It is generally held that children of parents with bipolar disorder are also at risk. The degree of risk is an important question for both clinicians and parents.Read More
Although antidepressants are advised only as second-line treatment in patients with bipolar disorder, the matter is complicated by conflicting data surrounding antidepressant use during pregnancy. Read More
The diagnosis of bipolar disorder is typically associated with significant disability and impaired functioning. This article explores the pros and cons of functional and quality-of-life measures. Read More
We've put many of the clinical scales online, hoping healthcare professionals—whether in specialty practices, primary-care settings, or emergency services—will find this format convenient. … Read More
Exploring treatment options such as N-acetylcysteine and bipolar-specific psychotherapies is on the horizon for this bipolar series. But with... More »
According to the CDC's latest published report, there were 38,364 suicides in the US in 2010—an average of 105 each day. Globally, an estimated 1... More »
Both positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia combined with those of a mood disorder led to a psychiatric diagnosis; later, a neurological... More »
Borderline personality disorder typically coexists with depression, anxiety, and substance abuse. Symptoms of these conditions may lead the clinician... More »
Is combination therapy with lithium and valproate more effective in preventing relapses in patients with bipolar I disorder than montherapy with either drug alone?The authors of a study that recently appeared in The Lancet set out to address that important question. Dr. S. Nassir Ghaemi has chosen that study as his “Top Paper” of the year. Dr Ghaemi, who is professor of psychiatry at Tufts University School of Medicine and Director of the Mood Disorders Program at Tufts Medical Center, discusses highlights -- and the clinical implications.
To the Editor: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimers disease. Patients with PD develop motor symptoms such as muscular rigidity, slowness of movement, and reduced gait speed, as well as non-motor deficits such as disorders of mood and distinctive alteration of speech and voice (hypokinetic dysarthria).1 The severity of PD can be
To the Editors: Miss H, a 17-year-old girl, did not have history of mooddisorders, conduct problems, substance misuse, or physical illness. She was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 16, with initial presentations of persecutory delusion and formal thought disorder. She received comprehensive physical examinations, and organic etiology was excluded. Because of aggravated psychotic symptoms, she was admitted for 1 week. He
To the Editor: Vitamin-B12 deficiency (VB12D) has been associated with neuropsychiatric abnormalities like posterolateral myelopathy, peripheral neuropathy, autonomic neuropathy, optic atrophy, mooddisorders, psychosis, delirium, and dementia (especially in elderly persons).1 However, a strong causal relationship between VB12D and dementia has not been established.
The associations between depressive symptoms and hypersomnia are complex and often bidirectional. Of the many disorders associated with excessive sleepiness in the general population, the most frequent are mental health disorders, particularly depression. However, most mood disorder studies addressing hypersomnia have assessed daytime sleepiness using a single response, neglecting critical and clinically relevant information about symptom severity, duration and nighttime sleep quality. Only a few studies
AbstractObjective To evaluate the effectiveness of a behavioural-educational sleep intervention delivered in the early postpartum in improving maternal and infant sleep.Design Randomised controlled trial.Setting Postpartum units of two university affiliated hospitals.Participants 246 primiparous women and their infants randomised while in hospital with an internet based randomisation service to intervention (n=123) or usual care (n=123) groups.Interventions The behavioural-educational sleep intervention i
Besides its use in epilepsy, lamotrigine (LTG) is also effective as mood stabilizer. The pathophysiology of mooddisorders may incorporate a dysfunction of neuronal plasticity and animal experiments suggest that mood stabilizers influence induction of long-term potentiation (LTP) and -depression (LTD), two major forms of synaptic plasticity. However, the exact modes of action of LTG and its impact on neuronal plasticity in humans remain unclear.|Here, we tested the effects of a single oral dose of LTG (300 mg) on motor cortical plasticity induced by paired associative stimulation (PAS(25)), a protocol that typically induces LTP-like plasticity, in 26 young healthy adults in a placebo-controlled, randomized, double-blind crossover design. We stratified analysis of the LTG effects according to the individual PAS(25) response in the placebo session (14 LTP-responders vs. 12 LTD-responders). Plasticity was indexed by motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitudes recorded before and for 60 min
Increases in multimorbidity and obesity have been noted in HIV-infected populations in the current treatment era. Patterns of multimorbid disease clustering and the impact of obesity on multimorbidity are understudied in this population.|We examined obesity and multimorbidity patterns among 1844 HIV-infected patients in the UAB 1917 Clinic. Exploratory factor analysis was used to identify the underlying factor structure responsible for clustering. Patterns among the resulting morbidity factors by body mass index (BMI) category were explored. Multivariable logistic regression models were fit to identify predictors of multimorbidity cluster patterns.|The prevalence of multimorbidity was 65% (1205/1844). Prevalence increased with progressive BMI categories from underweight (64%) to obese (79%). Three multimorbidity clusters were identified: "metabolic," including hypertension, gout, diabetes mellitus, and chronic kidney disease (range, 0.41-0.84; P < 0.001); "Behavioral," including mood
Mooddisorders are associated with a high societal cost, mainly due to presenteeism. The objective of this study was to review the use of 10 instruments that rate presenteeism in mooddisorders and to provide recommendations regarding the appropriateness of instruments in different study settings.|A systematic review of the literature was conducted to identify scales used to measure presenteeism, including the World Health Organization Health and Work Performance Questionnaire, the Lam Employment Absence and Productivity Scale, the Sheehan Disability Scale, the Work Limitation Questionnaire, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire. Study characteristics and major results (by symptom level, by treatment arm, correlation to other scales, and use of monetization) were data extracted.|Twenty-nine studies were identified. The Sheehan Disability Scale, the Work Limitation Questionnaire, and Health and Work Performance Questionnaire were the most commonly used instruments.
Bipolar disorder (BD) is often misdiagnosed as a major depressive disorder (MDD). This study aimed to test the usefulness of the screening tool, the MoodDisorders Questionnaire (MDQ), to identify BD patients misdiagnosed as MDD in Chinese clinical settings.|A total of 1487 patients treated for MDD were consecutively examined in 13 mental health centers in China. The patients' socio-demographic and clinical characteristics were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure. The MDQ was completed by patients to identify symptoms characteristic of BD. DSM-IV diagnoses were established using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI).|Three hundred-nine of the 1487 patients (20.8%) satisfied DSM-IV criteria for BD; 118 (7.9%) for BD-I and 191 (12.8%) for BD-II on the MINI. The optimal cut-off point on the MDQ to differentiate BD from MDD was 3, while cut-off points of 5 and 3 differentiated BD-I and BD-II from MDD, respectively. The maximum
Mooddisorders are marked by high rates of non-recovery, recurrence, and chronicity, which are insufficiently addressed by current therapies. Several patho-etiological models have been proposed that are not mutually exclusive and include but are not limited to the monoamine, inflammatory, neurotrophic, gliotrophic, excitatory, and oxidative stress systems. A derivative of these observations is that treatment(s) which target one or more of these mechanistic steps may be capable of mitigating, or preventing, disparate psychopathological features. Minocycline is an agent with pleiotropic properties that targets multiple proteins and cellular processes implicated in the patho-etiology of mooddisorders. Moreover, preclinical and preliminary clinical evidence suggests that minocycline possesses antidepressant properties. Herein, we provide the rationale for conducting a randomized, controlled trial to test the antidepressant properties of minocycline.
Reviews the evidence for and against hundreds of preventive health services, recommending tests, and counseling interventions when evidence exists that it is effective.
Five Steps to Improving Patient Access Judy Capko, May 21, 2013 Patient access is getting increased attention through reform initiatives. Here are five steps you can take to make sure patients get appropriate access to care in your office.
Growing HIPAA Threat – Ignore Windows XP at Your Own Peril Marion K. Jenkins, May 21, 2013 Chances are good that you have some major ticking software time bombs lurking in your medical practice's computer environment, namely Windows XP and Server 2003.
Three Areas to Reduce Costs at Your Medical Practice Greg Mertz, May 19, 2013 By taking a hard look at reducing costs for staffing, overhead, and technology at your medical practice, you may see increased physician compensation.
Dos and Don’ts for Starting a Physician Blog Michael Woo-Ming, MD, May 18, 2013 Starting a physician blog can provide your medical practice with marketing benefits, but it's important to do it right.