Findings of Long-Term Depression Up to 8 Years Post Infection From West Nile Virus.

Findings of Long-Term Depression up to 8 Years Post Infection From West Nile Virus.

J Clin Psychol. 2012 Jul; 68(7): 801-8
Nolan MS, Hause AM, Murray KO

To examine the psychological sequelae following West Nile virus (WNV) infection among a large cohort of participants over an 8-year period.We conducted a longitudinal study to assess mental health outcomes among a cohort of 171 WNV-positive participants in Houston, Texas.We found 35% of participants met the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale definition for new onset clinical depression. Multivariate analysis found that severe depression was significantly associated with gender and physical disability (Barthel index score <100) at 5 years post-WNV infection.Practitioners should be aware of depression as a possible outcome in patients who were infected with WNV and include this as a part of their routine assessment. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Clin. Psychol. 68:801-808, 2012. HubMed – depression

Ethnic Identity and Mental Health in American Indian Youth: Examining Mediation Pathways Through Self-esteem, and Future Optimism.

J Youth Adolesc. 2013 Aug 9;
Smokowski PR, Evans CB, Cotter KL, Webber KC

Mental health functioning in American Indian youth is an understudied topic. Given the increased rates of depression and anxiety in this population, further research is needed. Using multiple group structural equation modeling, the current study illuminates the effect of ethnic identity on anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and externalizing behavior in a group of Lumbee adolescents and a group of Caucasian, African American, and Latino/Hispanic adolescents. This study examined two possible pathways (i.e., future optimism and self-esteem) through which ethnic identity is associated with adolescent mental health. The sample (N = 4,714) is 28.53 % American Indian (Lumbee) and 51.38 % female. The study findings indicate that self-esteem significantly mediated the relationships between ethnic identity and anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and externalizing behavior for all racial/ethnic groups (i.e., the total sample). Future optimism significantly mediated the relationship between ethnic identity and externalizing behavior for all racial/ethnic groups and was a significant mediator between ethnic identity and depressive symptoms for American Indian youth only. Fostering ethnic identity in all youth serves to enhance mental health functioning, but is especially important for American Indian youth due to the collective nature of their culture. HubMed – depression

A single-blind randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of 6 months of progressive aerobic exercise training in patients with uraemic restless legs syndrome.

Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2013 Aug 8;
Giannaki CD, Hadjigeorgiou GM, Karatzaferi C, Maridaki MD, Koutedakis Y, Founta P, Tsianas N, Stefanidis I, Sakkas GK

Uraemic restless legs syndrome (RLS) affects a significant proportion of patients receiving haemodialysis (HD) therapy. Exercise training has been shown to improve RLS symptoms in uraemic RLS patients; however, the mechanism of exercise-induced changes in RLS severity is still unknown. The aim of the current randomized controlled exercise trial was to investigate whether the reduction of RLS severity, often seen after training, is due to expected systemic exercise adaptations or it is mainly due to the relief that leg movements confer during exercise training on a cycle ergometer. This is the first randomized controlled exercise study in uraemic RLS patients.Twenty-four RLS HD patients were randomly assigned to two groups: the progressive exercise training group (n = 12) and the control exercise with no resistance group (n = 12). The exercise session in both groups included intradialytic cycling for 45 min at 50 rpm. However, only in the progressive exercise training group was resistance applied, at 60-65% of maximum exercise capacity, which was reassessed every 4 weeks to account for the patients’ improvement. The severity of RLS symptoms was evaluated using the IRLSSG severity scale, functional capacity by a battery of tests, while sleep quality, depression levels and daily sleepiness status were assessed via validated questionnaires, before and after the intervention period.All patients completed the exercise programme with no adverse effects. RLS symptom severity declined by 58% (P = 0.003) in the progressive exercise training group, while a no statistically significant decline was observed in the control group (17% change, P = 0.124). Exercise training was also effective in terms of improving functional capacity (P = 0.04), sleep quality (P = 0.038) and depression score (P = 0.000) in HD patients, while no significant changes were observed in the control group. After 6 months of the intervention, RLS severity (P = 0.017), depression score (P = 0.002) and daily sleepiness status (P = 0.05) appeared to be significantly better in the progressive exercise group compared with the control group.A 6-month intradialytic progressive exercise training programme appears to be a safe and effective approach in reducing RLS symptom severity in HD patients. It seems that exercise-induced adaptations to the whole body are mostly responsible for the reduction in RLS severity score, since the exercise with no applied resistance protocol failed to improve the RLS severity status of the patients.NCT00942253. HubMed – depression