Biomedical subjects

A Barale

Publications and source records attributed to A Barale.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2000

Physical illness as an outcome of chronic anxiety disorders.

BACKGROUND: The literature indicates increased rates of some medical conditions in patients with anxiety disorders. We used the Saskatchewan Health databases to examine the development of nonpsychiatric medical diseases in patients with anxiety disorders. This study has a large population base, and the Saskatchewan health plan does not limit the provision of services to this population. METHOD: We observed the annual incidence of specified medical conditions in patients with anxiety disorders and in control subjects over a 10-year period. Subjects in both groups had not been treated for the specified medical conditions before the start of the observation period. RESULTS: The anxiety cohort had a significantly higher relative risk of developing medical diseases compared with the control group. The highest relative risk, indicated by the hazard ratio, was for cerebrovascular disease (hazard ratio 2, 95% CI 1.09-3.65). Hazard ratios were significant for cerebrovascular disease and atherosclerosis as well as for ischemic heart, gastrointestinal, hypertensive, and respiratory diseases. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides additional evidence for an association between anxiety disorder and the later development of medical morbidity.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Nutrition survey in elite rhythmic gymnasts.

BACKGROUND: Young female rhythmic gymnasts have been identified as a potential risk group for malnutrition because of their attitude of weight reduction and leanness. METHODS: This study aimed to assess the dietary practices of 20 rhythmic gymnasts of the Italian national team, on the basis of a three-day food records collected by clinical interview. Twenty-four age-matched non-athletic females served as controls. RESULTS: The reported energy intake was similar in gymnasts and controls (28.5+/-5.6 vs 28.2+/-7.8 kcal/kg b.w., per day), but less than the recommended and the estimated requirements. Energy intake from carbohydrates was higher (53+/-6 vs 49+/-6%, p<0.05) and that from lipids lower (31+/-6 vs 34+/-4%, p<0.05) in gymnasts than in controls. In the former the energy supply from breakfast was higher (24+/-2 vs 16+/-4%, p<0.001) and from snacks was lower (8+/-9 vs 17+/-10%, p<0.01). Gymnasts also distinguished from controls for lower cholesterol and saturated fatty acid intake, and for higher fibre (14+/-5 vs 9+/-2 g/1,000 kcal, p<0.001) and Vitamin A dietary content. Calcium, iron and zinc intake were less than 100% RDA in both groups. CONCLUSIONS: In some ways, dietary practices of rhythmic gymnasts meet nutritional recommendations more than those of non athletic controls, though discrepancy between reported energy intake and estimated energy requirement exists. Suboptimal calcium, iron and zinc intake were observed both in gymnasts and in controls, hence minerals supplementation could be required. The dietary attitude could be regarded as a positive aspect of rhythmic gymnastics, provided athletes, physicians and coaches correct dietary errors and avoid excessive food restrictions.

Adolescent↗

PubMed1997

Case definitions.

The definition of a case of pertussis is an essential point in evaluating and comparing the results from the seven studies on pertussis vaccines presented at the Symposium. An assessment of the impact of case definition on the evaluation of vaccine efficacy has been performed on the Italian data-set, by comparing the clinical presentation of cough illnesses which were laboratory-confirmed as B. pertussis infection with those not-confirmed, by study vaccine. The results show that the estimate of vaccine efficacy is greatly variable by the choice of case definition and dependent on the study design. The assessment of the effect of each vaccine should be performed by using various clinical endpoints and the method used in detection of suspected cases in each study should be carefully evaluated to verify comparability of results.

Cough↗

PubMed1996

Characterisation and reactivity of a glycidic antigenic component in Toxoplasma gondii.

Toxoplasma gondii is composed of a complex antigenic mosaic and some antigenic fractions are of major diagnostic interest. We studied an antigenic fraction with molecular weight < 17 kda, identified by SDS-PAGE 15% and immunoblotting. This fraction could be easily extracted from the whole antigen with phenol/CH-Cl3 and its analysis showed a mainly carbohydrate composition. With immunoblotting this fraction showed strong reactivity with specific IgM and IgG in early-acute infection; IgM reactivity disappears or is much less marked in chronic acquired infection. Extraction with phenol/CHCl3 allows this fraction to be used as an antigen in other diagnostic methods.

Animals↗

PubMed1989

[Reactivity of antigenic fractions obtained from Toxoplasma gondii evaluated with Western blotting].

A toxoplasma gondii antigen, has been obtained by sonication, separated by SDS gel electrophoresis system in 10% acrylamide and blotted onto nitrocellulose paper (Western Blot). The antigen has been tested against: serum samples from subjects T. gondii negative; serum samples from patients with acute Toxoplasma infection; serum samples from subjects who had serologic evidence of infection with T. gondii, but IgM negatives. IgG and IgM immune response has been evaluated. Gel stained with Coomassie Blue revealed 48 protein fractions; only twenty fractions reacted as antigen. In particular, we have observed that only one protein fraction has been recognized by IgM antibodies present in the serum of patient with acute Toxoplasma infection (with lymphoadenopathy); some protein fractions have been recognized only by IgG antibodies; some protein fractions have been recognized in the same time by IgG and IgM antibodies in the same serum sample.

Animals↗