Search

The following article is a philosophical, spiritual, historical itinerary to modern Eleusis, Greece, site of the Eleusinian Mysteries of antiquity. Through Ancient Eleusis and its Mysteries, we trace the roots of democracy, poetry and philosophy, where the threads of myth and history, art and ritual, faith and reason start dismantling to new creations of humankind.Â

Body The availability and use of electronic devices has increased and people use them even in bed. Objectives To investigate whether exposure to different electronic media in bed before sleep relates to sleep problems in Greek university students. Methods An anonymous self report questionnaire was sent by e-mail concerning the use of electronic media in bed before sleep, the quality of sleep and somnolence the day after. Questions about using television (TV), computer, mobile phone (MP), tablet in bed, the different types of use of electronic devices (education or leisure) and the academic performance were included. Results 650 students (39.5% males, 60.5% females, aged 21.9±2.7 years) participated. Mean hours of sleep on weekdays were 7.2 ± 1.4 and on weekends 8.5±1.7 with 50.5% feeling not refreshed in the morning; 24.6% had a TV in bedroom and 18% slept with TV on, 98.5% had a MP using it for 3.7±3.4h/day, 61.5% used it before sleep and 65.7% believed it delayed their sleep; 85.3% did not switch off MP during sleep and 95% used it as an alarm. 75.1% had a computer in bedroom (57.5%laptop) using it for 6.2±3.8h/week; 22% owned a tablet, 38% used it in bed. Social networking services were used from the majority of students and delayed their sleep (81%). A negative correlation was found between hours of night sleep, hours of watching TV (p=0.007) and hours of MP use (p=0.02). There was a correlation between academic performance, TV in bedroom and delayed sleep due to MP (p Conclusion The use of electronic devices has an impact on sleep duration and academic performance of students.

BackgroundIn differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients at intermediate risk of recurrences, no evidences are provided regarding the optimal radioactive iodine (RAI) activity to be administered for post-surgical thyroid ablation.MethodsThis study aimed to evaluate the impact of RAI activities on the outcome of 225 DTC patients classified as intermediate risk, treated with low (1110–1850 MBq) or high RAI activities (≥3700 MBq).ResultsSix to 18 months after ablation, remission was observed in 60.0% of patients treated with low and in 60.0% of those treated with high RAI activities, biochemical disease was found in 18.8% of patients treated with low and in 14.3% of patients treated with high RAI activities, metastatic disease was found in 21.2% of patients treated with low and in 25.7% of patients treated with high RAI activities (P=0.56). At the last follow-up (low activities, median 4.2 years; high activities, median 6.9 years), remission was observed in 76.5% of patients treated with low and in 72.1% of patients treated with high RAI activities, persistent disease was observed in 18.8% of patients treated with low and in 23.5% of patients treated with high RAI activities, recurrent disease was 2.4% in patients treated with low and 2.1% in patients treated with high RAI activities, deaths occurred in 2.4% of patients treated with low and in 2.1% of patients treated with high RAI activities (P=0.87).ConclusionOur study provides the first evidence that in DTC patients at intermediate risk, high RAI activities at ablation have no major advantage over low activities.

IntroductionAfter initial treatment, differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) patients are stratified as low and high risk based on clinical/pathological features. Recently, a risk stratification based on additional clinical data accumulated during follow-up has been proposed.ObjectiveTo evaluate the predictive value of delayed risk stratification (DRS) obtained at the time of the first diagnostic control (8–12 months after initial treatment).MethodsWe reviewed 512 patients with DTC whose risk assessment was initially defined according to the American (ATA) and European Thyroid Association (ETA) guidelines. At the time of the first control, 8–12 months after initial treatment, patients were re-stratified according to their clinical status: DRS.ResultsUsing DRS, about 50% of ATA/ETA intermediate/high-risk patients moved to DRS low-risk category, while about 10% of ATA/ETA low-risk patients moved to DRS high-risk category. The ability of the DRS to predict the final outcome was superior to that of ATA and ETA. Positive and negative predictive values for both ATA (39.2 and 90.6% respectively) and ETA (38.4 and 91.3% respectively) were significantly lower than that observed with the DRS (72.8 and 96.3% respectively,PConclusionsDelaying the risk stratification of DTC patients at a time when the response to surgery and radioiodine ablation is evident allows to better define individual risk and to better modulate the subsequent follow-up.

Recent findings showed the presence of a reciprocal relationship between thyroid hormones and ghrelin, although the exact mechanism is not known. Design: Our study is addressed to evaluate the effect of acute exogenous rhTSH administration on serum ghrelin levels in athyreotic patients on replacement l-thyroxine therapy. The study group included fifty patients (16 males and 34 females) submitted to total thyroidectomy and 131-iodine remnant ablation for differentiated thyroid cancer on l-thyroxine therapy. Mean age was 47.5 ± 16.5 years and mean BMI was 25.6 ± 5.01 kg/m². rhTSH was administrated at the dosage of 0.9 mg i.m once daily for two consecutive days. Blood samples were taken between 08.00 and 09.00 after a overnight fasting for measurement of TSH, FT3, FT4 and ghrelin before the first administration of rhTSH and for measurement of TSH and ghrelin 24 h, 48 h, 72 h and 96 h after the first administration of rhTSH. Results: Mean ± SD values of basal TSH were 0.54 ± 0.77 µU/ml without significant difference between females and males. As expected, after rhTSH administration TSH concentrations increased at 24 h and 48 h with peak TSH values ranging from 20.20 to 313 µU/ml (mean ± SD 98.4±66.7µU/ml). Mean ± SD values of basal ghrelin were 1085 ± 373 pg/ml without significant difference between males and females. After rhTSH administration ghrelin concentrations decreased significantly (p

Background and aims: Ghrelin is an orexigenic hormone produced in the stomach and in other organs, exerting a wide range of metabolic functions, including stimulation of GH secretion. Ghrelin secretion is decreased by iv or oral glucose load as well as during euglycemic-hyperinsulinemic clamp and hypoglycemia. We evaluated the circulating ghrelin levels in GH-deficient (GHD) and in GH-sufficient (GHS) patients during GHRH plus arginine test. Materials and methods: The study group comprised 35 patients, including 20 with pituitary tumors, 12 with empty sella, 2 with short stature, and 1 with post-traumatic isolated GH deficiency. According to the results of GHRH plus arginine test, 14 patients were defined as GHD and 21 as GHS. Patients with central hypothyroidism, hypocorticism, and hypogonadism had been on replacement therapy for at least 3 months at the moment of the study. Blood samples were collected every 20 min up to 60 min after GHRH and arginine administration. Results: By definition, GH response to GHRH plus arginine was higher in GHS than GHD group (p