Prefrontal-Parietal White Matter Volumes in Healthy Elderlies Are Decreased in Proportion to the Degree of Cardiovascular Risk and Related to Inhibitory Control Deficits.

Cardiovascular risk (CVR) factors may be associated with poor cognitive functioning in elderlies and impairments in brain structure. Using MRI and voxel-based morphometry (VBM), we assessed regional white matter (WM) volumes in a population-based sample of individuals aged 65-75 years ( = 156), subdivided in three CVR subgroups using the Framingham Risk Score. Cognition was assessed using the Short Cognitive Performance Test.

Framingham Coronary Heart Disease Risk Score Can be Predicted from Structural Brain Images in Elderly Subjects.

Recent literature has presented evidence that cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) play an important role on cognitive performance in elderly individuals, both those who are asymptomatic and those who suffer from symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders. Findings from studies applying neuroimaging methods have increasingly reinforced such notion. Studies addressing the impact of CVRF on brain anatomy changes have gained increasing importance, as recent papers have reported gray matter loss predominantly in regions traditionally affected in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia in the presence of a high degree of cardiovascular risk.

Depression in medical students: cluster symptoms and management.

Background: Rates of depression among medical students have been shown to be high and related to year of study and other factors. We report on cluster of symptoms related to depression and their association with other difficulties in specific domains.

Methods: 481 (Response rate=79.

Cardiovascular risk in cognitively preserved elderlies is associated with glucose hypometabolism in the posterior cingulate cortex and precuneus regardless of brain atrophy and apolipoprotein gene variations.

Cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF) possibly contribute to the emergence of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography (FDG-PET) has been widely used to demonstrate specific patterns of reduced cerebral metabolic rates of glucose (CMRgl) in subjects with AD and in non-demented carriers of the apolipoprotein ε4 (APOE ε4) allele, the major genetic risk factor for AD. However, functional neuroimaging studies investigating the impact of CVRF on cerebral metabolism have been scarce to date.

Does ragging play a role in medical student depression - cause or effect?

Background: Medical students experience a lot of stress what may contribute to symptoms of depression. In this study we set out to look at the environmental factors which may be contributing in one medical school in Brazil.

Methods: We assessed depressive symptoms using Beck's Depression Inventory in 465 and 267 medical students in 2001 and 2006 respectively.

Perceptions of and attitudes toward antidepressants: stigma attached to their use--a review.

The aim of this study was to ascertain whether there is any evidence of stigma related to the use of antidepressants. Using the PubMed and MEDLINE databases, we searched for the terms stigma, antidepressants, and depression. A protocol was developed to extract information from the papers, which were identified and explored further.

Subtle gray matter changes in temporo-parietal cortex associated with cardiovascular risk factors.

Vascular risk factors may play an important role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). While there is consistent evidence of gray matter (GM) abnormalities in earlier stages of AD, the presence of more subtle GM changes associated with vascular risk factors in the absence of clinically significant vascular events has been scarcely investigated. This study aimed to examine GM changes in elderly subjects with cardiovascular risk factors.

Vascular diseases and old age mental disorders: an update of neuroimaging findings.

Purpose Of Review: To review neuroimaging findings that have been reported in samples of patients with cardiovascular disorders and their association with the onset of Alzheimer's disease, vascular dementia, depression and bipolar disorder in the elderly and to highlight the implications of these findings to the knowledge about the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders in old age, as well as their potential clinical implications.

Recent Findings: Vascular risk factors, such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, smoking habits and heart failure, have all been associated with signs of cerebrovascular dysfunction, including structural MRI findings of signal hyperintensities, lacunes and stroke and functional imaging findings of brain regional hypoperfusion and hypometabolism. Such brain abnormalities have been found to increase the risk of onset of psychiatric disorder (depression, bipolar and dementia) in old age.

Cardiac disorders as risk factors for Alzheimer's disease.

Vascular risk factors can play an important role in determining the onset of non-genetic Alzheimer's disease (AD). Most cases of AD are sporadic and late-onset, and a complex interaction between genetic predisposition and vascular risk factors has been proposed. Vascular risk factors for AD include stroke, hypertension, diabetes, homocysteine, smoking, hypercholesterolemia, heart failure and atrial fibrillation; it is possible that these can trigger cerebrovascular dysfunction and AD pathology.

Increased rates of white matter hyperintensities in late-onset bipolar disorder.

Objectives: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have reported an increased frequency of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in association with late-onset (LO) depression, and this has supported the notion that vascular-related mechanisms may be implicated in the pathophysiology of LO mood disorders. Recent clinical studies have also suggested a link between LO bipolar disorder (LO-BD) and cerebrovascular risk factors, but this has been little investigated with neuroimaging techniques. In order to ascertain whether there could be a specific association between WMH and LO-BD, we directly compared WMH rates between LO-BD subjects (illness onset >or= 60 years), early-onset BD subjects (EO-BD, illness onset <60 years), and elderly healthy volunteers.

Hypotension caused by therapeutic doses of venlafaxine: case report and proposed pathophysiological mechanisms.

Although venlafaxine is usually associated with modest increases in blood pressure and not so often clinical hypertension, there are a few reported cases of hypotension related to overdoses of this specific antidepressant. The case study of a young female patient with a history of Major Depressive Disorder who initiated treatment with venlafaxine 75 mg/day and developed hypotension when the dosage was titrated up to 225 mg/day is described. The patient did not present comorbid diseases nor use other medication.