Posts by:
Gabriella True

Psychosocial Interventions and Immune System Function – A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials
Shields GS, Spahr CM, Slavich GM. Psychosocial Interventions and Immune System Function: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. JAMA Psychiatry. 2020 Oct 1;77(10):1031-1043. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2020.0431. PMID: 32492090; PMCID: PMC7272116.
  • Inflammation-linked diseases cause over 50% of global deaths. Psychosocial interventions may help, but it’s unclear which work best and for whom.
  • Study: Systematic review and meta-analysis of 56 RCTs (4,060 participants) across 8 psychosocial interventions and 7 immune markers.
  • Findings: Interventions led to a 14.7% improvement in beneficial immune function and 18% reduction in harmful immune activity.
  • Most effective: CBT and combined/multiple interventions, especially those targeting proinflammatory markers.
  • Lasting effects: Benefits persisted at least 6 months post-treatment and held across age, sex, and treatment duration.
  • Conclusion: Psychosocial interventions reliably improve immune function and may be a useful public health strategy.
We’re not fighting for this for us
September 26, 2020
We’re not fighting for this for us

"Last week, in part one of our two-part look into PANDAS/PANS, teens Gino Vitelli and Abby Gauch, along with their mothers, told their stories of living with the auto-immune disease. This week, in...

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Category:  News
He woke up an altogether different child
September 24, 2020
He woke up an altogether different child

‘He woke up an altogether different child’: Massachusetts families speak on living with PANDAS/PANS Wicked Local. By James Kukstis. Sep 24, 2020 Part one of our look into PANDAS/PANS Read...

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Category:  News
Hypoferritinemia and iron deficiency in youth with pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome

Chan, A., Karpel, H., Spartz, E. et al. Hypoferritinemia and iron deficiency in youth with pediatric acute-onset neuropsychiatric syndrome. Pediatr Res 89, 1477–1484 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41390-020-1103-3

Conclusion: Hypoferritinemia and iron deficiency appear to be more common in PANS patients. More research is needed to confirm and understand this association.

  • 79 subjects (mean age of PANS onset of 8.7 years)
  • Hypoferritinemia was observed in 27% and three quarters occurred during a PANS flare
  • PANS patients with hypoferritinemia had worse global impairment, more comorbid inflammatory diseases, and exhibited a chronic course of PANS illness than those without
  • The estimated prevalence of iron deficiency was 3–8% in the PANS cohort, 1.4–2.0-fold higher than in the age- and sex-matched U.S. population.
  • Hypoferritinemia was commonly observed during a disease flare but not associated with dietary or demographic factors.
  • In patients with PANS and iron deficiency, clinicians should consider possibility of inflammation as the cause especially if iron deficiency cannot be explained by diet and blood loss.