Recurrent unipolar mania in a psychiatric hospital setting in the Fiji Islands

This study aimed to determine the rate of unipolar mania and compare its characteristics with those of other bipolar affective disorders in a psychiatric hospital in the Fiji Islands. Fifty-one patients with unipolar mania seen between January 1999 and October 2000, had their diagnosis confirmed using the Schedules for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry and the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition. Their demographic and clinical characteristics were compared with those of 31 manic-depressive patients seen during the period under review. Unipolar mania constituted 47.2% of the bipolar affective disorders in this sample. The frequency of episodes, duration of affective illness, mean age at onset, gender distribution, marital status, employment status and race were not significantly different for the unipolar manic and manic-depressive groups (p > 0.05). Family history of major psychiatric morbidity was 9.8% for the unipolar manic patients and 22.6% for the manic-depressive group (p > 0.05). Recurrent unipolar mania may be considered a useful category based on its high rate, although its demographic and clinical characteristics do not clearly distinguish it from manic-depression

Attempted suicide by drug overdose and by poison-ingestion methods seen at the main general hospital in the Fiji islands: a comparative study

Objective: This study examined the prevalence and the characteristics of deliberate self-poisoning patients seen at the main general hospital in the Fiji Islands

Specific psychiatric morbidity among patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in a Nigerian general hospital

Objective: The goal of this study was to explore specific psychiatric morbidity among chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients in Nigeria. Method: The mental status of 30 COPD patients was compared with those of 30 uncomplicated hypertensive patients and 30 apparently healthy controls using the 30-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30) and Present State Examination (PSE). The sociodemographic characteristics of the three groups were also compared. Results: The COPD population was significantly least educated and predominantly subsistent fanners. Thirty percent of the COPD population, 13.3% of the hypertensive patients and 3.3% of apparently healthy controls had psychiatric morbidity (P < .05). The COPD population, with psychiatric diagnoses consisted of 16.7% depressive episode, 10% generalized anxiety disorder and 3.3% delirium. This pattern is similar to data from industrialized countries. No sociodemographic factors were significantly associated with psychiatric morbidity. Conclusion: Improving the psychiatric knowledge of the primary physician will result in better management of the COPD patient. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved

Schizophrenia risk conferred by rare protein-truncating variants is conserved across diverse human populations

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic mental illness and among the most debilitating conditions encountered in medical practice. A recent landmark SCZ study of the protein-coding regions of the genome identified a causal role for ten genes and a concentration of rare variant signals in evolutionarily constrained genes1. This recent study—and most other large-scale human genetics studies—was mainly composed of individuals of European (EUR) ancestry, and the generalizability of the findings in non-EUR populations remains unclear. To address this gap, we designed a custom sequencing panel of 161 genes selected based on the current knowledge of SCZ genetics and sequenced a new cohort of 11,580 SCZ cases and 10,555 controls of diverse ancestries. Replicating earlier work, we found that cases carried a significantly higher burden of rare protein-truncating variants (PTVs) among evolutionarily constrained genes (odds ratio = 1.48; P = 5.4 × 10−6). In meta-analyses with existing datasets totaling up to 35,828 cases and 107,877 controls, this excess burden was largely consistent across five ancestral populations. Two genes (SRRM2 and AKAP11) were newly implicated as SCZ risk genes, and one gene (PCLO) was identified as shared by individuals with SCZ and those with autism. Overall, our results lend robust support to the rare allelic spectrum of the genetic architecture of SCZ being conserved across diverse human populations

Schizophrenia risk conferred by rare protein-truncating variants is conserved across diverse human populations

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a chronic mental illness and among the most debilitating conditions encountered in medical practice. A recent landmark SCZ study of the protein-coding regions of the genome identified a causal role for ten genes and a concentration of rare variant signals in evolutionarily constrained genes(1). This recent study-and most other large-scale human genetics studies-was mainly composed of individuals of European (EUR) ancestry, and the generalizability of the findings in non-EUR populations remains unclear. To address this gap, we designed a custom sequencing panel of 161 genes selected based on the current knowledge of SCZ genetics and sequenced a new cohort of 11,580 SCZ cases and 10,555 controls of diverse ancestries. Replicating earlier work, we found that cases carried a significantly higher burden of rare protein-truncating variants (PTVs) among evolutionarily constrained genes (odds ratio = 1.48; P = 5.4 x 10(-6)). In meta-analyses with existing datasets totaling up to 35,828 cases and 107,877 controls, this excess burden was largely consistent across five ancestral populations. Two genes (SRRM2 and AKAP11) were newly implicated as SCZ risk genes, and one gene (PCLO) was identified as shared by individuals with SCZ and those with autism. Overall, our results lend robust support to the rare allelic spectrum of the genetic architecture of SCZ being conserved across diverse human populations.Peer reviewe