Search

Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (anti-NMDAR) encephalitis is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system with unknown etiology and multiple triggers. It is clinically characterized by the onset of psychiatric symptoms, seizures, memory disturbance, and cognitive decline. We present a young, newly married woman in the first trimester of pregnancy who presented with purely psychiatric manifestations, fever, and two instances of generalized tonic-clonic seizures. She eventually progressed to develop a decreased level of consciousness and hemodynamic instability. A diagnosis was made of anti-NMDA encephalitis. Her symptoms progressed even after the administration of two intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) trials, steroids, and three anti-seizure medications until she experienced a spontaneous abortion. She then gradually returned to her normal baseline condition. This case underscores the importance of suspecting anti-NMDAR encephalitis in pregnant patients with acute onset of psychiatric manifestations. Anti-NMDAR encephalitis can be a difficult, challenging, and exhausting diagnosis for both the patient and treating physicians, particularly in pregnant patients where diagnostic and therapeutic options may be limited due to concerns for fetal safety. However, this case provides evidence that anti-NMDAR encephalitis during pregnancy can have a good prognosis., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Almalki et al.)

Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation tool used to modify the cognitive function in subjects. There is a paucity of data on tDCS' effect on cognitive function during Ramadan fasting. This paper aims to assess the effect of tDCS of three brain areas, including the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), posterior parietal cortex (PPC), and cerebellum on cognitive function, and obtain safety data in healthy adults during Ramadan fasting., Methods and Material: A total of 42 healthy, right-handed participants were randomly assigned to one of the 6 stimulation groups: active (anodal)-tDCS of right DLPFC, PPC, and cerebellum; or sham for DLPFC, PPC, and cerebellum after 8 h of fasting for Ramadan. Safety data and cognitive function, such as attention-switching tasks (AST), were obtained by employing the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery (CANTAB) before and after each tDCS session. The cognitive function outcome variables were the response time and the percentage of correct answers in AST. For sham stimulation, the placement of the electrodes was the same as for the active stimulation., Results: An improvement in performance time in attention tasks was observed; however, it did not reach a significant level after anodal stimulation of the DLPFC, PPC, and cerebellum. Overall, there were no statistically significant differences between the active and sham tDCS groups in cognitive function. There were no significant side effects of tDCS during fasting for any group., Conclusions: Our data suggest that there are variable effects of tDCS on attention tasks during Ramadan fasting. TDCS appears to be safe, well-tolerated and adhered to the international standard of safety in the local population during Ramadan fasting. Further large sample size studies should be conducted to validate the current study findings and reach better conclusions., (© 2020 The Author(s).)

Purpose: To examine the association of self-esteem with the body mass index (BMI), perceived body image (BI), and desired BI of college-age Saudi females., Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 907 randomly selected females using a multistage stratified cluster sampling technique. Self-esteem and BI were assessed using the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and Stunkard Figure Rating Scale, respectively., Results: The prevalence of low self-esteem was only 6.1% among college females; however, this percentage was higher (9.8%) among overweight or obese participants. The total self-esteem scores showed significant negative correlations with actual BMI and perceived BI, but not with desired BI. Meanwhile, multivariate analyses revealed significant differences in total self-esteem scores according to obesity/overweight status and perceived BI group, but not desired BI group., Conclusion: Despite the high prevalence of overweight and obesity in Saudi Arabia, few Saudi college females have low self-esteem. In addition, body weight, BMI, perceived BI, and the BMI corresponding to the perceived BI all significantly differed between females with low self-esteem and those with normal self-esteem., Level of Evidence: Level V, cross-sectional descriptive study.

(1) Background: Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation modality that has been investigated in a large number of studies in terms of it is effects on brain function, safety of use, and future implications. The principal aim of this study was to investigate the safety of 1.5-mA tDCS of three brain areas, that is, frontal, partial, and cerebellar cortices, in fasting healthy individuals during the month of Ramadan. (2) Methods: In a single-blinded, sham-controlled study, we assessed the safety of a 20-min tDCS current (1.5 mA, 35 cm²) over the right frontal, parietal, and cerebellar cortex areas after 8 h of fasting in healthy right-handed adult subjects using a standard safety questionnaire. (3) Results: A total of 49 subjects completed the tDCS sessions and safety questionnaire. None of the sessions were stopped due to pain or discomfort during stimulation. Moreover, no subject experienced serious adverse events such as seizures or loss of consciousness. (4) Conclusions: There was no significant difference in the frequency or type of side effects between active and sham stimulation sessions. The tDCS protocol applied in this study was found to be safe in fasting healthy adults.

The aim of the study was to investigate the associations between perceived and desired body size and overweight and obesity among college-aged females. A multistage stratified cluster random sample was used to select 907 healthy females from a major Saudi public university. The Stunkard Figure Rating Scale (FRS) was used for body size assessment. Overweight/obesity classification was based on BMI less than or equal to/greater than 25 kg/m 2 . Overweight plus obesity prevalence was 28.1%. There were significant differences between females with overweight/obesity and those without overweight/obesity in both perceived and desired body size scores. Compared with only 4% of females without overweight/obesity, 37% of the participants with overweight/obesity scored higher than five (median) in the FRS. The perceived body size correlated more strongly with many of the selected variables than did the desired body size, especially with BMI ( r =0.679; p < 0.001), body weight ( r =0.652; p < 0.001), and weight loss attempts ( r =0.466; p < 0.001). Also, there was a significant relationship between BMI and weight loss attempts ( r =0.370; p < 0.001). BMI and weight loss attempts appear to predict the perceived body size and the discrepancy between perceived and desired body size scores. Psychosocial and lifestyle factors that might influence female's body misperception need to be addressed in future studies.