Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A Neurological Entity?

Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disorder of unknown physiopathology with multisystemic repercussions, framed in ICD-11 under the heading of neurology (8E49). There is no specific test to support its clinical diagnosis. Our objective is to review the evidence in neuroimaging and dysautonomia evaluation in order to support the neurological involvement and to find biomarkers serving to identify and/or monitor the pathology. The symptoms typically appear acutely, although they can develop progressively over years; an essential trait for diagnosis is "central" fatigue together with physical and/or mental exhaustion after a small effort. Neuroimaging reveals various morphological, connectivity, metabolic, and functional alterations of low specificity, which can serve to complement the neurological study of the patient. The COMPASS-31 questionnaire is a useful tool to triage patients under suspect of dysautonomia, at which point they may be redirected for deeper evaluation. Recently, alterations in heart rate variability, the Valsalva maneuver, and the tilt table test, together with the presence of serum autoantibodies against adrenergic, cholinergic, and serotonin receptors were shown in a subgroup of patients. This approach provides a way to identify patient phenotypes. Broader studies are needed to establish the level of sensitivity and specificity necessary for their validation. Neuroimaging contributes scarcely to the diagnosis, and this depends on the identification of specific changes. On the other hand, dysautonomia studies, carried out in specialized units, are highly promising in order to support the diagnosis and to identify potential biomarkers. ME/CFS orients towards a functional pathology that mainly involves the autonomic nervous system, although not exclusively.

Jornada de Innovación Docente 2019-2020 'Generando un lenguaje común'. Facultad de Medicina y Enfermería de la UPV-EHU: Fundamentar los cambios. La innovación en los grados / 2019-2020 Conference on Innovation in Teaching 'Generating a common language'. Faculty of Medicine and Nursing of the University of the Basque Country: Justifying the changes. Innovations in degrees

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El ambiente educativo en los contextos de formación médica / The educational environment in the contexts of medical training

El ambiente educativo es el conjunto de estructuras físicas y relaciones humanas en el que se desenvuelve una comunidad educativa, ya sea aula, servicio, facultad u hospital. Los procesos de enseñanza-aprendizaje son interdependientes con el contexto en el que se desarrollan. La evaluación de los ambientes educativos pretende analizar lo que está pasando en un entorno formativo determinado, y su objetivo es proporcionar un cuadro completo y sistemático de lo que está ocurriendo. La calidad del ambiente es un exponente de la calidad del proceso, es decir del curriculum. Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure es un cuestionario diseñado para medir el ambiente educativo en las carreras de la salud. El cuestionario incluye 50 ítems divididos en 5 subescalas que exploran percepciones acerca del aprendizaje, los profesores, los estudiantes, el clima educacional y la autopercepción social de los estudiantes. Ha demostrado su utilidad para identificar fortalezas y debilidades en un determinado ambiente educativo. La aplicación del cuestionario permite generar un perfil institucional tal y como es percibido por el alumnado. Dado que los entornos clínicos introducen circunstancias muy específicas, se realizó una adaptación resultando el Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure. Este consta de 40 ítems estructurados en 3 dominios: la percepción de la autonomía, la de la enseñanza y la de apoyo social. Las conclusiones obtenidas con estos cuestionarios pueden orientar a las autoridades responsables de la formación en áreas biomédicas para fundamentar la adopción de medidas que faciliten el aprendizaje, la reflexión, la autocrítica y la toma de decisiones

The educational environment is the set of physical structures and human relationships in which an educational community develops, be it classroom, service, faculty or hospital. The teaching-learning processes are interdependent with the context in which they are developed. The evaluation of educational environments aims to analyze what is happening in a given training environment, and its objective is to provide a complete and systematic picture of what is happening. The quality of the environment is an exponent of the quality of the process, that is, of the curriculum. Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure is a questionnaire designed to measure the educational environment in health careers. The questionnaire includes 50 items divided into 5 subscales that explore perceptions about learning, teachers, students, the educational climate and students' social self-perception. It has proven useful in identifying strengths and weaknesses in a given educational environment. The application of the questionnaire allows to generate an institutional profile as it is perceived by the students. Due to clinical environments introduce very specific circumstances, an adaptation was made resulting in Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure. This consists of forty items grouped in 3 domains: the perception of autonomy, teaching, and social support. The conclusions obtained with these questionnaires can guide the authorities responsible for training in biomedical areas to support the adoption of measures that facilitate learning, reflection, self-criticism and decision-making

Percepción de los estudiantes de medicina del ambiente educativo en una facultad con currículo tradicional(UCH-Chile) y otra con currículo basado en problemas (UNC-Argentina) / Medical students’ perception of the educational environment in a faculty developing a traditional curriculum (UCH-Chile) and another with a problem based learning curriculum (UNC-Argentina)

Objetivo. Evaluar y comparar la percepción que del ambiente educativo tienen los estudiantes de medicina de dos universidades iberoamericanas: Universidad de Chile (UCH) y Universidad Nacional de Cuyo (UNC), que desarrollan un currículo tradicional y un currículo basado en problemas, respectivamente. Sujetos y métodos. Participaron 465 estudiantes: 232 de la UCH y 233 de la UNC. La distribución fue de 84 y 70 estudiantes para el primer curso, 77 y 97 para el tercero, y 71 y 66 para el quinto, respectivamente. Se aplicó el cuestionario DREEM, que consiste en 50 ítems, agrupados en cinco dimensiones: percepción de la enseñanza, percepción de los profesores, autopercepción académica, percepción de la atmósfera educativa y autopercepción social. Resultados. Las puntuaciones totales fueron mayores en los tres cursos de la UNC. Resultaron similares en todos los cursos de ambas universidades, excepto en el quinto curso de la UCH. Respecto a la percepción acerca de los profesores, los estudiantes de quinto curso de la UCH mostraron las puntuaciones más bajas, mientras que los estudiantes del primer curso de la UNC tuvieron la mejor percepción. Resultados similares se obtuvieron en la autopercepción académica. La percepción del ambiente de aprendizaje fue mejor en la UNC y la autopercepción social tuvo puntuaciones similares en todos los cursos de ambas universidades. Conclusiones. Las diferencias observadas entre ambas universidades podrían atribuirse a sus diferentes currículos. El currículo basado en problemas parece ser mejor valorado que el tradicional. Nuestro estudio corrobora la eficacia del cuestionario DREEM para identificar fortalezas y debilidades del currículo y para evaluar la calidad de la enseñanza en facultades de medicina (AU)

Aim. To assess and compare the perception about the educational environment of medical students from two Latin-American universities, University of Chile (UCH) and National University of Cuyo (UNC), which develop a traditional curriculum and a problem based curriculum, respectively. Subjects and methods. A transversal study was performed in 465 students: 232 from the UCH and 233 from the UNC. The distribution was 84/70 for the first course, 77/97 for the third one and 71/66 for the fifth one, respectively. The DREEM questionnaire, which consists of 50 items, was applied. It covers 5 dimensions of the educational environment: perception about learning, perception about teachers, academic self-perception, perception about educational climate and social self-perception. Results. Total DREEM scores were significantly higher in the UNC. Scores were similar in all courses from both universities, with the exception of fifth course UCH. Regarding their perception about teachers, students of the fifth course UCH showed the lowest score, whereas students of the first course UNC had the best perception. Similar results were obtained for the academic auto-perception; while the perception of the learning environment obtained higher scores in the three courses from the UNC. Social auto-perception was similar in all courses tested in this study. Conclusions. Differences observed between both universities could be attributed to their different curricula. Problem based curriculum seems to be better appreciated than the traditional one. Our study corroborates the efficacy of the DREEM questionnaire to identify strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum and for the assessment of teaching quality in medical schools (AU)

Alpha and beta noradrenergic mediation of NMDA glutamatergic effects on lordosis behaviour and plasmatic LH concentrations in the primed female rat.

In previous studies we have found that blockade of NMDA (N-Methyl-D-Aspartic-Acid)-type glutamatergic receptor with intracerebroventricular (ICV) selective drugs induces an inhibition of lordosis in ovariectomized (OVX) estrogen primed rats receiving progesterone or luteinizing hormone releasing hormone (LHRH). By the opposite way, stimulation with NMDA in OVX estrogen primed rats induced a significant increase of lordosis. In the present study the action of an alpha1-noradrenergic antagonist, HEAT (BE 2254/2-beta-4-Hydroxyphenyl-Ethyl-Aminomethyl-1-Tetralone), and Metoprolol, a beta-noradrenergic antagonist, were studied injecting them ICV previously to NMDA administration in treated OVX estrogen primed rats. In experiment 1, the enhancing effect on lordosis induced by NMDA at high dose (1 microg) was abolished by HEAT administration (P < 0.001 for 3 and 6 microg), and the LH plasma levels were decreased only with the higher dose (P < 0.05), suggesting that behavioral effects are quite more sensitive to the alpha-blockade than hormonal effects. In experiment 2, enhancing effects on lordosis behavior were not observed with neither the NMDA at low dose (0.5 microg) nor the metoprolol alone (5.71 microg), but a synergism was observed when both were simultaneously administered (P < 0.001). The LH plasma levels were increased by Metoprolol alone (P < 0.05), and powered by the combination with NMDA at low dose (P < 0.01 vs. SAL and NMDA alone); no differences were observed with Metoprolol. LH increase was observed with Metoprolol even without behavioural modifications. These findings strongly suggest that facilitatory and inhibitory effects of NMDA in this model are mediated by alpha- and beta-adrenergic transmission in both, behavioral and hormonal effects.