Search

Background: The relationship between depression and low blood pressure in unclear.Aims: To examine the temporal relation between low blood pressure and depression in a two-year follow-up.Method: The study group consisted of 1389 subjects aged 59-71 years; 1272 (92%) were examined after two years. Subjects completed the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) and the Spielberger inventory scales to assess depressive and anxiety symptoms respectively. Data were collected on socio-demographic characteristics, smoking and drinking habits, medical history, drug use and blood pressure measures.Results: Among 1112 subjects who were considered as non-depressed at baseline, logistic regression models showed that low diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and decrease of blood pressure were predictors of high depressive symptomatology at follow-up. Baseline high CES-D scores did not predict low blood pressure two years after.Conclusions: In our study, low blood pressure was a risk factor for, but not a consequence of, high depressive symptomatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This study examined whether anxiety and depression were independently associated with elevated blood pressure in elderly persons.Method: The study group consisted of 1389 subjects aged 59 to 71 years recruited from the electoral rolls of the city of Nantes (France). Subjects completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) and the Spielberger Inventory scales to assess depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms, respectively. Data were collected on sociodemographic characteristics, smoking and drinking habits, medical history, and drug use. Two measures of systolic and diastolic blood pressure were taken after a 10-minute rest. Body mass index was computed from weight and height measurements. Subjects taking antihypertensive drugs (N = 281) were excluded from the present analysis.Results: Depression and anxiety scores were significantly correlated (r = .61 in men; r = .65 in women; p<.001). In univariate analyses, anxiety scores were correlated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure in men, but not in women; blood pressure was not associated with depressive symptoms in either sex. Multivariate logistic regressions, controlling for possible confounders, showed that in both men and women, the risk of high blood pressure increased with increasing anxiety scores; odds ratios for high blood pressure were less than 1 in subjects with depressive symptomatology.Conclusions: This study suggested that anxiety but not depression was independently associated with an increased risk for high blood pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Recent studies have indicated that the inflammatory cytokines could be implicated in anorexia nervosa and in its complications. To determinate the potential role of interleukins (IL-1, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10), interferon (IFN gamma), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha), and transforming growth factor (TGF-beta2) in anorexia nervosa, serum concentrations of these cytokines were measured in patients suffering from anorexia nervosa in comparison to healthy subjects.Method: Twenty-nine anorexic women according to DSM-IV criteria participated in the study. The control group consisted of 20 healthy women without eating disorders, mood disorders, and immunological disorders.Results: We find that serum IL-2 and TGF-beta2 concentrations were both significantly decreased in anorexic patients, although the other cytokines did not differ significantly between the two groups.Conclusion: Our results show that in patients with anorexia nervosa, there are lower levels of specific cytokines (especially IL-2 and TGF-beta2). These levels may reflect the combination of impaired nutrition and weight loss, therefore, the dysregulation of these cytokines may contribute in anorexia's complications. Follow-up studies should examine the effects of parameters such as starvation, psychopathologic factors, and psychoneuroendocrinological perturbation which could affect interplay between cytokines, neuropeptides, and neurotransmitters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]