Dear colleagues,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you to the third issue of 2012.
In our first article Klünemann et al. provide a review on inborn errors of metabolism with a focus on the Niemann-Pick disease type C (NP-C). It emerged that the disease may remain unrecognized for many years due to a heterogeneous and subtle clinical presentation and that miglustat is the only approved treatment for NP-C.
Adler and colleagues investigated affective symptoms and pharmacological treatment in bipolar I disorder patients. Based on self-ratings of the patients, the authors concluded that clinicians should use patient self-ratings in order to identify patients with a high risk for hospitalization for targeted interventions.
Ouyang et al. evaluated the efficacy and safety of combining risperidone and haloperidol with divalproate in patients with acute mania. Risperidone plus divalproate proved to be more efficacious than haloperidol plus divalproate and was well tolerated due to its rapid anti-manic action and sustained control of manic and psychotic symptoms.
Perroud and colleagues examined changes in mindfulness skills in borderline personality disorder patients during dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). Their results suggest that the Kentucky Inventory of Mindfulness Skills (KIMS) is a useful tool to measure mindfulness. However, due to a lack of specific control groups, their findings should be considered with caution.
Jahangard et al. explored the effect on both emotional intelligence (EI) and depression in patients with borderline personality disorder and depression. They concluded that training patients in EI has a favorable impact on depressive symptoms and improves EI.
Aoki and colleagues addressed the question of whether animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is useful for promoting recovery in patients with mood disorders. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to examine cerebral activity during AAT. Their results suggest that AAT may cause biological and physiological changes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and be useful for inducing activity in the PFC in depressed patients.
Boricevic Marsanic et al. sought to determine the prevalence and patterns of antidepressant prescription in children and adolescents in Croatia. It emerged that there were a lower prevalence and a higher off-label rate of antidepressant prescriptions to young patients in Croatia than in other European countries and the United States.
Turkyilmaz and colleagues assessed the prevalence of adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in relatives of patients with bipolar disorder. Their findings indicate that relatives of bipolar patients have a risk of suffering ADHD.
Okur and colleagues investigated the relationship between monosymptomatic nocturnal enuresis (MNE) and adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. They concluded that the prevalence of ADHD is higher in children with MNE compared to normal population. As ADHD may also negatively affect the treatment of enuresis, children should be examined in terms of attention deficit.
Niederhofer and van Klitzing report the findings of bright light treatment for adolescents with non-seasonal depression. It emerged that antidepressant response to bright light therapy was statistically superior to that of placebo.
Last but not least, Bauer and colleagues explored associations between suicidal behavior in psychiatric inpatients and caregiver information. They concluded that no significant associations of caregiver involvement and inpatient suicides/attempted suicides were detected. However, further studies are needed to assess the influence of caregivers on suicide behavior of psychiatric patients.
Yours sincerely,