The Experts below are selected from a list of 360 Experts worldwide ranked by ideXlab platform
Hamish Mccallum - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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is disease a major Causal Factor in declines an evidence framework and case study on koala chlamydiosis
Biological Conservation, 2018Co-Authors: Laura F Grogan, Douglas H Kerlin, Jean-marc Hero, Darryl Noel Jones, Alison J Peel, William Ellis, Hamish MccallumAbstract:Determining the role of an infectious agent in contributing to wildlife population declines is a pervasive problem in the field of conservation biology. We expand on a recently proposed broad investigative approach for disease, with a systematic framework outlining the specific types of individual- and population-scale empirical evidence required to demonstrate whether a pathogen is a component cause of declines in wild animal populations. Using koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) population declines and their putative association with the bacterial disease chlamydiosis (Family Chlamydiaceae) as a case study, we review the relevant published literature and synthesize a logical conceptual argument based on our suggested framework. Available empirical evidence supports a role for chlamydiosis contributing to host mortality and sterility, and cannot rule out a role of chlamydiosis as a component cause of koala population declines. However, the relative importance of chlamydiosis (among other threatening processes) as a driver of changes in koala demography and autecology may differ depending on the particular population or system examined, and this has yet to be elucidated over the koala's distributional range. Our approach allows us to highlight current research gaps in order to assist with future policy planning and conservation strategy. We recommend that a similar approach will assist in the evaluation of the role of disease in population declines in other ecological systems.
Paul Harrison - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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sleep disturbance and psychiatric disorders
The Lancet Psychiatry, 2020Co-Authors: Daniel Freeman, Bryony Sheaves, Felicity Waite, Allison G Harvey, Paul HarrisonAbstract:Signs of mental ill health that cut across psychiatric diagnostic categories at high rates are typically viewed as non-specific occurrences, downgraded in importance and disregarded. However, problems not associated with particular diagnoses should be expected if there is shared causation across mental health conditions. If dynamic networks of interacting symptoms are the reality of mental health presentations, then particularly disruptive and highly connected problems should be especially common. The non-specific occurrence might be highly consequential. One non-specific occurrence that is often overlooked is patients' chronic difficulty in getting good sleep. In this Review, we consider whether disrupted sleep might be a contributory Causal Factor in the occurrence of major types of mental health disorders. It is argued that insomnia and other mental health conditions not only share common causes but also show a bidirectional relationship, with typically the strongest pathway being disrupted sleep as a Causal Factor in the occurrence of other psychiatric problems. Treating insomnia lessens other mental health problems. Intervening on sleep at an early stage might be a preventive strategy for the onset of clinical disorders. Our recommendations are that insomnia is assessed routinely in the occurrence of mental health disorders; that sleep disturbance is treated in services as a problem in its own right, yet also recognised as a pathway to reduce other mental health difficulties; and that access to evidence-based treatment for sleep difficulties is expanded in mental health services.
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the effects of improving sleep on mental health oasis a randomised controlled trial with mediation analysis
The Lancet Psychiatry, 2017Co-Authors: Daniel Freeman, Bryony Sheaves, Paul Harrison, Guy M Goodwin, Alecia Nickless, Richard EmsleyAbstract:Summary Background Sleep difficulties might be a contributory Causal Factor in the occurrence of mental health problems. If this is true, improving sleep should benefit psychological health. We aimed to determine whether treating insomnia leads to a reduction in paranoia and hallucinations. Methods We did this single-blind, randomised controlled trial (OASIS) at 26 UK universities. University students with insomnia were randomly assigned (1:1) with simple randomisation to receive digital cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for insomnia or usual care, and the research team were masked to the treatment. Online assessments took place at weeks 0, 3, 10 (end of therapy), and 22. The primary outcome measures were for insomnia, paranoia, and hallucinatory experiences. We did intention-to-treat analyses. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN61272251. Findings Between March 5, 2015, and Feb 17, 2016, we randomly assigned 3755 participants to receive digital CBT for insomnia (n=1891) or usual practice (n=1864). Compared with usual practice, the sleep intervention at 10 weeks reduced insomnia (adjusted difference 4·78, 95% CI 4·29 to 5·26, Cohen's d=1·11; p Interpretation To our knowledge, this is the largest randomised controlled trial of a psychological intervention for a mental health problem. It provides strong evidence that insomnia is a Causal Factor in the occurrence of psychotic experiences and other mental health problems. Whether the results generalise beyond a student population requires testing. The treatment of disrupted sleep might require a higher priority in mental health provision. Funding Wellcome Trust.
Daniel Freeman - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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sleep disturbance and psychiatric disorders
The Lancet Psychiatry, 2020Co-Authors: Daniel Freeman, Bryony Sheaves, Felicity Waite, Allison G Harvey, Paul HarrisonAbstract:Signs of mental ill health that cut across psychiatric diagnostic categories at high rates are typically viewed as non-specific occurrences, downgraded in importance and disregarded. However, problems not associated with particular diagnoses should be expected if there is shared causation across mental health conditions. If dynamic networks of interacting symptoms are the reality of mental health presentations, then particularly disruptive and highly connected problems should be especially common. The non-specific occurrence might be highly consequential. One non-specific occurrence that is often overlooked is patients' chronic difficulty in getting good sleep. In this Review, we consider whether disrupted sleep might be a contributory Causal Factor in the occurrence of major types of mental health disorders. It is argued that insomnia and other mental health conditions not only share common causes but also show a bidirectional relationship, with typically the strongest pathway being disrupted sleep as a Causal Factor in the occurrence of other psychiatric problems. Treating insomnia lessens other mental health problems. Intervening on sleep at an early stage might be a preventive strategy for the onset of clinical disorders. Our recommendations are that insomnia is assessed routinely in the occurrence of mental health disorders; that sleep disturbance is treated in services as a problem in its own right, yet also recognised as a pathway to reduce other mental health difficulties; and that access to evidence-based treatment for sleep difficulties is expanded in mental health services.
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the effects of improving sleep on mental health oasis a randomised controlled trial with mediation analysis
The Lancet Psychiatry, 2017Co-Authors: Daniel Freeman, Bryony Sheaves, Paul Harrison, Guy M Goodwin, Alecia Nickless, Richard EmsleyAbstract:Summary Background Sleep difficulties might be a contributory Causal Factor in the occurrence of mental health problems. If this is true, improving sleep should benefit psychological health. We aimed to determine whether treating insomnia leads to a reduction in paranoia and hallucinations. Methods We did this single-blind, randomised controlled trial (OASIS) at 26 UK universities. University students with insomnia were randomly assigned (1:1) with simple randomisation to receive digital cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for insomnia or usual care, and the research team were masked to the treatment. Online assessments took place at weeks 0, 3, 10 (end of therapy), and 22. The primary outcome measures were for insomnia, paranoia, and hallucinatory experiences. We did intention-to-treat analyses. The trial is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN61272251. Findings Between March 5, 2015, and Feb 17, 2016, we randomly assigned 3755 participants to receive digital CBT for insomnia (n=1891) or usual practice (n=1864). Compared with usual practice, the sleep intervention at 10 weeks reduced insomnia (adjusted difference 4·78, 95% CI 4·29 to 5·26, Cohen's d=1·11; p Interpretation To our knowledge, this is the largest randomised controlled trial of a psychological intervention for a mental health problem. It provides strong evidence that insomnia is a Causal Factor in the occurrence of psychotic experiences and other mental health problems. Whether the results generalise beyond a student population requires testing. The treatment of disrupted sleep might require a higher priority in mental health provision. Funding Wellcome Trust.
Hermann Brenner - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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fusobacterium and colorectal cancer Causal Factor or passenger results from a large colorectal cancer screening study
Carcinogenesis, 2017Co-Authors: Efrat L Amitay, Simone Werner, Marius Vital, Dietmar H Pieper, Daniela Hofler, Indra Jasmin Gierse, Julia Butt, Yesilda Balavarca, Katarina Cuk, Hermann BrennerAbstract:Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide in both men and women. The gut microbiome is increasingly recognized as having an important role in human health and disease. Fusobacterium has been identified in former studies as a leading gut bacterium associated with colorectal cancer, but it is still not clear if it plays an oncogenic role. In the current study, fecal samples were collected prior to bowel preparation from participants of screening colonoscopy in the German BliTz study. Using 16S rRNA gene analysis, we examined the presence and relative abundance of Fusobacterium in fecal samples from 500 participants, including 46, 113, 110 and 231 individuals with colorectal cancer, advanced adenomas, non-advanced adenomas and without any neoplasms, respectively. We found that the abundance of Fusobacterium in feces was strongly associated with the presence of colorectal cancer (P-value < 0.0001). This was confirmed by PCR at the species level for Fusobacterium nucleatum. However, no association was seen with the presence of advanced adenomas (P-value = 0.80) or non-advanced adenomas (P-value = 0.80), nor were there any associations observed with dietary or lifestyle habits. Although a Causal role cannot be ruled out, our observations, based on fecal microbiome, support the hypothesis that Fusobacterium is a passenger that multiplies in the more favorable conditions caused by the malignant tumor rather than a Causal Factor in colorectal cancer development.
Laura F Grogan - One of the best experts on this subject based on the ideXlab platform.
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is disease a major Causal Factor in declines an evidence framework and case study on koala chlamydiosis
Biological Conservation, 2018Co-Authors: Laura F Grogan, Douglas H Kerlin, Jean-marc Hero, Darryl Noel Jones, Alison J Peel, William Ellis, Hamish MccallumAbstract:Determining the role of an infectious agent in contributing to wildlife population declines is a pervasive problem in the field of conservation biology. We expand on a recently proposed broad investigative approach for disease, with a systematic framework outlining the specific types of individual- and population-scale empirical evidence required to demonstrate whether a pathogen is a component cause of declines in wild animal populations. Using koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) population declines and their putative association with the bacterial disease chlamydiosis (Family Chlamydiaceae) as a case study, we review the relevant published literature and synthesize a logical conceptual argument based on our suggested framework. Available empirical evidence supports a role for chlamydiosis contributing to host mortality and sterility, and cannot rule out a role of chlamydiosis as a component cause of koala population declines. However, the relative importance of chlamydiosis (among other threatening processes) as a driver of changes in koala demography and autecology may differ depending on the particular population or system examined, and this has yet to be elucidated over the koala's distributional range. Our approach allows us to highlight current research gaps in order to assist with future policy planning and conservation strategy. We recommend that a similar approach will assist in the evaluation of the role of disease in population declines in other ecological systems.