Abstract Objective: Stearoyl‐coenzyme A desaturase‐1 (SCD1) is a key enzyme in fatty acid and energy metabolism. Increased hepatic SCD1 activity is associated with obesity and obesity‐related diseases. We examined the relations of two plasma SCD activity indices (16:1n‐7/16:0, 18:1n‐9/18:0) with body composition, and the association of lifestyle and dietary variables with the plasma SCD indices. Design and Methods: This population‐based, cross‐sectional study of 2021 elderly (71–74 y) men and women from the Hordaland Health Study in Western Norway was conducted using a validated food frequency questionnaire, body composition measurements by dual‐energy X‐ray absorptiometry and determination of the plasma fatty acid profile. Results: In multivariate regression analyses, plasma SCD indices were positively associated with BMI and body fat ( P < 0.001 for both). From the 2.5th to 97.5th percentiles of plasma SCD‐16 and SCD‐18 indices, fat mass differed by about 8 kg and 5 kg, respectively. Intake of polyunsaturated fatty acids were negatively associated with SCD‐16 (partial r = −0.30) and SCD‐18 (partial r = −0.24) ( P < 0.001 for both). Alcohol intake was positively associated with SCD‐16 (partial r = 0.26) and SCD‐18 (partial r = 0.16) ( P < 0.001 for both), whereas coffee consumption and physical activity were inversely associated with SCD‐16 ( P = 0.026 and P = 0.006, respectively) and SCD‐18 ( P = 0.001 and P = 0.022, respectively). Conclusions: In this elderly population, plasma markers of SCD1 activity are associated with increased adiposity. Furthermore, modifiable dietary habits and lifestyle are associated with plasma SCD indices. These results suggest that SCD1 activity may be a promising target for weight control.

Models of the neuroanatomy of panic disorder (PD) have relied on both animal work on fear and on clinical data from neuroimaging. Early work hypothesised a network of brain regions involved in fear processing (e.g. the amygdala), but more recent work has also pointed to the involvement of other cortical areas and other brain circuitry (e.g. the insula and anterior cingulate cortex). Studies investigating functional and structural brain connectivity in PD may ultimately shed light on the extent to which the neuroanatomy of PD is localised versus distributed, and on how current treatments alter this neuroanatomy.

Psychiatric nosology is widely criticized, but solutions are proving elusive. Planned revisions of diagnostic criteria will not resolve heterogeneity, comorbidity, fuzzy boundaries between normal and pathological, and lack of specific biomarkers. Concern about these difficulties reflects a narrow model that assumes most mental disorders should be defined by their etiologies. A more genuinely medical model uses understanding of normal function to categorize pathologies. For instance, understanding the function of a cough guides the search for problems causing it, and decisions about when it is expressed abnormally. Understanding the functions of emotions is a foundation missing from decisions about emotional disorders. The broader medical model used by the rest of medicine also recognizes syndromes defined by failures of functional systems or failures of feedback control. Such medical syndromes are similar to many mental diagnoses in their multiple causes, blurry boundaries, and nonspecific biomarkers. Dissatisfaction with psychiatric nosology may best be alleviated, not by new diagnostic criteria and categories, but by more realistic acknowledgment of the untidy landscape of mental and other medical disorders.

Long-term treatment with a combination of folic acid and vitamin B12 increase basal and adenosine-induced maximal coronary blood flow. This may reflect improved microvascular function in patients with stable CAD.

Introduction Panic disorder is a common mental disorder that is associated with significant morbidity. Fortunately, effective treatments for panic disorder are available, and include both medication and cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT). Ongoing research on the pharmacotherapy of panic disorder makes it timely to update an evidence-based approach to the pharmacotherapy of panic disorder (Bakker et al., 2005). Here we briefly emphasize the importance of adequate care before reviewing the available pharmacological evidence on treating panic disorder, focusing in particular on (1) the optimal first-line pharmacotherapy of panic disorder, (2) the optimal duration of maintenance therapy, and (3) the optimal approach to pharmacotherapy in the treatment-refractory patient. To reveal relevant research conducted since the publication of Bakker et al. (2005), a MEDLINE search (2003–2010) using the terms “panic’ and “treatment’ was undertaken. Importance of adequate care, Panic disorder is a common mental disorder, with a 12-month prevalence rate of 1.8% (Goodwin et al., 2005). Only a minority of those affected receive adequate care. The main reason is that not all patients seek help. It may take years before individuals with panic disorder seek help; only about one third of those affected seek help within the year of onset (Wang et al., 2005a). The gap between those affected and those seeking help for panic disorder is about 50% (Kohn et al., 2004; Wang et al., 2005b).

Contemporary economic models hold that instrumental and impulsive behaviors underlie human social decision making. The amygdala is assumed to be involved in social-economic behavior, but its role in human behavior is poorly understood. Rodent research suggests that the basolateral amygdala (BLA) subserves instrumental behaviors and regulates the central-medial amygdala, which subserves impulsive behaviors. The human amygdala, however, typically is investigated as a single unit. If these rodent data could be translated to humans, selective dysfunction of the human BLA might constrain instrumental social-economic decisions and result in more impulsive social-economic choice behavior. Here we show that humans with selective BLA damage and a functional central-medial amygdala invest nearly 100% more money in unfamiliar others in a trust game than do healthy controls. We furthermore show that this generosity is not caused by risk-taking deviations in nonsocial contexts. Moreover, these BLA-damaged subjects do not expect higher returns or perceive people as more trustworthy, implying that their generous investments are not instrumental in nature. These findings suggest that the human BLA is essential for instrumental behaviors in social-economic interactions.

Pandemic influenza virus infection in pregnancy was associated with an increased risk of fetal death. Vaccination during pregnancy reduced the risk of an influenza diagnosis. Vaccination itself was not associated with increased fetal mortality and may have reduced the risk of influenza-related fetal death during the pandemic. (Funded by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.).

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a prevalent, disabling condition with considerable comorbidity and morbidity. There is growing evidence supporting the efficacy and safety of pharmacotherapeutic and psychotherapeutic interventions for PTSD. However, a significant proportion of individuals with PTSD do not respond to first-line treatments. Strategies for managing treatment-resistant PTSD include switching to a different treatment, increasing dose and duration of pharmacotherapy, augmenting pharmacotherapy with a drug from a different class, or combining pharmacotherapy with psychotherapy. This chapter reviews the current evidence for these various strategies as well as novel approaches targeting the disrupted neuronal circuitry and molecular mechanisms hypothesized to underlie PTSD.