Isaac Amigo

Effects of diets and their role in weight control

Abstract This study examines the secondary effects of hypocaloric diets. The results show that the positive short-term effects with regards health are not maintained in the long term, as most people eventually return to their original weight. A description is given of how psychological reasons are more important than biological mechanisms when explaining this failure and stress is put on how carrying out successive hypocaloric diets can result in a subgroup of people becoming overweight or obese. Furthermore, an analysis is made of the relationship between diets, eating disorders and the “yo-yo effect”, which is in turn associated with a rise in morbimortality due to a wide range of causes. As an alternative to the indiscriminate use of hypocaloric diets, a strategy based on the modification of lifestyle is suggested in order to control weight and improve health.

Stress and contingency management in the treatment of irritable Bowel syndrome

Ninety patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who did not respond to medical treatment were randomly assigned to four treatment conditions - two experimental groups: stress management and contingency management; and two control groups: medical treatment and placebo. The subjects underwent 12 individual sessions which were specific for each condition. All the subjects completed symptom-monitoring diaries. Thirty-three dropped out during the assessment or treatment. The subjects who received training in contingency management experienced significant reductions in all the characteristic digestive symptoms: abdominal pain (p < 0.001), diarrhoea (p < 0.05), constipation (p < 0.05) and dyspepsia (p < 0.001). At the end of the treatment, 50 per cent of the patients remained asymptomatic and 37.5 per cent reduced their symptoms by at least 50 per cent. Among the patients assigned to the condition stress management, 33 per cent got rid of their symptomatology and the subjects showed significant reductions in the following digestive symptoms: abdominal pain (p < 0.05), diarrhoea (p < 0.05) and dyspepsia (p < 0.05). The changes in the placebo group are not representative. The subjects assigned to this condition showed a high dropout rate. Significant changes were not observed in symptomatology in the medical treatment group. The results are maintained after a year of follow-up. Possible predictive parameters of the progress of the patients are explored.

COMPARISON OF PHYSICAL EXERCISE AND MUSCLE RELAXATION TRAINING IN THE TREATMENT OF MILD ESSENTIAL HYPERTENSION

Forty-five patients with mild essential hypertension, diastolic blood pressure (DBP) between 90 and 104 mmHg, were randomly allocated to three different treatment groups: relaxation, isotonic physical exercise or placebo. Outcome measures included blood pressure readings and heart rate (HR) in the clinic and cardiovascular responsiveness (mental arithmetic and isotonic exercise). The study schedule consisted of four baseline sessions, 8 weeks of treatment and 6 months follow-up. Relaxation and physical exercise were superior to the placebo procedure in reducing blood pressure (BP) at post-treatment for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and DBP and at follow-up for SBP. No significant differences were found between the experimental procedures. However, relaxation was superior to the exercise programme at follow-up for HR. None of the subjects had their medication changed at post-treatment. However, after 6 months follow-up, three placebo subjects were started on antihypertensive drugs. In contrast, none of the exercise and relaxation group subjects were placed on medication.

Working in direct contact with the public as a predictor of burnout in the banking sector

BACKGROUND This study investigated the presence of the burnout syndrome amongst employees of the banking sector. This topic is of particular interest owing to recent changes in working conditions and the controversial commercial strategies employed in this sector in recent years. METHOD A total of 1,341 professionals, 883 men and 458 women took part in the study. A Spanish version of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey was used, via electronic mail. RESULTS The results revealed that at least 55.78% of the sample showed a high risk of burnout in at least two of the dimensions. The workers in commercial branch offices dealing with the general public showed a greater risk of burnout than those working in central services. CONCLUSIONS The risk of burnout was higher than in other professions considered to be at risk and appears to be more closely associated with work-related stress and the controversial commercial strategies employed in the sector in recent years than with the possibility of cuts in salary. Psychological intervention programs aimed at stress management would be a recommendable way of helping employees address problems of this kind.

Calidad de vida informada por pacientes oncológicos paliativos: Relaciones con el informe médico y estado emocional

Objetivo: analizar la utilidad clinica de los datos acerca de la calidad de vida (QL) informada por pacientes oncologicos en situacion paliativa. Sujetos y Metodo: 107 pacientes del Servicio de Oncologia del Hospital de Cabuenes de Gijon (Espana) cumplimentaron los cuestionarios QL-CA-AFex, HAD y Duke-UNC y un protocolo clinico. Los sujetos se asignaron aleatoriamente a distintos grupos de seguimiento (uno, dos, tres o seis meses). Se utilizaron coeficientes de correlacion para analizar la relacion entre la QL y la situacion clinica, estado emocional y apoyo social. Se empleo el ANOVA para estudiar las diferencias en la QL en funcion de las variables analizadas. Resultados: la QL no se deterioro con la progresion de la enfermedad. Los aspectos mas relacionados con la QL fueron los sintomas y, en segundo lugar, los aspectos psicologicos. Se comprobo la capacidad del QL-CA-AFex para discriminar entre grupos de pacientes realizados en funcion de diversas variables clinicas.

Emotional Uses of Facebook and Twitter: Its Relation With Empathy, Narcissism, and Self-Esteem in Adolescence

Facebook and Twitter have change interpersonal relationships. Adolescents are the sector of the population who use most these networks. They use them in an emotional way, to express their emotions and to comment on those of others. Empathy, narcissism, and self-esteem may play an important role in the use of these networks. Using a sample of 503 Spanish adolescents (272 males, 231 females), this work studies the relationship between the Basic Empathy Scale, the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, and emotional and empathic use of Facebook and Twitter. The results showed that those who use Facebook and Twitter have higher scores in empathy. It has been observed that certain ways of using these two social networks are associated with narcissism. Greater use of Facebook and Twitter is associated with lower self-esteem.

Characteristics of empathy in young people measured by the Spanish Validation of the Basic Empathy Scale

BACKGROUND Empathy is a personality feature that can play a major role in predicting the emotional and social functioning of adolescents (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006). Recent research confirms the existence of two fundamental dimensions embedded within this construct, Affective Empathy (experiencing a congruent emotional response with another person) and Cognitive Empathy (understanding rationally the emotions of another person). The Basic Empathy Scale (Jolliffe & Farrington, 2006) is an up-to-date instrument which has been reported to satisfactorily measure these two dimensions. METHOD We used a sample of 752 adolescents (339 males, 413 females) aged 14-25 who completed the Spanish adaptation of BES. RESULTS Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the Spanish adaptation of the scale had the same bi-factorial structure as the original (CFI = .93). This adaptation also showed both satisfactory reliability (Cronbach’s alpha coefficient > .92) and discriminant and convergent validity with regard to measurements of Narcissism, Psychoticism and Agreeableness. Females were found to have higher scores than males both in Affective and Cognitive Empathy. Both subscales show a direct significant correlation with age. CONCLUSIONS The evidence suggested that this revised scale possessed good psychometric properties for evaluating empathy in Spanish young people.

Sedentary versus active leisure activities and their relationship with sleeping habits and body mass index in children of 9 and 10 years of age

A random sample of 291 9- and 10-year-old schoolchildren from Asturias (Spain) was taken. Using path analysis, a model was tested in which bedtime, the number of hours spent sleeping and leisure activities were the independent variables and the body mass index was the dependent variable. The results show that sedentary and active leisure time and hours spent sleeping are predictors of the body mass index in children. Those children who go to bed late and who use that extra time to watch the television or play with the computer tend to have a greater body mass index, while those children who go to bed earlier and have spent more time reading or playing in the park or at home have a lower body mass index. Encouraging active leisure activities can have an extremely positive effect on their body mass index.

Seis actuaciones del profesional de enfermería para prevenir los falsos diagnósticos de hipertensión: La hipertensión de bata blanca y el efecto de bata blanca

La hipertension de bata blanca (HBB) puede considerarse como un falso diagnostico de hipertension que puede provocar tratamientos farmacologicos innecesarios, afectar a la calidad de vida de las personas e incrementar de un modo notable el gasto sanitario. Se calcula que la prevalencia de la HBB se situaria en torno a un 20% de los pacientes diagnosticados como hipertensos. Las investigaciones experimentales subrayan que la enfermera obtiene, en general, medidas mas fiables de la presion arterial (PA) que los medicos y que por ello puede desempenar un papel fundamental para prevenir estos falsos diagnosticos. En esta linea se subrayan seis actuaciones profesionales que contribuirian de manera decisiva para prevenir estos errores.