A comparison of clinical characteristics of older adults treated with antidepressants in general and psychiatric hospitals in Asia.

Aim: This study compared the demographics, clinical characteristics, and antidepressant prescription patterns between Asian patients aged 50 years and older attending psychiatric hospitals and those attending general hospitals.

Methods: In total, 955 patients (604 in general hospitals, 351 in psychiatric hospitals) aged 50 years or older treated with antidepressants in 10 Asian countries and territories were examined. Patients' demographics, clinical features, and prescriptions of psychotropic drugs were recorded using a standardized protocol and data collection procedure.

Comparison of quality of life in homeless and non-homeless Chinese patients with psychiatric disorders.

To date, there are no data on quality of life (QOL) and its correlates in homeless Chinese patients with psychiatric disorders. This study aimed to compare QOL between homeless and non-homeless patients with psychiatric disorders in China. A total of 278 homeless and 222 non-homeless patients matched in age and gender were consecutively recruited.

Beneficial effect of phosphatidylcholine supplementation in alleviation of hypomania and insomnia in a Chinese bipolar hypomanic boy and a possible explanation to the effect at the genetic level.

Introduction: Recent studies indicated that supplementation of phosphatidylcholine has been found to be beneficial for psychiatric diseases and Diacylglycerol Kinase, Eta (DGKH) protein was involved in regulating the metabolism of phosphatidic acid and diacylglycerol. This study reported a case of a 16-year-old Chinese boy with bipolar hypomania symptoms receiving supplementation of phosphatidylcholine, and a genetic study of a risk variant of DGKH gene was performed in an attempt to provide an explanation for the potential beneficial effect of phosphatidylcholine supplementation.

Case Description: We described a case of a 16-year-old boy with bipolar disorder, who suffered from monthly episodes of insomnia accompanied by hypomania for 5 months despite adherence to medication.