Author Interviews, Autism / 12.09.2014

Anilkumar Pillai, Ph.D. Associate Professor Department of Psychiatry Medical College of Georgia Georgia Regents University (Formerly Georgia Health Sciences University)MedicalResearch.com: Interview with: Anilkumar Pillai, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University (Formerly Georgia Health Sciences University) Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Pillai: GABA receptors are responsible for binding GABA, the main inhibitory neurotransmitter in the human brain. Recent studies have indicated a potential role for alterations in GABAA receptors in the pathophysiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, the mechanism of regulation of GABAA receptor in Autism Spectrum Disorder is not known. Our study shows that GABAA levels are altered at the protein level, but not at the mRNA level in the middle frontal gyrus of Autism Spectrum Disorder subjects. Our study also finds that Synoviolin 1 (SYVN1) plays a critical role as an E3 ligase in GABAAα1 degradation. SYVN1 has been previously determined to function as a removal system of inappropriately folded or unfolded proteins from the ER to the cytosol of the cell for degradation. Our study ultimately provides a mechanism for GABAAα1 deficits in Autism Spectrum Disorder subjects and possible new treatment strategies to reverse deficits seen in ASD and other related disorders.
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research / 11.09.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Patrick Corrigan Psy.D. Distinguished Professor of Psychology Illinois Institute of Technology PI: National Consortium on Stigma and Empowerment www.NCSE1.orgPatrick Corrigan Psy.D. Distinguished Professor of Psychology Illinois Institute of Technology PI: National Consortium on Stigma and Empowerment www.NCSE1.org Medical Research:  What are the main findings of this review? Dr. Corrigan: People with serious mental illness often do not seek out services, or drop out early, when in need. Stigma is a major reason for why this happens. Stigma refers to the stereotypes about a group that undermine status and lead to discrimination. Discrimination refers to the behaviors that block the opportunities of group members. Some employers do not hire people with mental illness, some landlords do not rent to them, and some primary care practitioners offer a substandard of care. Stereotypes and discrimination undermine engagement in mental health services in three ways (Corrigan, 2005): Label Avoidance: In order to escape the pernicious effects of stigma, people avoid settings where they are labeled mentally ill; for example, people coming out of a psychiatrist’s office may be perceived as “nuts.” Self-Stigma: Some people who internalize stereotypes suffer diminished self-esteem and self-efficacy leading to the “why try” effect. “Why should I try to get a job? Someone like me is not worthy.” “Why should I try to get mental health treatment? I am not able to benefit from it.” Structural Stigma: Stereotypes and discrimination become institutionalized in the laws and practices of government and business. For example, insurance coverage for mental health services was significantly below that for most other conditions.  
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, BMJ / 10.09.2014

Sophie Billioti de Gage PharmD University of Bordeaux Segalen FranceMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sophie Billioti de Gage PharmD University of Bordeaux Segalen France   Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: The risk of Alzheimer’s disease was found increased by 43-51% in persons (>65) having initiated a treatment with benzodiazepines in the past (>5 years before). Risk increased with the length of exposure and when long acting benzodiazepines were used.
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research / 07.09.2014

Sean Clouston Ph.D. Assistant Professor Core Faculty, Program in Public Health Department of Preventive Medicine Stony Brook University Health Sciences Center Stony Brook, NY 11794MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sean Clouston Ph.D. Assistant Professor Core Faculty, Program in Public Health Department of Preventive Medicine Stony Brook University  Health Sciences Center Stony Brook, NY 11794 Medical Research: What is the background for this study: Dr. Clouston: A number of epidemiological studies have found that suicide rates have decreased rapidly with the widespread distribution of SSRI antidepressants. Our group has found that proliferation of preventive medicine has, with regard to other causes of death, tended to occur unequally. We hypothesized that if SSRI antidepressants prevent suicide by treating depression, then suicide might also be susceptible to such inequality. Our study used mortality data to show that decreases in suicide were concentrated in regions with higher socioeconomic status. Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Clouston We used the best available data from the US and found that socioeconomic inequalities have increased dramatically in conjunction with the proliferation of SSRI antidepressants.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Schizophrenia / 06.09.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Sandra M. Meier, PhD The Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, iPSYCH, National Centre for Register-Based Research Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Meier: People with an obsessive-compulsive disorder are at a 6 to 7 times higher risk of developing schizophrenia than people without an obsessive-compulsive disorder. If the parents are diagnosed with an obsessive-compulsive disorder, their offspring experience a 3 to 4 times higher chance to develop schizophrenia.
Author Interviews, Depression, End of Life Care / 04.09.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Nenette M. Jessup MPH, CCRP Research Associate/Project Manager TASK II Indiana University School of Nursing Indianapolis, IN 46202 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Jessup: Similar to others, we found that females and non-African American caregivers experienced more depressive symptoms and females perceived greater task difficulty. Because female caregivers comprise the largest group of caregivers in the United States, the consistency of this finding has implications for continued social policy efforts to improve their plight. However, our results also suggested an interaction effect between race and type of relationship, with African American spouses experiencing the most difficulty with tasks of caregiving. Inconsistencies in the existing literature about this finding signal the need for a greater understanding of group differences. Individualized interventions may also be of benefit for stroke caregivers.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Cannabis / 03.09.2014

Chuanhai Cao Ph.D. Neuroscientist at the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute and the USF College of Pharmacy.MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Chuanhai Cao Ph.D. Neuroscientist at the Byrd Alzheimer's Institute and the USF College of Pharmacy. Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Cao: The major goal of this study was to investigate the effect of Ä9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a major component of marijuana, on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. THC has long been known to have anti-inflammatory effects, but we were looking to determine whether THC directly affected amyloid beta (Aâ). Aâ aggregation is considered one of the key pathological hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Our study showed that extremely low doses of THC were able to decrease Aâ production, inhibit Aâ aggregation, and enhance mitochondrial function in a cellular model of AD. Decreased levels of amyloid beta, coupled with THC’s inhibitory effect on aggregation may protect against the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Author Interviews, Bipolar Disorder, JAMA, Stanford / 27.08.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Manpreet K. Singh, MD MS Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Akiko Yamazaki and Jerry Yang Faculty Scholar in Pediatric Translational Medicine Stanford University School of Medicine Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Singh: Our research team used a monetary incentive delay paradigm to measure fronto-limbic activity and connectivity associated with anticipation and receipt of reward and loss in healthy offspring of parents with bipolar I disorder. We found that compared to youth offspring without any family history of psychopathology, high-risk offspring had aberrant prefrontal and cingulate activations and connectivity during reward processing. Further, greater striatal, amygdalar, and insula activations while anticipating and receiving rewards and losses were associated with greater novelty-seeking and impulsivity traits in high-risk youth.
Author Interviews, Brain Injury / 21.08.2014

Li-Shan Chou, Ph.D Professor and Department Head Department of Human Physiology University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-124MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Li-Shan Chou, Ph.D Professor and Department Head Department of Human Physiology University of Oregon Eugene, OR 97403-1240 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Li-Shan Chou: The findings from this study indicate that pre return-to-activity (RTA), the adolescents with concussion reduced their medial/lateral displacement and velocity during dual-task walking, suggesting an improvement in gait balance control, while significantly increasing these frontal plane motion variables during dual-task walking post RTA, suggesting a worsening of frontal plane COM control following RTA. These data suggest that frontal plane motion during dual-task walking are sensitive to the effects of return to activity following concussion and may reveal a possible regression in gait stability following return to activity.
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Geriatrics / 20.08.2014

Neha P. Gothe, PhD Division of Kinesiology Health and Sport Studies Wayne State University Detroit, MI 48202.Medical Research Interview with: Neha P. Gothe, PhD Division of Kinesiology, Health and Sport Studies Wayne State University Detroit, MI 48202. Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Gothe: The yoga group was speedier and more accurate on tests of information recall, mental flexibility and task-switching than it had been before the intervention. Participants in the yoga group showed significant improvements in working memory capacity, which involves continually updating and manipulating information. They were also able to perform the task at hand quickly and accurately, without getting distracted.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 13.08.2014

Dr Golam Khandaker Clinical Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry University of Cambridge MedicalResearch.com Interview with Dr Golam Khandaker Clinical Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry University of Cambridge Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Khandaker: The study shows low grade systemic inflammation may have a role in the pathogenesis of depression and psychotic disorders. Low grade systemic inflammation may also be a common cause for chronic physical and psychiatric illnesses. The study shows that higher serum levels of the circulating inflammatory marker, interleukin 6 (IL-6), in childhood is associated with nearly two-fold increased risk of developing depression and psychotic disorder in young adulthood. This association persisted after taking into account effects of age, sex, social class, ethnicity, body mass index, maternal depression, and past psychological and behavioural problem in the participant. We studied a sample of 4,500 individuals from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children birth cohort, taking blood samples at age 9 and following up at age 18, to see if they had experienced episodes of depression or . We excluded children with an infection at the time of blood test at age 9 years.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Emergency Care / 11.08.2014

Dr. Caroline E Stephens PhD Department of Community Health Systems University of California, San FranciscoMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Caroline E Stephens PhD Department of Community Health Systems University of California, San Francisco Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Stephens: In our national random sample of nursing home residents, we found that mild cognitive impairment (CI) predicted higher rates of ED visits compared to no CI, but interestingly, ED visit rates decreased as severity of cognitive impairment increased.  However, after nursing home residents were evaluated in the ED, severity of CI was not significantly associated with higher odds of hospitalization. Another important finding was that the proportion of nursing home residents using feeding tubes more than tripled in advanced or end-stage dementia, from 9.9% to 33.8%.  Moreover, tube-fed nursing home residents had 73% higher rates of total ED visits, but once evaluated in the ED, they were no more likely to be hospitalized than those without feeding tubes.  This finding is particularly striking given the numerous existing studies that have questioned the utility and appropriateness of using feeding tubes in people with advanced dementia.
Author Interviews, General Medicine, Mental Health Research, Nutrition / 09.08.2014

James T. Becker, Ph.D. Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and NeurologyMedicalResearch.com Interview with: James T. Becker, Ph.D. Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neurology University of Pittsburgh Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Becker: We found that people who eat baked or broiled (but not fried) fish at least once every week had significantly larger brain volumes in areas critical for memory and cognition, namely, hippocampus, precuneus, posterior cingulate cortex, and orbital frontal cortex.
AHA Journals, Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Stroke / 09.08.2014

Kumar Bharat Rajan, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Internal Medicine Section of Population Sciences Chicago IL 60612MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Kumar Bharat Rajan, PhD Assistant Professor Department of Internal Medicine Section of Population Sciences Chicago IL 60612 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the paper? Dr. Rajan: Lower levels of cognitive functioning was associated with incident stroke and the change in cognitive functioning was increased after incident stroke. Cognitive functioning was an independent marker of mortality even after accounting for incident stroke.
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, JAMA, Schizophrenia / 31.07.2014

Dr Angelica Ronald Genes Environment Lifespan (GEL) laboratory Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development Department of Psychological Sciences Birkbeck, University of London London WC1E 7HXMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr Angelica Ronald Genes Environment Lifespan (GEL) laboratory Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development Department of Psychological Sciences Birkbeck, University of London London WC1E 7HX Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Ronald: Psychotic experiences, such as paranoia, hallucinations and disorganised thinking, are commonly reported by adolescents. Until now it has not been understood whether mild variations in psychotic experiences in the community are part of the same construct as more severe psychotic experiences in adolescence. Our findings suggest that they are. In our study, over 10,000 16-year-old adolescents in England and Wales were assessed on measures of psychotic experiences. The study identified a close link between normal, less frequent psychotic experiences and more severe and frequent experiences in the general population. A classic twin design was employed, which enabled us to conduct analyses investigating the role of genetic and environmental influences on psychotic experiences. The same genetic influences appeared to play a role across the spectrum of severity of psychotic experiences. The study found that psychotic experiences are moderately heritable in adolescence in the general population. This suggests it would be worth directing molecular genetic endeavours towards this area, which has so far received very little attention in terms of causal explanations. We also show that psychotic experiences have considerable environmental influence; in fact, environmental influence appears to play a larger role in causing psychotic experiences in adolescence than for diagnosed psychotic disorders in adults, such as schizophrenia. This result suggests a fruitful avenue will be to tackle what environmental risk factors influence adolescents to have psychotic experiences.
Author Interviews, Duke, General Medicine, Mental Health Research, Nature / 31.07.2014

Rainbo Hultman, PhD Postdoctoral Research Associate Laboratory for Psychiatric Neuroengineering, Principal Investigator Affective Cognitive and Addiction Disorders (ACAD) Research Group Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Center for Neuroengineering Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC 27710MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Rainbo Hultman, PhD Postdoctoral Research Associate Laboratory for Psychiatric Neuroengineering, Principal Investigator Affective Cognitive and Addiction Disorders (ACAD) Research Group Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Center for Neuroengineering Duke University Medical Center Durham, NC 27710 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Hultman: Using a mouse model of stress-induced psychiatric dysfunction, we found that the brainwave patterns in two key brain regions (prefrontal cortex, PFC and amygdala, AMY) encode for susceptibility to such dysfunction. Furthermore, such susceptibility can be predicted from the brainwave patterns in these regions before the onset of stress.
Author Interviews, Insomnia, Mental Health Research / 31.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Pasquale K Alvaro School of Psychology University of Adelaide South Australia, Australia Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In adolescents, insomnia is related to depression beyond chronotype (a classification system for circadian rhythms or body clock), anxiety and age. Insomnia is also related to Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) beyond chronotype, depression and age. Depression accounts for the relationship between insomnia and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD) and Social Phobia (SP). Furthermore, an evening chronotype  (delayed sleep phase, that is, preferring to go to bed in the early morning) predicts insomnia beyond depression, anxiety and age. Moreover, an evening chronotype predicts depression beyond insomnia, anxiety and age. Finally, insomnia and depression account for the relationships between an evening chronotype and panic disorder, OCD, SAD and SP.
Author Interviews, Genetic Research, Mental Health Research / 30.07.2014

dr_zachary_kaminskyMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Zachary A. Kaminsky, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department of Psychiatry Baltimore, MD, 21205 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Kaminsky: A DNA methylation increase at the SKA2 gene was identified and observed across three post mortem brain tissue cohorts and was associated with suicide. The DNA methylation at the SKA2 gene was associated with lower gene expression of the gene. The same association was found in blood allowing us to attempt to predict suicidal behaviors in living individuals.
Author Interviews, Cognitive Issues, Neurology / 25.07.2014

Joe Verghese, MBBS, MS Professor of Neurology and Medicine, Chief, Integrated Divisions of Cognitive & Motor Aging (Neurology) and Geriatrics (Medicine), Director, Resnick Gerontology Center, Murray D Gross Memorial Faculty Scholar in Gerontology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, NY 10461MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joe Verghese, MBBS, MS Professor of Neurology and Medicine, Chief, Integrated Divisions of Cognitive & Motor Aging (Neurology) and Geriatrics (Medicine),  Director, Resnick Gerontology Center, Murray D Gross Memorial Faculty Scholar in Gerontology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461 Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome (MCR) is a newly described pre-dementia syndrome that is characterized by presence of slow gait and cognitive complaints in older adults without dementia or mobility disability. In this study, we report that the prevalence of Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome was 9.7% in 26,802 adults aged 60 and older from 22 cohort studies based in 17 countries. Presence of Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome was also associated with an almost two-fold risk of developing dementia.
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, Mayo Clinic / 25.07.2014

Dr. Bryan K. Woodruff Assistant Professor of Neurology Mayo Clinic, ArizonaMedicalResearch.com Interview Invitation Dr. Bryan K. Woodruff Assistant Professor of Neurology Mayo Clinic, Arizona Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Woodruff: There is evidence in the medical literature supporting a negative impact of losing a spouse for health conditions such as cancer or cardiovascular disease, but this has not been evaluated in terms of the impact of widowhood on the development of dementia.  We used the National Alzheimer’s Disease Coordinating Center (NACC) database, which pools data gathered by multiple federally-funded Alzheimer’s disease research centers to try to answer this question.  Specifically, we looked at the age at which individuals ultimately developed dementia in both individuals who lost their spouse and in those who remained married over the course of the study.  Surprisingly, the data we analyzed did not support a negative impact of losing a spouse in individuals who had no cognitive difficulties when they entered the study, and we saw a paradoxical effect of widowhood in those with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
Alzheimer's - Dementia, Author Interviews, JAMA, Neurological Disorders, Stroke / 23.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Agustin Ibanez, PhD Laboratory of Experimental Psychology and Neuroscience Institute of Cognitive Neurology and the National Scientific and Technical Research Council and Sandra Baez, MS; Institute of Cognitive Neurology and Institute of Neuroscience, Favaloro University, Buenos Aires, Argentina Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Both patients with the behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD) and patients with frontal strokes presented moral judgment abnormalities. Their deficits were related to impairments in the integration of intentions and outcomes. Specifically, both patient groups judged moral scenarios by focusing on the actions' outcomes instead of the protagonists' intentions.
Author Interviews, Breast Cancer, Cognitive Issues / 17.07.2014

Florien Boel MSc VU University Medical Center Department of Medical Psychology Amsterdam, The Netherlands MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Florien Boel MSc VU University Medical Center Department of Medical Psychology Amsterdam, The Netherlands Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: In postmenopausal breast cancer patients, endocrine therapy is widely used, and often for many years on end. Endocrine therapy is thought to have an effect on cognitive functioning, but previous studies have not yet accounted for the possible influence of the diagnosis of cancer and subsequent anxiety, depression or fatigue on cognitive performance. In addition, the cognitive effects of endocrine therapy after long-term use are still mostly unknown. Therefore, we compared cognitive functioning of postmenopausal breast cancer patients who underwent surgery and/or radiotherapy (N=43) with the cognitive performance of women who also received adjuvant endocrine therapy (tamoxifen) (N=20) and a group of healthy matched individuals (N=44). In accordance with the literature, we found that especially cognitive domains that rely heavily on verbal abilities (verbal memory and fluency) seem to be at risk for deterioration during long-term treatment (~2.5 years) with tamoxifen.
Author Interviews, Brain Injury, JAMA / 17.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emmanuel Lagarde Director of Research at INSERM, France Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lagarde: Concussion accounts for more than 90 percent of all traumatic brain injuries, although little is known about prognosis for the injury. The symptoms cited as potentially being part of post concussion syndrome fall into three areas: cognitive, somatic and emotional. But the interpretation of symptoms after concussion should also take into account that injuries are often sustained during psychologically distressing events which can lead to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Medical Research: Were any of the findings unexpected? Dr. Lagarde: Yes, as we were expecting to observe long term (3-month) symptoms following brain injury, but few were found to be specific : most of them were as frequent among patients with other injuries. Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report? Dr. Lagarde: It seems as if there is little evidence of the existence of a specific syndrome following mild traumatic brain injury. However, patients who experienced a concussion are at risk of another well-known syndrome called Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, which is associated with the distressing event that led to the injury. Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study? Dr. Lagarde: The classification system of symptoms following mild brain injury should be revisited as our results are challenging the very relevance of the DSM-V post concussion syndrome. Citation: Association of Symptoms Following Mild Traumatic Brain Injury With Posttraumatic Stress Disorder vs Postconcussion SyndromeMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emmanuel Lagarde Director of Research at INSERM, France Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Lagarde: Concussion accounts for more than 90 percent of all traumatic brain injuries, although little is known about prognosis for the injury. The symptoms cited as potentially being part of post concussion syndrome fall into three areas: cognitive, somatic and emotional. But the interpretation of symptoms after concussion should also take into account that injuries are often sustained during psychologically distressing events which can lead to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.
Author Interviews, Depression, Journal Clinical Oncology, Metabolic Syndrome, Prostate Cancer / 14.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com with: Sandip M. Prasad MD Assistant Professor Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SCSandip M. Prasad MD Assistant Professor Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC and Scott E. Eggener, MD Associate Professor of Surgery Co-Director, Prostate Cancer Program Director of Translational and Outcomes Research, Section of Urology University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL;Scott E. Eggener, MD Associate Professor of Surgery Co-Director, Prostate Cancer Program Director of Translational and Outcomes Research, Section of Urology University of Chicago Medical Center, Chicago, IL; Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: Depressed men with a diagnosis of intermediate- or high-risk prostate cancer have worse overall outcomes than those without baseline depression and are less likely to undergo definitive therapy. The difference in overall survival between men with and without a depression diagnosis was independent of prostate cancer treatment type.
Author Interviews, JAMA, Mental Health Research / 12.07.2014

MedicalResearch.com interview with: Lee M. Hampton, MD, MSc: Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Atlanta, Georgia Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Hampton: The study, which used CDC's national outpatient adverse drug event surveillance system (NEISS-CADES), found that there are almost 90,000 estimated annual emergency department visits by adults for adverse drug events from therapeutic use of antipsychotics, antidepressants, sedatives and anxiolytics, lithium salts or stimulants between 2009 and 2011. Almost one in five of those emergency department visits (19.3%) resulted in hospitalization. Sedatives and anxiolytics, antidepressants, and antipsychotics each caused 20,000 to 30,000 emergency department visits annually. However, relative to how often each of these types of medications was prescribed at outpatient visits, antipsychotics and lithium salts were more likely to cause emergency department visits for adverse drug events than were sedatives, stimulants, and antidepressants. Antipsychotics caused 3.3 times more emergency department visits for adverse drug events than sedatives, 4.0 times more emergency department visits than stimulants, and 4.9 times more emergency department visits than antidepressants relative to their outpatient use. Out of the 83 specific drugs the study looked at, ten drugs were implicated in nearly 60% of the emergency department visits for ADEs from therapeutic use of antipsychotics, antidepressants, sedatives and anxiolytics, lithium salts or stimulants. Zolpidem was implicated in nearly 12% of all such emergency department visits and 21% of such emergency department visits involving adults aged 65 years or older, more than any other antipsychotic, antidepressant, sedative or anxiolytic, lithium salt or stimulant.
Author Interviews, Schizophrenia, Sleep Disorders / 08.07.2014

Prof. Dr. Ulrich Ettinger Departments of Psychology University of Bonn Bonn, GermanyMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Prof. Dr. Ulrich Ettinger Departments of Psychology University of Bonn Bonn, Germany Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study? Prof. Ettinger: We found that 24-hour sleep deprivation induced subjective cognitive, perceptual and emotional alterations resembling the symptoms of schizophrenia. We also observed that sleep deprivation led to a deficit in a sensorimotor filter mechanism called prepulse inhibition (PPI), similar to the disturbance seen in schizophrenia.
Author Interviews, BMJ, Gender Differences, Mental Health Research / 01.07.2014

Dr. Flora I Matheson PhD Centre for Research on Inner City Health St. Michael's Hospital Toronto, ON, CanadaMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Flora I Matheson PhD Centre for Research on Inner City Health St. Michael's Hospital Toronto, ON, Canada MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Dr. Matheson:
  • We found that women were 10 per cent more likely to use mental health services than men.
  • And that within any 3-year period, women with physical illness used medical services for mental health treatment 6 months earlier than men.
Author Interviews, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics / 29.06.2014

Johanna Petzoldt Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Chemnitzer Straße Dresden, GermanyMedicalResearch.com Interview with: Johanna Petzoldt Institute of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy Chemnitzer Straße Dresden, Germany MedicalResearch: What are the main findings of the study? Answer: We investigated 286 mother-infant couples from the Maternal Anxiety in Relation to Infant Development (MARI) Study from Dresden (Germany) via standardized interview and questionnaire. We found a robust relation from maternal lifetime anxiety disorders as early as prior to pregnancy to excessive crying in the offspring. Also, the association increased when considering incident anxiety disorders during pregnancy and after delivery.