Impact of Magnesium and Ferritin Deficiency on Depression Among Adolescent Students.

BACKGROUND: Depression is considered the fourth-leading cause of health problems. It is the fourth-leading cause of health problems and disability, which causes 16% of the worldwide burden of disease and injury among adolescents. OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the possible association of magnesium (Mg) and ferritin deficiency with depression in adolescent students. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This case control study in secondary schools at Al-Ghanayem discrete. The total number included was 358 students. All were screened for depression by the Arabic version of the Beck questionnaire. The students who had positive score was selected as cases 86 and a matched same number of students with negative score was selected as controls. Serum level of ferritin and magnesium was measured in the 2 groups. RESULTS: There was statistically significant difference between the studied groups when comparing depression grade with each of ferritin and Mg Depressed group cases had lower mean values of ferritin and Mg. The ferritin cut-off level for the prediction of depression was (35.5 µg/dL, which had a sensitivity of 74.4% and a specificity of 75.6%. The magnesium cut-off levels for the prediction of depression were1.95 mg/dL and 104.5 ng/dL which had a sensitivity of 70% and 64%, respectively. CONCLUSION: There was a statistically significant negative correlation between depression severity and each of socio-economic status ferritin and Mg. Each of ferritin and Mg were predictors for depression.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in the treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorders: Double blind randomized clinical trial.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has become widely used as a therapeutic tool in psychiatric research. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different frequencies of rTMS over right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) in OCD. Forty five patients with OCD participated in the study. Patients were evaluated using: Yale-Brown obsessive compulsive scale (Y-BOCS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Clinical Global Impression-Severity scale (CGI-S). They were randomly classified into three groups: 1st group received 1Hz rTMS; 2nd group received 10Hz rTMS; and 3rd group received sham stimulation all at 100% of the resting motor threshold for 10 sessions. They were followed up after the last treatment session and 3 months later. There was a significant "time"×"group" interaction for 1Hz versus Sham but not for 10Hz versus Sham. 1Hz versus 10Hz groups showed a significant interaction for Y-BOCS and HAM-A (P=0.001 and 0.0001 respectively). 1Hz rTMS has a greater clinical benefit than 10Hz or Sham. There was also a significantly larger percentage change in GCI-S in the 1Hz group versus either 10Hz or sham. We conclude that 1Hz-rTMS, targeting right DLPFC is a promising tool for treatment of OCD.

Motor cortical excitability in obsessive-compulsive disorder: Transcranial magnetic stimulation study.

OBJECTIVES: Transcranial magnetic stimulation is a non-invasive method of stimulating the brain that is increasingly being used in neuropsychiatric research. Previous work has suggested that the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) may involve dysfunction of excitatory and/or inhibitory brain function. This study aimed to extend those findings. METHODS: The study included 45 OCD patients and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Clinical evaluation was conducted using the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), and Clinical Global Impression rating scale (CGI). Physiological measures were resting and active motor thresholds (RMT and AMT), motor evoked potential (MEP) amplitude, cortical silent period (CSP) and transcallosal inhibition (TCI) durations, short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), and intracortical facilitation. RESULTS: RMT and AMT were significantly lower in patients than in the control group. The mean duration of the CSP and TCI were also significantly shorter. Obsessive trait was associated with significant reduction of TCI duration compared to compulsive trait. There was significant reduction in SICI in OCD patients compared to controls. There were no significant correlations between the Y-BOCS, HAM-A and CGI scores and the cortical excitability parameters. CONCLUSION: These results provide further evidence for inhibitory deficits or increased facilitation in cortical circuits of patients with OCD.

A double-blind randomized clinical trial on the efficacy of magnetic sacral root stimulation for the treatment of Monosymptomatic Nocturnal Enuresis.

PURPOSE: Purpose of this study was to evaluate the long term efficacy of repetitive sacral root magnetic stimulation (rSMS) in patients with monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (MNE). METHODS: Forty four patients were randomized to receive either sham or real repetitive sacral root magnetic stimulation (rSMS; 15 Hz with a total of 1500 pulses/session) for 10 sessions. Evaluation was performed before starting treatment, immediately after the 5th and 10th treatment session, and 1 month later, using frequency of enuresis/week, visual analogue scale (VAS) and quality of life as outcome measures. Resting and active motor thresholds of gastrocnemius muscles were measured before and after the end of sessions. RESULTS: Both treatment and control groups were comparable for baseline measures of frequency of enuresis, and VAS. The mean number of wet nights/week was significantly reduced in patients who received real rSMS. This improvement was maintained 1 month after the end of treatment. Patients receiving real-rSMS also reported an improvement in VAS ratings and quality of life. A significant reduction of resting motor threshold was recorded after rSMS in the real group while no such changes were observed in the sham group. CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that rSMS has potential as an adjuvant treatment for MNE and deserves further study.