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Background: Medical and psychiatric comorbidities are commonly comorbid with diabetes. Race and ethnicity may, however, modify the link between medical and psychiatric comorbidities in individuals with diabetes. In this study we compared Non-Hispanic Whites, African Americans, and Caribbean Blacks with diabetes for the association between number of comorbid medical conditions and lifetime and 12-month major depressive disorder (MDD) in individuals with diabetes. Methods: Data came from the National Survey of American Life (NSAL), 2001–2003. We included 603 patients with diabetes (75 non-Hispanic Whites, 396 African Americans, and 131 Caribbean Blacks). Number of comorbid medical conditions was the independent variable, lifetime and 12-month MDD were dependent variables, and age, gender, education, marital status, employment, and body mass index were covariates. Race- and ethnic- specific logistic regressions were used to determine race and ethnic differences in the associations between number of chronic medical conditions and lifetime and 12-month MDD, while the effect of all covariates were controlled. Results: Number of chronic medical conditions was positively associated with lifetime MDD among non-Hispanic Whites (OR = 1.719, 95 % CI = 1.018 – 2.902) and African Americans (OR = 1.235, 95 % CI = 1.056– 1.445) but not Caribbean Blacks (P >.05). Number of chronic medical conditions was also associated with 12-month MDD among non-Hispanic Whites (OR = 1.757, 95 % CI = 1.119 – 2.759) and African Americans (OR = 1.381, 95 % CI = 1.175 - 1.623) but not Caribbean Blacks (P >.05). Conclusions: This study shows race- and ethnic- differences in the association between number of medical comorbidities and MDD among patients with diabetes. These findings invite researchers to study the mechanisms behind race- and ethnic- differences in vulnerability and resilience to the mental health effects of chronic medical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective Comorbid disorders influence the course and outcomes of rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet sex- and age-related disparities in the frequency distribution of these disorders remain poorly understood. We aimed to describe comorbid disorders by the International Classification of Diseases in patients with TBI undergoing inpatient rehabilitation in Ontario, Canada over a 3-year period, by sex and age, and discuss their potential impact on rehabilitation outcomes. Results The percentage of TBI patients with one or more comorbid disorder is higher among older (≥65 years) men and women than among those who are younger or middle-aged (

Various studies in ecology have shown the relationship between body condition and parasitic loads in nonhuman primates, however, little information is available regarding prosimians such as lemurs. In this study, the synergistic effect of parasite infection and socio-ecological factors on the body condition of Microcebus rufus in the family Cheirogaleidae was analyzed in Ranomafana National Park in southeastern Madagascar. This lemur species is characterized by its ability to adapt to different types of forest, and by seasonal fattening. Based on the factors considered, this species is, therefore, a good model for the study of body condition and ecology of infectious diseases in lemurs. Floatation and direct observation techniques were used for examination of parasite infection. Two indices considering body condition were analyzed: volume index (VI) and condition index (Cl), the residual between the mass observed and the corrected mass. The generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) was used to model the synergistic effect of parasite infections and socioecological factors on variation in body condition, with the identity of individuals used as a random factor. We identified five species of helminths, one species of protist, and one species of lice which infected the 204 mouse lemurs captured. There was a sexual difference for all measures of the parasite infection. The more parasite species an individual was infected with, the smaller was its body size according to the Volume Index that reflects deposits of subcutaneous fat. Individuals with more positive Condition Index values, particularly females, excreted more parasite eggs or oocyst in their faecal matter. The results suggest that an individual's body condition constitutes an indicator of risk of parasite infection and transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Comorbid disorders influence the course and outcomes of rehabilitation following traumatic brain injury (TBI), yet sex- and age-related disparities in the frequency distribution of these disorders remain poorly understood. We aimed to describe comorbid disorders by the International Classification of Diseases in patients with TBI undergoing inpatient rehabilitation in Ontario, Canada over a 3-year period, by sex and age, and discuss their potential impact on rehabilitation outcomes. Results: The percentage of TBI patients with one or more comorbid disorder is higher among older (≥65 years) men and women than among those who are younger or middle-aged (<65 years). Among younger and middle-aged patients, multiple injuries and trauma, mental health conditions, and nervous system disorders were the most prevalent comorbidities. In older patients, circulatory, endocrine, nutritional, metabolic, and immune disorders were the most prevalent comorbidities. Our results suggest that a multisystem view of rehabilitation of men and women with TBI across age categories is needed to reflect the complex clinical profile of TBI patients undergoing rehabilitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutrient intake recommendations and national nutritional policies have focused primarily on prevention of short-latency deficiency diseases. Most nutrient intake recommendations today are based on prevention of the index disease only. However, inadequate intakes of many nutrients are now recognized as contributing to several of the major chronic diseases that affect the populations of the industrialized nations. Often taking many years to manifest themselves, these disease outcomes should be thought of as longlatency deficiency diseases. Sometimes they come about by the same pathophysiologic mechanism that produces the index disease, but sometimes the mechanisms are completely different. Well-documented examples of both short- and long-latency deficiency states involving calcium and vitamin D are described briefly. Then, the insights derived from these nutrients are tentatively applied to folic acid. Discerning the full role of nutrition in long-latency, multifactorial disorders is probably the principal challenge facing nutritional science today. The first component of this challenge is to recognize that inadequate intakes of specific nutrients may produce more than one disease, may produce diseases by more than one mechanism, and may require several years for the consequent morbidity to be sufficiently evident to be clinically recognizable as "disease." Because the intakes required to prevent many of the long-latency disorders are higher than those required to prevent the respective index diseases, recommendations based solely on preventing the index diseases are no longer biologically defensible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]