Mental illness in homeless women: an epidemiological study in Munich, Germany

This longitudinal observational study evaluates the stage at which coronary flow can be visualized by color-coded and pulsed wave Doppler sonography in fetuses with normal cardiac anatomy. Fetal biometry, echocardiography and Doppler examination of the umbilical and middle cerebral arteries, ductus venosus, inferior vena cava and umbilical vein were performed in 109 cases. Fetuses were divided into five groups based on the Doppler examination of the umbilical artery, birth weight and the ability to visualize coronary blood flow. Coronary blood flow was identified in six of 55 fetuses with normal growth who had normal Doppler studies and perinatal outcome. In these, visualization of coronary blood flow was possible after 31 weeks' gestation at a median gestational age of 37 weeks. Coronary blood flow was also visualized in ten of 54 fetuses with severe intrauterine growth retardation and highly pathological flow velocity waveforms in all vessels soon after a significant increase of venous indices in the inferior vena cava and ductus venosus. In these cases, coronary blood flow was identified at a significantly earlier gestational age (median 27 weeks). These fetuses had a poor perinatal outcome (average birth weight less than 3rd centile, mortality rate 50%, significantly lower umbilical artery blood pH and Apgar scores after 1 and 5 min). Intrauterine fetal death occurred in five fetuses after a median of 3.5 days following visualization of coronary blood flow. Median coronary peak blood flow velocities in the right coronary artery were higher in intrauterine growth-retarded than appropriate-for-gestational-age fetuses.     

Comorbidity between abuse of an adult and DSM-III-R mental disorders: evidence from an epidemiological study

The nonuniform distribution of thrombocytes in a microvessel is considered in terms of a previously advanced phenomenological theory, which describes the relationship between the mean blood velocity and thrombus growth rate.     

An examination of the genetic relationship between bipolar and unipolar illness in an epidemiological sample

In an epidemiologic sample of female-female twin pairs, we previously reported analyses of lifetime major depression. Because lifetime mania was not assessed, we could not differentiate unipolar from bipolar illness. Having completed such an evaluation in this sample, we now examine three questions: (i) does removing bipolar cases from our cohort substantially alter estimates for the heritability of major depression?; (ii) does our epidemiologic data support a familial relationship between major depression and mania?; and (iii) do our results for major depression and mania suggest that the two disorders are caused by the same underlying liability? We find that (i) the heritability of major depression declines only trivially if cases with a history of mania are removed; (ii) mania in one twin predicts major depression in her cotwin-suggesting a familial/genetic relationship between major depression and mania; and (iii) a multiple threshold model fits our data well, consistent with the hypothesis that unipolar and bipolar disorders are points on a continuum of a single liability of illness. The validity of these results are tempered by the small number of bipolar cases detected, as expected from the low base rate of mania in general population samples.     

Mental illness in India and Britain: theory and practice

The paper argues that conceptions of mental illness and its treatment often stem from the normative social and cultural constructions of mental illness. Psychiatrists, psychologists, and other health professionals do not work in a social vacuum; they work within the accepted traditions and values prevalent in their culture. To understand mental illness it is therefore necessary to examine the salient normative beliefs, attitudes, and values of a given culture. The paper proposes a cross-cultural theoretical and empirical model which permits a close examination and comparison of mental illness in two cultures: India and Britain. The proposed model from which several testable hypotheses have been deduced, rests on the following four factors; [Table See Text]. The nature and the importance of the factors in explaining mental illness and the culture-specific treatment strategies which follow in the two cultures are critically discussed in the paper.     

Introduction to special section: Mental retardation and mental illness.

Historically, the perceived relation between mental illness and mental retardation has undergone substantial changes. During the past 2 centuries, clinical observations and systematic research addressing these 2 constructs have developed along separate lines. Consequently, the pathogenesis and treatment of psychopathology, emotional disorders, and behavior problems experienced by individuals with mental retardation have not been the purview of mainstream clinical psychology. This article initiates a special section on mental retardation and mental illness to provide up-to-date summaries of various key clinical and research issues regarding this population (i.e., individuals with "dual diagnoses"). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental illness and mental retardation: Message from the President of the United States relative to mental illness and mental retardation.

2 health problems of critical size and tragic impact are mental illness and mental retardation. "There are now about 800,000 such patients in this Nation's institutions—600,000 for mental illness and over 200,000 for mental retardation." A 3-fold attack is proposed: (a) Ascertain causes and eradicate them. (b) Strengthen underlying resources of knowledge and of skilled manpower. (c) Strengthen and improve facilities serving the mentally ill and mentally retarded. A national program for mental health is proposed which emphasizes comprehensive community mental health centers, improved care in state mental institutions, and expansion of research activities and increase in professional manpower. A national program to combat mental retardation emphasizing prevention, community services, and research is also proposed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Demographic and epidemiological determinants of healthcare costs in Netherlands: cost of illness study

OBJECTIVES: To determine the demands on healthcare resources caused by different types of illnesses and variation with age and sex. DESIGN: Information on healthcare use was obtained from all 22 healthcare sectors in the Netherlands. Most important sectors (hospitals, nursing homes, inpatient psychiatric care, institutions for mentally disabled people) have national registries. Total expenditures for each sector were subdivided into 21 age groups, sex, and 34 diagnostic groups. SETTING: Netherlands, 1994. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Proportion of healthcare budget spent on each category of disease and cost of health care per person at various ages. RESULTS: After the first year of life, costs per person for children were lowest. Costs rose slowly throughout adult life and increased exponentially from age 50 onwards till the oldest age group (> or = 95). The top five areas of healthcare costs were mental retardation, musculoskeletal disease (predominantly joint disease and dorsopathy), dementia, a heterogeneous group of other mental disorders, and ill defined conditions. Stroke, all cancers combined, and coronary heart disease ranked 7, 8, and 10, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The main determinants of healthcare use in the Netherlands are old age and disabling conditions, particularly mental disability. A large share of the healthcare budget is spent on long term nursing care, and this cost will inevitably increase further in an ageing population. Non-specific cost containment measures may endanger the quality of care for old and mentally disabled people.     

Women and violence: an everyday fact

In comparison with other countries, Mexico lacks information on the issue of violence against women, especially regarding the incidence and prevalence of battering and emotional abuse. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency and distribution of violence against women among both rural and urban populations in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. A cross-sectional study was conducted among two groups randomly selected; 1,163 rural women (RW) and 427 urban women (UW). Variables included: frequency of violence of family members against women and vice versa, socioeconomic variables and reason for violence. The results were: a) 44.2 per cent and 56.7 per cent rural and urban female population, respectively, suffered some form of violence; b) the principal aggressor was the husband in more than 60 per cent of the cases in both rural and urban areas. Significant statistical difference (p < 0.05) were found between rural and urban groups in relation to low education, middle-age and family size over 7 members.     

Physical activity and lipoprotein metabolism: epidemiological evidence and clinical trials

Twenty cases with patellar luxation in dogs and cats, in which a sulcoplasty and cranialisation of the tuberositas tibiae were performed, were investigated and reviewed retrospectively. Twelve knees were available for follow-up after a mean period of 15 months. Clinical scoring of patients showed eight with no lameness, three with an occasional weightbearing lameness, and one with a frequent weightbearing lameness. The patella was stable and could not be luxated in ten out of twelve cases. Degenerative joint disease was slightly progressive in the postoperative period. It did not impair the outcome of the procedure.     

Mental illness stigma and the fundamental components of supported employment.

Purpose/Objective: The success of supported employment programs will partly depend on the endorsement of stigma in communities in which the programs operate. In this article, the authors examine 2 models of stigma--responsibility attribution and dangerousness--and their relationships to components of supported employment-help getting a job and help keeping a job. Research Method/Design: A stratified and randomly recruited sample (N=815) completed responses to a vignette about "Chris," a person alternately described with mental illness, with drug addiction, or in a wheelchair. Research participants completed items that represented responsibility and dangerousness models. They also completed items representing 2 fundamental aspects of supported employment: help getting a job or help keeping a job. Results: When participants viewed Chris as responsible for his condition (e.g., mental illness), they reacted to him in an angry manner, which in turn led to lesser endorsement of the 2 aspects of supported employment. In addition, people who viewed Chris as dangerous feared him and wanted to stay away from him, even in settings where people with mental illness might work. Conclusions/ Implications: Implications for understanding supported employment are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Review of Pathology and the postmodern: Mental illness as discourse and experience.

Reviews the book, Pathology and the postmodern: Mental illness as discourse and experience by Dwight Fee (2000). This provocative collection of short essays, edited and assembled by Dwight Fee, constitutes yet another useful addition to SAGE Publications’ Inquiries in Social Construction series (series editors, Kenneth Gergen, John Shotter, and Sue Widdicombe). Including the work of such postmodern and social constructionist thinkers as Kenneth Gergen, Mark Freeman, Vivian Burr, Jane Ussher, Simon Gottschalk, Steven Sabat and Rom Harré, this anthology sets out to explore the relationship between mental distress and specific cultural, economic, and historical contexts and trends. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental disorder and violent behavior: Perceptions and evidence.

Throughout history and in all known societies, people have believed that mental disorder and violence were somehow related. The consensus of modern scholarly opinion, however, has been that no such relationship exists. Recent epidemiological studies cast doubt on this no-relationship position. Evidence now indicates that mental disorder may be a consistent, albeit modest, risk factor for the occurrence of violence. Denying that mental disorder and violence may be in any way associated is disingenuous and ultimately counterproductive. Dire implications for mental patient advocacy, for mental health law, and for the provision of mental health treatment need not follow from candidly acknowledging the possibility of a limited connection between disorder and violence. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Mental representation of the body: Stability and change in response to illness and disability.

Body concept and body esteem were examined among 147 male patients (mean ages 45–58 yrs) in 4 medical groups (cardiac, spinal-cord injured, alcoholic, and domiciliary). To study body concept, multidimensional scaling was used to extract the dimensions organizing 33 body parts. Three dimensions, head–body, arm-leg, and inside–outside, organized bodily experience for the groups. To study body esteem, a principal components analysis was applied to esteem ratings of the same body parts; head and body dimensions emerged, suggesting correspondence between cognition and affect. Body concept was stable across medical groups, whereas body esteem underwent dramatic, illness-related changes. A serial chain model of body concept is proposed to synthesize these and related findings. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cervical cancer and human papillomavirus: epidemiological evidence and perspectives for prevention

The ts1 Moloney murine leukemia virus causes a degenerative neurologic disease in mice characterized by the development of noninflammatory spongiform encephalomyelopathy. To determine whether gag and pol gene products and viral replication are necessary for the ts1-env gene product to cause neurodegeneration, we generated transgenic mice harboring only ts1-env. Neuropathological lesions were observed in mice expressing the transgene in the central nervous system. This implies that gag and pol gene products and viral replication are not necessary for ts1-env to cause a mild form of neurodegeneration in mice.     

Mental illness and the impact of believing others know about it.

Reports 2 studies measuring the impact upon 30 male inpatients and 29 male outpatients of believing others have become aware of their psychiatric history. Ss thought the interest was in determining if another person would behave the same toward mental patients and controls. 1/2 the Ss were told the other person knew they were patients and the remainder that he believed them to be nonpatients. Believing others were aware of their status caused Ss to feel less appreciated, to find a task more difficult, and to perform more poorly, and they were perceived as more tense, anxious, and poorly adjusted by an O. (20 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Snowboard traumatology: an epidemiological study

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the frequency of perioperative morbidities in patients who underwent anesthesia and a surgical procedure with no preoperative laboratory testing. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We conducted an electronic database search of medical records of 56,119 patients who underwent surgical or diagnostic procedures and anesthesia at Mayo Clinic Rochester in 1994 and found 5,120 who had no laboratory tests done within 90 days before the procedure. From this group, we randomly selected 1,044 patients (87 from each month) to document the absence of preoperative tests, the presence of preexisting disease (by organ system), the type of anesthetic agent, and the outcomes and tests intraoperatively and postoperatively. RESULTS: The 1,044 patients ranged in age from 0 to 95 years (median age, 21). No deaths or major perioperative morbidities occurred (0.0%; exact 95% confidence interval, 0.00 to 0.35%). Although 10 patients underwent blood typing and screening for antibodies immediately preoperatively, no blood transfusions were necessary. Intraoperatively, 17 laboratory tests and 1 electrocardiogram were obtained, and 3 results were abnormal. Postoperatively, 42 blood tests and 2 electrocardiographic procedures were performed. Five of the 42 blood tests showed abnormal results (hemoglobin levels in 3, serum sodium in 1, and arterial blood gases in 1). One electrocardiogram showed normal findings, and the other revealed normal results except for premature ventricular contractions. No laboratory test done intraoperatively or postoperatively was found to change surgical or medical management substantially. One patient who had unanticipated blood loss during an outpatient procedure was admitted to the hospital for observation. CONCLUSION: All 1,044 patients, 97% of whom were relatively healthy, with no recent laboratory testing safely underwent anesthesia and an operation. We conclude that patients who have been assessed by history and physical examination and determined to have no preoperative indication for laboratory tests can safely undergo anesthesia and operation with tests obtained only as indicated intraoperatively and post-operatively. Current anesthetic and medical practices rapidly identify perioperative indications for laboratory evaluation as they arise.     

Book review: Media violence and its effects on aggression: Assessing the scientific evidence.

Review of book: Media violence and its effects on aggression: Assessing the scientific evidence, by Jonathan L. Freedman. Toronto: ON: University of Toronto Press, 2002, 227 pp. Hardcover. ISBN 0-8020-3553-1. Reviewed by Claire Crooks. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The dual crisis: Mental illness and substance abuse: Present and future directions.

Describes recent federal initiatives to focus attention on the needs of young adults (aged 18–40 yrs) with concurrent mental health and substance abuse problems, summarizes research findings on persons with these dual disabilities, and presents an agenda for future epidemiological, clinical, and basic research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)