Evacuation of a mental health center during a forest fire in Israel.

Tirat Carmel Mental Health Center was successfully evacuated in December 2010 during a ravaging forest fire in the nearby Carmel Mountains. A total of 228 patients were successfully evacuated from the center within 45 minutes. No fatalities or injuries associated with the evacuation occurred. We believe that the efficient functioning of the administrative and medical staff provides a replicable model that can contribute to the level of awareness and readiness of hospital staff members for natural and manmade disasters.

Curcumin as an add-on to antidepressive treatment: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot clinical study.

OBJECTIVES: Depression is a widespread mental disorder in which nearly half of the affected people have recurrent symptoms. Drug combinations may produce cumulative adverse effects, especially in elderly and physically ill patients. It was demonstrated that curcumin possesses antidepressive activity in various animal models of depression, and a combination of curcumin with some antidepressants potentiates the antidepressive effect of these agents. We sought to evaluate the efficacy of curcumin as an antidepressive agent in a combination with other antidepressants in patients with major depression. METHODS: Forty patients with a first episode of depression participated in a 5-week, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. The subjects were treated with either 500-mg/d curcumin or placebo together with antidepressants (escitalopram or venlafaxine) during August 2010 until June 2011. The outcome measures were Clinical Global Impression-Severity Scale, Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, and Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale. RESULTS: Analysis of variance showed significant positive changes in both groups from baseline to the end of the study in all scales of measurement. These changes became significant from the first visit after 7 days of treatment. There was no difference between curcumin and placebo, which means negative results. However, the patients in the curcumin group demonstrated a trend to a more rapid relief of depressive symptoms in comparison to those in the placebo group. None of the patients complained of any adverse effect during the study. CONCLUSIONS: Although there is no definitive proof that curcumin can induce an earlier beneficial effect of antidepressive agents, it seems like an extended study is needed to prove it, using higher therapeutic doses of curcumin.

Suicide ideation, planning and attempts: results from the Israel National Health Survey.

OBJECTIVES: To establish the lifetime prevalence rates of suicide ideations, plans and attempts, and to identify the conditional risks of suicide attempts following the prior onset of suicide ideation or planning. METHOD: A representative sample extracted from the National Population Register of non-institutionalized residents, aged 21 or older, were interviewed at home between May 2003 and April 2004 using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview which included questions on suicide ideations, plans and attempts The final sample included 4,859 respondents. RESULTS: About 5.5% of the adults reported that they have thought of suicide, and 1.4% that they have attempted to commit suicide during their lifetime. The year following the onset of ideation constitutes the year of highest risk for suicide attempt. CONCLUSION: The risk of suicide attempt is highest among individuals with mental health disorders, while the transition from suicide ideation to suicide attempt among them is more likely to be planned. The youngest age group has the highest odds of suicide attempts and the highest odds of impulsive suicide attempts.