Sleep Disturbances and Behavioral Disturbances in Children and Adolescents.

Sleep deprivation and sleep disorders are commonly seen in children and adolescents. They are often undiagnosed and undertreated. A balance of circadian rhythm and homeostatic drive determine sleep quality, quantity, and timing, which changes across the developmental years. Environmental and lifestyle factors can affect sleep quality and quantity and lead to sleep deprivation. A comprehensive assessment of sleep disorders includes parental report, children's self-report, and school functioning. Diagnostic tools are used in diagnosing and treating sleep disorders.

Late-life onset bipolar disorder presenting as a case of pseudo-dementia: a case discussion and review of literature.

Depression and comorbid cognitive impairment in the elderly can be difficult to distinguish from dementia. Adding to the complex differential is that depression may be part of a bipolar illness rather than a unipolar mood disorder. A diligent workup and close monitoring of patients can inform appropriate treatment and can make the difference between recovery and persistence of symptoms. The present case will illustrate how a comprehensive workup utilizing extensive data gathering, laboratory workup, use of neuropsychological testing, neuroimaging, and timely treatment can lead to successful clinical outcomes that can be sustained for many years.

An open-label study of guanfacine extended release for traumatic stress related symptoms in children and adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this open-label pilot study was to investigate the effectiveness and tolerability of guanfacine extended release (GXR) 1-4 mg given in the evening, on the symptoms of traumatic stress (reexperiencing, avoidance, overarousal), generalized anxiety, and functional impairment in children and adolescents with a history of traumatic stress with or without posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). As many of our sample had associated attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms, we also assessed whether the presence of traumatic stress symptoms impaired the effectiveness of GXR in the treatment of comorbid ADHD symptoms. METHODS: Participants were 19 children and adolescents 6-18 years of age, with current traumatic stress symptoms. In an 8 week open-label design, each patient's scores on parent-, child-, and clinician-reported symptom rating scales assessing traumatic stress symptoms, generalized anxiety, ADHD symptoms, functional impairment, and global symptom severity and improvement (n=17) were evaluated off and on GXR using χ(2) goodness-of-fit tests, paired t tests, and repeated measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs). To examine patterns of change in outcome measures across treatment, MPlus software was used to conduct linear growth curves modeled with individual-varying times of observation (i.e., random slopes). RESULTS: Using an average GXR daily dose of 1.19 mg±0.35 mg and an average weight-adjusted daily dose of 0.03 mg/kg±0.01 mg/kg, significant differences were found on all symptom severity measures. Parent reported UCLA Reaction Index scores assessing cluster B (reexperiencing), C (avoidant), and D (overarousal) symptoms significantly improved. In the presence of PTSD symptoms, children with ADHD experienced significantly improved ADHD symptom scores, suggesting that comorbidity does not attenuate an ADHD symptom response to GXR therapy. Medication was generally well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Within the limits of an open-label, hypothesis-generating pilot study, our results suggest that the α2A-adrenoceptor agonist GXR may have therapeutic effects in the treatment of PTSD symptoms in traumatically stressed children and adolescents. The effective dose may be lower than that found for ADHD. Our pilot study supports the need for further controlled research on the effects of GXR and other α2A-adrenoceptor agonists in pediatric disorders of traumatic stress.

Systematic review of the efficacy of meditation techniques as treatments for medical illness.

BACKGROUND: Meditative techniques are sought frequently by patients coping with medical and psychological problems. Because of their increasingly widespread appeal and use, and the potential for use as medical therapies, a concise and thorough review of the current state of scientific knowledge of these practices as medical interventions was conducted. PURPOSE: To systematically review the evidence supporting efficacy and safety of meditative practices in treating illnesses, and examine areas warranting further study. Studies on normal healthy populations are not included. METHODS: Searches were performed using PubMed, PsycInfo, and the Cochrane Database. Keywords were Meditation, Meditative Prayer, Yoga, Relaxation Response. Qualifying studies were reviewed and independently rated based on quality by two reviewers. Mid-to-high-quality studies (those scoring above 0.65 or 65% on a validated research quality scale) were included. RESULTS: From a total of 82 identified studies, 20 randomized controlled trials met our criteria. The studies included 958 subjects total (397 experimentally treated, 561 controls). No serious adverse events were reported in any of the included or excluded clinical trials. Serious adverse events are reported in the medical literature, though rare. The strongest evidence for efficacy was found for epilepsy, symptoms of the premenstrual syndrome and menopausal symptoms. Benefit was also demonstrated for mood and anxiety disorders, autoimmune illness, and emotional disturbance in neoplastic disease. CONCLUSIONS: The results support the safety and potential efficacy of meditative practices for treating certain illnesses, particularly in nonpsychotic mood and anxiety disorders. Clear and reproducible evidence supporting efficacy from large, methodologically sound studies is lacking.

Evaluation of plasma ammonia levels in patients with acute liver failure and chronic liver disease and its correlation with the severity of hepatic encephalopathy and clinical features of raised intracranial tension.

OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to (a) evaluate and compare plasma ammonia levels (PAL) in patients with acute liver failure (ALF) and chronic liver disease (CLD) with or without hepatic encephalopathy (HE); (b) correlate the severity of HE with PAL; and (c) correlate PAL with clinical features of raised intracranial tension in ALF. DESIGN AND METHODS: A total of 40 patients, comprised of 20 patients with ALF (Group A) and 20 patients with CLD (Group B, which was comprised of 8 patients with HE (subgroup B1) and 12 patients without HE (subgroup B2)), were studied. PAL was estimated using an enzymatic UV-method (RANDOX). The clinical and biochemical profile of all the patients was recorded. Correlation between the grade of HE and PAL was derived using Pearson's correlation coefficient. The mean PAL of ALF patients with and without raised intracranial tension was compared using the standard error of difference between the two means. RESULTS: The mean PAL (micromol/L) +/- SD was as follows: Group A: 172.1 +/- 52.55, subgroup B1: 58.75 +/- 29.38, subgroup B2: 42.17 +/- 18.19 (normal levels = 10-47 micromol/L). All patients with ALF showed PAL more than the upper limit of the normal range, and there was good correlation between the severity of HE and PAL [r = 0.91 at P < 0.05]. In subgroup B1 (CLD with HE), 3/8 patients (37.5%), and in subgroup B2 (CLD with HE), 4/12 patients (33.3%) patients had PAL more than the upper limit of normal range. Within Group A, 14 patients had clinical features of raised intracranial tension/cerebral edema, and the mean PAL of these patients (188.21 +/- 49.15 micromol/L) was significantly higher than those who did not have features of raised intracranial tension (134.5 +/- 42.36 micromol/L) (SE of difference between two means). CONCLUSIONS: Raised PAL appears to be an important laboratory abnormality seen in patients with ALF, and there seems to be a significant correlation between the severity of encephalopathy and PAL in these patients. However, among patients with CLD, the proportion of patients with PAL more than the upper limit of normal range is not significantly different between those with or without HE. Our study also suggests that high PAL in ALF patients appears to correlate with clinical features of cerebral edema and raised intracranial tension.