Impact of Built Environment and Neighborhood on Promoting Mental Health, Well-being, and Social Participation in Older People: an Umbrella Review.

Background: The built environment, especially in the context of the neighborhood, affects older people's health. This umbrella review aims to summarize the associations between factors and interventions in the built environment as regards modifying or improving mental health, well-being, social inclusion and participation in the elderly. Methods: We searched articles in the following databases: PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Scopus, Avery Index, Sage, Web of Science, Health Evidence, and Google Scholar, without any time limits. The factors and interventions examined have been classified into three categories (urban infrastructure, green infrastructure, built environment), and we have assessed their relationships with each of the health outcomes. Results: Eight reviews have been included. The results show a positive association between factors and interventions and health outcomes, even though this tends to differ with respect to some of the elements (study design, sample size, built environment and health outcome measurements, and the quality of the primary studies included in the reviews) in the selected studies. Conclusions: In conclusion, the present study suggests and confirms that acting on the built environment has a positive impact on mental health and social inclusion.

Serum beta-endorphin increase after intravenous histamine treatment of chronic daily headache.

Histamine is able to induce spontaneous-like headache attacks in migraine and cluster headache subjects. Therefore, it has been considered as a possible agent in the pathogenesis of headache. Histamine desensitization is used for the treatment of cluster and other chronic headaches like migrains with interparoxysmal headache. However, it is unknown whether desensitization plays a role in headache improvement. Since a disfunction of the opioid system has been considered responsible for idiopathic headache and since low beta-endorphin levels have been demonstrated in some idiopathic headaches, particularly in migraine with interparoxysmal headache, we planned this study to verify if histamine therapy is able to modify serum beta-endorphin concentrations. For this purpose, we studied 24 healthy control subjects and 36 patients suffering from migraine with interparoxysmal headache refractory to conventional therapies. Patients showed baseline serum beta-endorphin levels significantly lower than healthy control subjects and treatment with histamine for 15 days increased their beta-endorphin concentrations. We believe that histamine treatment can activate the opioid endogenous system. However, the therapeutic effect of histamine remains to be verified by evaluating the correlation between beta-endorphin levels and headache improvement.

Common and distinct fusion proteins in axonal growth and transmitter release.

We have used the proteolytic properties of botulinum and tetanus neurotoxins (BoNT, TeNT) to cleave three proteins of the membrane fusion machinery, SNAP-25, VAMP/synaptobrevin, and syntaxin, in developing and differentiated rat central neurons in vitro. Then, we have studied the capacity of neurons to extend neurites, make synapses, and release neurotransmitters. All the toxins showed the expected specificity with the exception that BoNT/C cleaved SNAP-25 in addition to syntaxin and induced rapid neuronal death. In developing neurons, cleavage of SNAP-25 with BoNT/A inhibited axonal growth and prevented synapse formation. In contrast, cleavage of VAMP with TeNT or BoNT/B had no effects on neurite extension and synaptogenesis. All the toxins tested inhibited transmitter release in differentiated neurons, and cleavage of VAMP resulted in the strongest inhibition. These data indicate that SNAP-25 is involved in vesicle fusion for membrane expansion and transmitter release, whereas VAMP is selectively involved in transmitter release. In addition, our results support the hypothesis that synaptic activity is not essential for synapse formation in vitro.

Serum osteocalcin levels in postmenopausal obese women.

In epidemiology of osteoporosis, obesity is to be considered one of its protecting factors. However there are in the literature discordant opinions: some authors describe a protective effect of obesity on the trabecular bone, others on the cortical one, others no effects at all and others finally a positive influence on both the trabecular and the cortical bone. However, only few studies on obesity's impact on bone metabolism are available. Bone mineral density at forearm and serum osteocalcin levels, a specific and sensitive marker of bone turn-over, in a group of postmenopausal obese women with those of a nonobese control group were compared. Obese women showed higher densitometric measurements than nonobese, but only the values of the third distal site of forearm resulted higher in a significant way. Serum osteocalcin values were similar between the two groups but the obese women showed a greater dispersion of the values (8.15 +/- 4.96 ng/ml) compared to nonobese (8.35 +/- 1.63 ng/ml). This high variability suggests an heterogeneity of bone turn-over in obese subjects and could explain the discordant results of the literature.

[Cholelithiasis and carcinoma of the colon]. / Colelitiasi e carcinoma del colon.

It results cholelithiasis is very frequently associated to colorectal cancer. Clinical and autoptic studies thereabout result to be doubtful. In the present research, the Authors evaluated the proliferative activity of colonic mucous membrane, through the mitotic index, and the secretion of mucins, with histochemical methods, in control subjects and cholelithiasic patients. The results show no significant differences in both groups; the data obtained are discussed in the light of the importance of the biologic parameter considered in the evaluation of risk groups for colorectal neoplasms and, moreover, as morphologic support to the clinical question.

[Is cholecystectomy a risk factor in the development of gastric neoplasms?]. / La colecistectomia è fattore di rischio per lo sviluppo di una neoplasia gastrica?

Some studies suggest cholecystectomy and the cholelithiasic disease are frequently associated to some neoplasms of the digestive tract. Cholecystectomy, through the physiopathologic alterations it causes, seems to assume the role of factor of risk for the development of a gastric neoplasm. The authors reviewed their casuistry by analysing the percentages of subjects in whom the gastric neoplasm was associated to a previous cholecystectomy or a concomitant cholelithiasis. The data obtained do not support the hypothesis that cholecystectomy or the "lithogenicity of the biliary ducts" may be a factor of risk for gastric cancer.

[Cystic lymphangioma: etiopathogenetic and diagnostic considerations apropos of 2 cases]. / Il linfangioma cistico: considerazioni etiopatogenetiche e diagnostiche a proposito di 2 casi.

The authors show two cases of cystic lymphangioma, one located at the neck, the other in the inguinal region, both arising in aged patients. From the study of such cases, the Authors start for studying the etiopathogenetic and histologic aspects, dwell upon the clinics and diagnosis of such neoplasms, and indicate as the sole radical treatment the surgical extirpation.