Effects of exercise training with traditional dancing on functional capacity and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia: a randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of an eight-month exercise training programme with Greek traditional dancing on functional capacity and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia. DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. SETTING: Sports Medicine Laboratory. SUBJECTS: A total of 31 patients, aged 59.9 ± 14.1 years. INTERVENTIONS: They were randomly assigned either to a Greek traditional dancing programme (Group A) or to a sedentary control group (Group B). MAIN MEASURES: A functional capacity assessment was performed at baseline and the end of the study. Global Assessment of Functioning Scale and Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale were also used. Quality of life was examined using the Quality of Life and Satisfaction questionnaire. RESULTS: After the eight months, Group A increased walking distance in the 6-minute walk test (328.4 ± 35.9 vs. 238.0 ± 47.6 m), sit-to-stand test (19.1 ± 1.8 vs. 25.1 ± 1.4 seconds), Berg Balance Scale score (53.1 ± 2.1 vs. 43.2 ± 6.7), lower limbs maximal isometric force (77.7 ± 25.7 vs. 51.0 ± 29.8 lb), Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total score (77.0 ± 23.1 vs. 82.0 ± 24.4), Global Assessment of Functioning Scale total score (51.3 ± 15.5 vs. 47.7 ± 13.3) and Quality of Life total score (34.9 ± 5.2 vs. 28 ± 4.5), compared with Group B. CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that Greek traditional dances improve functional capacity and quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.

Depression in diabetes mellitus: a comprehensive review.

Although the prevalence of a mental disorder, in general, in patients with diabetes mellitus is regarded to be comparable to the general population, an increased prevalence of depressive disorders, often comorbid with anxiety, has been reported in patients with diabetes mellitus. The co-occurrence of depression in diabetes is attributed to a variety of factors, including the psychological and psychosocial impact of the disease, a potential common genetic susceptibility and common pathophysiological abnormalities involving neuroimmunological and neuroendocrinical pathways, as well as microvascular brain lesions due to diabetes mellitus. However, issues concerning pathogenesis and causality of this high co-occurrence are not fully determined yet. Still, the presence of depression in patients with diabetes mellitus is of vast importance, as it is usually associated with poor disease control, adverse health outcomes and quality of life impairment. This article aims to provide a comprehensive review of epidemiological findings, clinical considerations and management strategies concerning depression in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Functional brain organization in bipolar affective patients during manic phase and after recovery: a digit dichotic listening study.

To study the functional organization of the cerebral hemispheres in patients with bipolar psychosis using a verbal dichotic listening test for pairs of digits 26 patients were tested twice, during the acute expression of manic phase and after recovery. The patient group during the manic phase did not support the expected right-ear advantage of normal subjects on verbal dichotic tests but showed a statistically significant left-ear advantage, which shifted after recovery toward the typical normal asymmetry. Comparing patients during the manic phase and after recovery showed that the left-ear advantage as well as the shift in right-ear advantage after recovery was due to the reduction of left-ear performance. From the over-all neuropsychological findings for these patients mania may be hypothesized to be characterized by overactivation of the right hemisphere. This phaenomenon seems associated with acuteness of the symptoms of the psychotic disorder.