The nation’s leading causes of death are related to alcohol and drug use, tobacco smoke exposure, and behavioral addictions. In addition, the comorbidity of addictions and psychiatric illnesses (ie, dual diagnosis) is… Read More
There is strong evidence to support the hypothesis that cannabis consumption is a risk factor for the development of psychotic symptoms and schizophrenia. . . . Read More
Numerous short- and long-term adjustments are underway to address an anticipated shortage in HIV care clinicians. One of the important alternatives... More »
Come next year, psychiatrists will start seeing patients who have purchased new individual and small-group health plans on the state exchanges... More »
Implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is largely good news for patients with HIV, many of whom have been denied coverage... More »
Finding a plethora of federal recommendations on managing illicit drug-use behaviors and sexually transmitted infections including HIV, the Centers... More »
Are some of your HIV-positive patients non-adherent to their ART therapy? Consider a carefully planned conversation about their drinking habits. More »
Top-Accessed Article: UV Light Tanning as a Type of Substance-Related Disorder FREE. ... UV light tanning as a type of substance-related disorder. Arch Dermatol.
HIV-prevention services for low-income individuals should be delivered to all persons with serious mental illness, but especially those with comorbid substance use disorders. ... Studies have also examined various behaviors by people with serious mental
Studies on the self-medication hypothesis have focused on substance abuse as an attempt to alleviate emotional suffering.|Studies on the self-medication hypothesis have focused on substance abuse as an attempt to alleviate emotional suffering.
PSS. Articles | September 01, 2012 . Predictors of Hospitalization After an Emergency Department Visit for California Youths With Psychiatric Disorders. ... well as an increasing reluctance by primary care physicians to treat pediatric
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Episodes of bipolar disorder are defined as depressive or manic, but depressive and manic symptoms can combine in the same episode. Coexistence or rapid alternation of depressive and manic symptoms in the same episode may indicate a more severe form of bipolar disorder and may pose diagnostic and treatment challenges. However, definitions of mixed states, especially those with prominent depression, are not well established.|The authors performed literature searches for bipolar disorder, multivariate analyses, and the appearance of the terms "mixed" in any field; references selected from the articles found after the search were combined after a series of conferences among the authors.|The authors reviewed the evolution of the concept of mixed states and examined the symptom structure of mixed states studied as predominantly manic, predominantly depressive, and across both manic and depressive episodes, showing essentially parallel structures of mixed states based on manic or depressive
Intoxication, whether from alcohol, drugs, or alcohol and drugs in combination, remains a challenging burden on emergency departments. The increasing alcohol consumption among adolescents and young adults, particularly heavy episodic drinking, and the resulting increase in the use of health care resources for alcohol intoxication has been a widely discussed topic.|The aim of our study was to assess and characterize the use of emergency ambulance services that was required as a result of alcohol and drug intoxication in a major metropolitan area.|We conducted a retrospective, longitudinal study over a 10-year period in the greater metropolitan area of Zurich, Switzerland. The study population included intoxicated patients assessed and initially treated by paramedics of the emergency ambulance service. Data were extracted from the ambulance service reports. The primary outcomes measured were trends over time in the numbers and types of intoxication and trends with respect to gender and
Several studies indicate that individuals with substance use disorders (SUD) exhibit biases in the cognitive processing of substance-related stimuli. These biases facilitate the detection of substance cues and have been argued to play a causal or perpetuating role in addiction. Two electrophysiological indices of cognitive processing, the P300 and Slow Potential (SP) components of the event-related potential (ERP), are associated with the deployment of attentional resources to motivationally relevant stimuli. In the present meta-analysis P300 (300-800ms) and SP (>800ms) amplitudes are used to investigate whether SUD persons show enhanced cognitive processing of substance cues relative to neutral cues as opposed to control participants. Results indicated the P300 and SP amplitude effect sizes were significantly larger in SUD participants than controls. This result is explained by substance users' motivated attention. Additional stratified moderator analyses revealed that both P300 and
One of the goals in forensic psychiatric care is to reduce the risk of recidivism, but current knowledge about the general outcome of forensic psychiatric treatment is limited.|To analyse the rate of criminal recidivism and mortality after discharge in a sample of patients sentenced to forensic psychiatric treatment in a Swedish county.|All offenders in rebro County, Sweden, sentenced to forensic psychiatric treatment and discharged during 1992-2007 were included: 80 males and eight females. Follow-up data was retrieved from the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, the National Cause-of-Death register and clinical files. Mean follow-up time was 9.4 years.|The mean age at discharge was 40 years. Schizophrenia, other psychoses and personality disorders were the most prevalent diagnoses. Thirty-eight percent of those still alive and still living in the country re-offended and were sentenced to a new period of forensic psychiatric treatment or incarceration during follow-up.
Suicide is one of the major causes of deaths worldwide. Several studies have showed that alcohol use disorders (AUD) are associated with suicide ideation, suicide attempts, and suicide completion. The majority of the theoretical conceptualization and the bulk of evidence on suicidal behavior and AUD are based on investigations of nonfatal cases because data on nonfatal suicidal behaviors are more readily available. This study aims to explore demographic, clinical, and behavioral dimensions in a large sample of alcohol-related suicides compared to an age-gender matched sample of non-AUD suicides to identify specific factors associated with AUD suicides. We conducted a psychological autopsy study with 158 pairs of AUD and non-AUD suicides. Findings showed that AUD suicides have lower educational level, more biological children and were more likely to be heavy smokers (OR=3.32). Cases were more likely to have family history of alcohol (OR=1.73) and drug abuse (OR=3.61). Subjects had
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.