Depression and cognitive impairment in the elderly: a multicentre study.

The present study, conducted in collaboration between the Departments of Psychiatry in Swiss Universities and the World Health Organization, had two main goals: to develop assessment methods which could subsequently be used in the Swiss centres in a standard manner; and to make arrangements for continuing collaboration between the centres in Switzerland and the acquisition of new knowledge about the distinctions between depression and cognitive impairment. For this aim, three different groups of elderly patients of either sex were selected during the period of November 1989 to July 1991 for inclusion in the study. The first two groups included the first ten patients of either sex over 60 years of age consecutively contacting the participating institutions and showing depression with or without clinically significant symptoms of cognitive impairment; the control group included patients showing no depression or clinically significant symptoms of cognitive impairment.

Biological study of alcohol dependence syndrome with reference to ethnic difference: report of a WHO Collaborative Study.

Inherited deficiency of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase type I (ALDH-I) was found in 43% (50/117) of normals, 33% (27/82) of schizophrenics, but only 4% (5/113) of alcoholics among Japanese. The ALDH-I deficiency was never found, however, in 146 mostly schizophrenic subjects from Europe (Basel, Moscow, Zagreb), Australia (Nedlands), India (Lucknow), Morocco (Casablanca) and Mexico (Mexico City). It was demonstrated that ALDH-I deficiency produces the flushing syndrome which inhibits the development of drinking habit and alcohol dependence syndrome.

[Treatment of drug-resistant depression by intravenous administration of antidepressants].

The proportion of depressed patients no longer responding adequately to oral antidepressive medication combined with psychotherapy now amounts to as much as 15%. Depressive states failing to lift in response to antidepressants are referred to in Europe as "therapy-resistant". Before initiating some further form of treatment in a case of therapy resistance the diagnosis as well as the antidepressive treatment given hitherto (dosage, activity profile, compliance) should be reappraised.

Dose relationships of morning bright white light in seasonal affective disorders (SAD).

Bright white full spectrum light (greater than 2500 lux) can improve depressive symptomatology in a selected group of patients with recurrent autumn and winter depression. This crossover study demonstrates that 0.5-h morning white light is not an effective treatment, whereas 2-h is.

Light treatment of seasonal affective disorder in Switzerland.

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) has been characterised by two or more depressive episodes in autumn or winter (with remission the following spring or summer), decreased energy, increased sleep, increased appetite, weight gain and carbohydrate craving. SAD patients were identified in a Swiss-German population; 22 participated in a light-therapy protocol (1 week bright white light 2,500 lux or dim yellow light 250 lux, from 06-08 h and 18-20 h). Both observer and self-ratings indicated a significant diminution of depressive symptoms with both lights.

Treatment for therapy-resistant depression.

Thanks to progress in the diagnosis and treatment of depression it is now possible for most cases to be treated on an out-patient basis. Only 15-20% of patients require hospitalisation, most of them because their depression has proved resistant to therapy. To overcome therapy-resistance, the following methods of treatment are available: In therapy-resistant endogenous and psychogenic depressions, mono-infusion therapy is the treatment of choice; it can also be administered on an out-patient basis.

[Multifactorial treatment of depression].

According to the results of all recent epidemiological enquiries, the number of cases of depression diagnosed is steadily increasing, especially in urban communities. Parallel with this increase, there has been a clear tendency for the symptomatology of depression to change in the direction of somatization. Essential prerequisites for the success of treatment of depression are not only a carefully established diagnosis but - ordinarily - also combination of the psycho-, pharmaco-, socio- and physiotherapy.

[Treatment of therapy-resistant depressions. Results of combined infusion treatment].

230 patients with therapy-resistant depression were given intravenous drip infusion treatment with clomipramine (a predominantly serotonin-uptake inhibitor) and maprotiline (a predominantly noradrenaline-uptake inhibitor), preceded by a five-day tranquilizing regimen with a neuroleptic drug. During the treatment period of 10-20 days the patients were given one infusion daily, while later both antidepressants were taken orally. The neuroleptic drug was given at night from the start of the infusion phase to the end of hospitalization.

Changes in EEG, blood levels, mood scales and performance scores during long term treatment with diazepam, phenobarbital or placebo in patients.

1. The patient population consisting of fifteen patients was divided into three groups, namely: diazepam group, phenobarbital group and placebo group. After three weeks the medicated groups were switched to placebo for a week and the placebo group was given phenobarbital.

Driving ability of depressive patients under antidepressants.

A group of twenty depressive patients was compared during a 3-4 month course of antidepressant therapy (Maprotiline: n = 6, age = 46.1; dibenzepin: n = 4, age = 43.0; lithium: n = 6, age = 44.

[The effect of bromazepam on fitness to drive (author's transl)].

On 3 days (1, 8, 15) the acute (on day 1) and subacute (days 8 und 15) effects of bromazepam (Lexotanil) on variables of driving ability were studied in 55 young male medical students, randomly divided into 3 groups (placebo, 1.5 mg, 3.0 mg).

[Management of treatment-resistant depression without ECT (author's transl)].

Intravenous infusions of clomipramine and maprotiline, preceded by a five-day tranquilising regimen with a neuroleptic drug, were given to 177 patients with treatment-resistant depression. During the treatment period of 10-20 days the patients were given one infusion daily followed by both antidepressants taken orally. The neuroleptic drug was given at night, from the start of the infusion phase to the end of hospitalisation.

Alcohol-induced biphasic background and stimulus-elicited EEG changes in relation to blood alcohol levels.

The effects of 0.8 g alcohol kg-1 on CNS processes as reflected in EEG changes were studied in controlled experiments in 14 subjects in relation to BAC levels. A Two Period Change-Over Design with repeated trials over time allowed us to ascertain the time course and to isolate alcohol-induced changes from diurnal variations and effects of sequence and period.

How capable of driving are hospitalized psychiatric patients under psycho-active drug therapy?

In an open investigation design two patient groups, under neuroleptics (n=30) and under antidepressants (n=31), were examined three times, the third time under steady-state conditions. A matched control group (n=32) provided the normative values. Various variables, thought to be psychologically relevant in traffic situations were measured on two test apparatus (tracking and complex reaction time).

A collaborative study of genetic linkage of bipolar manic-depressive illness and red/green colorblindness. A project of the biological psychiatry collaborative program of the world health organization.

A study of linkage of bipolar manic-depressive illness to the protan/deutan colorblindness region of the X-chromosome was performed on 16 informative families, in a WHO collaborative study (eight families from Brussels, Six from Bethesda, one each from Basel and Copenhagen). Overall, the series did not support close linkage, but is possibly suggestive of loose linkage. The possibility of genetic heterogeneity of bipolar manic-depressive illness, with one form linked to colorblindness, is considered.

Antithymic immune factor in schizophrenia. A World Health Organization study.

Six WHO Collaborating Centre took part in the study of the antithymic activity of blood sera of patients suffering from schizophrenia. Blood serum specimens from 118 schizophrenic patients and 62 mentally healthy donors were investigated. Statistically significant differences between schizophrenic patients and the controls were found (p < 0.