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Biomedical subjects

M Mazzetti di Pietralata

Publications and source records attributed to M Mazzetti di Pietralata.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Night eating syndrome. Preliminary results.

Clinical aspects of the "night eating syndrome" (NES) are described. Recent studies, also referred to in the present report, have revealed certain triggering factors of this syndrome, but do not reveal the nature of the relationship between awakening and compulsory need for food. According to the psychodynamic interpretation, these subjects eat at night to replace dreaming, to which they offer strong resistance, whilst according to the psychobiological interpretation, motivational stimuli develop the irresistible and repeated desire for food. Within a post-rational cognitive theoretical model, the compulsion to food would be the mode through which subjects obtain a modified conscious state necessary to appease the suffering due to an experience of emptiness and incapacity. Psychological support associated with pharmacological treatment (benzodiazepine, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid) has been shown, in a personal series, to be effective both upon the sleep disorder and craving.

Adult↗
PubMed1999

Low plasma cholesterol: a correlate of nondiagnosed celiac disease in adults with hypochromic anemia.

OBJECTIVE: Hypochromic anemia is at times attributable to nondiagnosed celiac disease. The aim of this study was to define the correlates of celiac disease in anemic adults without overt malabsorption. METHODS: One hundred patients with hypochromic anemia and without diarrhea underwent a complete diagnostic work-up, including screening for celiac disease, i.e., upper endoscopy with duodenal biopsy and search of antiendomysium antibodies. RESULTS: Patients with hypochromic anemia were from two different Divisions and were analyzed as a single group because they were not significantly different for any variable. Hypochromic anemia was attributable to celiac disease in 10 patients. Compared to anemic patients without celiac disease, anemic patients with celiac disease had significant or borderline significant differences for plasma cholesterol (-17.9%), albumin (-9.4%), and body mass index (-11.8%), but not for gender distribution, age, weight, height, blood hemoglobin, mean corpuscolar volume, plasma iron, and ferritin. All anemic patients with celiac disease had plasma cholesterol < 156 mg/100 ml. Within the entire cohort of anemic patients, plasma cholesterol inversely related to prevalence of celiac disease (p < 0.001); also plasma albumin and body mass index inversely related to celiac disease, but coefficients were borderline significant (p = 0.056 and 0.052, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest that among patients with hypochromic anemia, plasma cholesterol in the high-to-normal range could be used to exclude the presence of celiac disease. Other nutritional markers are less sensitive as indices of risk of celiac disease. Hematological indices are not of help to define the risk of celiac disease in anemic patients without signs of malabsorption.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1998

Application of artificial neural networks to eating disorders.

An experimental application of Artificial Neural Networks to Eating Disorders is presented. The sample, composed of 172 cases (all women) collected at the Centre for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Eating Disorders of the 1st Medical Division of the St. Eugenio Hospital of Rome, was subdivided, on the basis of the diagnosis made by the specialist of the St. Eugenio, into four classes: Anorexia Nervosa (AN), Nervous Bulimia (NB), Binge Eating Disorders (BED) and Psychogenic Eating Disorders that are Not Otherwise Specified (PED-NOS). The data base was composed of 124 different variables: generic information, alimentary behavior, eventual treatment and hospitalization, substance use, menstrual cycles, weight and height, hematochemical and instrumental examinations, psychodiagnostic tests, etc. The goal of this experiment was to verify the accuracy of the Neural Networks in recognising anorexic and bulimic patients. This article describes 6 experiments, using a Feed Forward Neural Network, each one using different variables. Starting from only the generic variables (life styles, family environment, etc.) and hematoclinical and instrumental examinations, a Neural Networks provided 86.94% of the prediction precision. This work is meant to be a first contribution to creating diagnostic procedures for Eating Disorders, that would be simple and easy-to-use by professionals who are neither psychologists nor psychiatrists nor psychotherapists but who are, however, among the first to meet these patients and who are therefore called upon to give such patients the very first pieces of advice on seeking proper treatment.

Anorexia Nervosa↗
PubMed1990

Digestive disturbances in shift-workers: a clinical statistical investigation.

In order to give a clarifying contribution about the probable relationship between shift-work and digestive diseases the authors have conducted a clinical and anamnestical investigation on digestive disturbances and alimentary habits of shift-workers comparing them with non shift-workers. The former group of subjects is engaged in very different activities conducted in variable working environments, with shift rhythms which are always disordered, sometime are imposed by the working Companies and sometimes chosen on the basis of personal necessities. The most interesting result of this study is represented by the confirmation of statistical significance among the larger incidence percentage of digestive disturbances between shift and non shift-workers. Moreover, statistical differences have been remarked among the different groups of shift-workers examinated. For these reasons the authors believe that shift-work is per se responsible of digestive diseases in the workers engaged to it and they also think that it is very important to distinguish the kind of shift work which may produce environmental, psychological and motivational differences.

Adaptation, Physiological↗
PubMed1987

Peptic disease and 24-hr patterns of serum gastrin and pepsinogen.

The present study explored the 24-hr variations in serum gastrin and pepsinogen in clinically healthy subjects and in patients with gastric ulcer, duodenal ulcer, and erosive gastroduodenopathy. Time-qualified data were analyzed by means of cosinor procedures. Significant changes in rhythmometric properties were documented in patients with peptic disease when compared to clinically healthy subjects. In essence, it was discovered that gastric ulcer patients exhibit a higher mesor and amplitude for both gastrin and pepsinogen, whereas duodenal ulcer patients and those with erosive gastroduodenopathy show only a significant increase in the pepsinogen mesor. These characteristics are so specific in the groups investigated that one can hypothesize that the disorders in the circadian rhythmicity of gastrin and pepsinogen have a role in determining the clinical manifestations of peptic disease.

Circadian Rhythm↗
PubMed1981

[Intermittent retrograde transcardial gastroesophageal prolapse. Clinical picture. Endoscopic aspects. Radiographic study].

Intermittent transcardial prolapse and/or gastroesophageal invagination take place in some 16% of upper digestive tract endoscopies. The clinical picture may correspond to episodic epigastric symptomatology, massive digestive haemorrhage, and recurrent paroxystic heart rhythm disturbances. Prolapse can be recorded with a spot camera by means of an easy technique, so that its association with hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux, peptic oesophagitis, etc. can be studied. Treatment is that applicable to cardiac incontinence and peptic oesophagitis.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Subclinical coeliac disease.

The prevalence of coeliac disease (CD) was investigated in an epidemiological study of school children from a district of Rome. Mass screening of IgA-AGA levels (anti-gliadin antibody) were determined in blood samples from the study group and the results were positive in 19 children. Eighteen of these agreed to undergo endoscopic biopsy. Histological study of the duodenal specimens revealed villous atrophy in twelve children none of whom had the characteristic symptoms of CD. The most frequent complaints were abdominal pain, aphtous stomatitis, and atopic dermatitis. The high prevalence of CD in this study suggests the necessity for the widest range of epidemiological research.

Adolescent↗