 Feeling Stressed at Work? B Vitamins Might Come to Your Rescue Mankind is engulfed by stress existing as a result of our different actions, thoughts and deeds. Even kids and adolescents are swarmed by loads of homework or class projects that need their undivided attention most of the times; both the couples work equally hard to pull through the month which leaves the kids at the mercy of daycare and the unending rise in commodity prices has left us all agape with many families trying to end their lives unable to match their salary with the daily life requirements. Choices are many but so are the consequences of advancements. Stress at workplace is becoming even more troublesome than before and individuals sought for retirement as early as their early 50s unable to bear workplace stress. Such stress-related problems in workplace are present globally, costs every country’s economy millions of dollars annually and its effect is wide-spread at the occupational, personal and societal levels.
Occupational stress has the ability to affect our quality of life at every level-it prevents us from delivering excellent work or meet demands at workplace, increases the number of leaves taken, productivity is lost and the expenses incurred due to mental and physical health issues are costly. But when we analyze the underlying cause behind such occupational stress in the first place, it is primarily due to the inability of the individual to carry out the overwhelming demands of the workplace. When there is overpouring work, the individual loses his/her ability to deal with stress and this is further aggravated by poor diet routines that once again decrease our body’s ability to deal with stress. Food has always played an integral role in affecting the quality of life of individuals as it has the ability to improve cognitive skills and decrease negative moods such as depression, anxiety and stress. While different foods prove to be advantageous in different ways vitamins and minerals, especially B vitamins are great against diseases and disabilities. B vitamins play an essential role in various cortical processes involved in metabolism such as in the methylation of homocysteine to methionine that’s absolutely necessary for DNA synthesis, repair and other methylation reactions in the central nervous system. When this methylation process is disrupted it increases the likelihood of inflammation, oxidative stress and damage to mitochondria and DNA strands. Studies Related to Vitamin B Supplements Acting Against Stress The world now runs on medicines and supplements to pull us through everyday hurdles. Right from small kids to elderly people most of the individuals worldwide rely on supplements for strength and vitality as we all follow haphazard lifestyle practices and irregular eating patterns that’s hard on our body. Despite the widespread consumption of these vitamins and supplements we don’t have many clinical trials or research conducted analyzing the impact of these multivitamins on psychological strain. 2 studies observed reduction in stress levels after multivitamin supplements were given for 28 and 30 days. In one study, Schlebusch and colleagues used a well-designed protocol and screened for a highly stressed sample which after a duration of 30 days reduced stress and improved well-being. Another research team, Carroll and colleagues employed 80 male participants who were supplemented over 28 days and results showed that these participants witnessed reduction in stress levels compared to the placebo group. There are numerous advertisements shown for various supplements but their impact on human health is not proved without doubt. A research team analyzed whether a multivitamin supplement available in Australia that mainly consisted of B vitamins was helpful in improving work related stress after administering it for 90 days. 60 participants were recruited for the study and all of them completed a 3-month, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in which each of the individual’s mood, anxiety, demands and strain were assessed. Results showed that the intervention group experienced significant reduction in personal strain from weeks 4 to 12 while the placebo group experienced an increase in strain from weeks 4 to 12. A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Australian study tried to understand the relationship between B-vitamin supplementation, workplace stress and mood measures and also wanted to analyze whether dispensing vitamin B supplements for around 6 months had the ability to improve stress-related problems in healthy, working individuals. The study group’s secondary aim was to examine the mechanisms underpinning any mood or workplace stress enhancing actions of B vitamins by looking at the relationship between cognitive, biological and cardiovascular variables over these 6 months. The team chose 200 full-time participants who were aged between 30 and 65 years and reported feeling stressed in the workplace. The team excluded those individuals who suffered from psychiatric or neurological disorders, disorders affecting food metabolism, had diabetes, consumed alcohol regularly, suffered vision problems or suffered from chronic diseases. They also ruled out those participants who were pregnant, breastfeeding or planning to become pregnant, were taking anticoagulation meds or psychoactive meds that included antidepressants, antipsychotics, anxiolytics, illicit drugs or significant cognitive enhancing drugs. All the participants were asked to fill five online questionnaires and were screened over the telephone for their eligibility in participating in the study. Blood samples were collected and all of them were given a light breakfast before completing a cognitive test battery. All of them underwent two testing sessions at the end of which each of them were provided with supplements that could last for as much as 6 months. All the participants were asked to comment on their mood, stress levels and general health from the first to fifth month post randomization and during their second visit at the end of study period all of them were asked to return any unused supplements, if any. Primary outcomes measured include the effect of supplements on work-related stress while secondary outcomes include measuring cognitive stress, mood, health, personality, cardiovascular, biochemical, genetic and neuroimaging measures. Stress was assessed with the help of numerous self-reported questionnaires that will be used to assess stress, mood and general health. Stress symptoms were analyzed using a perceived stress scale (PSS), depression and anxiety was measured using the Beck Depressive Inventory II (BDI-II) and the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory respectively. Dietary habits were inferred using a food frequency questionnaire. Results Separate mixed linear models were conducted to test the effects of treatment group (active vs. placebo) and time (baseline vs. 6 months) on blood plasma concentrations of homocysteine, vitamin B6, vitamin B12 and red blood cell folate. The treatment group had significant vitamin B6 and B12 concentrations indicating that the biomarker levels increased after treatment. There was a significant group by time interaction for plasma homocysteine concentration with the treatment group resulting in significantly reduced homocysteine but folate levels did not change as a result of treatment. The treatment also led to an increase in PCC (NAA, choline and creatine) concentrations. The study showed that 6 months intervention with B vitamin supplements increased plasma vitamin B6 and B12 levels and reduced blood plasma homocysteine levels. Vitamin B6 levels were associated with increased choline and creatine whereas increased B12 levels were linked to increased creatine concentrations. All these provide a green signal for the use of B vitamin supplements in reducing inflammation and oxidative stress and promoting neural metabolic processes. This is the first study to show the efficiency of high-dose B vitamin multivitamin supplementation in modulating the relationship between neural and blood biomarkers of oxidative stress. The supplementation helped in reducing the blood markers for oxidative stress and increasing the brain markers for oxidative metabolism and myelination. B vitamins definitely play an integral role in regulating brain health, keeping us from getting stressed and alleviating diseases and disability. A meta-analysis of eight studies that focused on the effect of multivitamins on mood and psychological state found that supplementing individuals with B vitamins reduced perceived stress, mild psychiatric symptoms and anxiety. References Reducing Occupational Stress with a B-vitamin Focused Intervention: A Randomized Clinical Trial: https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-13-122 The Effect of a High-Dose Vitamin B Supplement on the Relationship between Brain Metabolism & Blood Biomarkers of Oxidative Stress: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6316433/ B Vitamins & the Brain: Mechanisms, Dose & Efficacy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4772032/  There is a 2-way Connection between Diabetes & Periodontitis Diabetes doesn’t only prevent the patient from eating sweets and sugary foods but also destroys the core body part required for munching and chewing these foods-teeth! Diabetes rates have doubled or tripled in the last couple of decades everywhere around the world affecting not only the patient’s quality of life but also putting him/her at an elevated risk of multiple complications such as neuropathy, eye damage, skin disease, cardiovascular disease and periodontal disease. Periodontitis (a chronic inflammation disease of the mouth that involves the gingiva (gum tissues), teeth and supporting bone) has been identified as the sixth complication of diabetes and the sixth most common disease globally.
Periodontitis This is one of the most common diseases prevalent among humans. Though the progression of the disease is quite slow the tissue destruction that happens is largely irreversible. The disease is not painful during the initial stages which makes the person vulnerable to teeth damage and the patient recognizes the presence only after the condition had progressed enough to affect tooth mobility. In the early stages known as gingivitis the gums become swollen, red and might bleed whereas in the serious form called as periodontitis the gums might even pull out of the tooth, bone might be lost and the teeth might loosen and even fall away. While diabetes exists as a risk factor for periodontitis the presence of it increases the risk of stroke, myocardial infarction, atherosclerosis and hypertension. It can even cause delayed memory and calculation abilities in patients over the age of 60 and above. Those individuals with elevated blood glucose levels and diabetes mellitus display higher degrees of periodontal inflammation which often prove difficult to manage glucose levels due to persistent inflammation. It’s been proclaimed that diabetes exacerbates the onset, progression and severity of periodontitis. The intensity of the disease depends on how well the patient manages blood glucose levels. Diabetes patients have compromised immunity that puts them at a higher risk of infections, display decreased healing power and are at an increased risk of problems with the kidneys, eyes and heart-all these puts the person at a higher risk of periodontal disease. Such poor defence strategy can lead to higher risk of tooth loss in diabetes patients. Various studies help us understand the close-knit link between diabetes and periodontal disease in a better way. Retrospective Study The study below focused on 100 individuals (inclusion criteria included that the participants were above the age of 20 and suffered from diabetes) of which 50 of them suffered from diabetes and the rest were taken as the control group. India is one of the top countries with leading number of diabetes cases-while only 2.1% people suffered from diabetes mellitus in 1970s the rate has now risen to 12.1% which has a huge impact. The World Health Organization (WHO) has given a warning that India would become the ‘Diabetes Mellitus Capital of the World’ if we continue at this present rate. The present study shows that there is a significant difference in tooth loss among diabetics and non-diabetics. In another study done by Ogunbodede et al the female:male ratio was proved showing that females are the greater affected lot compared to males. Another study done by Chineye et al showed that male to female ratio in the diabetic subjects was 2:1. Some other studies showed male to female ratios as 1:1. A study done by Ochao et al at Columbia showed that there were 47.4% diabetic subjects who had a greater number of missing teeth and also suffered from gingival disease in the past. Periodontitis & Diabetes Can Affect Each Other Risk of periodontitis is almost 3-times greater in diabetics compared to others and the degree of the disease depends on the amount of blood sugar levels in the body. The US National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III showed that adults with >9% Hb1A1C levels had higher prevalence of severe periodontitis compared to those without diabetes. There have been a number of case-controlled studies and all of them show that the risk of periodontitis is three-folds more in the Pima Indian population who suffered from diabetes mellitus compared to those who did not. Type 2 diabetes was considered to be the culprit for periodontitis but a couple of studies showed that type 1 diabetes also is an equal risk factor for the disease. One of the studies even proved that around 10% of kids (<18 years) with type 1 diabetes had profound bone and teeth loss compared to controls and another study on 350 diabetic kids aged 6-18 years and 350 non-diabetic kids showed that occurrence of periodontitis was greater in children with diabetes (20%) compared to controls (8%). Of late, we have emerging evidences that the link between diabetes and periodontitis is like a two-way channel-not only diabetes is a risk factor for periodontitis but also periodontal disease is a risk factor for diabetes. The Gila River Indian community was the first classic example to support the two-way theory. It showed that sever periodontitis was linked to a 9% increase in diabetes risk. The study also probed into the effect of periodontitis on overt nephropathy on 529 individuals aged ≥25 years who suffered from type 2 diabetes mellitus but no macroalbuminuria. It was seen that the incidence of macroalbuminuria was 2.0, 2.1 and 2.6 times higher compared to those with moderate or severe periodontitis. A 7-year prospective study on 5,848 diabetes-free individuals aged 30-59 years analysed the impact of periodontitis on diabetes incidence rates. Results showed that moderate-severe periodontitis increased the risk of diabetes incidence but the significance of it was lost after adjusting for sex, BMI, smoking, BMI, hypertension and HDL cholesterol. Another 5-year study looked into the effect of periodontitis on changes in HbA1C levels on 2,973 non-diabetic individuals. Results showed that participants with advanced periodontits at baseline showed 5-times greater increase in HbA1C levels over the 5 years compared to those with no periodontitis at baseline. This was the first study to show increase in HbA1C levels in those individuals who showed no signs of diabetes but only because they suffered from periodontitis. Such individuals who suffer from both diabetes and periodontitis are at a higher risk of cardiorenal mortality compared to those without severe periodontitis. A recent study looked at a 40-year trend of diabetes and periodontal disease collecting data from nine waves of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted from 1971 to 2012. 37,609 participants aged >25 years were involved and results showed that tooth loss was associated with diabetes. Both Diseases Have Inflammation as their Common Ground Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease while both type 1 and type 2 diabetes increase systemic markers of inflammation. Elevated serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α are seen in diabetes and the same is also seen in those affected by periodontitis. Such inflammation that’s linked with periodontal disease might also increase diabetes risk. Diabetes was consistently higher among Hispanic blacks and Mexican Americans than among non-Hispanic whites and the number of tooth lost after the age of 60 was higher among these three ethnic groups. The oral cavity has a diverse range of microbiota. Generally, the bacterial infection in periodontitis does not differ between nondiabetic and type 2 diabetes patients but there is a difference in the way the immune system responds. A study on 282 subjects (9% of them had type 2 diabetes) with similar severity of periodontitis showed that patients with type 2 diabetes might have fewer bacteria in periodontal pockets but with the same severity of the disease. The inflammatory response to infection in those suffering from type 2 diabetes is more compared to non-diabetic subjects. The accumulation of advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) in the periodontal tissues can also instigate periodontal inflammation in individuals with diabetes. AGE binds to its receptor (RAGE) producing inflammation mediators such as interleukin-6 and TNF- α. AGE increases oxidant stress, enhances respiratory burst in PMNs, has devastating effect on bone metabolism and alters lipid mechanism. Periodontal Treatment Improves Diabetes Levels There are various studies supporting the fact that periodontal intervention has positive effects on blood glucose levels. A combined report on 10 intervention studies on 456 patients showed a 0.66% decrease in HbA1C as a result of periodontal therapy. Another meta-analysis involving nine studies in 2008 showed 0.46% reduction in Hb1AC after treatment for periodontitis. A meta-analysis of 5 studies in 2010 involving 371 patients reported a reduction in Hb1AC of .40%. It was seen that in patients with A1C levels > 9.0% periodontal therapy reduced A1C by 0.6% in the absence of changes in medication and by 1.4% when diabetes medications are introduced. Though the logic behind reduction in glycemic levels post periodontal treatment is not clear researchers believe that it is due to reduced systemic inflammation. Reduction in Hb1AC levels greatly reduce the risk of diabetes complications-each 1% reduction in Hb1AC is associated with reduction in risk of 21% for any endpoint related to diabetes, 21% for deaths related to diabetes, 14% for myocardial infarction and 37% for microvascular complications. Diabetes is a significant risk factor for periodontitis and controlling diabetes controls the risk of periodontitis. The importance of oral health must be promoted in people with diabetes to avoid the consequences of tooth loss later. Many people remain unaware of the relationship between periodontitis and diabetes. Healthcare providers should check on a diabetes patient’s dental health and also suggest that the individual maintains oral hygiene to escape from the clutches of periodontitis and other dental health problems. References Prevalence of Periodontal Disease and Tooth Loss in Patients Suffering from Diabetes: http://www.medicalsciencejournal.com/archives/2019/vol5/issue1/5-1-94 Diabetes & Periodontal Disease: An Update for Healthcare Providers: https://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/24/4/195 Periodontitis & Diabetes: A Two-way Relationship: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3228943/ Diabetes Linked to Increased Risk of Tooth Loss: http://www.diabetesincontrol.com/diabetes-linked-to-tooth-loss/ The Burden of Diabetes, its Oral Complications & Their Prevention & Management: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6108795/#ref81  Moms Usually can Tell the Slightest of a Change in their Neonate’s Health Man is addicted to habits and a slight change in his/her daily routine frustrates and puts him/her at unease. Think about a baby who lives inside his/her mother’s womb for nine whole months and comes unto this world full of hopes and surprises! There would be a change in temperature, environment and what not-being brought into this world, the newborn is now faced with the challenges of accommodating from intra-uterine to extra-uterine. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the early newborn period is most critical for survival of a neonate (the period right from birth up to 28 days of age) and the child is probably at the highest risk of death during this period in a world where close to 10 million deaths occur every year in kids younger than 5 years old. Almost two-thirds of such deaths happen in the neonatal period where one-third of them happen during the first day of life of the neonate, almost half within 3 days and nearly three-quarters within first week of life. Developing countries contribute to a majority of such deaths with almost 34 of every 1000 live births leading to death and our country has seen a steady decline in the number of neonatal deaths from around 53 to only 22-28 per 1000 live births. Sub-Saharan Africa ranks highest in such deaths where the child’s day of birth is also its day of death unfortunately.
Death doesn’t occur all of a sudden mostly and there are multiple clinical signs that lead to the fatality. Fever is a common manifestation of diseases and requires immediate medical attention. Other signs include lethargy, poor sucking, increased respiratory rate (more than 60 beats per min), chest retractions and convulsions (sudden, abnormal electrical activity in the brain). Hence, the first 28 days are like a test to the child’s survival-it is of utmost importance to provide the best of feeding and care to maximize the neonate’s chances of survival and a healthy existence in this world. Developed by UNICEF and WHO the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) approach is understanding the various underlying causes of illness. This recognition of danger signs by the parent or any other caretaker helps in getting medical attention as early as possible. The reason why there is so much insistence is because a majority of neonatal deaths occur at home in which almost 75% can be prevented if there was timely action taken, the signs of an illness recognized by the parent/caretaker and there was no delay in the choice to go for medical action. Here, in this article we would be looking at the parent’s knowledge about the kid’s health, changes in health and the capacity to seek medical help in countries around the world. Knowledge of Mothers Regarding their Neonate’s Health Status in Ethiopia As per 2016 records, under-5 mortality rates were 67 deaths per 1,000 live births and most neonatal deaths occur at home showing that still most are unable to recognize and give treatment at the right time. Most children die due to lack of knowledge of the parent and the research here assesses the mother’s knowledge on neonatal danger signs and the reasons behind such poor knowledge for being unable to save her dying neonate! 368 mothers were selected to participate in the study of which 355 of them completed the interview. Mean age of the participants was 27.7, almost 60% of them were housewives and 234 (65.9%) of them gave birth at health institutions. It was reported that of the 355 participants, 281 (79.2%) of them had information about neonatal danger sign of which diarrhea (160 were aware), fever (136) and persistent vomiting (127) were more familiar with the participants. It was seen that 68.68% moms had good knowledge about neonatal danger signs-they were familiar with three or more signs of danger. When asked about the place of care 78 mothers (33.8%) opted for home care of their sick neonate, 82 (32%) wanted to take them to health institutions, 56 (24.2%) wanted to take them to traditional healers and 15 (6.5%) did nothing. Home care was basically garlic, tenadam, a mix of lemon and ash applied on the neonate’s head for tonsils, matchstick for convulsion, tepid sponging for fever, sunlight exposure for jaundice and using coconut oil to rub all over the body for cold body. 118 mothers continued to breastfeed despite the presence of disease but 113 of them did not. The factors associated with the mom’s knowledge include the mom’s educational status, income, place of birth and source of information. Moms who gave birth in a health institution were 6.45 times likelier to take their neonates back to the institution and those who received a post-natal care (PNC) follow were 6.19 times likelier to go back to the hospital for a follow up. It was also seen that husband’s education status, husband occupation status, place of birth and PNC had a significant effect on the maternal practice for neonatal danger signs. The study clearly showed that educational qualification and work status clearly dominated the list of attributes that motivated women to seek the help of a health institution. Another study in Ethiopia on 400 mothers/caregivers had a response rate of 94.7% and the participants’ mean age was between 25 and 34 years. Almost 64% were illiterate mothers with only 7.5% completing secondary education. Almost 40% infants were between 9 and 24 weeks of age, 32% were between 8 and 16 weeks of age and only 5.5% were aged less than one week during the study period. 67.5% infants were delivered at the hospital and only 6.6% of them were delivered at home. Of the study group almost 92.8% of them reported that they take their children to the health care center and among the rest who don’t almost 34% reported high treatment cost followed by lack of money (30%) as the reason behind it. When the study group tried to categorize the mother’s knowledge about their neonate’s risk as adequate and inadequate it was observed that almost two-thirds (65.3%) of them had inadequate knowledge as they were not even able to identify more than three symptoms among the 13 symptoms of illness of newborns and young infants. Knowledge of Mothers Regarding their Neonate’s Health in India Neonatal mortality rates (NMR) have dropped significantly in our country with Uttarakhand having a minimum of 11 and Haridwar having maximum NMR of 50. In Dehradun, neonatal mortality rate is 32 per 1000 live births. The survival of the child depends on the mother’s health alongside her knowledge and skills as a mom is the ‘one’ person who has constant contact with the child monitoring his/her actions and health. The baby is said to be in danger when any of the following signs are experienced: movement only when stimulated, temperature below 35.5 °C and above 37.5 °C, respiratory rate over 60 breaths per minute, history of convulsions and history of feeding difficulty. The study conducted in Dehradun included 100 mothers for sampling but only 53 of them reported neonatal danger signs and were monitored for their observation and handling practices. Results showed that:
Knowledge of Mothers Regarding their Neonate’s Health in Saudi Arabia Infant mortality rate in Saudi Arabia is pretty low-11 deaths per 1000 live births as per 2015 results. Under-five mortality rates in this country has reached Millennium Development Goal-4 target still infant mortality rates remains higher compared to many other countries. A community-based study was conducted in Riyadh city of this country regarding a mother’s knowledge about WHO guidelines on neonate danger signs. Primary health care centers (PHCC) are located all over the city and they provide free care to most of the residents there. Sample data of all the mothers who delivered a baby or nursed a baby (as in the case of caregivers such as grandmothers, grandfathers, fathers or nannies) in the past two years were taken from these health care centers. Face to face interviews were conducted with the mothers-the mother’s knowledge and her response on the neonate’s danger signs was collected, all the participants were asked to list the signs that they found threatening to the neonate’s life, recall any signs of danger that they personally experienced with the neonate, the time from noticing any danger to presenting it at the health facility, care received at the society and outcome of the neonate’s illness. A total of 1428 women who were in the age group of 20-60 years were included in the study. 98% neonates were cared by their mothers, 33% had education up to degree level and 37% had secondary education. 87% women had attended antenatal care and 45% had 4 or more children. Results showed that:
Research Mother’s Knowledge & Practice about Neonatal Danger Signs & Associated Factors: http://www.jbiomeds.com/biomedical-sciences/mothers-knowledge-and-practice-about-neonatal-danger-signs-and-associatedfactors-in-wolkite-town-gurage-zone-snnpr-ethiopia-2017.php?aid=21314 Neonatal Danger Signs: Attitude & Practice of Post-natal Mothers: https://www.omicsonline.org/open-access/neonatal-danger-signs-attitude-and-practice-of-postnatal-mothers-2167-1168-1000401.php?aid=89908 Mother’s & Caregiver’s Knowledge on Neonate’s Danger Signs: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2019/1750240/ Parents’ Knowledge of Danger Signs & Health Seeking Behavior in Newborn & Young Infant Illness in Southwest Ethiopia: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6308740/  Depression & Metabolic Syndrome are Definitely Linked to Each Other Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of metabolic disorders that increase the risk of cardiovascular disease when present in combination with each other. The disorders that elevate the risk include hypertension, central obesity, glucose intolerance and serum lipid disorders. While these conditions are good enough to put the individual in a high-risk category for heart problems there is a greater chance that the individual could suffer from cardiovascular issues when they occur in together. There has been an increasing concern regarding MetS as more than 23% of the adult population seems to be affected making them susceptible to diabetes, cardiovascular disease, stroke and diseases related to fatty build-up in artery walls. So, when we look at the risk factors behind this disease its none other than obesity, overweight, physical inactivity, genetic factors and ageing.
Its been found that certain MetS features such as excessive adiposity, dyslipidaemia and glucose intolerance are strongly associated with depression-a health condition that now exists as the fourth biggest cause of disease burden in the world. Women are the primary victims of this condition though these days increasing number of men silently suffer from its effects. Depression involves change in mood and cognitive function besides being linked to a proinflammatory process that increases the risk of being affected by cardiovascular disease. There is a widespread prevalence of an activated peripheral immune system in these adults with overproduction of proinflammatory cytokine that has the potential to increase the risk of depressive symptoms. As it is now evident that both MetS and depression are commonly present bearing increased public health implications there has been interests shown in finding out an association between them. Depression involves dysregulation of the adrenocortical and autonomic nervous systems both of which increase the risk of MetS by supporting abdominal fat accumulation and insulin resistance. MetS is generally linked to increased levels of inflammatory cytokines and leptin resistance and c-reactive protein (CRP) is one of the commonly present inflammatory markers in subjects with MetS. Health experts have come up with various proposals for controlling MetS occurrence the most common of which includes lifestyle changes (that includes diet modifications and exercises) and drug therapy. The Mediterranean diet has been generally prescribed as the best weight loss approach that’s beneficial for both MetS and depression. But we do have questions arising on how weight loss can have a positive effect on the mind in terms of reducing symptoms of depression. The study below exactly deals with this concern-it uses a subsample of the RESMENA-S study that tries to reduce MetS using a hypocaloric diet for a period of six months. It was generally assumed that the this diet does have a positive effect on depressive symptoms as well and the research team tried to understand the process through which it happens. RESMENA-S Study The study included 93 subjects (52 men and 41 women) aged around 50 years with a BMI around 36 kg/m2 diagnosed with MetS. Six months after following the hypocaloric diet 26 participants were eliminated due to different reasons and 7 of the 67 participants who did complete the study did not finish the Beck Depression Inventories (BDI) and hence, the study was left with not more than 60 participants who were able to complete the BDI in three visits (at baseline, after two months and end of six months). All the participants were put into either of the two groups randomly-control group or the RESMENA diet. All the participants were requested to carry on with their regular physical activity schedules and their performance was measured using a 24-hour physical activity questionnaire at the beginning and end of study. The research team measured serum glucose, total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides and free fatty acids serum concentration. Depression symptoms were analysed thrice over the course of the study (at baseline, after two months and at the end of the study) using a Spanish version of the BDI. A score of ≥10 reflects moderate depressive symptoms. Results Results showed that:
References A Decline in Inflammation is Associated with Less Depressive Symptoms after a Dietary Intervention in Metabolic Syndrome Patients: https://nutritionj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1475-2891-13-36 Systematic Inflammation is Associated with Depressive Symptoms Differentially by Sex and Race: A Longitudinal Study of Urban Adults: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-019-0408-2 |
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