scholarly journals Empirical tests of natural selection-based evolutionary accounts of ADHD: a systematic review

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (5) ◽  
pp. 249-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marthe S. Thagaard ◽  
Stephen V. Faraone ◽  
Edmund J. Sonuga-Barke ◽  
Søren D. Østergaard

ObjectiveADHD is a prevalent and highly heritable mental disorder associated with significant impairment, morbidity and increased rates of mortality. This combination of high prevalence and high morbidity/mortality seen in ADHD and other mental disorders presents a challenge to natural selection-based models of human evolution. Several hypotheses have been proposed in an attempt to resolve this apparent paradox. The aim of this study was to review the evidence for these hypotheses.MethodsWe conducted a systematic review of the literature on empirical investigations of natural selection-based evolutionary accounts for ADHD in adherence with the PRISMA guideline. The PubMed, Embase, and PsycINFO databases were screened for relevant publications, by combining search terms covering evolution/selection with search terms covering ADHD.ResultsThe search identified 790 records. Of these, 15 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility, and three were included in the review. Two of these reported on the evolution of the seven-repeat allele of the ADHD-associated dopamine receptor D4 gene, and one reported on the results of a simulation study of the effect of suggested ADHD-traits on group survival. The authors of the three studies interpreted their findings as favouring the notion that ADHD-traits may have been associated with increased fitness during human evolution. However, we argue that none of the three studies really tap into the core symptoms of ADHD, and that their conclusions therefore lack validity for the disorder.ConclusionsThis review indicates that the natural selection-based accounts of ADHD have not been subjected to empirical test and therefore remain hypothetical.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Surajo Adamu Wada ◽  
Vasantha Kumari Neela

Abstract Background: Leptospirosis is a Global emerging zoonotic tropical bacterial disease of the genus Leptospira, with high morbidity and mortality, especially in resource-limited communities. This study is a systematic review on the incidence of socioeconomic and environmental factors of human leptospirosis. Methods: The research involved published articles from PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar electronic databases for nine years. It also encompasses all cases analysed for the risk factors under study reported as numerical percentage incidences. The key terms searched in the database include "leptospirosis, Leptospira, human, patients, socioeconomic, environmental, risk factors, incidence, and prevalence." The search terms from the categories were linked with "OR" and those between categories with "AND." Retrieved articles were saved as comma-separated values (CVS) files and sorted out using the inclusion and exclusion criteria for the study, and then presented in PRISMA plot.Results: PubMed search revealed 133 that reduced to 14 after eligibility screening. Scopus produced 338, of which 17 met all the inclusion criteria. Finally, ten publications were qualified for further analysis. Descriptive statistics was used to analysed the association of means of the various factors associated with leptospirosis. Association with rodents had the highest mean incidence of 52.6% among the environmental factors, whereas farming activity among the socioeconomic factors had the highest mean incidence (44.3%). Conclusion: The authority concerned should improve efforts toward health education to farmers regarding personal safety and protective equipment. They should also encourage communities to improve environmental sanitation practices to minimize rodent populations.


2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 520-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
Izabela Guimarães Barbosa ◽  
Giulia Campos Ferreira ◽  
Diomildo Ferreira Andrade Júnior ◽  
Cássio Rocha Januário ◽  
André Rolim Belisário ◽  
...  

Bipolar Disorder (BD) is a chronic a multifactorial psychiatric illness that affects mood, cognition, and functioning. BD is associated with several psychiatric conditions as well clinical comorbidities, particularly cardiovascular diseases. The neurobiology of BD is complex and multifactorial and several systems have been implicated. Considering that the Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) plays an important role in cardiovascular diseases and that recently evidence has suggested its role in psychiatric disorders, the aim of the present study is to summarize and to discuss recent findings related to the modulation of RAS components in BD. A systematic search of the literature using the electronic databases MEDLINE and LILACS was conducted through March 2019. The search terms were: “Bipolar Disorder”; “Renin Angiotensin System”; “Angiotensin 2”; “Angiotensin receptors”; “Angiotensin 1-7”; “ACE”; “ACE2”; “Mas Receptor”. We included original studies assessing RAS in BD patients. Two hundred twenty-two citations were initially retrieved. Eleven studies were included in our systematic review. In the majority of studies (6 of 8), the ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism did not differ between BD patients and controls. BD patients presented higher plasma renin activity in comparison with controls. The studies evaluating the RAS molecules in BD are very scarce and heterogeneous. The literature suggests a potential role of RAS in BD. Further studies are necessary to investigate this relationship.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles James ◽  
Catherine Walshe ◽  
Katherine Froggatt

Abstract Background The knowledge about the experience of informal caregivers who provide care to people with moderate to advanced dementia in a domestic home setting is limited. A consequence of long hours of caregiving in addition to dealing with normal challenges of daily living is their experience of a poor quality of life. Some of their experiences may be described in terms of a feeling of powerlessness to make changes during care provision. This feeling may also suggest an experience of moral distress. The aim of this systematic review is to synthesise qualitative evidence relating to these experiences. Methods This review adopts a narrative synthesis approach. A search will be conducted for studies written in the English language in the bibliographic databases MEDLINE Complete, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Web of Science and Academic Search Complete covering periods from 1984 to present. Included studies will be qualitative or mixed-methods designs. The search terms will be related to dementia and caregivers, and the process will be focused on dementia at the moderate to the advanced stages within the domestic home setting. Reference lists of included papers will also be searched for additional relevant citations. Search terms and strategies will be checked by two independent reviewers. The identification of abstracts and full texts of studies will be done by the author, while the quality and the risk of bias will also be checked by the two independent reviewers. Discussion Psychological distress is cited as an experience reported within informal caregiving. For the caregiver, it is associated with a negative impact on general health. To date, no synthesis exists on the specific experience of informal caregiving for people with moderate to advanced dementia within the domestic home setting. This review considers that variation of accounts contributes to how the informal caregivers’ general experience is explored in future research. This may enable gaps in current knowledge to be highlighted within the wider context of caregiving in the domestic home setting. Systematic review registration This review is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42020183649).


Andrologia ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahin Izadi ◽  
Mohammad Ali Khalili ◽  
Amin Salehi‐Abargouei ◽  
Mohammad Ebrahim Rezvani ◽  
Behrouz Aflatoonian

2021 ◽  
pp. 073346482110065
Author(s):  
Ming-Hsiu Chiang ◽  
Yi-Jie Kuo ◽  
Yu-Pin Chen

Hip fracture is a serious clinical event with high morbidity and mortality. Sarcopenia is characterized by age-related loss of muscle mass and function, leading to several adverse health outcomes. In this systematic review, no limitation criteria were used for study selection and 327 studies were identified in the initial search. Of these, 11 studies comprising a total of 2,314 patients were selected. The overall proportion of older adults with hip fracture having sarcopenia was 44%, with a disparity of approximately 10% between men and women. Most studies have indicated that older adults with sarcopenia had poorer postoperative functional recovery than those without sarcopenia; the association between sarcopenia and high postoperative mortality or long hospital stay was heterogeneous. Well-organized studies with longer follow-up periods are warranted.


2021 ◽  
pp. 073346482110593
Author(s):  
Cindy Jones ◽  
Meiling Qi ◽  
Zihui Xie ◽  
Wendy Moyle ◽  
Benjamin Weeks ◽  
...  

This study performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the health effects of Baduanjin exercise on adults aged 65 years and older. Chinese and English databases were electronically searched using search terms related to the PICO model from inception through June 2021. The study quality assessment and meta-analysis were conducted using the PEDro scale and RevMan 5.4 software. Eleven included Chinese studies, published between 2015 and 2021, recruited participants from the mainland of China. The aggregated results showed significant benefits of Baduanjin on physical function, walking ability, balance, and anxiety. A long-term Baduanjin intervention could also improve quality of life and reduce falls and pain. Baduanjin appears to have the potential to improve the health of older adults, but conclusions are limited due to the lack of rigorous and robust studies within and outside of mainland China. Larger, well-designed RCTs are needed to confirm these findings.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (12) ◽  
pp. e246005
Author(s):  
Louise Gurowich ◽  
Gabriel Yiin ◽  
Adam Maxwell ◽  
Alexandra Rice

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune condition affecting the neuromuscular junction characterised by weakness and fatiguability, carrying a high morbidity if treatment is delayed. A clear association with thymoma has led to management with thymectomy as a common practice, but MG presenting post-thymectomy has rarely been reported. We present a case of an 82- year-old woman developing fatigue, ptosis and dysarthria 3 months after thymectomy. After a clinical diagnosis of MG was made, she responded well to prompt treatment with prednisolone and pyridostigmine. Her anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody (anti-AChR) subsequently came back positive. Our systematic review reveals that post-thymectomy MG can be categorised as early-onset or late-onset form with differing aetiology, and demonstrated correlation between preoperative anti-AChR titres and post-thymectomy MG. The postulated mechanisms for post-thymectomy MG centre around long-lasting peripheral autoantibodies. Clinicians should actively look for MG symptoms in thymoma patients and measure anti-AChR preoperatively to aid prognostication.


2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-35
Author(s):  
V. N. Serebrova ◽  
E. A. Trifonova ◽  
V. A. Stepanov

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Jackson ◽  
Lauren McTier ◽  
Laura A Brooks ◽  
Rochelle Wynne

Abstract Background: Although simulation-based education (SBE) has become increasingly popular as a mode of teaching in undergraduate nursing courses its effect on associated student learning outcomes remains ambiguous. Educational outcomes are influenced by SBE quality that is governed by technology, training, resources and SBE design elements. This paper reports the protocol for a systematic review to identify, appraise and synthesise the best available evidence regarding the impact of SBE on undergraduate nurses’ learning outcomes. Methods: Databases to be searched from 1st of January 1990 include the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), the Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE), American Psychological Association (APA) PsycInfo and the Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC) via the EBSCO host platform. The Excerpta Medica database (EMBASE) will be searched via the OVID platform. We will review the reference lists of relevant articles for additional citations. A combination of search terms including ‘nursing students’, ‘simulation training, ‘patient simulation’, and ‘immersive simulation’ with common Boolean operators will be used. Specific search terms will be combined with either MeSH or Emtree terms and appropriate permutations for each database. Search findings will be imported into reference management software (Endnote© Version.X9) then uploaded into Covidence where two reviewers will independently screen titles, abstracts and retrieved full text. A third reviewer will be available to resolve conflicts and moderate consensus discussions. Quantitative primary research studies evaluating the effect of SBE on undergraduate nursing students’ educational outcomes will be included. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT) will be used for quality assessment of core criteria, in addition to the Cochrane RoB 2 and ROBINS-I to assess risk of bias for randomised and non-randomised studies, respectively. Primary outcomes are any measure of knowledge, skills, or attitude. Discussion: SBE has been widely adopted by healthcare disciplines in tertiary teaching settings. This systematic review will reveal (i) the effect of SBE on learning outcomes, (ii) SBE element variability, and (iii) interplay between SBE elements and learning outcome. Findings will specify SBE design elements to inform the design and implementation of future strategies for simulation-based undergraduate nursing education.Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO CRD42021244530


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