This year, more than 1311 physicians of all specialties responded to the survey . . . 287 of the respondents are psychiatrists. The charts you see show how those 287 responded to just a few of the survey questions. Read More
In this video, Senior Advisor to the NIMH Director and Professor of Psychiatry at Georgetown University School of Medicine explains how some of the latest developments in neuroscience can be used in everyday practice to treat bipolar and other mental disorders. 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
The mind-brain dichotomy has been on a roller-coaster ride over the past few hundred years. Clinically astute European neuropsychiatrists in the 18th and 19th centuries described various neuropsychiatric disorders based on observations of their patients. The most fitting example of these are descriptions of patients with neurosyphilis, also known in the 18th and 19th centuries as general paresis of the insane. This era was followed by freudian influences on psychoanalytical theories. It is an interesting observation that, historically, schizophrenia was initially described by Emil Kraepelin as dementia praecox, an organic terminology. Psychoanalysts later attributed development of schizophrenia to a schizophrenogenic mother. Advances in the neurosciences in the past few decades have exonerated mothers worldwide by establishing a neurodevelopmental hypothesis of schizophrenia.
For 2 decades Maggie McPhersun's physicians had attributed her fatigue, episodes of choking, and periodic imbalance and numbness to chronic fatigue or depression. But the 51-year-old registered nurse and artist from Brunswick, Maine, knew that something was very wrong. When an MRI finally revealed multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions, the first thing McPhersun felt was relief. She finally had a sensible explanation for her symptoms.
Antipsychotic medications for the treatment of agitation, aggression, psychosis, and other symptoms of Alzheimer disease (AD) are no better than placebo and may even be harmful, according to a highly publicized study by a team from the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine. In a statement to the press, the lead author of the study Lon Schneider, MD, professor of psychiatry, neurology, and gerontology at Keck, commented that after 12 weeks participation in a double-blind placebo-controlled trial, no significant differences were seen in symptom improvement in patients taking an antipsychotic drug compared with patients taking placebo
Prevalence of depression in PD is estimated to range from 7% to 76%. The variation is largely attributed to the diversity of the populations under study, differences in the definition of depression, and the fact that some studies used point prevalence and other studies used monthly prevalence. Also, the prevalence of depression varies with fluctuations of cognitive status and other comorbidities that are an integral part of PD.
A right-handed woman aged 19 years is referred for intractable clinical events. The patient's medical history is remarkable for anxiety, depression, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder; migraine headache; and Lyme disease for which she received 6 months of intravenous antibiotic therapy.
Because hoarding occurs in a substantial portion of patients with neurodegenerative disorders, neurologists are likely to encounter patients with this problem. Until recently, they had little to offer their patients or the patients' caregivers. Compulsive hoarding can cause severe impairment and presents intriguing psychopathology, yet it has received little systematic study, and no effective treatment is currently on the market.
The recent evolution of neuropsychiatry/behavioral neurology as a subspecialty represents a paradigmatic shift regarding the responsibility of psychiatrists in diagnosing and managing behavioral disorders with concomitant and demonstrable brain pathology such as dementia or head injury. This authors define the clinical usefulness of electroencephalography in evaluating neuropsychiatric disorders.
About 25% of patients seen in epilepsy clinics and monitoring units who do not respond to antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have received a misdiagnosis.1-3 The eventual diagnosis for most of these patients will be psychogenic nonepileptic seizure (PNES)1,4-a somatoform conversion disorder. It is treatable, but diagnosis, delivery of the diagnosis, and management present significant challenges. A major barrier to care has been the stigma associated with the label "psychogenic."
Psychiatrists have often turned to literature for theory building, clinical understanding and teaching. Hamlet is a common example, beginning with Freud. Most psychiatrists, like Freud, look at content (character and motivation) when using literature. However, the process (interaction between characters) can also teach us much about the psychiatrist-patient encounter.
The electroencephalogram (EEG) has a limited but definitive role in understanding and managing psychiatric conditions. When the presentation is... More »
The Sandy Hook Promise . . “To do everything in our power to be remembered-—not as the town filled with grief and victims; but as the place where real... More »
Adjustment disorder is one of the few psychiatric diagnoses for which the etiology, symptoms, and course, rather than symptoms alone, are central to... More »
Cognitive impairment is underrecognized among patients with bipolar disorder and may represent not only effects of the illness but also adverse effects of its treatments. Among these, lithium is the best-studied mood stabilizer. As its cognitive effects are mixed and not well-known, we assessed reported effects of lithium on cognitive performance.|MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and EMBASE databases (1950 to December 2008) were queried with the keywords lithium, cognit*, neurocognit*, neuropsych*, psycholog*, attention, concentration, processing speed, memory, executive, and learning. Database searches were supplemented with bibliographic cross-referencing by hand. The literature search was conducted independently by 2 authors (A.P.W. and T.S.W.) during August and September 2008, and questions about appropriate inclusion or exclusion were resolved between them by consensus.|Of 586 reports initially identified as being of potential interest, 12, involving 539 subjects, met our inclusion criteria: (1
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be associated with structural abnormalities in the amygdala. To better characterize amygdala volume in PTSD, the authors conducted a meta-analysis comparing amygdala volumes in PTSD patients and comparison subjects. Using electronic databases, the authors found nine studies comparing amygdala volumes in adult subjects with PTSD with amygdala volumes in comparison subjects (participants unexposed to trauma and participants exposed to trauma but without PTSD). Results showed no significant differences in amygdala volumes between the groups. Within each group, the right amygdala was significantly larger than the left, indicating an asymmetrically lateralized amygdala volume that is preserved in trauma exposure and in PTSD.
The authors performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of studies evaluating the affective component of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome. Depressive and anxiety symptoms and personality changes were more frequent in patients with spinocerebellar ataxia. Patients with cerebellar lesions were more likely to have depression, deficits in the ability to experience emotions, and behavioral difficulties. A meta-analysis revealed modestly higher scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) among patients with cerebellar disease. This review highlights the need for cohort studies using noncerebellar comparison groups, more sensitive measures, and appropriate-sized populations with isolated cerebellar lesions to thoroughly assess the affective component of the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome.
The evaluation of psychotic individuals for inherited or congenital etiologies is fraught with complexity. The authors reviewed the published literature and found 62 congenital disorders that include psychosis. Their prevalence, workup, genetics, and associated neuropsychiatric features are described. Eighteen disorders (29%) have distinct phenotypes ("doorway diagnoses"); 17 disorders (27%) are associated with mental retardation; and 45 disorders (73%) have prominent neurological signs. Thirty-four disorders (55%) can present without such distinct characteristics, and are thus more readily overlooked. We recommend a systematic and cost-effective differential diagnostic approach based on estimated prevalence and most prominent associated signs.
We compared the carriage frequencies of HLA-DRB3 and its major alleles and of HLA-DRB4 and HLA-DRB5 in an Australian sIBM cohort and a population control group who had previously been genotyped for the HLA-DRB1*03:01 risk allele. There was a strong disease association with the carriage of the DRB3*01:01 allele which was accounted for by its linkage disequilibrium with DRB1*03:01. The carriage of HLA-DRB4 was found to be strongly protective and abrogated the risk effect of HLA-DRB1*03:01. The findings indicate that haplotypic combinations of alleles at the HLA-DRB1 and secondary HLA-DRB loci have important risk modifying effects in sIBM.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been firmly established as a therapy for movement disorders. Recently, evidence from case reports and small case series also suggests DBS to be effective in psychiatric disorders including addiction. Here we review the rationale of DBS in addiction and the selection of possible targets. We then consider evidence from animal models as well as human case studies. We conclude that DBS in particular of the nucleus accumbens (NAcc) represents a promising treatment option in addiction which deserves further investigation.
The brain reward system, and especially the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, plays a major role in drug reinforcement and is most likely involved in the development of drug addiction. All major drugs of abuse, including ethanol, acutely activate the mesolimbic dopamine system. Both this acute drug-induced dopamine elevation, the dopamine elevations observed after presentations of drug-associated stimuli and alterations of dopamine function induced by chronic drug administration are of importance. Whereas the mechanisms of actions for central stimulants, opioids and nicotine in their dopamine activating effects are fairly well established, the corresponding mechanisms with respect to ethanol have been elusive. Here we review the actions of ethanol in the mesolimbic dopamine system, focusing on ethanol's interaction with ligand-gated ion-channel receptors, opiate receptors, the ghrelin system and the possible involvement of acetaldehyde. Preclinical studies have provided the opportunity to
23237109 2012 12 14 2013 02 21 0256-9574 103 1 Jan S. Afr. Med. J. 8-9 10.7196/samj.6587 Bateman Chris C eng News 2012 12 06 South Africa S Afr Med J 0404520 0256-9574 IM methods methods surgery methods.
Effective Clinical Practice January/February 2000 Volume 3 Number 1 51 An Orthopedist Questions the Utility of Surgery for Back Pain As a practicing orthopedic surgeon, I was amused by the article, Medical versus Surgical Treatment for Low
Practice advisory for perioperative visual loss associated with spine surgery. An updated report by the American Society of Anesthesiologists Task Force on Perioperative Visual Loss.
Primary Care Can't Thrive Without Nurse Practitioners Courtney H. Lyder, ND, May 17, 2013 With a projected shortfall of primary-care physicians, it's time for alternate solutions to patient care. Nurse practitioners are one logical remedy.
