Prevalence and comorbidities of dementia in Israel: A nationally representative cohort study.

Information on the prevalence of dementia is rare in the Middle East, including dementia comorbidities with diabetes, ischemic heart disease (IHD), diabetes, and severe mental illnesses (SMI). This study aims to examine the 1-year prevalence of dementia and the aforementioned comorbidities in a representative national Israeli cohort aged 60 and above. The study design was a nationally representative cohort. The source sample comprised 122,829 persons aged 60 and above in 2015. The dementia group consisted of 8,153 patients (6.6%). The rate of dementia approximately doubled for every 5 years of maturation to the age of 84, and dropped thereafter. Dementia was significantly (P < 0.0001) more likely among women (N = 4,899, 7.4%) than men (N = 3,254, 5.7%). Based on multivariate logistic regression models, the group with dementia compared with the group without dementia had statistically significant (P < 0.001) lower odds of diabetes (OR = 0.78) and IHD (OR = 0.87), and significantly higher odds of SMI (OR = 4.96), accounting for age and gender. The prevalence of dementia delineated by age and gender in Israel resembles those found in other developed nations. Generally, dementia was associated with more SMI and less IHD and diabetes.

Mental health medication and service utilisation before, during and after war: a nested case-control study of exposed and non-exposed general population, 'at risk', and severely mentally ill cohorts.

AIMS: To examine changes in service utilisation before, during and after the 2006 Lebanon War - a 34-day military conflict in northern Israel and Lebanon - among three groups: general population, people 'at risk' for depression or anxiety and severely mentally ill individuals. Given that exposure to traumatic events is a pathogenic factor known to cause and exacerbate psychiatric distress and disorder, we hypothesised that healthcare service utilisation would increase in populations exposed to war, especially among more vulnerable populations such as those with mental illness. METHOD: A nested case-control design was used to examine changes in health care utilisation and use of psychiatric medication as recorded by the databases of Maccabi Healthcare Services (MHS), one of Israel's largest health maintenance organisations (HMOs). Purchases of benzodiazepines, antidepressants and antipsychotic medications were identified from all the medications purchased in pharmacies by MHS members during 2006. Drug consumption data were expressed as defined daily doses (DDDs), summing all DDDs per person per month. Similarly, number of visits to general practitioners (GPs), psychiatrists and Emergency Rooms (ERs) were summed per person per month. Three-way repeated measures ANOVA was used, including the variables time (12 months), region (north/other) and study group. RESULTS: During the war there was a decline in GP visits among people from the general population and people 'at risk' for depression/anxiety who resided in northern Israel that was not paralleled among controls. Similarly, in all three study groups, there was a decline in the number of psychiatrist visits during the war among people from northern Israel which did not occur to the same extent in the control group. There were no changes in ER visits or use of psychiatric medication that could be attributed to the war. CONCLUSIONS: There is less utilisation of community services at times of war among exposed populations, and there is neither evident compensation in use of emergency services, nor any compensation after the war. This may suggest that if there is an efficient medical and mental health infrastructure, people with or without psychiatric risk factors can tolerate a few weeks of a mass stress event, with no need to expand medical service utilisation. However, service utilisation at times of war may be confounded by other variables and may not serve as a direct measure of increased stress.

Initial severity and efficacy of risperidone in autism: Results from the RUPP trial.

BACKGROUND: Risperidone is a common psychopharmacological treatment for irritability in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It is not well-established how effective risperidone is across the initial symptom severity range. This study aims to examine the influence of baseline severity on the efficacy of risperidone in the treatment of ASD. METHODS: Participants were from the NIMH funded RUPP multisite, randomized, double-blind trial that compared risperidone to placebo to treat autistic disorder with severe tantrums, aggression, or self-injury. Participants were aged 5 to 17, and randomly assigned to risperidone (n=49) or placebo (n=52). Baseline and change scores were computed with the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) parent assessed scales with irritability as the primary outcome, as well as the clinician assessed ABC Irritability subscale, and Clinical Global Impression Scale. RESULTS: The relationship between baseline severity and change scores for the risperdone and placebo groups was examined with eight competing three-level mixed-effects models for repeated measure models. Significant (P<0.01) interactions between treatment and baseline severity were observed for parent ABC ratings of irritability and lethargy only. Greater magnitudes of the differences between risperidone and placebo were observed from moderate to very severe baseline severity on irritability and lethargy. Initial severity values over approximately 30 had a strong effect on symptom change [irritability: effect size (ES)=1.9, number needed to treat (NNT)=2, lethargy ES=0.9, NNT=5]. CONCLUSIONS: Parents may expect benefits of risperidone on irritability and lethargy with moderate to severe symptoms of ASD. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Registry name: ClinicalTrials.gov, trial identifier: NCT00005014, URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00005014?term=NCT00005014&rank=1, registered on March 31, 2000.

Intermittent, luteal phase nefazodone treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder.

Three outpatients who fulfilled full DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PDD) were successfully treated with intermittent (luteal phase) nefazodone. They received the medication at low doses of up to 100 mg/day (50 mg b.i.d.), for 2 weeks through the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle only. All the patients reported a marked symptomatic improvement, including full remission of their emotional symptoms, and two achieved in addition full remission of their somatic symptoms. Side-effects reported during the treatment were mild. The use of luteal phase nefazodone seems to be a promising treatment strategy for the management of PDD. It offers advantages over daily dosing throughout the menstrual cycle, such as reduced incidence and severity of side-effects, and avoids the stigma that may accompany the continuous use of psychopharmacological treatment, with the advantage that compliance may be improved.

Dose-dependent olanzapine-associated leukopenia: three case reports.

Leukopenia and agranulocytosis are well reported and dangerous haematological side-effects associated with the use of typical and atypical antipsychotics. These potentially life-threatening phenomena have led to treatment discontinuation and the consequent reemergence of psychiatric symptoms. We report three cases of patients who developed leukopenia during olanzapine treatment. In each case, the leukopenia was dose-dependent. Reduction in the dose of olanzapine was followed by normalization of the white blood count which allowed continuation of the medication. These cases suggest the possibility that, in some patients, leukopenia or agranulocytosis during olanzapine treatment might be dose-related. Thus, olanzapine dose reduction may permit treatment continuation where this is clinically indicated. In our cases, haematological side-effects were satisfactorily controlled by dose reduction without allowing the reemergence of psychiatric symptoms. This clinical management may offer an alternative to treatment suspension. A careful monitoring of the white blood count is obviously recommended. Olanzapine may be considered a potential and safer treatment for a this specific group of patients.

Experience of Ombudsman at Lev Hasharon Mental Health Center.

This article describes the first Israeli experience of using an ombudsman in a psychiatric hospital (Lev Hasharon Mental Health Center, Pardesia). The Internal Ombudsman model was used. During a two-year period from 1997 to 1999, out of a total of 1,881 hospitalizations, a total of 71 complaints were received from 68 patients. Analysis of the appeals revealed that the following groups were over-represented: 1. Jewish patients; 2. Male patients; 3. Involuntary admissions. Arising out of our experience we would encourage the implementation of the Ombudsman in psychiatric hospitals.

LSD-induced Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder treated with clonazepam: two case reports.

Benzodiazepines are recommended for the treatment of Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder (HPPD), although it is unclear which may be more helpful. Two out-patients with LSD-induced HPPD were successfully treated with clonazepam. They had not responded to low potency benzodiazepines or low doses of classic antipsychotics. After clonazepam discontinuation they reported a marked improvement and only mild symptomatology which persisted during a six month follow-up period. High potency benzodiazepines like clonazepam, which has serotonergic properties, may be superior to low-potency benzodiazepines in the treatment of some patients with LSD-induced HPPD.