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Proper suicide assessment is probably the most important part of a clinician's job; appropriately, heavy emphasis is placed on this in our education. Unfortunately, psychiatrists receive comparatively little practical guidance in documenting the history and physical examination (H&P) of a suicidal patient.

•Methadone can build up to toxic levels in the body if it is taken too often, if the dose is too high, or if it is taken with certain other medications or supplements.

Immigrants in general appear to have lower rates of mental disorders than their US-born counterparts (Table). In the first study of its kind, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, the affects of immigration and years of residence in the United States on the mental health of Caribbean black, Latino, and Asian populations were examined. Researchers also found differences within population groups that were related to subgroup categories such as ethnicity, gender, English language proficiency, years of US residence, and age at immigration.

In patients with dementia who are physically aggressive and dangerous to themselves or others, the use of intramuscular haloperidol or lorazepam may be appropriate. Because haloperidol causes less drowsiness and cognitive impairment than lorazepam, it is preferred in patients with dementia and delirium. The usual dose of haloperidol for elderly patients with dementia is 0.5 to 1 mg; this dose can be repeated every 25 to 30 minutes until the patient is no longer dangerous to self or others. If benzodiazepine or alcohol withdrawal is suspected, lorazepam is the preferred medication. Physical restraints may be appropriate until the medication takes effect.

Is neuromyelitis optica (nmo) igg autoantibody unique to NMO or is it expressed in multiple sclerosis (MS) as well? Recent studies have confirmed the autoantibody’s specificity and are shedding more light on how NMO IgG's autoantigen, the water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4), uniquely behaves in NMO and MS.

The Science of Sleep. A quirky Indy motion picture by that title was in theaters last year. The plot concerned an odd but wildly creative and endearing fellow who ran into problems in his interpersonal relationships, in part, because he often couldn't distinguish between being awake and asleep. Wake and dream episodes mirrored each other, creating a penchant for the surreal and a personal narrative for the protagonist that wasn't quite in sync with that of the characters around him.

Personality Traits Early Clue to Distinguishing LBD From AD. Lewy body dementia (LBD) is often difficult to distinguish from Alzheimer disease (AD) but subtleties in symptoms provide clues to the differential diagnosis.

Patients who experience seizure 24 hours after stroke onset may be at increased risk for death, according to Angela Rackley, MD, a clinical neurophysiology fellow in epilepsy, and coresearchers at the University of Cincinnati. Rackley presented an abstract on the incidence of seizures within 24 hours after acute stroke at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society in San Diego this past December. She and colleagues found a higher 30- day mortality rate among patients who had a seizure within hours of stroke compared with patients who did not experience poststroke seizure.

Patients who experience seizure 24 hours after stroke onset may be at increased risk for death, according to Angela Rackley, MD, a clinical neurophysiology fellow in epilepsy, and coresearchers at the University of Cincinnati. Rackley presented an abstract on the incidence of seizures within 24 hours after acute stroke at the annual meeting of the American Epilepsy Society in San Diego this past December. She and colleagues found a higher 30- day mortality rate among patients who had a seizure within hours of stroke compared with patients who did not experience poststroke seizure.

It is not uncommon for combat veterans to exhibit a wide range of psychological conditions, from schizophrenia to depression to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), but how do these disorders affect domestic partners, who often serve as veterans' caregivers?

The introduction of a House mental health parity bill in March has scrambled prospects for congressional passage of a bill that President Bush could sign. The introduction of the Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act (HR 1424) by Reps Patrick J. Kennedy (D, RI) and Jim Ramstad (R, Minn) threatens to split both the mental health community and the House and Senate.

FDA Approval of Vagus Nerve Stimulation I am a triple-boarded, long-practicing psychiatrist and have used vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) in several patients so far. I have followed the controversies within the FDA and articles in the national media and was quite impressed by and appreciative of Dr Daniel J. Carlat's article on the sponsorship issues involved in FDA approval of VNS ("Conflict of Interest in Psychiatry: How Much Disclosure Is Necessary?"

Chaput YJA, Lebel MJ. Demographic and clinical profiles of patients who make multiple visits to psychiatric emergency services. Psychiatr Serv. 2007;58:335-341.

The reason that antipsychotic medications cause weight gain is that there is increased activity of the enzyme AMP-kinase in the hypothalamus, the area of the brain that controls hunger. The increase in AMP-kinase levels occurs because antipsychotic medications interfere with the protein histamine. For some time it has been suspected that histamine plays a significant role in weight control, and these findings, from a study conducted in mice by scientists at Johns Hopkins University, confirm this. The researchers hope that these findings will contribute to the development of a new class of effective antipsychotics that do not cause weight gain.

González-Pinto A, Aldama A, González C, et al. Predictors of suicide in first-episode affective and nonaffective psychotic inpatients: five-year follow-up of patients from a catchment area in Vitoria, Spain. J Clin Psychiatry. 2007;68:242-247.

Fliege H, Grimm A, Eckhardt-Henn A, et al. Frequency of ICD-10 factitious disorder: survey of senior hospital consultants and physicians in private practice. Psychosomatics. 2007;48:60-64.

HUMAN RECEPTOR ACTIVITY-MODIFYING PROTEIN-1(hRAMP1) may be the switch that turns up the volumeof calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)expression in migraine, according to researchersfrom the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

An analysis of data on nearly 104,000 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars who sought help from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) system confirms that substantial numbers returned from their tour of duty with psychiatric problems.

In the first part of this column (Psychiatric Times, February 2007), I reviewed treatments whose beneficial effects are probably achieved through a discrete biological or pharmacological mechanism of action. These included dietary modifications; supplementation with specific vitamins, minerals, and amino acids; and medicinal herbs. In this part, I will review the evidence for approaches that reduce the risk of relapse, diminish craving, or mitigate withdrawal symptoms but for which there is no evidence for direct biological or pharmacological effect.

Psychiatrists know that it takes longer to interview children and adolescents than adults. Child and adolescent psychiatrists are universally struck by how comparatively easy it is to interview an adult patient, whereas general psychiatrists face the evaluation of a child or adolescent with apprehension.

A complex and heterogeneous condition characterized by a variety of symptoms and marked variability in disease course, bipolar disorder is marked by episodes of depression, hypomania, mania, or psychosis and,patients can experience a mixture of emotional states.

Asthma is one of the most impairing diseases of childhood, affecting more than 6% of children. Each year, it is responsible for 14 million lost school days and $3 billion in treatment costs.

Making the Connection: A Parent's Guide to Medication in AD/HD is a concise, user-friendly book intended for parents of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

It begins with a simple request: a patient asks for help in taking time off from work, obtaining disability payments, or seeking other compensation for his or her diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder. The requests may come from patients you have been seeing for long periods or from new patients who are sometimes referred by their attorneys.

According to the CDC, in 2004, suicide was the 11th leading cause of death across all age groups and the 10th leading cause of death for persons aged 14 to 64 years; 32,439 people in the United States took their own lives. Women attempt suicide about 3 times more often than men, although men are 4 times as likely to complete suicide. Anderson and Smith3 reported that suicide was the eighth leading cause of death among men in 2001. Of the 24,672 completed suicides among men, 60% involved the use of a firearm (the use of a firearm was the means of suicide in 55% of all cases).

There were only 3 Jewish students in my high school, and I was one of them. In the small, western New York town where I grew up, most people were tolerant. But a small clique of anti-Semites made life tough for us Jewish kids. Most of the time, we just shrugged off the jokes and insults or came right back at these louts with a snappy retort. Sometimes, the bigotry grew more menacing.

A 79-year-old woman recently died in a fire at her Washington, DC, row house when "pack rat conditions" prevented firefighters from reaching her in time. A few days later, 47 firefighters from 4 cities spent 2 hours fighting a fire in a Southern California home before they were able to bring it under control. Floor-to-ceiling clutter had made it nearly impossible for them to enter the house.

"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief."There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief. . . .""No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."From "All Along the Watchtower," Bob Dylan

Worsening anxiety is a common symptom that may result in psychiatric consultation or evaluation in an emergency setting. Aneurysms are rarely considered in the medical differential for anxiety disorders, and the available literature and research regarding this possible connection are very limited. Overlooking this diagnosis, however, can have disastrous consequences. Here we present 2 case reports as well as a review of the literature regarding a possible relationship between aortic and thoracic aneurysms and psychiatric symptoms.

In The Perfect Storm, Sebastian Junger describes the desperate plight of sailors and fisherman who, in the fall of 1991, were caught out in the Atlantic Ocean as 2 powerful storms converged into 1.1 Like those mariners, emergency department (ED) clinicians find themselves at the confluence of 2 powerful trends in modern society.