Human Urban Net News
What's New with My Site?
Seasonal Affective Disorder
condition in which people experience episodes of depression that typically begin each fall or winter and lift in the spring. In some cases, people rebounding from winter depression veer to the opposite mood extreme and experience mania. Bipolar disorder, characterized by mood swings between depression and mania, may also follow a seasonal pattern.
The prevalence of seasonal affective disorder varies by latitude, with occurrences increasing at higher latitudes. Thus in North America, the disorder is much more common in Canada, where it affects nearly 10 percent of people, than in Florida, where it affects 1 to 2 percent of people. Many other people experience milder seasonal changes in their mood, sleep habits, weight, energy level, and social activity. Seasonal affective disorder accounts for 5 to 10 percent of cases of major depression (severe depression). Young people have a higher risk of developing the disorder than older people, and women have a higher risk than men.
Symptoms People with seasonal affective disorder usually experience their first episode of depression in their 20s or 30s. Like all depressed people, they feel either intensely unhappy or profoundly indifferent to people, work, and activities that once brought them pleasure. They think slowly and have poor concentration. Those with severe depression may complain of feeling incompetent or immoral and may behave in irrational and bizarre ways. People with the winter form of seasonal affective disorder usually have an increased appetite, weight gain, and a craving for foods high in carbohydrates, including chocolate or other sweets. They sleep many more hours than normal and become sluggish and socially withdrawn. People with the summer form of seasonal affective disorder often have a decreased appetite with weight loss, sleep fewer hours than normal, wake up depressed, and feel restless and fidgety.
Causes Seasonal affective disorder appears to result from lack of sufficient light. Research shows that depression more frequently affects people living in low-light conditions. For example, people living at higher latitudes, where winter days are dark and short, have higher rates of the disorder than those living at lower latitudes. In addition, increased exposure to light often helps people with seasonal affective disorder, but not those with other forms of depression.
High Plasma Osteopontin Level Associated With Stomach Cancer
|
By Martha Kerr
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Jun 11 - An elevated plasma osteopontin level is significantly associated with gastric cancer development and poor survival, Taiwanese researchers report in the June issue of the journal Gut.
Osteopontin levels have been linked to a number of malignancies, note Dr. Jaw-Town Lin and colleagues at National Taiwan University Hospital in Taipei, and they investigated whether or not there was a link with gastric cancer.
Using reverse polymerase chain reaction and immunohistological staining, the researchers measured plasma osteopontin expression in 11 gastric cancer specimens.
"Expression of osteopontin mRNA was significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues compared with nontumour tissues," Dr. Lin's team reports.
The team also analyzed plasma osteopontin levels in 132 patients with gastric cancer and 93 healthy controls, and found the median level was significantly higher in patients than controls.
"Osteopontin is not only a marker, but also an upstream molecule of the osteopontin-uPA-MMPs signal transduction pathway, which plays an essential role in gastric cancer invasion," Dr. Lin told Reuters Health. "In in vitro studies, osteopontin induces gastric cancer cell invasion."
Furthermore, high osteopontin levels were significantly associated with advanced stages, lymph node involvement, and liver metastasis.
Specifically, at a cutoff value 67.3 ng/mL, plasma osteopontin has a sensitivity of 58.3% and a specificity of 69.9% for detection of gastric cancer, Dr. Lin said. For detection of gastric cancer lymph node metastasis, osteopontin has a sensitivity of 65.1% and a specificity of 65.3% at a cutoff value of 73.0 ng/mL, and for gastric cancer liver metastasis, it has a sensitivity of 87.5% and a specificity of 83.1% at a cutoff value of 111.2 ng/mL.
"We are conducting research in community populations and in patients with precancerous lesions (atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia) and other high risk populations to test the diagnostic value of osteopontin in the different development stages of gastric cancer," Dr. Lin added.
Gut 2007;56:782-789.
What's New with My Subject?
Human Urban Net: Psycho-sociological approach
"Facing Trauma" for 2006 year(Draft / Curricula)
Description of Problem:
Meetings with the representatives of the Governments of the former Republic of Yugoslavia
(FRY) and have Serbia, with the Commissioner for Refugees of FRY/Serbia and Montenegro and
, with representative Professionals of the Faculty of Psychology in Belgrade and of the Institute for Mental Health, with officials of the WHO and of the Cooperazione Italiana in Belgrade have underlined the
following important notes to be taken as guidelines for future actions.
According to the National Commission for Mental Health in Serbia and Montenegro, which
considers mental health a national capital, prevalent mental health issues in Serbia are:
- Depression - main cause of global invalidity
- Alcoholism
- Schizophrenia
- Epilepsy
- Alzheimer's disease
- Suicide
- 25% of the population is effected by some for of mental ailment
- Social and economic burdens of mental diseases or related health problems
The consequences of so many years of stress have been:
- Increased number of mental problems - 271.944 in 1999 - 309.282 in 2002 - 13,5%
- Mental health problems are the second biggest Serbian national health issue
- Increased morbidity and mortality
- Increased stress related diseases - PTSD
- Depression
- Alcohol and drug addiction
- Suicide
- Psychosomatic diseases
- Lower quality of life
- Burnout syndrome - health care professionals included
- Worse mental health
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) has been found in:
- 29% of refugees
- 56% of sexually abused women
- 75% of victims of torture
- 11% of the healthy population
1. KEY PRINCIPLES IN PROPOSED PROJECT APPROACH:
- 1. Capacity building and related networking;
- 2. Setting the model; From individual to collective experience;
- 3. Cultural sensitivity and community based approach;
- 4. Strengthening a Psychotraumatology Group and Network of relevant psychosocial professional;
- 5. Reducing risks of negative evolution and the trauma becoming chronic of;
- 6. Reducing family violence and negative transgeneration coping mechanism
It is created new profile of specialist and psychosocial practitioner for new era - post conflict period in Serbia who would be able to respond on stress and trauma demand, as the most frequent disorder of present moment.
Human Urban Net-Belgrade, executive director, sociologist-researcher M.A., Evica Busarac is diploma certificated Tavistock Institute Psychosocial counselor. Such Diploma for Psychosocial counseling for trauma is for the first time supported by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policies of the Republic of Serbia, The World Health
2. Overall Objective: Enhance local capacity in Belgrade to respond to the populations psychosocial problems and needs, specifically with respect to psychological traumas engendered by the recent conflict and the subsequent forced mass displacement/exile, through encouraging collective discussion/elaboration of the exile/displacement experience and related traumas, mainly among the young population, as well as secondary traumatized
3.Specific Objective: Description of project:
- - The course will set up in five stages - modules, based on a participatory methodology;
- - Practice the most appropriate and sustainable curricula through the development of didactic modules; Strong emphasis is placed on practical workshop
- - Use of unique unverbal tehnic and theatre among all forms of creative communication, because the theatre, thanks to its performative nature, has its natural outcome in social communication; "movement, gestures, exercises and theatrical training devices, are usefull as catalysts in the process" as well as "theatrical laboratory is a complex of aesthetic, ritual, formative and psychosocial experiences" (Losi),.
- - Developing extra-curricula multidisciplinary set of "training of trainers",
- - Sensitizing the target population on the possibility of accessing, and indeed the availability of, appropriate services by those in need of psychological support
- - Project aims at identifying the immediate needs of communities and individuals and, under close supervision, will provide a first intervention, as well as deliver lectures, didactical and practical knowledge
- - Also the more theoretical activities will entail a very practical section of course work based on extended periods of net-working of vulnerable group associations / NGOs throughout Belgrade's Municipalities;
- - Preventing negative outcomes and long-term consequences of traumatic events.
Strong preventive of family violence, relieve a pressure among the young, and society.
(Part of project proposal about PS Counsel )
We would create a strong partnership between :
- Institutional services for mental health
- Social services
- Focal point for Psychosocial councelling
Best Regards,
HUM-Human Urban Net
Mrs. Evica Busarac
Psychosocial counselling PTSD
Sociologist Belgrade Un. B.A.
Sociology of civilisation M.A. Sorbonne
