Conclusion In children with recurrent solid tumors, vorinostat is well-tolerated at 230 mg/m2/d, with a modest dose reduction being required when combining vorinostat with 13cRA. Drug disposition is similar to that observed in adults. (Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

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...

I will never forget the night my 6′3″ tall, slender brother and his even taller, slender friend bought two tickets for the 7:15 p.m. showing of the movie “Troy,” starring an unusually ripped and rippled Brad Pitt. At 10:30 that same night my phone rang, and I heard my brother say to me, “My friend and I have decided that we need to go to the gym. We think we need to get in shape.” They went out for a night of light cinematic escapism and came back with body esteem issues. Two perfectly healthy, well adjusted, intelligent, funny, fit, and loving human beings had not changed that much in just three hours — at least on the outside. But something on the inside had obviously changed. The American Heart Association reports that as of January 2010, 58 percent of ...

The study compared the prevalence, correlates of functional impairment, and service utilization for eating disorders across Latinos, Asians, and African Americans living in the United States to non-Latino Whites.Pooled data from the NIMH Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Studies (CPES;NIMH, 2007) were used.The prevalence of anorexia nervosa (AN) and binge-eating disorder (BED) were similar across all groups examined, but bulimia nervosa (BN) was more prevalent among Latinos and African Americans than non-Latino Whites. Despite similar prevalence of BED among ethnic groups examined, lifetime prevalence of any binge eating (ABE) was greater among each of the ethnic minority groups in comparison to non-Latino Whites. Lifetime prevalence of mental health service utilization was lower a...

Poor problem-solving and low self-esteem are frequently cited as significant factors in the development and maintenance of anorexia nervosa. The current study examines the multi-dimensional elements of these measures and postulates a model whereby self-esteem mediates the relationship between social problems-solving and anorexic pathology and considers the implications of this pathway.Fifty-five inpatients with a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and 50 non-clinical controls completed three standardised multi-dimensional questionnaires pertaining to social problem-solving, self-esteem and eating pathology.Significant differences were yielded between clinical and non-clinical samples on all measures. Within the clinical group, elements of social problem-solving most significant to anorexic path...

The objective of this study was to explore the construct of intolerance of uncertainty in patients with anorexia nervosa through focus groups.Nine women with anorexia nervosa participated in three focus groups in an in-patient, rehabilitation and day care setting. Focus groups probed participants' experiences of uncertainty and the meaning to them of uncertainty on a physical, behavioural, cognitive and emotional level.Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Patients experienced uncertainty as stressful and wanted to avoid this at all costs. Prominent sources of uncertainty were fear of negative evaluation by others and feelings of being imperfect. Uncertain situations led participants to feel anxious and 'out of control', resulting in a strong desire for c...MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Individuals with eating disorders have difficulty controlling obsessive intrusions and ritualistic behaviours relating to food and exercise. An imagery-based intervention using a vodcast (small video file played on a mobile phone or portable media device), with visual and aural components, was designed to target eating related psychopathology in a consecutive series of four patients. The vodcast was used to support consumption of a smoothie, both as a behavioural experiment and at home, in naturalistic circumstances. More of the smoothie was drunk in a shorter time when the smoothie was offered with the vodcast (mean of 218 g, SD = 64) than in the comparison condition (mean of 160 g, SD = 71). The vodcast condition was associated with reduced anxiety in three out of four patients. Three ou...

In this study, bupropion XR did not demonstrate statistically significant evidence of greater improvement from baseline compared with placebo on week 8 Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating scale scores (primary endpoint) or on secondary endpoints including CGI, HAM-A and responder and remitter analyses. Descriptive statistics for venlafaxine XR indicated separation versus placebo on MADRS total scores at week 8 and other intermediate time points, and on other endpoints including CGI, HAM-A and responder and remitter analyses. Both active treatments elicited improvement on the Sheehan Disability Scale and its subscales and were generally well tolerated at the doses studied. Rates of nausea, dry mouth, dizziness, hyperhidrosis, insomnia, constipation, tremor, anorexia and male sexual dysfunct...

Conclusions The recommended dose for Phase 2 clinical studies of temsirolimus in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors is 15 mg/m2 intravenously once a week. (Source: Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology)

Conclusions The high improvement rate in abdominal symptoms suggested the efficacy of octreotide in terminally ill patients with malignant bowel obstruction. (Source: Japanese Journal of Clinical Oncology)

Abstract: To test effects of body image therapy in anorexia nervosa, functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to assess neuronal responses to viewing photographs of one's own body before and after treatment. Activation decreases emerged in a distributed network and increases were observed in the extrastriate body area, possibly reflecting more intense body image processing. (Source: Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Authors: Seo M, Takahashi N, Morita T, Morimoto S, Iwasaka T A 66-year-old woman on chronic peritoneal dialysis was admitted because of intermittent diarrhea and abdominal pain, and anorexia for 1 month. She had not been given antibiotics nor hospitalized for at least 6 months prior to the onset of symptoms. Clostridium difficile and its toxin were detected in the stool and Clostridium difficile-associated diarrhea (CDAD) was diagnosed. Colonoscopic examination revealed pseudomembrane formation and colitis in the whole colon. Clostridium difficile and its toxin became negative 12 days after vancomycin administration. Thus, clinical suspicion to CDAD is important in dialysis patients presenting with abdominal symptoms even if it is apparently community-acquired with no history of antibi...

Authors: Lopez-de-Andres A, Carrasco-Garrido P, Hernández-Barrera V, Gil-de-Miguel A, Jiménez-Trujillo I, Jiménez-García R The study describes and analyzes the hospitalizations due to eating disorders (EDs) among children and adolescents during 1998-2007 in Spain. We conducted a retrospective study of national hospitalization data using the Minimum Basic Data Set. Hospitalization rates were calculated for EDs among children and adolescents aged 10-18 years. Length of hospital stay (median), psychiatric comorbidities, medical conditions and mortality rates were analyzed. There were a total of 10,569 EDs admissions during the period of study. The median length of hospital stay was greater in patients with anorexia than in those with bulimia (14 vs. 9 days). The most common ps...

Neuropsychobiology 2010;62:151–157 (DOI:10.1159/000318571) (Source: Karger Publishers)

Eliza* was trying to get her struggling three year old daughter into her stroller when, to her horror, she heard herself saying words she had vowed never to utter - phrases her mother had used throughout Eliza's childhood. Despite all of her efforts to parent her own children very differently, Eliza found that those familiar sentences were the first to come into her brain and out of her mouth when she and her daughter were engaged in a difficult struggle.Once it was a girl's dream to be just like her mom. Now it's more like every woman's nightmare. Yet it happens to us all. Like Eliza we hear our mother's words leaving our own mouths, or we look in a mirror and catch a glimpse of a familiar expression - not our own - and, as we get older, we see surprising reflections of our mother stare b...

CONCLUSION: Pancreatic involvement typically occurs as part of multi-organ involvement and commonly manifests as multifoci micro-abscesses. Associated pancreatic abnormalities were also common. All responded to treatment without requiring drainage. PMID: 20601811 [PubMed - in process] (Source: JOP)MedWorm Message: Register for MedMatcha, MedWorm's medical advertising network, and receive $5 free advertising.

Authors: Marecek GS, Barsness KA, Sarwark JF Superior mesenteric artery syndrome is obstruction of the third portion of the duodenum by compression between the abdominal aorta and superior mesenteric artery. Pediatric orthopedists are familiar with this entity, as the association between superior mesenteric artery syndrome and spinal fusion or body casting has been well established. However, patients with spinal deformities usually experience superior mesenteric artery syndrome after orthopedic intervention, with rates after corrective spinal surgery reported between 0.5% and 2.4%.Symptoms of superior mesenteric artery syndrome typically include nausea, bilious emesis, abdominal pain, early satiety, and anorexia. Initial treatment focuses on gastric decompression and maintaining euvole...

Conclusion: IRIS is an effective, well tolerated and convenient treatment regimen for patients with advanced colorectal cancer. Content Type Journal ArticleCategory Clinical Trial ReportDOI 10.1007/s00280-010-1278-0Authors Manabu Shiozawa, Kanagawa Cancer Center Department of Gastrointestinal Sugery 1-1-2 Nakao, Asahi-ku Yokohama 241-0815 JapanMakoto Akaike, Kanagawa Cancer Center Department of Gastrointestinal Sugery 1-1-2 Nakao, Asahi-ku Yokohama 241-0815 JapanNobuhiro Sugano, Kanagawa Cancer Center Department of Gastrointestinal Sugery 1-1-2 Nakao, Asahi-ku Yokohama 241-0815 JapanKazuhito Tsuchida, Kanagawa Cancer Center Department of Gastrointestinal Sugery 1-1-2 Nakao, Asahi-ku Yokohama 241-0815 JapanNaoto Yamamoto, Kanagawa Cancer Center Department of Gastrointestinal Sug...

Conclusion Sorafenib was well tolerated. Although response was poor, progression-free and overall survival times compare favorably with previous Southwest Oncology Group, phase II, single-agent trials. (Source: Journal of Clinical Oncology)

Food presented in a virtual reality environment causes the same emotional responses as real food. Researchers compared the responses of people with anorexia and bulimia, and a control group, to the virtual and real-life snacks, suggesting that virtual food can be used for the evaluation and treatment of eating disorders. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)