Researchers suggest that sustained attention deficit is an endophenotype for bipolar disorder that is maintained during asymptomatic states. (Source: MedWire News - Psychiatry)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

To validate the use of the LigaSure[trade] Vessel Sealing System (LVSS) to perform thoracoscopic lung tissue biopsies in heaves-affected horses. Prospective clinical study. Heaves-affected horses (n=12). Lung biopsies (n=34) were collected with the LVSS (2[ndash]4 biopsies/horse) in horses with and without clinical signs of heaves. Thoracoscope (13th intercostal space [ICS]) and 2 instruments (between the 12[ndash]15th ICS) portals were used. Selected clinical and arterial blood gas variables were monitored. Postoperative pneumothorax was evaluated. Depth of thermal injury to the surrounding tissue and representativeness of the biopsies were determined. Mean surgical time was 22.9±8.0 minutes. The complication rate was 5.6%, and primarily related to a focal inadequate sealing of the biops...

Authors: Cuenca N, Pinilla I, Fernández-Sánchez L, Salinas-Navarro M, Alarcón-Martínez L, Avilés-Trigueros M, de la Villa P, Miralles de Imperial J, Villegas-Pérez MP, Vidal-Sanz M In adult albino mice the effects of increased intraocular pressure on the outer retina and its circuitry was investigated at intervals ranging 3-14 weeks. Ocular hypertension (OHT) was induced by cauterizing the vessels draining the anterior part of the mice eye, as recently reported (Salinas-Navarro et al., 2009a). Electroretinographic (ERG) responses were recorded simultaneously from both eyes and compared each other prior to and at different survival intervals of 2, 8 or 12 weeks after lasering. Animals were processed at 3, 9 or 14 weeks after lasering, and radial sections were obtained ...

In the 1960s, when author Peggy Kennedy grew up, mental illness was a family secret. It was whispered about, handed off to hospitals, restrained, subjected to electroshock therapy and slews of sedatives and sent back home, when appropriate. Peggy Kennedy knows this all too well because her mother suffered from schizophrenia (her diagnosis was later changed to bipolar disorder) during a time when little was known about the disorder and crude treatment was the only option for reducing symptoms and restoring sanity. Approaching Neverland: A Memoir of Epic Tragedy & Happily Ever After tells the story of Kennedy’s mom and the entire family — her father, two brothers, Glenn and Patrick, and two sisters, Joan and Sue. I read this book in one weekend. Correction: I devoured it. I fell in...

A textbook of mental health disorders makes it far too easy for doctors to label patients – and disregard the roots of sufferingThe Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, whose updated fifth edition will include a range of new diagnoses, is a mythology, not a scientific text. It is created by American psychiatrists who meet in groups to consider whether or not a certain diagnosis should be included in the DSM. These groups meet a number of times so that they can say that their agreement about a certain diagnosis is reliable. Thus they could reliably agree that there is a mental disorder called Guardian Readers' Personality Disorder with the symptoms of a need to read this paper regularly, an overvaluation of the Guardian, and so on. Who knows, it might already be in the most recent version o...

Researchers have identified several clinical characteristics that could help predict the onset of a first episode of psychotic mania in patients who have risk factors for or are vulnerable to bipolar disorder. (Source: MedWire News - Psychiatry)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

This study was the first national-scale evaluation of pharmaceutical drug contamination in streams, and roughly 80 percent of the streams tested were found to be contaminated as well.In 2008, an AP investigation found that at least 46 million Americans are drinking water contaminated with trace amounts of pharmaceuticals. Even though every city tested has its water treated and "purified" prior to being delivered to the public, trace amounts of pharmaceutical drugs are making their way through to the tap. (Since not all major metropolitan areas were tested, the number of people affected is likely far higher than what was reported by AP.)In spite of all this, water quality reports don't disclose the levels of pharmaceuticals found in tap water. Since the EPA and FDA have failed to establish ...

Conclusion: Our data revealed potential evidence for partially overlapping risk haplotypes at the DAOA/G30 locus in Leonhard's affective psychoses, but do not support a common genetic contribution of the DAOA/G30 gene complex to the pathogenesis of affective disorders. (Source: BMC Psychiatry - Latest articles)

Among bipolar disorder patients living in the community, previous manic episodes appear to impair disability at work and in family life, whereas previous depressive episodes seem to impact on social life disability, study results show. (Source: MedWire News - Psychiatry)

It takes a whole family (Source: Psychology Today)

Is Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 a Central Modulator in Mood Regulation? Neuropsychopharmacology advance online publication, July 28, 2010. doi:10.1038/npp.2010.105 Authors: Xiaohua Li & Richard S Jope Keywords: mood/anxiety/stress disorders; molecular and cellular neurobiology; signal transduction; neuropharmacology; mood disorders; glycogen synthase kinase-3; depression; bipolar disorder; lithium (Source: Neuropsychopharmacology)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Authors: Marina López-Solà, Jesus Pujol, Rosa Hernández-Ribas, Ben J Harrison, Oren Contreras-Rodríguez, Carles Soriano-Mas, Joan Deus, Héctor Ortiz, José M Menchón, Julio Vallejo & Narcís Cardoner Keywords: depression; unipolar/bipolar; imaging; clinical or preclinical; mood/anxiety/stress disorders; biological psychiatry; fMRI; brain; antidepressant; depression (Source: Neuropsychopharmacology)

Authors: Dah-Yuu Lu, Yin-Yin Tsao, Yuk-Man Leung & Kuan-Pin Su Keywords: biological psychiatry; depression, unipolar/bipolar; molecular & cellular neurobiology; psychopharmacology; omega-3 fatty acids; docosahexaenoic acid (DHA); heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1); antidepressant; microglia, inflammation (Source: Neuropsychopharmacology)

After being hospitalized and diagnosed with bipolar disorder, this kindergarten teacher told her boss about her condition. Now she is not sure if this was a wise decision, but she faces the future with determination. Here is her story. (Source: About.com Bipolar Disorder)

The pedunculopontine nucleus region (PPNR) is an integral component of the midbrain locomotor region and has widespread connections with the cortex, thalamus, brain stem, cerebellum, spinal cord, and especially, the basal ganglia. No previous study examined the somatosensory connection of the PPNR in human. We recorded somatosensory evoked potentials (SEP) from median nerve stimulation through deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes implanted in the PPNR in 8 patients (6 with Parkinson's disease, 2 with progressive supranuclear palsy). Monopolar recordings from the PPNR contacts showed triphasic or biphasic potentials. The latency of the largest negative peak was between 16.8 and 18.7 milliseconds. Bipolar derivation revealed phase reversal with median nerve stimulation contralateral to th...

Conclusion  While typically safe, RFA of pulmonary neoplasms can result in pulmonary hemorrhage ranging from mild to life-threatening. Management of this complication is mainly preventive through adequate patient selection for ablation therapy and exclusion of technically avoidable risk factors. Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Vascular-InterventionalDOI 10.1007/s00330-010-1889-1Authors Nour-Eldin A. Nour-Eldin, Johann Wolfgang Goethe–University Hospital Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Theodor-Stern-Kai 7 60590 Frankfurt am Main GermanyNagy N. N. Naguib, Johann Wolfgang Goethe–University Hospital Institute for Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Theodor-Stern-Kai 7 60590 Frankfurt am Main GermanyMartin Mack, Johann Wolfgang Goethe–...MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

We describe a lead repair that was not intuitive and avoided repeat thoracotomy in a pacemaker-dependent patient with lead fracture. (Source: The Annals of Thoracic Surgery)

Conclusion  Gas-cooled radiofrequency applicators increase the short-axis diameter of coagulation in an ex vivo setting if appropriate parameters are selected. Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Laboratory InvestigationDOI 10.1007/s00270-010-9946-3Authors Hansjörg Rempp, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology Hoppe-Seyler-Straße 3 72076 Tübingen GermanyMarcus Scharpf, Insitute of Pathology, Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen Department of General Pathology and Pathological Anatomy Liebermeisterstraße 8 72076 Tübingen GermanyMatthias Voigtlaender, ERBE Elektromedizin GmbH Waldhörnlestraße 17 72072 Tübingen GermanyChristina Schraml, Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen Department of Diagnostic and Int...

Chong Qi Yu and Hui Wang Recent study shows the resistance of a metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structure can be controlled by a laser via a bipolar-resistance effect (BRE). Based on this BRE phenomenon, we find an overlapped offset effect which is induced by an external bias applying to the structure. This offset effect fe ... [Appl. Phys. Lett. 97, 041105 (2010)] published Mon Jul 26, 2010. (Source: Applied Physics Letters)

(Source: Drugs)