Masahiro Hashizume

Factors associated with abnormal eating attitudes among female college students in Japan

SummaryObjectives: To determine the prevalence rates of abnormal eating attitudes and associated risk factors among female Japanese college students. Subjects and methods: The study population was 7812 female college students in Tokyo. They were asked to fill out the Japanese version of EAT-26 and lifestyle questionnaires. Results: 5.1% of the subjects had a total EAT-26 score above the cutoff point (>20). Multiple regression analysis found the most important factors associated with abnormal eating attitudes were distorted body image, fewer sleeping hours, irregular meal habits, cigarette smoking and more exercise. Discussion: The prevalence of abnormal eating attitudes among female college students in this study was lower than that of Japanese female high school students and lower than that reported for college students of both western and non-western countries. Our results suggest that body image dissatisfaction may be the most important factor associated with abnormal eating behavior.

Stress and psychological factors before a migraine attack: A time-based analysis

BackgroundThe objective of this study is to examine the stress and mood changes of Japanese subjects over the 1–3 days before a migraine headache.MethodsThe study participants were 16 patients with migraines who consented to participate in this study. Each subject kept a headache diary four times a day for two weeks. They evaluated the number of stressful events, daily hassles, domestic and non-domestic stress, anxiety, depressive tendency and irritability by visual analog scales. The days were classified into migraine days, pre-migraine days, buffer days and control days based on the intensity of the headaches and accompanying symptoms, and a comparative study was conducted for each factor on the migraine days, pre-migraine days and control days.ResultsThe stressful event value of pre-migraine days showed no significant difference compared to other days. The daily hassle value of pre-migraine days was the highest and was significantly higher than that of buffer days. In non-domestic stress, values on migraine days were significantly higher than on other days, and there was no significant difference between pre-migraine days and buffer days or between pre-migraine days and control days. There was no significant difference in the values of domestic stress between the categories. In non-domestic stress, values on migraine days were significantly higher than other days, and there was no significant difference between pre-migraine days and buffer days or between pre-migraine days and control days.There was little difference in sleep quality on migraine and pre-migraine days, but other psychological factors were higher on migraine days than on pre-migraine days.ConclusionPsychosocial stress preceding the onset of migraines by several days was suggested to play an important role in the occurrence of migraines. However, stress 2–3 days before a migraine attack was not so high as it has been reported to be in the United States and Europe. There was no significant difference in the values of psychological factors between pre-migraine days and other days.

COMPARATIVE STUDY OF ATTITUDES TO EATING BETWEEN MALE AND FEMALE STUDENTS IN THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA

Objective: This study was conducted to compare eating attitudes and lifestyles of male and female college students in China (Beijing). Subjects And Methods: The subjects of this study consisted of 217 male and 177 female college students. They were asked to fill out the Eating Attitudes Test-26 (EAT-26) and a lifestyle questionnaire. Results: The percentages of those above the cutoff point on the EAT-26 for abnormal eating attitudes were 4.7% of male and 6.2% of female students. Body perception of being fat (distorted body image) was the factor most associated with abnormal eating attitudes. Discussion: Weight related concern was prevalent amongst the Chinese students. This suggests that the culture of the beauty of thinness is common among young students in Beijing, particularly female students.

Relationships between serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentration and parameters for health scores in community-dwelling older adults

Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been implicated in the progression of neuronal survival, phenotyping differentiation and maintenance of various neurons, as well as neurogenesis. We studied how BDNF affects health parameters of older adults by carrying out a health examination of community‐dwelling older adults.

The influence of aging on the methylation status of brain-derived neurotrophic factor gene in blood

Brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) is involved in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders in adults and elderly individuals, and as a result, the DNA methylation (DNAm) of the BDNF gene in peripheral tissues including blood has been extensively examined to develop a useful biomarker for psychiatric disorders. However, studies to date have not previously investigated the effect of age on DNAm of the BDNF gene in blood. In this context, we measured DNAm of 39 CpG units in the CpG island at the promoter of exon I of the BDNF gene.

Behavioral medicine in Teikyo University and Toho University

Behavioral medicine has increased in importance to become a promising field in medical education. The Teikyo University Graduate School of Public Health and Toho University School of Medicine were evaluated in terms of their educational emphasis on behavioral medicine.The Teikyo University Graduate School of Public Health has the following five core requirements, as in the global standards: behavioral medicine, biostatistics, epidemiology, occupational health, and health policy management. Behavioral medicine mainly encompasses psychology in normal populations, working as a gateway to the medical world among non-medical professionals who are interested in medicine. The Toho University School of Medicine aims to produce “good clinicians” who have a thorough knowledge, a deep sense of professional ethics, and a profound humanity to contribute to human welfare through medicine. In behavioral medicine here, systematic knowledge based on human behavior in medicine is taught from the first to sixth year.Psychosomatic physicians could be among the most optimal professionals for behavioral medicine because of the similarities between psychosomatic medicine and behavioral medicine. The establishment of a Center of Behavioral Medicine is a potential solution to tackle forthcoming medical problems, such as increasing medical costs and an aging society. We must focus on the importance of behavior change as a way for preventive medicine to connect hospitals and communities in Japan.

P27-8 Electroencephalogram abnormalities in panic disorder: Study of symptom characteristics and pathology

M. Cincotta1, A. Borgheresi1, I. Pampaloni2, F. Giovannelli1,3, S. Bernardi4, A. Cantisani5, G. Zaccara1, S. Pallanti4,5 1Unit of Neurology, Florence Health Authority, Florence, Italy, 2Department of Psychiatry, Surrey and Borders Partnership Foundation Trust, UK, 3Department of Psychology, University of Florence, Florence, Italy, 4Department of Psychiatry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, USA, 5Department of Psychiatry, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

P36.44 Research into the panic disorder with EEG abnormalities, about characteristic symptoms and findings

cortex, the excitation was transmitted to the parietal and the temporal association areas, and then from these two association areas to the frontal association area. This pathway was shown repetitively until a button was pushed. When the reaction time was delayed, the frequencies of excitation in the left frontal association area, the right parietal association area and both visual cortices increased. These results indicated that the chronological changes of beta wave were due to excitation from the cortico-cortical connection of the cerebral cortex. The left prefrontal is an important area for cognitive function. Therefore the left frontal association area probably plays an important role in decision-making for a fast reaction.