Publications by authors named "Flora Colledge"

Physical activity is a meaningful part of life, which starts before birth and lasts until death. There are many health benefits to be derived from physical activity, hence, regular engagement is recommended on a weekly basis. However, these recommendations are often not met.

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Objectives: Refugees may have an increased risk of developing overweight/obesity as they often experience a nutritional transition. Because maintaining good cardiorespiratory fitness can help reduce the negative impact of excess weight on overall health, the objective of this study was to examine whether fitness moderates the relationship between weight status and cardiovascular and mental health outcomes in forcibly displaced individuals living in a Greek refugee camp.

Methods: A sample of 142 forcibly displaced individuals were recruited.

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Article Synopsis
  • The study aims to explore the connection between exercise addiction (EA) and mental disorders, specifically depression and ADHD, as there are no official diagnostic criteria for EA yet.
  • Researchers surveyed 173 participants who exercised over 10 hours a week, assessing their mental health through various questionnaires while controlling for factors like age and gender.
  • Results indicated that depressive symptoms had a stronger correlation and predictive power for exercise addiction than ADHD symptoms, suggesting that those with depression might be at a higher risk for EA compared to those with ADHD.
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Background: Exercise dependence (ED) is characterised by behavioural and psychological symptoms that resemble those of substance use disorders. However, it remains inconclusive whether ED is accompanied by similar brain alterations as seen in substance use disorders. Therefore, we investigated brain alterations in individuals with ED and inactive control participants.

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Background: The metabolic syndrome epidemic, including in forcibly displaced individuals, requires cost-effective prevention and treatment strategies. Yet, the health needs of forcibly displaced individuals often remain underserved. Our study evaluated the effect of a co-designed exercise and sport intervention on cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic syndrome components among individuals in a refugee camp in Greece and examined the indirect effect through cardiorespiratory fitness on metabolic syndrome components.

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Muscular strength represents a specific component of health-related fitness. Hand grip strength is used as a simple and dynamic marker of maximum voluntary force of the hand and to estimate overall strength. Today, little is known about the relationship between grip strength and health in forcibly displaced populations.

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Background: People at risk of exercise addiction report increased symptoms of psychopathology. The aim of this study was to clinically assess the lifetime prevalence of depressive disorders in individuals at risk of exercise addiction and to determine whether depressive symptoms tend to precede or follow excessive exercising.

Methods: Based on the Exercise Dependence Scale-21, a total of 31 individuals categorized at risk of exercise addiction underwent the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 to assess major depressive disorder (MDD).

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Background: Forcibly displaced people face various challenges and are therefore at higher risk of being affected by mental and physiological distress. The present study aimed to determine levels of psychological well-being, PTSD symptom severity, metabolic syndrome, and associated factors among forcibly displaced people in Greece in response to WHO's call for evidence-based public health policies and programs for forcibly displaced people.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among  = 150 (50% women) forcibly displaced people originating from Sub-Sahara Africa and Southwest Asia living in a Greek refugee camp.

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The term "exercise addiction" has been used in the scientific literature since the late 1970s. It is used to refer to persistent excessive exercise despite negative physical, psychological and social consequences, with unsuccessful attempts to reduce or stop the behavior. In this article, the evidence for exercise addiction as a behavioral addiction is presented.

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Background: Exercise addiction is increasingly being recognized as a psychologically and physically burdensome set of symptoms. However, little is known about the psychiatric profiles of individuals who are at risk. It is well-established that individuals affected by substance use disorders frequently suffer from depression, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and experiences of childhood trauma.

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Coronary artery disease (CAD) remains the leading cause of death worldwide. Expanding patients' metabolic phenotyping beyond clinical chemistry investigations could lead to earlier recognition of disease onset and better prevention strategies. Additionally, metabolic phenotyping, at the molecular species level, contributes to unravel the roles of metabolites in disease development.

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Exercise addiction has not yet been designated as an addictive disorder in the DSM-5 due to a lack of detailed research. In particular, associations with other psychiatric diagnoses have received little attention. In this study, individuals with a possible exercise addiction are clinically assessed, in order to establish a profile of co-occurring psychiatric disorders in individuals with exercise addiction.

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Background: Due to ongoing political and social conflicts, the number of international refugees has been increasing. Refugees are exposed to severe mental and physical strain, as well as traumatic experiences during their flight. Therefore, the risk of psychiatric disorders is markedly increased among international refugees.

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Cardiometabolic diseases (CMD) represent a growing socioeconomic burden and concern for healthcare systems worldwide. Improving patients' metabolic phenotyping in clinical practice will enable clinicians to better tailor prevention and treatment strategy to individual needs. Recently, elevated levels of specific lipid species, known as ceramides, were shown to predict cardiometabolic outcomes beyond traditional biomarkers such as cholesterol.

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Article Synopsis
  • Overtraining syndrome (OTS) is a condition where excessive training leads to long-term performance decline, primarily due to an imbalance between training load and recovery.
  • The objective of this study was to review potential biomarkers and tools for diagnosing OTS, as there is no definitive diagnostic test available.
  • After analyzing various studies, 39 were identified as eligible, highlighting three diagnostic scores and multiple biomarkers, including hormone levels and psychological assessments, that could aid in diagnosing OTS.
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As ageing is a major risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases, extending healthspan has become a medical and societal necessity. Precise lipid phenotyping that captures metabolic individuality could support healthspan extension strategies. This study applied 'omic-scale lipid profiling to characterise sex-specific age-related differences in the serum lipidome composition of healthy humans.

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Introduction: Exercise addiction is one of several behavioral addictions which has not yet been designated as an addictive disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 (DSM-5). This is in part due to a lack of clarity concerning co-occurring mental disorders of individuals at risk for exercise addiction. The aim of this review is to summarise the spectrum of psychopathology in populations at risk of exercise addiction.

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While a number of studies have reported on individuals who exercise excessively, and feel unable to stop despite negative consequences, there is still insufficient evidence to categorize exercise as an addictive disorder. The aim of this meta-review is to summarize the published articles and to compile a list of symptoms reported in the qualitative literature in conjunction with excessive exercise. This list is compared with the DSM-5 criteria for gambling disorder, and initial diagnostic criteria for exercise addiction are suggested.

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Background: High psychosocial stress can impair executive function in adolescents, whereas acute exercise has been reported to benefit this cognitive domain. The aim of this study was to investigate whether an acute bout of aerobic exercise improves the inhibitory aspect of executive function and the associated dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) oxygenation when under stress.

Methods: Sixty male high school students aged 16-20 years performed a Stroop task (baseline condition) and were randomly assigned to an exercise group (30 min on ergometer at 70% of maximum heart rate) and a control group (30 min of reading).

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Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a worldwide health concern related to cardiovascular disease. Stress at work increases the risk for MetS, whereas physical activity and cardiorespiratory fitness (CF) have been shown to be potential buffers against stress. The aim of this study was to test the stress-buffering effects of physical activity and CF on the relationship between work stress and MetS.

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High levels of cardiorespiratory fitness have the potential to buffer against physical and mental health impairments, which can result from exposure to occupational stress. Police officers are especially at risk of high psychosocial stress; therefore, effective intervention strategies are warranted. Given this background, the purpose of the present study was to examine whether police officers with different levels of cardiorespiratory fitness differ with regard to their (a) physiological stress reactivity during acute real-life stress situations, and (b) physiological recovery related to acute and chronic work stress.

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Psychosocial stress has negative effects on cognition in adolescents. The aim of this study was to investigate whether physical exercise can buffer such effects on inhibitory control and associated cortical brain areas. Forty-two male high school students aged 16-20 years and with either low or high exercise levels performed a Stroop task under stress-free conditions and after the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST).

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Purpose: Whereas there is compelling evidence for an association between cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and executive function and attention, its relation with social cognition has not been investigated yet. However, social cognition is linked with mental health and career success in jobs with high demands on social interaction. The present study aims to examine the association between CRF and the facial emotion recognition aspect of social cognition in police officers.

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Physical activity is associated with a favourable (blunted) cortisol stress reactivity in healthy people. However, evidence from experimental study and with psychiatric patients is missing. This study examines whether exercise training impacts on cortisol stress reactivity in inpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD).

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Background: While exercise and physical activity are important parts of a healthy life, there is evidence that some individuals exercise to a degree which may jeopardize their health. These individuals may in some cases be exercising to lose weight or compensate binge eating episodes as part of an eating disorder. Others may experience an addiction-like relationship with exercise.

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