ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Bipolar disorder is a chronic psychiatric disease with a high prevalence and is a major psychosocial and medical burden. The exact etiological pathways of bipolar disorder are not fully understood. Genetic factors are known to play an important role in the etiology of bipolar disorder. However, high rates of discordance among identical twins and a growing body of evidence that environmental factors such as early stress can influence the onset and course of psychiatric diseases underline the importance of additional etiological mechanisms of bipolar disorders. There has been little investigation about early trauma in bipolar disorder. The aim of this study was to review the literature on the association between early traumatic interactions like child neglect, mistreatment, abuse or early parental separation and the occurrence of bipolar disorder in adulthood or impact on the course of the disease. METHODS: Studies investigating associations between child neglect, mistreatment, abuse or early parental separation and occurrence of bipolar disorder in adulthood or impact on the course of the disease were searched in the Pubmed database. More than 700 articles were sorted independently by two of the authors using predefined criteria. Only research articles, reviews and meta-analyses were selected for this review. RESULTS: 53 articles met the inclusion criteria. To date, four systematic reviews partially addressed our research question. Early trauma is more frequently found in the past of bipolar patients than in the general population. Studies support a harmful effect of childhood trauma on the course of bipolar disease, with more anxious, depressive or psychotic symptoms, an early age of onset and a worse prognosis. CONCLUSIONS: Early trauma is more often found in the past of bipolar adult patients than the general population and studies support a harmful effect of childhood trauma on the course of bipolar disease, with more anxious, depressive or psychotic symptoms, an early age of onset and a worse prognosis. In further studies attention should be paid to the age of trauma occurrence and the definition of trauma. The findings also support the importance of additional psychoanalytic oriented psychotherapy for the treatment of bipolar disorder.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are among the most widely prescribed drugs in developed countries. Since BZDs can produce tolerance and dependence even in a short time, their use is recommended for a very limited time. However, these recommendations have been largely disregarded. The chronic use of BZDs causes a number of serious side effects, i.e. cognitive impairment, falls, traffic accidents, dependence and tolerance. METHODS: We present the case of a 37 years old woman taking daily doses of 220 mg of bromazepam. The patient's anxiety, depression and cognitive status were evaluated with a battery of questionnaires. A sleep laboratory test was performed in search of sleep apneas and sleepiness during the day. A Cerebral PET SCAN was executed in search of altered cerebral metabolism. RESULTS: Blood concentrations of bromazepam reached 7800 µg/L. Questionnaire evaluations showed significant depression and anxiety but only moderate cognitive impairment. Oxygen saturation was normal throughout the Sleep lab test, respiratory events were very few and sleepiness was moderate with an average latency of 9 minutes. Brain cortical glucose consumption was homogeneously slightly reduced. CONCLUSIONS: With doses of bromazepan reaching 15 times the toxic dose, anxiety remained high. Cognition, sleepiness, respiratory sleep events and brain metabolism remained remarkably close to normal.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess whether a demented patient with urinary incontinence (UI) could learn to use an adapted version of timed voiding (i.e., instead of being led by a caregiver, the patient learns to perform timed voiding by herself). Indeed, UI affects a large number of patients with dementia and creates a substantial burden to the caregiver. UI is the most common complaint at the time of institutionalization and it is often the cause of premature institutionalization. Timed voiding is a promising intervention, but one whose effectiveness remains to be demonstrated. Additionally, timed voiding has the disadvantage of being constraining for caregivers, requiring them to be present to stimulate the patient to urinate at each of the scheduled occasions. METHOD: The present intervention required the patient to learn (1) to associate an auditory signal from a timer to the action of urination, (2) to reprogram the timer, using the spaced retrieval technique. An ABAB paradigm was used to assess the effectiveness of this program to eliminate urinary accidents. RESULTS: The results of the intervention showed that the use of the timer was effective in helping the patient to reduce her urinary leaks from 1.5 diurnal accidents per week to zero during four months. CONCLUSION: UI in patients with dementia seems treatable. Such intervention could contribute to delay institutionalization of patients with dementia through maintaining their autonomy and reducing the burden of caregivers.
