ED Management of Patients With Eating Disorders.

ED management of patients with eating disorders.

Am J Emerg Med. 2013 Apr 23;
Trent SA, Moreira ME, Colwell CB, Mehler PS

BACKGROUND: Eating disorders are one of the “great masqueraders” of the twenty-first century. Seemingly healthy young men and women with underlying eating disorders present to emergency departments with a myriad of complaints that are not unique to patients with eating disorders. The challenge for the Emergency Medicine physician is in recognizing that these complaints result from an eating disorder and then understanding the unique pathophysiologic changes inherent to these disorders that should shape management in the emergency department. OBJECTIVE: In this article, we will review, from the perspective of the Emergency Medicine physician, how to recognize patients with anorexia and bulimia nervosa, the medical complications and psychiatric comorbidities, and their appropriate management. CONCLUSIONS: Anorexia and bulimia nervosa are complex psychiatric disorders with significant medical complications. Recognizing patients with eating disorders in the ED is difficult, but failure to recognize these disorders, or failure to manage their symptoms with an understanding of their unique underlying pathophysiology and psychopathology, can be detrimental to the patient. Screening tools, such as the SCOFF questionnaire, are available for use by the EM physician. Once identified, the medical complications described in this article can help the EM physician tailor management of the patient to their underlying pathophysiology and effectuate a successful therapeutic intervention. HubMed – eating

Contextual factors associated with sexual behavior among Brazilian adolescents.

Ann Epidemiol. 2013 Apr 23;
Oliveira-Campos M, Giatti L, Malta D, Barreto SM

PURPOSE: There are few studies about the influence of the context on sexual behavior among adolescents in developing countries, such as Brazil. Adolescent pregnancy and the high incidence of sexually transmitted disease (STDs) among Brazilian youngsters are a public health problem. The object of this study was to investigate whether factors from family and school contexts are associated with sexual behavior among Brazilian adolescents. METHODS: This study used data from 60,973 adolescent participants in the National Survey of School Health. The response variable was sexual behavior, described in three categories (never had sexual intercourse, had protected sexual intercourse, had unprotected sexual intercourse). The explanatory variables were grouped into sociodemographic characteristics, number of risk behavior factors (regular use of alcohol, smoking, and experimenting with illicit drugs), and family and school context. Variables associated with having protected and unprotected sexual relations in each context were identified by means of multinomial logistic regression. The reference was “never had sexual intercourse.” RESULTS: Approximately one fourth of adolescents have already had sexual intercourse, most frequently boys. Among the adolescents who declared sexual initiation, the most part had their first sexual relation with age of 13 years or younger. Almost 21% did not use protection the last time they had sex. The greater the number of risk factors involved, the higher the incidence of protected and unprotected sex. In the family context, living with only one or with neither parent and low parental supervision increased the frequency of protected and unprotected sex. Never eating meals with the parents augmented the incidence of unprotected sex (odds ratio [OR], 1.60). In the school context, students from private schools were less likely to have had protected and unprotected sex (OR, 0.58 and 0.68). Not receiving instructions at school about pregnancy prevention increased the frequency of protected and unprotected sex (OR, 1.33 and 1.74, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Family and school context factors are associated with sexual behavior. These associations are generally stronger for unprotected sex. Information about the prevention of pregnancy and STDs/AIDS has to be disseminated very early owing to the young age of sexual initiation. HubMed – eating

Analysis of patients’ needs after liver transplantation in tuscany: a prevalence study.

Transplant Proc. 2013 Apr; 45(3): 1276-8
Stiavetti E, Ghinolfi D, Pasetti P, Bocchi F, Filipponi F

The reorganization of the healthcare system in Tuscany aims at characterizing the hospitals as a place for the treatment of acute patients. This event, together with the improvement of long-term survival after orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT), calls for a management network able to ensure effective continuity of care for patient needs in the posttransplantation period.An observational study of prevalence has been carried out with the primary objective to evaluate patients’ needs and criticalities both in routine daily life and in urgency in the posttransplantation period and the capacity of the regional health system to support them. A survey, using a semi-structured questionnaire consisting of 27 questions, was administered to all patients resident in Tuscany who underwent transplantation from 2000 to 2010. The survey tool assessed the following: socio-demographic data, personal, family and social difficulties, problems emerged in the clinical routine and urgency, resolution modality, relationships with the general practitioner and the referral specialist, and services the patients would appreciate receiving in their province of residence.In the study, 346 patients matched the inclusion criteria of the study, 324 gave telephone consent to participate in the survey, and 225 responded (69.4%). The most frequent difficulties were as follows: depression (39.5%), difficulty in returning to work (29.3%), low income (22.6%), lack of self-sufficiency (22.6%), addictions (19.1%) (cigarette smoking 16.4%), 12.4% eating disorders, and 18.9% other difficulties (social isolation, absence of a family network, and so on). The main reasons for dissatisfaction were as follows: difficulty to obtain the required laboratory tests and lack of a reference structure at the local health facility. Few patients have a referral specialists in their area and most of them primarily refer to the Transplant Center even late after the procedure.Early diagnosis of specific conditions (depression, addiction, and eating disorders) should be implemented in the follow-up period and services such as counselling, dietary support, rehabilitation, and social services should be provided locally. An integrated management system between the transplantation center and the local facilities (hospitals, general practitioners, primary care, and laboratories) should be implemented and referral specialized centers should be identified locally. HubMed – eating

Perceived Importance of Dietary Protein to Prevent Weight Gain: A National Survey among Midlife Women.

J Nutr Educ Behav. 2013 May-Jun; 45(3): 213-21
Aldrich ND, Perry C, Thomas W, Raatz SK, Reicks M

Evaluate reported use of the practice of “eating more protein” to prevent weight gain among midlife women.Cross-sectional national survey.One thousand eight hundred twenty-four midlife women (40-60 y) from the 9 United States geographic regions, primarily married (71%), white (76%), and well educated; half were premenopausal (49%).Frequency of dietary practices to prevent weight gain, Weight Efficacy Lifestyle score, self-reported weight change and body mass index over the past 2 years, and current protein intake.Linear regression models determined associations between weight change, protein intake, and reported use of the practice of “eating more protein” to prevent weight gain.Most women correctly identified good protein sources, and the majority could indicate the daily percent dietary energy recommended from protein. “Eating more protein” to prevent weight gain was reported by 43% of women as a practice to prevent weight gain and was associated with weight loss over a 2-year period and with increased percent energy from protein.Reported use of the practice of “eating more protein” was associated with weight loss over 2 years. Education regarding dietary protein requirements may enhance the use of this practice. HubMed – eating

The neuropsychology of the Klüver-Bucy syndrome in children.

Handb Clin Neurol. 2013; 112: 1285-8
Lippe S, Gonin-Flambois C, Jambaqué I

The Klüver-Bucy syndrome (KBS) is characterized by a number of peculiar behavioral symptoms. The syndrome was first observed in 1939 by Heinrich Klüver and Paul Bucy in the rhesus monkey following removal of the greater portion of the monkey’s temporal lobes and rhinencephalon. The animal showed (a) visual agnosia (inability to recognize objects without general loss of visual discrimination), (b) excessive oral tendency (oral exploration of objects), (c) hypermetamorphosis (excessive visual attentiveness), (d) placidity with loss of normal fear and anger responses, (e) altered sexual behavior manifesting mainly as marked and indiscriminate hypersexuality, and (f) changes in eating behavior. In humans, KBS can be complete or incomplete. It occurs as a consequence of neurological disorders that essentially cause destruction or dysfunction of bilateral mesial temporal lobe structures (i.e., Pick disease, Alzheimer disease, cerebral trauma, cerebrovascular accidents, temporal lobe epilepsy, herpetic encephalopathy, heat stroke). As for epilepsy, complete and incomplete KBS are well documented in temporal lobe epilepsy, temporal lobectomy, and partial status epilepticus. KBS can occur at any age. Children seem to show similar symptoms to adults, although some differences in the manifestations of symptoms may be related to the fact that children have not yet learned certain behaviors. HubMed – eating