Browse our Medical Journals - AKJournals
Among all scientific traditions alive, medical publishing has a good chance to be the oldest. The first fully peer reviewed academic journal, “Medical Essays and Observations” was launched in 1731 by the Royal Society in Edinburgh. Since then, hundreds of medical journals have been published worldwide. Medical publication in Hungary started in 1857 when the famous physician, Markusovszky founded “Orvosi Hetilap”, which has been published since then every week (with short breaks during the world wars). It is now a most prestigious piece in AKJournals’ portfolio, listed in Journal Citation Reports, with a remarkable impact factor.
Medical and Health Sciences
Abstract
Background
Short versions of problematic internet use (PIU) questionnaires may provide a convenient and effective way of assessing internet-related problems in various contexts, ranging from research to clinical practice. The aim of this study was to investigate whether single yes/no question (Q-single) regarding “functional impairment due to PIU” could serve as a screening tool to indicate the potential absence of PIU, given the lack of functional impairment.
Methods
Data from two online studies (N = 524 and N = 272) assessing internet-related behaviors among students were used for the analyses. Participants completed questionnaires (the nine-item Problematic Internet Use Questionnaire [PIUQ-9], the Compulsive Internet Use Scale [CIUS], the nine-item Patient Health Questionnaire, depression module [PHQ-9], the seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder scale [GAD-7]), questions about their internet use time, besides answering the Q-Single question. Block-wise multiple linear regression analyses were used to determine the predictive effect of the Q-Single on PIU (as measured with the PIUQ-9 and the CIUS) and its association with depression and anxiety symptom scores (as measured with the PHQ-9 and the GAD-7).
Results
The Q-Single demonstrated a high negative predictive value in screening the absence of PIU, however positive predictive value was low to moderate. Q-Single proved to be a good predictor of PIU (β = 0.484, p < 0.001 [PIUQ-9] and β = 0.481, p < 0.001 [CIUS]) when controlling for age, gender, and internet use time. Adjusting for the same controlling variables, the Q-Single had a moderate association with depression symptoms (β = 0.385, p < 0.001 [PHQ-9]) and anxiety symptoms (β = 0.252, p < 0.001) [GAD-7]) supporting the validity of the single-question instrument.
Conclusions
The finding that a single question could predict absence of PIU in students, implies that functional impairment is an important indicator of PIU.
Abstract
Background and Objectives
As problematic internet use (PIU) becomes increasingly prevalent among university students, effective preventive measures remain scarce. This study aimed to investigate how the allocation of daily activity time influences PIU and PIU risk (PIU/PIUR) and to identify specific activities that serve as risk and protective factors along with their effect strength.
Methods
Data from 2,433 university students in 33 Chinese provinces were analyzed using compositional analysis, isotemporal substitution, and instrumental variable methods to determine causal relationships between activity allocation and PIU/PIUR and to calculate the specific effects of substituting one activity for another.
Results
After compositional adjustment, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) and classroom learning statistically significantly reduced PIU/PIUR (ps < 0.001, except PIUR for classroom learning: p = 0.002), whereas short videos and gaming increased PIU/PIUR (ps < 0.001). Sleep (PIU: p = 0.023, PIUR: p = 0.009) and autonomous learning (PIU: p = 0.013, PIUR: p = 0.003) were negatively correlated with PIU/PIUR but had no significant causal effect. Light physical activity was not statistically significantly correlated with PIU/PIUR (PIU: p = 0.141, PIUR: p = 0.585). Substituting 30 min of short video time with MVPA reduced PIUR by 22.9%. Conversely, replacing MVPA with short video watching increased PIUR by 68.3%.
Discussion and Conclusions
Findings demonstrate the significant impact of 24-hour activity allocation on PIU/PIUR and suggest that time allocation strategies, particularly increasing MVPA while reducing short videos time, effectively reduce PIUR. These insights identify potential prevention for managing PIU via reallocation of daily activities.
Hírek a hematológia világából
News from the world of hematology
Abstract
Background and aims
A mental health professional's background regarding psychedelics, including their attitudes, is important to the therapeutic effects of these drugs; however, no study has examined this in Asian populations. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of psychiatric professionals in Korea regarding the use of psychedelics in clinical practice.
Methods
An anonymous survey consisting of 15 questions was distributed to 200 participants at three academic psychiatric conferences in Korea. The survey assessed participants' knowledge of the history, mechanisms, and therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs, as well as their attitudes towards their legalization and usage for psychiatric treatment.
Results
The survey had a 96.5% response rate (193/200), with 44% (85/193) of respondents being psychiatry residents. Disparities in prior knowledge of psychedelics, especially in their mechanisms of action, were found between residents and psychiatrists. Despite this, for all participants, there was a notable interest in the potential therapeutic applications of psychedelics, particularly for conditions that are difficult to treat, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Additionally, positive attitudes toward psychedelics were lower among women, with most respondents expressing a cautious optimism about the future integration of psychedelics into psychiatric practice, contingent upon further research and regulatory approval.
Conclusions
The study underscores the need for enhanced education and training on psychedelic drugs within the Korean psychiatric community. Increasing awareness and understanding of these substances could help align Korean psychiatric practices with global trends in fields of psychedelics and potentially improve treatment outcomes for patients with severe and refractory psychiatric conditions.
Abstract
Background and aims
Altered states of consciousness (ASC) represent acute and marked deviations from normal waking consciousness. Investigations into ASC are significant to problems in medicine, science, and philosophy, including the structure of conscious experience. Here, we conducted a preliminary investigation into the structure of ASC while addressing the role of psychedelics, which purportedly manifest features of mind.
Methods
We performed quantitative and qualitative analyses of 300 narrative reports across 12 ASC induction methods: meditation, float tank, psilocybin, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT), 5-methoxy-N,N-DMT (5-MeO-DMT), ketamine, salvia, 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA), cannabis, datura, and diphenhydramine (DPH). We hypothesized that reports from the psychedelics (serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists) would contain similar content with non-pharmacological induction methods, alongside greater positive sentiment and reported authenticity relative to reports from other substances.
Results
In quantitative analysis, most psychedelics, except LSD, as well as salvia and ketamine, shared similar content with non-pharmacological methods. In qualitative analysis, most psychedelics, except LSD, were deemed both positive and authentic, with authenticity predicting positive sentiment across the 12 ASC induction methods (R = 0.68; p = 0.015). We uncovered latent themes charting a trajectory of ASC from baseline to metaphysical experience, incorporating text-to-image generative artificial intelligence to illustrate underlying phenomenological structure.
Conclusions
Our findings suggest that reproducible structural observations may be externally validated across methods to support a “mind-manifesting” characterization for some ASC induction methods, such as salvia, ketamine, or 5-MeO-DMT, but not for others, such as LSD, datura, or DPH, together informing future studies of psychedelics, ASC, and structuralism.
Az agyalapi mirigy idiopathiás elégtelensége kapcsán kialakult centrális hypothyreosis okozta hyponatraemia esete
A case of hyponatremia due to central hypothyroidism associated with senile hypopituitarism
Hyponatremia is one of the most common ion disorders encountered in everyday practice. It is usually caused by sodium loss or hypervolemic dilution, and side effects of drugs may also contribute. Less well known is the hyponatremia associated with hypothyroidism. The mechanism of its development is not well understood, but it is mainly explained by a decrease in myocardial pump function and secondary arginine vasopressin stimulation-induced fluid retention as wells as a decrease in renal fluid excretion. Although hyponatremia is not a typical and uncommon symptom of hypothyroidism, it may be important to be aware of the possibility of hypothyroidism underlying ion imbalance. In our case report, an elderly patient with hyponatremia was found to have pituitary insufficiency, which caused hypothyroidism and consequent hyponatremia by a central mechanism. Thyroid-stimulating hormone levels in the normal range did not initially raise suspicion of the disease, but free hormone determination revealed an underlying hypothyroidism, the central origin of which was confirmed by imaging. Our case may serve as a useful lesson for everyday practice. Orv Hetil. 2025; 166(20): 783–787.
A hasi aorta aneurysma szűrés létjogosultságának kérdése a hazai alapellátásban
Addressing the feasibility of abdominal aortic aneurysm screening in Hungarian primary care
In Hungary, there is currently no institutionalised, organised, invitation-based screening programme for the detection of abdominal aortic aneurysms. In contrast, an increasing number of countries are developing and launching their own pilot abdominal aortic aneurysm screening programmes, as was recently the case in the Czech Republic on the first of January 2025. In Hungary, a validation pilot study was initiated in the autumn of 2023, in which a subset of general practitioners – who previously participated in point-of-care ultrasound training and demonstrated proficiency in the abdominal aortic aneurysm examination technique – are screening patients belonging to the target population in their own practices, under radiological validation, to detect abdominal aortic aneurysms. The aim of our ongoing study is to determine whether ultrasound-based abdominal aortic aneurysm screening is justified in Hungarian primary care. During the study, a positive screening result requiring vascular surgical intervention was obtained within a short timeframe by one of the participating general practitioners, despite the relatively low number of patients screened at the time of detection. The purpose of our case report is to highlight that, after a simple and brief training period, general practitioners can perform accurate, radiologically evaluable, and standardised examinations, enabling the timely detection of this potentially life-threatening condition through a screening process that takes only a few minutes. By doing so, the elective surgical treatment of mostly asymptomatic abdominal aortic aneurysms can be life-saving, preventing rupture of the aortic wall. Orv Hetil. 2025; 166(20): 788–794.
