Artificial Intelligence and medical specialties: support or substitution?

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare has spurred extensive debate regarding its potential to replace human expertise across various medical specialties. This narrative review critically examines the integration of AI within diverse medical specialties to discern its role as a substitute or supporter. The analysis encompasses AI's impact on diagnostic precision, treatment planning, and patient care.

Mental Disorders, Social Media Addiction, and Academic Performance in Romanian Undergraduate Nursing Students.

: We aimed to evaluate social media addiction in Romanian undergraduate nursing students and its association with academic performance, depression, and anxiety. We used a cross-sectional online survey to collect data among nursing undergraduate students enrolled at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Iuliu Hatieganu", Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The Social Media Addiction Scale-Student Form (SMAS-SF), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) were used to assess social media addiction, depression, and anxiety, respectively.

Coping Strategies and Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Narrative Review.

: Coping strategies play a crucial role in managing inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), influencing both health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and psychological well-being. This study systematically reviews the available literature to analyze coping mechanisms in IBD populations and their impact. : Relevant English-language studies published until 2023 were identified through a comprehensive search of PubMed, EMBASE, EBSCOhost, and Cochrane Library.

Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Resilience.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a disorder of the gut-brain interaction (DGBI), characterized, mainly in severe cases, by altered psychological stress reactivity, psychological disorders, and dysfunction of the brain-gut-microbiota axis. Prior studies have highlighted significant physical and emotional impairments in the health-related quality of life of patients with IBS. Resilience is a psychosocial ability that reduces negative emotions while enhancing adaptation to adversities.

Burnout among hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic: Longitudinal results from the international Cope-Corona survey study.

Objective: Long-term changes in burnout and its predictors in hospital staff during the COVID-19 pandemic were investigated in an international study.

Methods: Two online surveys were distributed to hospital staff in seven countries (Germany, Andorra, Ireland, Spain, Italy, Romania, Iran) between May and October 2020 (T1) and between February and April 2021 (T2), using the following variables: Burnout (emotional exhaustion and depersonalization), job function, age, gender, and contact with COVID-19 patients; individual resources (self-compassion, sense of coherence, social support) and work-related resources and demands (support at the workplace, risk perception, health and safety at the workplace, altruistic acceptance of risk). Data were analyzed using linear mixed models repeated measures, controlled for age.

Anxiety and Depression in Metabolic-Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease and Cardiovascular Risk.

(1) Background: The relationship between anxiety and depression in metabolic-dysfunction-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) and cardiovascular (CV) risk remains uncertain. Therefore, we aimed to assess whether anxiety and depression are associated with increased CV risk in MAFLD. (2) Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study involving 77 subjects (39 MAFLD patients, 38 controls), between January and September 2020.

Supragastric belching: Pathogenesis, diagnostic issues and treatment.

Belching is defined as an audible escape of air from the esophagus or the stomach into the pharynx. It becomes pathologic if it is excessive and becomes bothersome. According to Rome IV diagnostic criteria, there is a belching disorder when one experiences bothersome belching (severe enough to impact on usual activities) more than 3 days a week.

Neuromodulators in the Brain-Gut Axis: their Role in the Therapy of the Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a clinically well-defined chronic condition that is now understood as a disorder of gut-brain regulation, as established in the work of the Rome IV committees coordinated by Drossman, 2016. People with IBS often report high disability levels and poor health-related quality of life. Drug therapy focuses on reducing main symptoms and disability and improving health-related quality of life.

Coping Strategies and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Systematic Review.

Background And Aims: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is associated with a high prevalence of psychiatric comorbidities. While psychosocial determinants were intently studied, coping strategies with stress used by IBS patients were never comprehensively reviewed. Therefore, this systematic review aimed to summarize the coping strategies used by IBS patients and to identify which tools are frequently used to measure coping strategies.

Disorders of the brain-gut interaction and eating disorders.

Background: Eating disorders (ED) involve both the nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract. A similar double involvement is also found in disorders of the brain-gut interaction (DGBI) and symptoms are sometimes similar.

Aim: To find out where there is an association and a cause-effect relationship, we looked for the comorbidity of DGBI and ED.

Behavioral outputs of negative symptom domains of schizophrenia.

The present study aimed to validate the hypothesis that negative symptoms of schizophrenia encompass two domains, namely avolition-apathy (AA) and diminished expression (DE), and to investigate the relationship of these domains with behavioral outputs which imply hedonic activities: Cigarette use and weight gain. A total of 106 consecutive schizophrenia outpatients with primary negative symptoms were evaluated using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS), the Negative Symptoms Assessment Scale (NSA-16), the Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS), and the Simpson-Angus Scale (SAS). A semi-structured interview was used to assess demographic features, the number of cigarettes smoked per day, and body mass index.

Romanian Guidelines for Nonpharmacological Therapy of IBS.

Background And Aims: The nonpharmacological therapy in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is expanding rapidly. Practitioners and medical educators need to be aware of progress and changes in knowledge of this topic. The Romanian Society of Neurogastroenterology aimed to create guidelines based on best evidence on the use of nonpharmacological therapy in IBS.

Current perspectives in treating negative symptoms of schizophrenia: A narrative review (Review).

The negative symptoms of schizophrenia are an unmet treatment target as currently approved treatments mostly control positive symptoms. The persistence of these symptoms holds back the patient's reinstatement in society, making them incapable of fulfilling their social, professional, or family roles. There is overwhelming research evidence suggesting that the negative symptoms of schizophrenia are associated with poorer functioning and lower quality of life than positive symptoms, confirming the need for developing new treatments for this particular category of symptoms.

Eosinophilic Esophagitis: Diagnosis and Current Management.

Eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) is an eosinophil-rich, Th2 antigen-mediated disease of increasing worldwide prevalence. Originally considered common in children and young adults, it can be seen at any age, with the highest prevalence between 30 and 40 years. Symptoms reflect esophageal dysfunction, and typical endoscopic pictures consist of rings, furrows, exudates and edema.

Anger Mediates the Relationship between Pain and Depression in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.

Background And Aims: Anger has been linked to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), but the mechanism underlying this relationship is still unknown. This cross-sectional study explores the possibility that anger mediates the relationship between pain severity and depression in IBS patients.

Methods: The sample included 70 consecutively evaluated patients who met Rome III criteria for IBS diagnosis and 55 healthy controls.

Coping strategies and irrational beliefs as mediators of the health-related quality of life impairments in irritable bowel syndrome.

Background & Aims: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a chronic and disabling gastrointestinal disorder. Although considerable research has underlined the influence of coping mechanisms as the determinants of the quality of life (QOL), only limited data are available regarding the specific coping mechanisms used by IBS patients to manage illness in daily life. Irrational cognitions are known to emerge in stressful situations such as chronic diseases, and it has been proposed to have implications in the QOL.

The relationship between irritable bowel syndrome and psychiatric disorders: from molecular changes to clinical manifestations.

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a functional syndrome characterized by chronic abdominal pain accompanied by altered bowel habits. Although generally considered a functional disorder, there is now substantial evidence that IBS is associated with a poor quality of life and significant negative impact on work and social domains. Neuroimaging studies documented changes in the prefrontal cortex, ventro-lateral and posterior parietal cortex and thalami, and implicate alteration of brain circuits involved in attention, emotion and pain modulation.

Experience of anger in patients with irritable bowel syndrome in Romania.

Background And Aims: Anger is strongly associated with the coping style, personality, interpersonal conflicts and quality of life. Increased research is being focused on the negative impact of anger on irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Certain psychological areas such as anger have not been investigated in Romanian patients.

Biopsychosocial Approach of Gastrointestinal Disorders.

Gastrointestinal disorders represent are conditions frequently seen in primary care, usually associated with a poor quality of life, entailing increased direct and indirect costs. Disorders of the digestive tract frequently coexist with psychological impairment. Even in early times scientists were concerned about the influence of the mind over body, and that there are many theories that explain the interaction between psychological factors and the physical status.

ZNF804A rs1344706 variant and schizophrenia in a Romanian population from Cluj Napoca.

The ZNF804A rs1344706 variant was the first risk factor to be identified through genome-wide association studies and follow-up studies with meta-analysis for schizophrenia as well as bipolar disorders; we investigated 231 schizophrenia and 222 controls to see whether this particular variant was associated with schizophrenia in a Romanian population from Cluj Napoca. Clearly, there was no association between the ZNF804A rs1344706 variant and schizophrenia. Our study provides evidence for those that found no association with schizophrenia.