ausdauer und Muskelkraft signifikant zunahmen. Die dritte Studie zeigte, dass sich bei Patienten mit einer Methamphetaminabhängigkeit während einer achtwöchigen Abstinenzphase, in welcher ein Bewegungsprogramm angeboten wird, die Bindungsaffinität von D2/D3-Rezeptoren signifikant verbessert. In der vierten Studie zeigte sich, dass sich der Schlaf bei Patientinnen mit einer Abhängigkeit von Amphetaminen durch Tai Chi verbessern kann. Schlussfolgerung: Die Literaturrecherche zeigt, dass es nur eine geringe Anzahl Studien gibt, die Bewegungsinterventionen bei dieser Patientenklientel untersuchen, solche Studien jedoch machbar sind und die Auswirkungen auf den Körper und die Psyche positiv ausfallen können. English Version: Introduction: Patients with a dependency of opioids or illicit drugs often suffer from other psychiatric or somatic illnesses. It has been shown that exercise can have positive effects on many diseases. Whether patients with a dependency of opioids or illicit drugs profit from exercise and whether recommendations can be derived is in the focus of this literature review. Methods: A systematic literature research was conducted with the search machine pubmed. The following search terms were used: (Illicit drug*) AND (addiction OR SUD OR drug dependence OR drug abuse OR substance use disorder) AND (exercise OR physical activity) AND (treatment OR therapy). Randomized, controlled trials were considered. Overall 106 articles were found, from which 2 articles matched the inclusion-criteria. Two more articles were found via an unsystematic search. Results: The first study demonstrated that an exercise intervention with patients suffering from an opioid dependency is feasible;the overall number of patients who were considered as compliant with the study protocol was small. The second study demonstrated that patients with a dependency of methamphetamines profit from a supervised exercise intervention: in their study, endurance and muscular strength increased significantly. In the third study patients with a dependency of methamphetamines expressed a higher D2/D3-receptor availability after having participated in an eight weeks exercise regime. The fourth study demonstrated that sleep can be enhanced by Tai Chi in patients suffering from a dependency of amphetamines. Conclusion: This literature search demonstrates that the amount of studies focusing on exercise interventions in patients suffering from opioid or illicit drug dependence is scarce; however, exercise interventions with this clientele are feasible and the impact on mental and physical well-being can be positive