Body iron is associated with cognitive executive planning function in college women.

Evidence of the relationship between altered cognitive function and depleted Fe status is accumulating in women of reproductive age but the degree of Fe deficiency associated with negative neuropsychological outcomes needs to be delineated. Data are limited regarding this relationship in university women in whom optimal cognitive function is critical to academic success. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between body Fe, in the absence of Fe-deficiency anaemia, and neuropsychological function in young college women.

Are dieting-related cognitive impairments a function of iron status?

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the impairments in cognitive function observed in unsupported dieting are related to compromised Fe status. During a non-clinical intervention, overweight participants (age: 18-45 years, BMI: 25-30 kg/m²) either participated in a commercially available weight-loss regimen (n 14), dieted without support (n 17) or acted as a non-dieting control group (n 14) for a period of 8 weeks. Measurements of cognitive function and blood chemistry were taken at a pre-diet baseline, after 1 week and 8 weeks of dieting.

Pre-existent expectancy effects in the relationship between caffeine and performance.

The present study investigated the impact of pre-existent expectancy regarding the effects of the caffeine load of a drink and the perception of the caffeine content on subjective mood and vigilance performance. Caffeine deprived participants (N=25) were tested in four conditions (within subjects design), using a 2×2 design, with caffeine load and information regarding the caffeine content of the drink. In two sessions, they were given caffeinated coffee and in two were given decaffeinated coffee.

Decreased lung function in female but not male subjects with established cystic fibrosis-related diabetes.

Objective: Although cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) is associated with decreased lung function, sex is not known to influence CFRD. However, compared with male subjects with cystic fibrosis, female subjects with cystic fibrosis have increased morbidity. This study examines the association between female subjects with CFRD and poor lung function relative to male subjects using the percent predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV(1)) as a surrogate measure of morbidity.

Comparative analysis of Cystic Fibrosis Registry data from the UK with USA, France and Australasia.

Background: Using the UK Cystic Fibrosis Database, we analysed the health of the UK CF paediatric population (UKPP) in terms of their biographical, clinical and infection status and compared outcomes with the US, French and Australasian CF Registries.

Methods: UKPP data were collected for 2,673 patients aged less than 18 years in 2001 and used as a reference base for comparison with the most recent equivalent CF Registry reports.

Results: Although differences exist between National CF Registries, all record similar demographic factors and key outcomes.

Weight loss strategies, stress, and cognitive function: supervised versus unsupervised dieting.

The early stages of dieting to lose weight have been associated with neuro-psychological impairments. Previous work has not elucidated whether these impairments are a function solely of unsupported or supported dieting. Raised cortico-steroid levels have been implicated as a possible causal mechanism.

Impairments in working memory associated with naturalistic dieting in women: no relationship between task performance and urinary 5-HIAA levels.

The present study investigated the question of whether the previously observed impairments of working memory characteristic of dieting to lose weight can be explained in terms of preoccupying cognitions relating to body shape or to alterations in serotonergic function resulting from a low dietary intake of tryptophan. The population comprised female non-dieting, lower restrained eaters (N=23), non-dieting higher restrained eaters (N=11) and current dieters (N=19). Each participant completed three tasks, each of which selectively loaded on to a different sub-component of working memory.

A demonstration of attentional bias, using a novel dual task paradigm, towards clinically salient material in recovering alcohol abuse patients?

Background: This study examined whether alcohol abuse patients are characterized either by enhanced schematic processing of alcohol related cues or by an attentional bias towards the processing of alcohol cues.

Method: Abstinent alcohol abusers (N = 25) and non-clinical control participants (N = 24) performed a dual task paradigm in which they had to make an odd/even decision to a centrally presented number while performing a peripherally presented lexical decision task. Stimuli on the lexical decision task comprised alcohol words, neutral words and non-words.

Demographics of the UK cystic fibrosis population: implications for neonatal screening.

The objective was to determine the composition of the Cystic Fibrosis (CF) Population attending specialist UK CF centres in terms of age, gender, age at diagnosis, genotype and ethnicity. With the planned introduction of the national CF screening programme in the UK, cystic fibrosis transmembrane regulator (CFTR) mutations were compared between different ethnic groups enabling a UK-specific frequency of mutations to be defined. Data were analysed from the patient biographies held in the UK CF Database (see www.

Nutritional influences on cognitive function: mechanisms of susceptibility.

The impact of nutritional variation, within populations not overtly malnourished, on cognitive function and arousal is considered. The emphasis is on susceptibility to acute effects of meals and glucose loads, and chronic effects of dieting, on mental performance, and effects of cholesterol and vitamin levels on cognitive impairment. New developments in understanding dietary influences on neurohormonal systems, and their implications for cognition and affect, allow reinterpretation of both earlier and recent findings.