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Objective: This study aimed to determine the relationship between vitamin D levels and anxiety and depression in patients with chronic pain. Materials and Methods: A total of 160 patients, including 125 female and 35 male patients, who were >18 years old and capable of answering study questions were included in this study. Age, gender, height, weight, duration of disease, diagnosis and comorbid status of the patients were recorded. Body mass index (BMI) (kg/m²) was calculated for each patient. Pain was evaluated using the visual analogue scale (VAS), which ranges from 0 to 10. Hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) scores were recorded. The patients were divided into two groups (group 1 vitamin D: 0-19, group 2 vitamin D: 20-60 ng/mL) according to vitamin D levels. Also vitamin D levels were noted. Results: The mean age of the patients included in this study was 58.72±8.21 years. Vitamin D deficiency was found in 42.8% of the patients, of which 80.7% were female patients.In patients with chronic pain, there was no correlation between vitamin D levels and age (r=0.185, p=0.026); BMI (r=0.084, p=0.316); disease duration (r=0.067, p=0.420); VAS (r=0.038, p=0.648); HADS scores for anxiety (r=0.020, p=0.808) and HADS scores for depression (r=0.048, p=0.569). No relationship was noted between BMI and vitamin D levels (r =-0.117, p=0.165) in patients with chronic pain; however, a positive correlation was noted between BMI and VAS (r=0.305, p=0.000) and HADS scores for anxiety (r=0.185, p=0.001) and HADS scores for depression (r=0.0240, p=0.002). Conclusion: In the present study, we found no relationship between vitamin D levels and anxiety and depression in patients with chronic pain. However, we found a correlation between obesity and pain severity. Also we report that obesity is associated with anxiety and depression. Implementing lifestyle changes, such as weight loss and reduction of vitamin D deficiency, can improve anxiety and depression in patients with chronic pain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relationship between cognitive functioning impairment and nutrition in obesity: Current Perspective Obesity is one of the serious public health problems and its prevalence has been increasing in recent years. As well as causing health problems, obesity is associated with cognitive function impairment, especially with reduced language, motor capacity skills, and attention named as executive functions. Obesity is also related to decrease in brain volume, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, sociopathic, aggressive personality traits, anxiety, and major depressive disorder. There are several mechanisms; increased vascular damage, blood pressure, C-reactive protein (CRP), cortisol, tumor necrosis factor, serum amyloid A levels explaining the relationship between obesity and cognitive functioning. Obesity generates fluctuations in levels of insulin, leptin and metabolites. These fluctuations may affect cognitive capacity by causing atrophic changes in the brain. FTO gene is also being studied to explain the relationship between obesity and cognitive function. Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder are disorders commonly associated with obesity. Besides these disorders, some studies reported associations between decreases in brain volume and IQ levels and obesity. To investigate the underlying mechanisms between these two matters, more longitudinal studies are needed. In this review, we aimed to study the relationship between obesity and cognitive functioning [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Obesity prevalence is rapidly increasing all over the world, composing a serious issue in public health. Insulin resistance is encountered in many patients and chronic inflammation plays an important role in their pathophysiology. Previous studies indicated a significant correlation between body fat mass and plasma hs-CRP levels. In this study, we investigate the relationship between plasma hs-CRP levels and cardiovascular risk factors and metabolic syndrome parameters in Turkish obese female patients. Materials and methods: A total of 1007 overweight and obese women were examined retrospectively. Of these, 127 overweight (BMI = 25-30 kg/m²) and 880 obese (BMI t 30 kg/m²) patients were evaluated in Istanbul University, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Obesity Outpatient Clinic. Anthropometric and biochemical parameters were measured. Patients were divided in 3 categories according to their plasma hsCRP levels, and parameters were analyzed using one-way ANOVA. p<0.05 was accepted as significant. Results: Body weight, body fat mass and fat distribution were significantly high in the upper tertile group. Plasma hs-CRP levels were significantly associated with cardiovascular risk parameters. In addition, metabolic syndrome indicators and risk parameters were also more frequent in the upper tertile group. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that high serum hs-CRP levels are associated with obesity-related complications and cardiovascular risk parameters. A high risk situation may occur as serum hs-CRP levels increase. Elevated hs-CRP levels reflect a metabolic risk situation. The treatment of patients with high hs-CRP levels should be handled more cautiously. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]