Stopping cannabis use benefits outcome in psychosis: findings from 10-year follow-up study in the PAFIP-cohort.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the long-term (up to 10 years) patterns related to cannabis use in a sample of patients with first episode of psychosis (FEP) and the effect that consumption might have on clinical, functioning, and neurocognition at long-term. METHODS: Cannabis use was described in 209 FEP patients. Patients were divided into three groups according to cannabis use: persistent users, ex-users, and never-users. Groups were longitudinally (baseline and 10-year follow-up) compared on clinical, functional, and cognitive variables. RESULTS: Clinical differences at 10-year follow-up were observed between persistent cannabis users and the other two groups (ex-users and never-users), showing persistent users more severe symptoms (BPRS: x2  = 15.583, P ≤ 0.001; SAPS: x2  = 12.386, P = 0.002) and poorer functionality (DAS: x2  = 6.067, P = 0.048; GAF: x2  = 6.635, P = 0.033). Patients who stopped cannabis use prior to the reassessment showed a similar pattern to those who had never consumed. CONCLUSION: The use of cannabis could negatively affect the evolution of the psychotic disorder. Perhaps the negative effects caused by cannabis use could be reversed with the cessation of consumption. It is necessary to make an effort in the intervention toward an early withdrawal from the use of cannabis, since this could play an important role in the prognosis of the disease.

[Gender differences in the treatment and outcome of patients with acute coronary syndrome in Navarre]. / Diferencias según sexo en el tratamiento y la evolución de los pacientes afectados de síndrome coronario agudo en Navarra.

BACKGROUND: Gender-based approaches have revealed the differing prevalence, incidence, progression and mortality of acute coronary disease by sex. This study aims to determine the difference by sex in the treatment and outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Navarre. METHODS: Thirty-five variables were analysed from 130 users with acute coronary disease who attended the Navarre Hospital (CHN) emergency department consecutively from January to April 2012. The dependent variable was sex and independent variables were time, treatments and final outcome of the process. RESULTS: Males accounted for 74.6% of the sample, with a mean age of 67, which was less than the mean age of 72 for the female patients (p = 0.043). The median for cardiovascular risk factors was three in men and two in women (p = 0.026). The patient delay in seeking health care was 161 minutes in men compared to 266 minutes in women (p = 0.006). Treatment via revascularization by primary angioplasty or fibrinolysis was performed in 71.6% of men and 41.2% of women (p = 0.002). A 5.9% death rate was registered for women, with no deaths among the men (p = 0.017). CONCLUSIONS: In Navarre, acute coronary syndrome remains more prevalent among men yet more severe in women. Treatment differs according to gender. Greater delay in seeking health care is observed among women, as is self-discharge from hospital, which may contribute to their less favourable outcomes.

Diferencias según sexo en el tratamiento y la evolución de los pacientes afectados de síndrome coronario agudo / Gender differences in the treatment and outcome of patients with acute coronary syndrome

Fundamento: La perspectiva de género en salud nos alerta de la diferente prevalencia, incidencia, evolución y letalidad de las patologías coronarias agudas según sexo. Este estudio pretende conocer la diferencia en el tratamiento y la evolución de los pacientes afectos de Síndrome Coronario Agudo (SCA) según sexos en Navarra. Métodos: Se analizaron 35 variables de 130 usuarios que acudieron consecutivamente al servicio de Urgencias (SU) del Complejo Hospitalario de Navarra (CHN) con patología coronaria aguda desde enero hasta abril de 2012. La variable dependiente fue el sexo y las independientes los tiempos, tratamientos y evolución final del proceso. Resultados: Un 74,6% de la muestra fueron varones con una edad media de 67 años, inferior a los 72 años de la muestra femenina (p=0,043). Se obtuvo una mediana de 3 factores de riesgo cardiovascular (FRC) en los hombres y de dos en las mujeres (p=0,026). El tiempo de demora generado por los pacientes fue de 161 minutos en varones vs 266 minutos en féminas (p=0,006). El tratamiento llevado a cabo mediante revascularización por angioplastia primaria (AP) o fibrinolisis se realizó en un 71,6% de los hombres y un 41,2% de las mujeres (p=0,002). Se registró un 5,9% de muertes en mujeres, sin hallarse casos de fallecimiento en varones (p=0,017). Conclusiones: En Navarra, los procesos coronarios siguen siendo una patología de predominio masculino pero de mayor gravedad en mujeres. El tratamiento se realizó de forma distinta según sexo. Se observó un mayor retraso en la solicitud de atención sanitaria en las mujeres así como la presencia de alta voluntaria en ellas, lo que puede influir en la peor evolución de las mismas (AU)

Background: Gender-based approaches have revealed the differing prevalence, incidence, progression and mortality of acute coronary disease by sex. This study aims to determine the difference by sex in the treatment and outcomes of patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) in Navarre. Methods: Thirty-five variables were analysed from 130 users with acute coronary disease who attended the Navarre Hospital (CHN) emergency department consecutively from January to April 2012. The dependent variable was sex and independent variables were time, treatments and final outcome of the process. Results: Males accounted for 74.6% of the sample, with a mean age of 67, which was less than the mean age of 72 for the female patients (p = 0.043). The median for cardiovascular risk factors was three in men and two in women (p = 0.026). The patient delay in seeking health care was 161 minutes in men compared to 266 minutes in women (p = 0.006). Treatment via revascularization by primary angioplasty or fibrinolysis was performed in 71.6% of men and 41.2% of women (p = 0.002). A 5.9% death rate was registered for women, with no deaths among the men (p = 0.017). Conclusions: In Navarre, acute coronary syndrome remains more prevalent among men yet more severe in women. Treatment differs according to gender. Greater delay in seeking health care is observed among women, as is self-discharge from hospital, which may contribute to their less favourable outcomes (AU)

Prognostic value of cognitive functioning for global functional recovery in first-episode schizophrenia.

BACKGROUND: It has become widely accepted that cognitive deficits in schizophrenia are related to functional outcome. However, it remains to be seen whether these associations are relevant for predicting which cases will have a global functional recovery. In this study, we attempt to determine whether global functional recovery (integrating social and occupational outcomes) after first-episode schizophrenia (FES) can be predicted by cognitive variables. METHOD: A total of 131 FES patients with functional deficits (n=97) and functional recovery (n=34) as determined at 1-year follow-up were examined. Neuropsychological, sociodemographic, pre-morbid and clinical data at baseline were analysed using independent groups comparisons and a logistic regression method. RESULTS: Sustained attention and negative symptoms emerged as significant predictors of good global functional outcome. Although the model revealed a high accuracy (91%) in the classification of patients with functional deficits, it was unacceptably low (26%) in the classification of patients with global functional recovery. CONCLUSIONS: The limitations found in the prediction of a favourable global functional outcome may well be an indication for a need to address the role of other factors not commonly included in longitudinal studies of long-term outcomes in schizophrenia.

Cannabis abuse is associated with decision-making impairment among first-episode patients with schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis.

BACKGROUND: Cannabis use appears to be a risk factor for schizophrenia. Moreover, cannabis abusers show impaired decision-making capacities, linked to the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Although there is substantial evidence that first-episode schizophrenia patients show impairments in cognitive tasks associated with the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), it is not clear whether decision making is impaired at schizophrenia onset. In this study, we examined the association between antecedents of cannabis abuse and cognitive impairment in cognitive tasks associated with the DLPFC and the OFC in a sample of first-episode patients with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders. METHOD: One hundred and thirty-two patients experiencing their first episode of a schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis were assessed with a cognitive battery including DLPFC-related tasks [backward digits, verbal fluency (FAS) and the Trail Making Test (TMT)] and an OFC-related task [the Iowa Gambling Task (GT)]. Performance on these tasks was compared between patients who had and had not abused cannabis before their psychosis onset. RESULTS: No differences were observed between the two groups on the performance of any of the DLPFC-related tasks. However, patients who had abused cannabis before their psychosis onset showed a poorer total performance on the gambling task and a lower improvement on the performance of the task compared to no-abusers. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-psychotic cannabis abuse is associated with decision-making impairment, but not working memory and executive function impairment, among first-episode patients with a schizophrenia-spectrum psychosis. Further studies are needed to examine the direction of causality of this impairment; that is, does the impairment make the patients abuse cannabis, or does cannabis abuse cause the impairment?

Effects of chronic insulin treatment on blood pressure in rats.

There is an evident epidemiological association between plasma insulin levels and blood pressure. The mechanism that relates insulin to blood pressure and the role of insulin in the pathogenesis of arterial hypertension have not been clearly defined. The present study was designed to examine the effects of chronic hyperinsulinism on blood pressure and to determine different related morphological variables. WistarKyoto rats were subcutaneously injected with insulin (25 UI/Kg of weight) daily during the eight weeks of the experiment. Data were collected on systolic and diastolic arterial pressures and heart rate by plethysmography and direct recording (in the last week), and on morphological variables. A statistically significant elevation of systolic arterial pressure was produced after the sixth week of hyperinsulinaemia. At the end of the treatment, the systolic arterial pressure was 173.7 +/- 26.1 in the hyperinsulinaemic rats versus 153.09 +/- 21.7 in the control group. The values obtained by direct recording and by plethysmography did not differ. These results indicate that chronic hyperinsulinism produces a significant elevation in systolic blood pressure levels in the rats studied.