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Venomous spiders of Albania -does an increase of temperature influence the toxicity of spider venom?Toxicon: X Sep 2022Black widow spiders ( sp.) are distributed worldwide, and in Albania the L. Rossi, 1790 has been the dominant spider. Other medically important spiders in Albania...
UNLABELLED
Black widow spiders ( sp.) are distributed worldwide, and in Albania the L. Rossi, 1790 has been the dominant spider. Other medically important spiders in Albania include the brown recluse with symptoms known as loxoscelism, the false black widow and the egg sac spiders; the last two inducing similar symptoms to a wasp sting.
METHODS
The data analyzed is from a decade-long study of 125 patients hospitalized in the regional hospital of Fier County, in the Western Lowland of Albania from May 2009 and to October 2018.
OBJECTIVE
Although the venom is rarely fatal, the recent spider bites raise questions about the influence of higher air temperatures on their possibly increased toxicity.
RESULTS
Significantly the severity of the α-latrotoxin rises during the summer, when human-spider contact frequency is higher and when the black widow spiders have an increased motivation to protect their egg sacs.
CONCLUSION
This study revealed an increased severity of the black widow bites with respect to patient health, shown via all the severe systemic symptoms, during those months with higher temperatures.
PubMed: 35935107
DOI: 10.1016/j.toxcx.2022.100135 -
Rheumatology Advances in Practice 2023The aim was to explore the prevalence and independent risk factors for anxiety and depression in RA patients and to assess the consistency between the hospital anxiety...
Anxiety and depression in rheumatoid arthritis patients: prevalence, risk factors and consistency between the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and Zung's Self-rating Anxiety Scale/Depression Scale.
OBJECTIVES
The aim was to explore the prevalence and independent risk factors for anxiety and depression in RA patients and to assess the consistency between the hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) and Zung's self-rating anxiety scale/depression scale (SAS/SDS).
METHODS
In total, 160 RA patients and 60 healthy controls (HCs) were enrolled consecutively, and HADS and SAS/SDS were completed.
RESULTS
The HADS-defined anxiety rate, HADS-defined depression rate, SAS-defined anxiety rate and SDS-defined depression rate were 36.9, 36.3, 29.4 and 29.4%, respectively, in RA patients, all of which were much higher in RA patients than in HCs (all <0.001). A relatively high consistency was observed between HADS-defined anxiety and SAS-defined anxiety (κ = 0.551, <0.001) and between HADS-defined depression and SDS-defined depression (κ = 0.563, <0.001) in RA patients. Interestingly, screened by multivariate logistic regression analyses, single/divorced/widowed marital status, swollen joint count, disease duration, ESR, physician's global assessment (PhGA) and DAS28 were independently correlated with HADS-defined or SAS-defined anxiety risk in RA patients; meanwhile, female biological sex, single/divorced/widowed marital status, rural location, disease duration, PhGA and DAS28 were independently associated with HADS-defined or SDS-defined depression risk in RA patients.
CONCLUSION
Anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in RA patients and are independently correlated with single/divorced/widowed marital status and higher disease activity. In addition, the HADS presents a high consistency with the SAS/SDS with many fewer questions, which might be more suitable for long-term assessment of RA.
PubMed: 38033365
DOI: 10.1093/rap/rkad100 -
Der Nervenarzt May 2022Mathilde Ludendorff (nee Spiess, widowed von Kemnitz, divorced Kleine) was one of the first women who studied medicine in Imperial Germany. She wrote a feminist... (Review)
Review
Mathilde Ludendorff (nee Spiess, widowed von Kemnitz, divorced Kleine) was one of the first women who studied medicine in Imperial Germany. She wrote a feminist doctoral thesis, refuted Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis early in her career, detected the fraud of Albert von Schrenck-Notzing's spiritualist research, became a specialist for nervous and mental diseases after only 17 months of training with Emil Kraepelin, as his-according to her own words-best pupil, treated General Ludendorff's first wife and soon became his second, developed a Germanic philosophy too radical for Adolf Hitler's taste, was considered as a primary culprit after a first denazification trial in 1949 and contested the expert opinion of her colleague Professor Georg Stertz about her own mental state. Her books are still in print and her Alliance for God Cognizance (Ludendorff) still exists and is monitored by the National Intelligence Agency.
Topics: Austria; Female; Germany; History, 20th Century; Humans; Psychoanalysis; Psychotic Disorders
PubMed: 33765162
DOI: 10.1007/s00115-021-01108-x -
International Ophthalmology Dec 2022Marital status influences the presentation and outcome of various cancers. We explored the relationship between marital status and survival of uveal melanoma (UM) and...
BACKGROUND
Marital status influences the presentation and outcome of various cancers. We explored the relationship between marital status and survival of uveal melanoma (UM) and factors influencing this relationship.
METHODS
We conducted a retrospective cohort study on patients diagnosed with UM and registered in the Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results program between 1973 and 2017. Cox regression model was conducted to calculate the hazard ratio of overall and cancer-specific survival rate and delineate the effect of each confounder.
RESULTS
The study involved 10,557 patients with a male-to-female ratio of 1:1.1. Most of the diagnosed patients were aged between 40 and 79 years (81%). Married patients (62%) represented the majority, followed by singles (12%), widowed (11%), and then divorced patients (7%). Single patients were the youngest group (mean age of 59.3 years) while widowed patients were the oldest (mean age of 75.8 years). In the Cox regression model for overall survival, married and single patients exhibited the best overall survival (no significant difference in between them), both surpassing divorced and widowed patients. Married patients were at a significantly lower risk to die from UM than divorced patients. Female patients and younger age groups showed the best overall and cancer-specific survival.
CONCLUSION
Maintained marriages improved the survival of UM patients. Widowed and divorced patients should be included in specially designed support programs during their cancer management.
Topics: Humans; Male; Female; Adult; Middle Aged; Aged; SEER Program; Retrospective Studies; Marital Status; Melanoma
PubMed: 35821361
DOI: 10.1007/s10792-022-02406-2 -
Behavior Therapy May 2022The dual-process model proposes that early and later bereavement involves different types of stressors and adaptation processes (Stroebe & Schut, 1999, 2010). It is thus...
The dual-process model proposes that early and later bereavement involves different types of stressors and adaptation processes (Stroebe & Schut, 1999, 2010). It is thus possible that different factors facilitate adaptation during the early months versus subsequent years following widowhood. Elevated depressive symptoms, though prevalent after widowhood, may indicate problematic adaptation, as they are associated with poor long-term physical and mental health outcomes. We predicted that neutral death acceptance would be associated with less increase in depression during early widowhood (when confronted with loss-oriented stressors), whereas perceived control would predict depressive symptom decline during later widowhood (when adapting to controllable restoration-oriented stressors). Older adults (N = 265) reported on neutral death acceptance, perceived control, and depression before widowhood and on depression 0.5, 1.5, and 4.0 years after the death of their spouse. Bilinear spline growth modeling revealed that, on average, depressive symptoms increased from before to 0.5 years after spouse death and fell from 0.5 to 4.0 years after spouse death. Neutral death acceptance predicted a smaller increase in depression from before to 0.5 years after spouse death, as well as a smaller subsequent decrease in depression from 0.5 to 4.0 years after spouse death. Perceived control predicted a larger decrease in depression from 0.5 to 4.0 years after spouse death. Neutral death acceptance and perceived control had unique associations with resilience and recovery throughout early and later widowhood. These variables may be fruitful targets in interventions for depression throughout the full course of widowhood.
Topics: Aged; Bereavement; Female; Humans; Spouses; Widowhood
PubMed: 35473647
DOI: 10.1016/j.beth.2021.11.002 -
European Journal of Psychotraumatology 2019: Narratives play a central role in the recovery process following death, and linguistic properties of grief narratives can serve as indicators of adjustment to loss....
: Narratives play a central role in the recovery process following death, and linguistic properties of grief narratives can serve as indicators of adjustment to loss. The present study examined whether bereaved men and women differ in how they discuss their loss, and how linguistic markers relate to psychological functioning. Positive associations were hypothesized between first-person singular pronoun use and psychological distress. Gender differences were expected for different emotion and social process words, and overall word use. Exploratory analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between linguistic markers and psychosocial outcomes for men and women separately. : 50 bereaved widow(er)s and parents (29 women, 21 men; = 71.16 years, = 9.95) completed psychosocial self-report questionnaires and individual in-depth interviews. Grief narratives were analysed using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC), a software program that quantifies words into linguistic and psychological categories. : Contrary to our hypothesis, first-person pronoun use was not related to psychological distress. Although gender differences emerged in self-reported psychosocial outcomes, we failed to find the predicted gender differences in linguistic markers (emotion and social process words, overall word count). Exploratory analyses revealed additional associations between linguistic markers and psychosocial outcomes, and gender differences in these relationships. Notably, first-person pronoun use was related to heightened grief avoidance. Furthermore, various linguistic markers were associated with increased depression levels in females, but not males. In contrast, nonfluencies were positively associated with indicators of psychological distress in men only. : In line with the gender similarities hypothesis, analyses suggest similarities between men and women's discussion of their grief experience. Associations between linguistic markers and psychological adjustment indicate that grief narratives contain meaningful indices of underlying health.
PubMed: 31807234
DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2019.1688130 -
BMC Women's Health Jul 2022Women heads of households (widows or divorcees) are vulnerable groups in society who face various psychological problems and have less resilience than other women....
INTRODUCTION
Women heads of households (widows or divorcees) are vulnerable groups in society who face various psychological problems and have less resilience than other women. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of resilience educational intervention on the psychological capital of poor widows in Fasa city, south Iran.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
In this quasi-experimental study, 120 widows covered by Imam Khomeini Relief Foundation were selected by a simple random sampling method based on a random Efron algorithm (Efron coin) and randomly assigned into two interventions and control groups (60 people each) in the second half of 2021. About 8 training sessions on resilience and psychological capital were held for the experimental group through training clips, audio transmissions, and podcasts. Data were collected using demographic characteristics forms, widowers' resilience assessment questionnaires, and Luten's psychological capital scale for testing and control before and two months after the intervention. Data were analyzed with Chi-square test, independent and paired t-test using SPSS V. 26 software.
RESULTS
There were differences between the two groups at pretest in demographic variables and psychological capital and its subscales, and resilience and its subscales (P ≥ 0.05).. But two months after the educational intervention, a statistically significant increase was observed in the experimental group in these variables compared to the control group (p < 0.05). It indicates that there was an improvement in the outcomes from pretest to post-test within the intervention and no change in the outcomes over time within the control group.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Using a resilience-based educational approach as a novelty of this research to promote psychological capital and resilience can increase resilience and psychological capital in widows. Then, considering the positive effect of this educational approach and the low cost of this intervention, it seems that the implementation of such interventions should be included in the plans related to widows.
Topics: Family Characteristics; Female; Humans; Iran; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vulnerable Populations; Widowhood
PubMed: 35864493
DOI: 10.1186/s12905-022-01886-9 -
Psychoneuroendocrinology Apr 2023Spousal bereavement is one of the most stressful experiences in adulthood. In a sample of 183 widow(er)s, bereaved about three months prior, we examined the intersection...
Spousal bereavement is one of the most stressful experiences in adulthood. In a sample of 183 widow(er)s, bereaved about three months prior, we examined the intersection of employment, family income, and health outcomes (proinflammatory marker production, perceived stress, and grief symptoms). Bereaved employees had higher levels of monocyte-stimulated interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, chemokine ligands 4, and perceived stress than bereaved retirees. We also found an interaction such that family income was positively associated with perceived stress and grief symptoms for employed window(er)s, but not for retirees. These findings align with the reserve capacity model, which states that people at higher levels of socioeconomic status have more psychosocial resources to address psychosocial stressors. Employment likely served as an added psychological and inflammatory burden for all bereaved workers, except those with the highest incomes.
Topics: Humans; Bereavement; Grief; Interleukin-6; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Employment; Family
PubMed: 36702040
DOI: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2023.106024 -
Heliyon Nov 2023Diabetes-related distress (DRD) is a psychological syndrome with worsened prognosis in uncontrolled diabetic patients. The current study aimed to assess the factors...
Diabetes-related distress (DRD) is a psychological syndrome with worsened prognosis in uncontrolled diabetic patients. The current study aimed to assess the factors contributing to DRD among the Lebanese population using the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS-17) score and its sub-scores. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted between March and September 2021 enrolling. 125 diabetic from six Lebanese governorates through an online survey. The survey included two parts: the first section gathered sociodemographic data sociodemographic and socioeconomic data and the second one focused on assessing the Diabetes Distress Scale (DDS-17) score. Participants 30 years old and above had higher emotional distress compared to younger patients, (65.2 % versus 45.5 %). Those with a primary educational level showed significantly higher emotional distress than those with a secondary and tertiary level of education (72.5 %, versus 66.7 % and 46.4 %). Participants who were treated with both insulin and non-insulin medications or had a diastolic blood pressure of more than 90 mmHg showed significantly moderate to high distress (63.6 % or 53.8 %). Participants who lived in rural areas showed higher distress (35.6 %). Obese and overweight had significant moderate to high distress (64.1 %, and 48.0 %). The same results were found in non-married (divorced or widowed) and married participants (76.9 % and 51.3 %). The association between medical history with total distress showed that participants with glycemic store HbA1c of more than 6.5 followed by those who had HbA1c between 5.7 and 6.4 showed moderate to high total distress (45.9 % and 40.0 %). It is concluded that the prevalence of DRD is high in Lebanon, more common among rural residents, and among participants high HbA1c, low educational level, unmarried and on complex treatment regimens. Screening for DRD and providing better support can optimize clinical outcomes.
PubMed: 38074890
DOI: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e21767 -
Journal of Preventive Medicine and... Dec 2019Today mental disorders are important concerns of health care system in all countries. Among different mental disorders; depression, anxiety, and somatization are more...
INTRODUCTION
Today mental disorders are important concerns of health care system in all countries. Among different mental disorders; depression, anxiety, and somatization are more frequent. This manuscript was conducted to evaluate the frequency of somatization symptoms, its related factors and the correlation between somatization symptoms and anxiety and depression disorders in Iranian population.
METHODS
The cross-sectional study was conducted in Kerman, Iran, 2017. Participants were selected from patients who referred to the Clinics of Educational Hospitals using convenience sampling method. The PHQ-15 and HADS questionnaire were used to assess the somatization and depression and anxiety, respectively. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the predictive factors of somatization symptoms. The correlations between each PHQ-15 item score and anxiety and depression score were expressed.
RESULTS
The frequency of mild, moderate and severe levels of somatization was 66.3%, 20.5% and 13.1%, respectively. Considering multivariate logistic regression analysis; age was associated with somatic symptoms, significantly. The risk of somatic symptoms was 3.4 times more in Divorced/Widowed participants than single ones (p-value: 0.035). There were significant positive correlations between anxiety and depression scores. Each additional score of anxiety and depression were associated with 1.14 times more likely (p-value: < 0.001) and 1.11 times less likely (p-value: 0.003) of having somatic symptoms, respectively.
CONCLUSION
The burden of somatization, depression and anxiety is high in Iranian population. Psychologists and policy-makers should consider these predictive factors for primary prevention of somatization at the personal and community level, respectively.
Topics: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Anxiety; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Depression; Divorce; Female; Humans; Iran; Logistic Models; Male; Marital Status; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Patient Health Questionnaire; Prevalence; Risk Factors; Somatoform Disorders; Widowhood; Young Adult
PubMed: 31967099
DOI: 10.15167/2421-4248/jpmh2019.60.4.1006