Conceptualizing problematic use of medicinal Cannabis: Development and preliminary validation of a brief screening questionnaire.

The use of Medicinal Cannabis (MC) for treating chronic pain is increasing, globally, yet the definition of problematic MC use remains unclear. Defining problematic use of cannabis in medical and non-medical contexts may be fundamentally different since individuals prescribed MC often experience physical dependence, which do not necessarily imply pathology. We aimed to conceptualize problematic use of MC and develop a brief questionnaire for identifying and quantifying problematic MC use.

Negative experiences of patients using medicinal cannabis: A systematic review of qualitative studies.

Aims And Objectives: In this study, we systematically reviewed qualitative studies concerning patients' experience with medicinal cannabis (MC) use, to gain insight into the negative effects of MC.

Background: Over the past decades, the use of MC for therapeutic purposes has increased. However, there is conflicting and insufficient data on possible negative physiological and psychological effects of MC treatment.

Posttraumatic stress disorder, sleep and medical cannabis treatment: A daily diary study.

Despite increasing use of Medical Cannabis (MC) among posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) patients, research is lacking on how MC treatment relates to PTSD symptomatology, in particular sleep disturbances. This study examines the time gap between MC use and sleep onset and its association with (1) number of awakenings throughout the night, (2) early awakenings, (3) nightmares. Each morning over a two week period, 77 licensed MC patients suffering from PTSD reported on the timing of previous night MC use and sleep disturbances.

Medical cannabis and stigma: A qualitative study with patients living with chronic pain.

Aims And Objectives: To explore the ways in which stigma is experienced, and what strategies are used to manage stigma among patients using medical cannabis to ease suffering from chronic pain.

Background: Various jurisdictions have legalised medical cannabis in recent decades. Despite increasing prevalence and more liberal attitudes towards medical cannabis, it is possible that patients who use medical cannabis experience stigma.

Cognitive Impairments in Abstinent Male Residents of a Therapeutic Community for Substance-Use Disorders: A Five-Year Retrospective Study.

Background And Objectives: Prior studies of residual cognitive deficits in abstinent substance-use disorder (SUD) patients, exhibited conflicting reports and a substantial patient selection bias. The aim of this study was to test the cognitive function of a sample of chronic abstinent SUD patients in a therapeutic-community.

Methods: The IntegNeuro cognitive test battery was used for a retrospective cross-sectional study of cognitive functioning of an unselected sample (n = 105) of abstinent male residents of a therapeutic-community.

Ketamine and other glutamate receptor modulators for depression in bipolar disorder in adults.

Background: There is emerging evidence that glutamatergic system dysfunction might play an important role in the pathophysiology of bipolar depression. This review focuses on the use of glutamate receptor modulators for depression in bipolar disorder.

Objectives: 1.

Ketamine and other glutamate receptor modulators for depression in adults.

Background: Considering the ample evidence of involvement of the glutamate system in the pathophysiology of depression, pre-clinical and clinical studies have been conducted to assess the antidepressant efficacy of glutamate inhibition, and glutamate receptor modulators in particular. This review focuses on the use of glutamate receptor modulators in unipolar depression.

Objectives: To assess the effects - and review the acceptability - of ketamine and other glutamate receptor modulators in comparison to placebo (or saline placebo), other pharmacologically active agents, or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in alleviating the acute symptoms of depression in people with unipolar major depressive disorder.

Effects of long-term valproic acid treatment on hematological and biochemical parameters in adolescent psychiatric inpatients: a retrospective naturalistic study.

The objective of this study was to determine the long-term hematological and biochemical side effects of valproic acid (VPA) in psychiatric adolescent inpatients. A retrospective naturalistic study design was used. Participants were psychiatric inpatients treated with VPA, alone or in combination with other medications.

Risk factors for weight gain and metabolic syndrome in adolescents with psychiatric disorders: a historical prospective study.

Objective: Adolescents with mental disorders are at increased risk for being overweight or obese, and subsequently developing metabolic syndrome. However, data regarding risk factors for weight gain during psychiatric hospitalization of adolescents are limited and inconsistent. The aim of this study was to investigate the sociodemographic, clinical, and pharmacological risk factors for weight gain during psychiatric treatment, in order to improve prevention of subsequent metabolic syndrome.

Effects of the anti-multiple sclerosis immunomodulator laquinimod on anxiety and depression in rodent behavioral models.

Laquinimod is a novel oral immunomodulatory drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS). Considering the frequent co-morbidity of MS with anxiety and depression, we sought to assess the antidepressant and anxiolytic effects of laquinimod in mouse models. Laquinimod (0.

Antidepressant treatment for acute bipolar depression: an update.

While studies in the past have focused more on treatment of the manic phase of bipolar disorder (BD), recent findings demonstrate the depressive phase to be at least as debilitating. However, in contrast to unipolar depression, depression in bipolar patients exhibits a varying response to antidepressants, raising questions regarding their efficacy and tolerability. Methods.

Unilateral presentation of postpartum cardiomyopathy misdiagnosed as pneumonia.

A 34-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with severe dyspnoea 10 days following a normal-course caesarean delivery. She had been experiencing shortness of breath throughout the third trimester of pregnancy accompanied by tachycardia (110 bpm); however, her evaluation did not include ECG or chest radiography to elucidate the cause. Following delivery, chest radiography was performed demonstrating predominantly unilateral findings interpreted as pneumonia.

Proapoptotic and chemosensitizing effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors on T cell lymphoma/leukemia (Jurkat) in vitro.

While selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly used for psychiatric indications, evidence implies them to possess anti-cancerous properties as well. We evaluated such in vitro effects in malignant T cells (Jurkat), finding that exposure to high concentrations of sertraline (IC(50)=9.5 microM) or paroxetine (IC(50)=18 microM) yielded a considerable reduction in cellular viability, exceeding equimolar doses of the chemotherapeutics vincristine and cyclophosphamide (P<0.