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Psychological disorders in people with extreme weight (low weight or obesity) should be taken into consideration by health professionals in order to practice an effective treatment to these patients. This study evaluates the association between body mass index (BMI) and psychological distress in 563 inhabitants of Málaga (South of Spain). Participants were classified in four categories of BMI: Underweight (BMI <18.5 Kg/m2), Normal weight (BMI 18.5-24.99 Kg/m2), Overweight (BMI 25.0-29.99 Kg/m2) and Obesity (BMI >30 Kg/m2). Psychological distress was measured with the Spanish version of the Derogatis' Symptoms Checklist Revised (SCL-90-R). We observed a symmetric U-shaped relationship between weight status and psychological distress in all SCL-90-R dimensions (p for quadratic trend <0.001) for both men and women. Participants with extreme weight showed the worst psychological status, and participants with normal weight exhibited the best. We found no statistically significant differences between underweight and obese participants in 9 of the 10 SCL-90-R dimensions analyzed among men, and in 8 of the 10 dimensions among women. Underweight and obese participants showed no gender differences in psychological distress levels. Psychological treatment of Mediterranean people with extreme weight, should consider underweight and obese patients at the same level of psychological distress.

Iron is the second most abundant metal in the Earth's crust. Despite being present in trace amounts, it is an essential trace element for the human body, although it can also be toxic due to oxidative stress generation by the Fenton reaction, causing organic biomolecule oxidation. This process is the basis of numerous pathologies, including cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The relationship between iron and cardiovascular disease was proposed in 1981 by Jerome Sullivan. Since then, numerous epidemiological studies have been conducted to test this hypothesis. The aim of this review is to present the main findings of the chief epidemiological studies published during the last 32 years, since Sullivan formulated his iron hypothesis, suggesting that this element might act as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. We have analyzed 55 studies, of which 27 supported the iron hypothesis, 20 found no evidence to support it and eight were contrary to the iron hypothesis. Our results suggest that there is not a high level of evidence which supports the hypothesis that the iron may be associated with CVD. Despite the large number of studies published to date, the role of iron in cardiovascular disease still generates a fair amount of debate, due to a marked disparity in results.

The fatty acid content of adipose tissue in postmenopausal breast cancer cases and controls from five European countries in the European Community Multicenter Study on Antioxidants, Myocardial Infarction, and Cancer (EURAMIC) breast cancer study (1991-1992) was used to explore the hypothesis that fatty acids of the omega-3 family inhibit breast cancer and that the degree of inhibition depends on background levels of omega-6 polyunsaturates. Considered in isolation, the level of omega-3 or omega-6 fat in adipose tissue displayed little consistent association with breast cancer across study centers. The ratio of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids to total omega-6 fat showed an inverse association with breast cancer in four of five centers. In Malaga, Spain, the odds ratio for the highest tertile relative to the lowest reached 0.32 (95% confidence interval 0.13-0.82). In this center, total omega-6 fatty acid was strongly associated with breast cancer. With all centers pooled, the odds ratio for long-chain omega-3 to total omega-6 reached 0.80 for the second tertile and 0.65 for the third tertile, a downward trend bordering on statistical significance (p for trend = 0.055). While not definitive, these results provide evidence for the hypothesis that the balance between omega-3 and omega-6 fat may play a role in breast cancer.