Stress and metabolic syndrome

Code:

OPT30

Acronym:

SSM14

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Medicine

Instance: 2019/2020 - 1S (of 09-09-2019 to 09-02-2020)

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Public Health and Forensic Sciences, and Medical Education Department
Course/CS Responsible:	Integrated Master in Medicine

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
MIMED	2	Mestrado Integrado em Medicina- Plano oficial 2013 (Reforma Curricular)	2	-	3	28	81
			3

Teaching language

Suitable for English-speaking students

Objectives

This curricular unit is intended to assist medical students to increase their awareness of stress and its deleterious effects on health. At the end of this unit students will be able to:

 

1. Recognize the impact of stress on modern life and health

2. Identify the major mediators involved in stress response

3. Understand the physiological responses to different types of stressors

4. Demonstrate comprehensive understanding of core stress knowledge

5. Review the biochemical basis of the main metabolism pathways

6. Recognize the underlying abnormalities causing metabolic syndrome features

7. Identify stress related diseases

8. Review the biochemical basis of the main metabolism pathways under stress conditions

9. Recognize the main human and animal experimental models, and biomarkers, to study stress

10. Recognize various strategies to cope with stress

Learning outcomes and competences

The curricular unit “Stress and metabolic syndrome” is intended to provide students, not only with the knowledge and skills to recognize stress as an important contributor to and major risk factor of the development of metabolic syndrome and its metabolic and cardiovascular complications, but also to master strategies to minimize its effects on health. 

Working method

Presencial

Program

This curricular unit will review knowledge from leading medical students learning and discussing the interrelationship between chronic stress and development of metabolic disorders, such as obesity and diabetes, two major features of metabolic syndrome.

Program: Definition of stress, allostasis and allostatic load; Physiological responses to stress: systems, main mediators and regulation; Cellular stress and protective mechanisms; Biochemistry basis of the main metabolic pathways under normal and stress conditions.  Stress and immune dysfunction; Stress and feeding behavior; Metabolic syndrome: hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia and insulin resistance; Association between stress, obesity and diabetes: main neuroendocrine and inflammatory pathways; Role of chronic stress on hypertension pathophysiology; Stress, metabolic syndrome and etiology and progression of cancer; Human and animal experimental models for studying stress; Strategies to cope with stress.

Mandatory literature

Baynes JW, Dominiczak MH; Medical Biochemistry, Elsevier Mosby, 2009
Raquel Soares; Oxidative Stress, Inflammation and Angiogenesis in the Metabolic Syndrome. , Raquel Soares and Carla Costa; Springer, 2009
Azevedo A, Santos AC, Ribeiro L, Azevedo I ; The metabolic syndrome. , Springer, 2009
Braun S et al. ; The link between the metabolic syndrome and cancer. , 2011. ISBN: International Journal of Biological Sciences
Bruce KD, Hanson MA ; The developmental origins, mechanisms, and implications of metabolic syndrome, 2010. ISBN: Journal of Nutrition
Purkayastha S, Cai D ; Neuroinflammatory basis of metabolic syndrome, 2013. ISBN: Molecular Metabolism

Teaching methods and learning activities

The program outlined above involves 28 hours along 1 semester, with the following modalities: lectures (13 hours: 1h/week), “hot topic” clinical seminars or journal clubs (13 hours: 1h/week). 

keywords

Health sciences > Medical sciences

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	50,00
Trabalho escrito	50,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Estudo autónomo	53,00
Frequência das aulas	26,00
Trabalho escrito	2,00
Total:	81,00

Eligibility for exams

Assiduity of 75%.

Calculation formula of final grade

Formative assessment counting 50% of the final mark: it will cover the assessment of student’s participation in the teaching/learning process of the curricular unit.

Summative assessment (final exam with multiple-choice questions and 2 brief-response questions) counting 50% of the final mark.