Blood group frequencies in multiple sclerosis populations in the United States

Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients (332) and controls (305) selected from Caucasian populations in the New York City area and in Tucson, Arizona, were tested for ABO blood group factors A and B, and Rh factors C, D, E, c, and e. There was no significant difference in the distribution frequencies of these factors in MS patients and controls.     

Weygandt's On the Mixed States of Manic-Depressive Insanity: a translation and commentary on its significance in the evolution of the concept of bipolar disorder

Wilhelm Weygandt's Uber die Mischzust?nde des manisch-depressiven Irreseins (On the Mixed States of Manic-Depressive Insanity) describes and conceptualizes mixed states of mood, behavior, and thinking commonly found in manic-depressive disorders. These ideas emerged from Weygandt's service in the 1890s at the Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Heidelberg, directed by Emil Kraepelin. In the sixth (1899) edition of Kraepelin's influential textbook, the concept of manic-depressive illnesses underwent a fundamental shift from a complex group of syndromal subtypes to a single integrated disorder, widely known from the 1921 English translation of the eighth (1920) edition. In the 1899 edition, Kraepelin acknowledged Weygandt for a new section on mixed manic-depressive states within the new integrated view of manic-depressive disorder. We provide biographical notes on Weygandt, a little-known but historically important figure, as well as the first English translation of his monograph and interpretive summaries of his findings. We also consider whether Weygandt's important insight that the same person could be both manic and depressed not only at different times but even at the same time served as an important stimulus to Kraepelin's unified manic-depressive disorder concept, which survives as bipolar disorder a century later.     

Deinstitutionalization in the United States and Italy: A Historical Survey

In the 1960s, both the United States and Italy implemented significant reforms in the practice of psychiatry, particularly within the asylum. Whereas the American reforms have been largely undermined, Italian reforms have, on the whole, continued to function as intended. The reason for Italy's comparative success appears to lie with the nature of its reform movement. The central figure of Dr. Franco Basaglia is already familiar to scholars of Italian psychiatric reform, but the literature has paid less attention to the dynamics of the social movement of which he was part. Writings generated in the course of that movement reveal the extent to which it was conflictual but also provided structural strength with which to demand institutional reform.     

Research Article: Antidepressant use among Asians in the United States

Objectives: We examined the prevalence and predictors of past‐year antidepressant use in a nationally representative sample of Asian Americans and non‐Latino Whites. Methods: Analyses of 12‐month antidepressant medication use were based on data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys that surveyed Asian (Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, and others; N=2,284) and non‐Latino White (N=6,696) household residents ages 18 years and older in the 48 contiguous United States and Hawaii. Results: Prevalence rates for 12‐month antidepressant use for Asians with major depression ranged from 8.7% among Vietnamese to 17% among Chinese respondents. Compared to non‐Latino Whites (32.4%), all Asians (10.9%) meeting criteria for 12‐month depressive and anxiety disorders, but especially Filipinos (8.8%) were less likely to report past‐year antidepressant use. Conclusions: We found disparities in past‐year antidepressant use among all the examined major Asian groups meeting criteria for 12‐month depressive and anxiety disorders. These disparities were not explained by mental health need or socioeconomic factors that enable access to care. Depression and Anxiety, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

A psychiatric fellowship in the United States

The development of subspecialty fields in psychiatry will likely motivate many new graduates of Canadian psychiatric residency programs to seek additional fellowship training. There is little information to guide psychiatric residents interested in arranging a fellowship year. This article discusses the experience of three Canadian psychiatrists who recently completed a fellowship year in a well known academic centre in the United States. The reasons for considering an additional year of training are discussed. The practical aspects of finding and funding a fellowship year are also addressed. The individual experiences of the authors as fellows in consultation-liaison psychiatry, psychopharmacology and psychobiology, and sleep disorders medicine are described. Finally, personal stresses which appeared to be commonly experienced by psychiatric fellows are explored.     

A century and a half of psychiatric rehabilitation in the United States

After a brief history, this chapter describes important modalities and models of psychiatric rehabilitation.     

Hand preference and age in the United States.

A survey of 1,177,507 U.S. men and women between the ages of 10 and 86 included questions regarding hand preference for writing and throwing. Three effects were observed. Individuals with at least some left motoric bias comprised a smaller percent of the population with advancing age. This finding provides large-scale confirmation of a previously described phenomenon. Among sinistrals, concordance for writing and throwing was 2.2 times as prevalent as left-writing with right-throwing, and 4.1 times as prevalent as right-writing with left-throwing. These sinistral subpopulations displayed distinct and stable prevalence prior to age 50 and changing patterns of prevalence subsequent to age 50. The results confirm a decrease with age in the prevalence of sinistrality, but indicate that age-specific rates of mixed- and left-handedness are distinct. The implications for hypotheses regarding age-related change in the prevalence of sinistrality are discussed.     

Adolescent brain development and underage drinking in the United States: identifying risks of alcohol use in college populations

Alcohol use typically is initiated during adolescence, a period that coincides with critical structural and functional maturation of the brain. Brain maturation and associated improvements in decision making continue into the third decade of life, reaching a plateau within the period referred to as emerging adulthood (18-24?years). This particular period covers that of traditionally aged college students, and includes the age (21?years) when alcohol consumption becomes legal in the United States. This review highlights neurobiological evidence indicating the vulnerabilities of the emerging-adult brain to the effects of alcohol. Factors increasing the risks associated with underage alcohol use include the age group's reduced sensitivity to alcohol sedation and increased sensitivity to alcohol-related disruptions in memory. On the individual level, factors increasing those risks are a positive family history of alcoholism, which has a demonstrated effect on brain structure and function, and emerging comorbid psychiatric conditions. These vulnerabilities-of the age group, in general, as well as of particular individuals-likely contribute to excessive and unsupervised drinking in college students. Discouraging alcohol consumption until neurobiological adulthood is reached is important for minimizing alcohol-related disruptions in brain development and decision-making capacity, and for reducing the negative behavioral consequences associated with underage alcohol use.     

Systematic review of dementia prevalence and incidence in United States race/ethnic populations

Objective

To identify incidence and prevalence of dementia in racial and ethnic populations in the United States.