The P300 deficit was not present in TNAD adolescents without comorbidities. In comparison to results of reduced P300 in treated adolescent AUD samples, this finding likely reflects moderate alcohol exposure, lower genetic vulnerability to alcoholism, and lack of comorbidity in our sample. Further work is needed to determine the relative contributions of these factors to changes in the P300.
Read moreBackground: Maternal smoking is related to multiple adverse health outcomes in children. We previously reported an association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and differential DNA methylation in newborn cord bloods for CpG sites (CpGs) in genes involved in the aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling pathway and key developmental processes. However, it remains unclear whether these modifications to the infant epigenome reflect in utero exposures only or the inheritance of epigenetic marks from the mother. Aims: We evaluated the association between maternal smoking before or during pregnancy and DNA methylation for 21 CpGs previously identified as differentially methylated in response to maternal smoking in 1,047 newborn cord bloods from the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa). Methods: Maternal self-report of smoking as well as maternal plasma cotinine measured during pregnancy were used to distinguish mothers into four groups (never smokers, former smokers, smokers who smoked during pregnancy but quit by 18 weeks, and active smokers throughout pregnancy). The association between smoking and methylation was assessed using linear regression. Results: Having a mother who formerly smoked was not associated with differential methylation in cord blood for any of the 21 CpGs (at FDR of 0.05). Quitting during pregnancy was also not significantly associated with differential methylation (at FDR of 0.05) although methylation differences were larger than those for former smokers compared to never smokers. Only active smoking throughout pregnancy was statistically significantly associated with differential methylation (at FDR of 0.05). Conclusions: Differential methylation in newborn cord blood at the 21 CpGs that we previously found to be related to maternal smoking in pregnancy was only observed where mothers smoked during pregnancy. These findings suggest that DNA methylation at these locations in the infant epigenome reflects in utero exposure rather than epigenetic inheritance of smoking-related modifications in the mother.
Read moreThese data support the proposed DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for SPD. Although most patients have urges to pick or a sense of relief when picking, such phenomena are not universal and should not be included in the diagnostic criteria set. An additional criterion of repeated attempts to decrease or stop skin picking seems warranted.
Read moreWork on DSM-5 and ICD-11, and the simultaneous development of alternative approaches to psychiatric classification such as the Research Domain Criteria of the National Institute of Mental Health 1 , has led to renewed interest of colleagues, patients, decision-makers, and the lay media in psychiatric diagnosis.Psychiatrists find themselves reading rationales for these classification systems by those who have worked on them, as well as strong criticisms by those who have perceived key weaknesses.How should we respond?How best to formulate psychiatric diagnoses, and how best to respond to public debate about our field are complex conceptual issues that overlap with major questions in the philosophy of medicine and psychiatry, and perhaps even indeed with some of the biggest questions that we can ask about life.In this brief editorial I will outline some of these "big questions", and suggest a middle path through what I see as some of the conceptual thickets surrounding them.The aim of this editorial is to argue that the publication of DSM-5 and ICD-11 provides us a crucially important opportunity to decrease the stigma associated with psychiatric diagnosis and treatment, and to increase the mental health literacy of colleagues, patients, decisionmakers and the general public.This requires us to acknowledge both the enormous progress that has been made in psychiatry, as well as the tremendous gaps in knowledge that remain.
Read moreHeavy manual labor and diabetes mellitus in males and housekeeping (females) play major roles in the genesis of DLSS.
Read moreGeneralised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common disorder with a lifetime prevalence of 6.1% and a 1-year prevalence of 2.9% in one large study. It occurs most commonly in the 45-55-year age group with women twice as likely as men to have GAD. Although symptoms typically wax and wane in intensity over time, the disorder is characterised by chronicity and is associated with high levels of psychiatric comorbidity (e.g. major depression and other anxiety disorders), physical comorbidity (e.g. gastrointestinal, respiratory, and thyroid disorders) and reduced quality of life. There have been important advances in the nosology and treatment of this disorder. In particular, there is increasing evidence that patients with GAD and mixed anxiety-depression frequently present in primary care settings, and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition provides fairly user-friendly criteria for the diagnosis of GAD.
Read moreResilience is defined as a dynamic, multidimensional process encompassing positive adaptation within the context of significant adversity. The complex nature of this construct makes it a difficult topic to study in neuroimaging research; however, in this article, we propose ways to operationalize resilience. The limited amount of structural and functional neuroimaging studies specifically designed to examine resilience have mainly focused on investigating alterations in regions of the brain involved in emotion and stress regulation circuitry. In the future, neuroimaging of resilience is expected to benefit from functional and structural connectivity approaches and the use of novel imaging task paradigms.
Read moreJournal of Case Reports in Medicine,2013,2,1,1-2.Published:April 2013Type:Case ReportAuthors:Daniel J. Stein, Bharat B. Yarlagadda, and J. Pieter Noordzij Author(s) affiliations:Daniel J. Stein,1 Bharat B. Yarlagadda,2 and J. Pieter Noordzij1,2 1Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, School of Medicine, Boston University, Boston, MA 02118, USA. 2Department of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, Boston Medical Center, Boston University, Boston, MA 02118, USA. Abstract:Mucosal leishmaniasis (ML) is an uncommon complication of a disease seen primarily in the developing world. A 31-year-old previously healthy man presented with six months of nasal congestion, throat pain, hoarseness, and intermittent dysphagia and odynophagia. The leishmania culture was positive, and PCR testing was consistent with Leishmania braziliensis infection. He was treated with liposomal amphotericin B therapy for three weeks. He resolved symptomatically after therapy. This case highlights the necessity of obtaining accurate travel and social history and the often delayed presentation of mucosal leishmaniasis. Keywords:Leishmaniasis; Mucosal leishmaniasis; Dysphagia; Odynophagia; Omega epiglottis; Nasopharyngeal swelling; Oropharyngeal swelling; LeishmaniaView:PDF (653.68 KB) PDF Images Figure 1: Oral cavity showing irregular thickening.
Read moreDepressive disorders are highly prevalent in Africa where diseases such as HIV/AIDS are common. The aim of this study was to assess the validity of commonly used depression screening instruments in a setting characterized by low literacy, where patients may not be able to self-administer depression scales. We explored the validity of the Patient Health Questionaire-9 (PHQ-9), Centre for Epidemiological Surveys for Depression (CES-D), and the Kessler-10 (K-10), using the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Instrument (MINI) as a gold standard in 368 persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Uganda. The shorter versions of the K-10 and PHQ-9 were extracted to assess their performance in comparison to the longer versions. We used STATA 11.2 to analyze the data. The prevalence of a MINI defined depression in this patient sample was 17.4%. The three instruments all performed well, with areas under the curve (AUC) ranging from 0.82 to 0.96. The PHQ-9 showed the best performance characteristics with an AUC of 0.96, a sensitivity of 91.6%, and specificity 81.2%. The extracted versions performed more modestly. All three instruments showed good properties as screening tools; the PHQ-9 has particularly high sensitivity and specificity, and so can be considered useful for screening HIV-positive patients for depression.
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