Background: Eating disorders (ED) are one of the most common psychiatric problems faced by adolescents, and are characterized by a persistent course, comorbid psychopathology, medical complications, and elevated mortality. Aims & Objective: To assess the prevalence and correlates of eating disorders in a sample of adolescent Indian females. Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional survey, 120 adolescents females (age: 13-17 years) filled out questionnaires on eating attitudes and behaviors at one independent school. ED was measured with the 26-item Eating Attitudes Test (EAT). Participants who scored ≥ 20 on the EAT were considered to have disordered eating and effect of psychological, behavioral, and socio-environmental variables in individuals with and without eating disorders, were assessed. Results: Disturbed eating attitudes and behaviors were present in 26.67 % of adolescents girls in the sample studied. This group was significantly older, had earlier menarche and lower BMI. Mean scores and percentage scores on all the scales to assess psychological risk factors were found to be significantly higher in the ED group i.e. there were significant associations (p< 0.0001) between elevated EAT scores and dieting behavior, higher drive for thinness and body dissatisfaction, external pressures, mood susceptibility of feeding patterns, perfectionism, occurrence of negative life events and presence and adequacy of emotional support system. Conclusion: Eating disorders and subthreshold eating conditions are prevalent in a sample of adolescent girls and were strongly associated with various psychological, behavioral, and socio-environmental domains. Future prospective and experimental studies are warranted to advance our understanding of the risk factors to enable better preventive programme planning.
Diabetic nephropathy is the leading cause of kidney disease in patients starting renal replacement therapy and affects ~30% of type 1 and type 2 diabetic patients. This review focuses on the progression and pathophysiological aspects of the condition. The natural history of diabetic nephropathy is characterized by specific renal morphological and functional alterations. Features of early diabetic renal changes are microalbuminuria (30-300mg/day), glomerular hyperfiltration, glomerular and renal hypertrophy, increased basement membrane thickness, and mesangial expansion with the accumulation of extracellular matrix proteins such as collagen, fibronectin, and laminin. Advanced diabetic nephropathy is characterized by macroalbuminuria (>300mg/day), a progressive decline in glomerular filtration rate, decreasing creatinine clearance, glomerulosclerosis, and interstitial fibrosis. Although poor glycemic control is an important risk factor, glycemia does not fully explain why only a subset of diabetic patients progress to end stage renal disease. Several decades of extensive research has elucidated various pathways to be implicated in the development of diabetic kidney disease such as systemic and glomerular hypertension, advanced glycation endproducts and the aldose reductase system. Furthermore, hemodynamic factors, the reninangiotensin system, the endothelin system, the intracellular signaling molecule protein kinase C, transforming growth factor-ß, growth hormone, insulin like growth factors, vascular endothelial growth factor, and platelet-derived growth factor are believed to be involved in the pathogenesis. Thus, there are clearly many points at which therapeutic approaches could be tried to provide renoprotection in diabetes. It is likely that due to its complexity, targeting multiple points in altered metabolism in the diabetic kidney will be more successful in attenuating the development of diabetic nephropathy, rather than a single approach.
Type 2 diabetes is a complex and pleomorphic metabolic disorder arising from a complex interaction between genes and the environment. During the last decade there has been an outpouring of studies providing clues into the genetic architecture underlying type 2 diabetes mellitus. This review provides an overview of the genetics of type 2 diabetes in the context of recent progress in the understanding of the genetic susceptibility of the disease. Approximately 40 variants have been identified so far and the identification of these susceptibility loci for diabetes has introduced novel genes, pathways and mechanisms of diabetes pathogenesis. The genetic loci so far identified account for only a small fraction (approximately 10%) of the overall heritable risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Uncovering the missing heritability is essential to the progress of type 2 diabetes genetic studies and to the translation of genetic information into clinical practice. However, it may be a long time before all the susceptibility genes are found. It may take even more time before their roles in different pathways have been elucidated and the mechanisms involved in their interaction with other factors in the disease etiology clarified.
Background: Diabetic autonomic neuropathy is a serious and common complication of diabetes mellitus and in fact it is one of the most overlooked complications, thus very limited clinical and research data are available on early renal and cardiovascular autonomic complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Aims & Objective: To determine the possible association of elevated albumin excretion rate with cardiovascular autonomic activity in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with one hundred and fifteen patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Microalbuminuria was defined as Albumin Excretion Rate (AER) > 30 mg/24 hr in an early morning urine sample. Nine parameters reflecting different aspects of cardiovascular autonomic function were measured and were summarized in a single cardiovascular autonomic function score (CAFS).The association between cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction and microalbuminuria was estimated by multiple linear regressions. Results: Patients with microalbuminuria had low levels of the autonomic function parameters i.e. mean CAFS, indicating impaired autonomic function. This association was consistent with increasing AER, and remained significant after multivariate adjustment for other clinical factors predictive of microalbuminuria. In additional analysis, we examined the autonomic function tests combined on the part of autonomic nervous system they predominantly represent. The results of these alternative combinations were comparable to those of the CAFS score. Conclusion: Cardiovascular autonomic dysfunction was independently associated with microalbuminuria in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, and that this association is independent of other previously identified determinants of albuminuria in type 2 diabetes mellitus. Therefore cardiovascular autonomic function tests should be monitored to pay attention to major potential cardiovascular complications even in asymptomatic patients, but especially among those with microalbuminuria.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.