Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda

Dr. Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda

University of Białystok
orcid

Research Focus & Metrics

Academic Career Length

11Years (2016-Present)

(Calculated once Scilit publication data is synced: current year − year of first publication + 1)

Representative Publications

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25 August 2021 in Frontiers in Psychiatry
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
AKAgnieszka Kułak-Bejda
Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda
GBGrzegorz Bejda
Grzegorz Bejda
NWNapoleon Waszkiewicz
Napoleon Waszkiewicz
More than 600 million people are aged 60 years and over are living in the world. The World Health Organization estimates that this number will double by 2025 to 2 billion older people. Suicide among people over the age of 60 is one of the most acute problems. The factors strongly associated with suicide are mentioned: physical illnesses, such as cancer, neurologic disorder, pain, liver disease, genital disorders, or rheumatoid disorders. Moreover, neurologic conditions, especially stroke, may affect decision-making processes, cognitive capacity, and language deficit. In addition to dementia, the most common mental disorders are mood and anxiety disorders. A common symptom of these disorders in the elderly is cognitive impairment. This study aimed to present the relationship between cognitive impairment due to dementia, mood disorders and anxiety, and an increased risk of suicide among older people. Dementia is a disease where the risk of suicide is significant. Many studies demonstrated that older adults with dementia had an increased risk of suicide death than those without dementia. Similar conclusions apply to prodromal dementia Depression is also a disease with a high risk of suicide. Many researchers found that a higher level of depression was associated with suicide attempts and suicide ideation. Bipolar disorder is the second entity in mood disorders with an increased risk of suicide among the elderly. Apart from suicidal thoughts, bipolar disorder is characterized by high mortality. In the group of anxiety disorders, the most significant risk of suicide occurs when depression is present. In turn, suicide thoughts are more common in social phobia than in other anxiety disorders. Suicide among the elderly is a serious public health problem. There is a positive correlation between mental disorders such as dementia, depression, bipolar disorder, or anxiety and the prevalence of suicide in the elderly. Therefore, the elderly should be comprehensively provided with psychiatric and psychological support.

1 December 2017 in Pharmacological Reports
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Journal Article
Closed access
AKAgnieszka Kułak-Bejda
Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda
GBGrzegorz Bejda
Grzegorz Bejda
Napoleon WaszkiewiczNapoleon Waszkiewicz
Napoleon Waszkiewicz

2 May 2019 in Disease Markers
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
AKAgnieszka Kułak-Bejda
Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda
Napoleon WaszkiewiczNapoleon Waszkiewicz
Napoleon Waszkiewicz
GBGrzegorz Bejda
Grzegorz Bejda
Anna ZalewskaAnna Zalewska
Anna Zalewska
Mateusz MaciejczykMateusz Maciejczyk
Mateusz Maciejczyk
A growing interest in the usability of saliva has been observed recently. Using saliva as a diagnostic material is possible because it contains a varied range of composites, organic and inorganic like proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids, which are secreted into saliva. Moreover, this applies to drugs and their metabolites. Saliva collection is noninvasive, and self-collection is possible. There is a lack of risk of injuries related to injection with needle, and it is generally safe. Human saliva has been successfully used, for example, in the diagnosis of many systemic diseases like cancers, autoimmunological diseases, infectious diseases (HIV, hepatitis, and malaria), and endocrinological diseases, as well as diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Also, it is used in toxicological diagnostics, drug monitoring, and forensic medicine. The usefulness of saliva as a biological marker has also been extended to psychiatry. The specificity of mental illness and patients limits or prevents cooperation and diagnosis. In many cases, the use of saliva as a marker seems to be the most sensible choice.

4 July 2018 in Disease Markers
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Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
Napoleon WaszkiewiczNapoleon Waszkiewicz
Napoleon Waszkiewicz
BGBeata Galińska-Skok
Beata Galińska-Skok
ANAnastasiya Nestsiarovich
Anastasiya Nestsiarovich
AKAgnieszka Kułak-Bejda
Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda
KWKarolina Wilczyńska
Karolina Wilczyńska
BKBeata Konarzewska
Beata Konarzewska
The prevalence of binge drinking in the general population is 3-4 times higher than that of alcohol dependence. Neuroimaging studies show that binge drinking in adolescence impairs brain development and white matter integrity. Regions with reduced functional activity include the limbic system, ventral diencephalon, frontal lobe, and middle and inferior temporal lobes, whereas the right superior frontal and parietal lobes are typically hyperactivated. The observed activation of the frontoparietal areas might reflect the alternative memory system operating, whereas the reduced occipito-hippocampal response is associated with impaired visual and linguistic processing/learning. Some other findings from literature research include a decrease of N-acetylaspartate (NAA) in the frontal lobe and its increase in the parietal lobes, as well as the reduced components of event-related potentials, reflecting deficit in attention, working memory, inhibition, and executive functioning. Animal studies show that even a single day of binge drinking results in a neurodegeneration and reactive gliosis in the limbic cortex as well as in gene expression dysregulation and histone acetylation. Another biological evidence on binge drinking effect include inflammatory response, oxidative stress, formation of toxic ceramides, activation of caspase 3, and secretion of corticoliberin. Some of the binge drinking-induced cognitive abnormalities can be reversible after three weeks of abstinence. Although binge drinkers have a similar pattern of neuropsychological deficits with chronic alcohol consumers (mainly memory deficits), binge drinkers have prominent impairment of inhibitory control, which may be a marker of binge pattern of alcohol drinking. The optimal therapeutic strategies should target the inhibitory control processes to facilitate discontinuation of alcohol consumption and to block its possible progression to the alcohol dependence syndrome.

18 January 2021 in Journal of Clinical Medicine
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Journal Article
Open access
PDF file
AKAgnieszka Kułak-Bejda
Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda
GBGrzegorz Bejda
Grzegorz Bejda
MLMagdalena Lech
Magdalena Lech
Napoleon WaszkiewiczNapoleon Waszkiewicz
Napoleon Waszkiewicz
Suicides and suicidal behaviors are very important causes of mortality and morbidity and have become a serious global problem. More than 800,000 people die from suicide every year. Previous researches have established that lipids play an important role in the pathogenesis of suicide. Moreover, lipid levels might be a biological marker of suicide. A lot of researchers have tried to identify biological markers that might be related to depressive disorder, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and suicidal behavior. It was also important to consider the usefulness of an additional tool for prevention actions. Metabolic deregulation, particularly low total cholesterol and low-density lipoproteins-cholesterol levels may cause higher suicide risk in patients with these psychiatric disorders.

16 July 2021 in Archives of Medical Science
Verified
Journal Article
Open access
AKAgnieszka Kułak-Bejda
Agnieszka Kułak-Bejda
GBGrzegorz Bejda
Grzegorz Bejda
NWNapoleon Waszkiewicz
Napoleon Waszkiewicz
This is a report of a systematic review of the safety and efficacy of naltrexone or naltrexone/bupropion on weight loss. The databases Medline, PubMed, and Embase as well as the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register for randomized controlled trials were searched for studies published from January...