Fentanyl: New Wave, New Age, New Addiction?

This paper aims to take over the rampant phenomenon of the illicit use/abuse for volutary purposes of fentanyl. This synthetic drug is normally used as a potent anaesthetic and analgesic molecule. Unfortunately, in recent decades, this substance has conquered and seduced millions of people in the 'westernised' world, claiming numerous victims, especially young people.

Adolescents and the Consequences of COVID-19.

In the pandemic period due to the strong restrictions made necessary to deal with the spread of the Sars COVID-19 Virus, adolescents were the subjects who, most of all, suffered from isolation and lack of sociality, due to social distancing. It was necessary to change their habits, their lifestyles, the way they live social relationships and relate to others. Furthermore, those of them who were facing health difficulties at the time were faced with the impossibility of the services to guarantee safety conditions, so that in most cases many medical, psychiatric and psychological activities were suspended, with hospitalizations postponed to a date to be defined, appointments canceled with a high risk of losing contact with the patient.

Eating Disorders and Psychiatric Comorbidity.

Psychiatric comorbidity is present in more than 70% of people with an Eating Disorders (ED), before or during the acute state of illness or in the long-term course. These comorbidities include personality disorders (>53%), anxiety disorders (>50%), mood disorders (>40%) and substance abuse (>10%). This work aims to analyse the different treatments available for patients affected by eating disorders and other psychiatric comorbidity.

Gender Dysphoria and DNA.

Gender dysphoria (GD) describes individuals for whom the native sex and expressed gender are not coincident and most of them self-identify as transgender women or men. It has been shown that genetic factors play an important role in GD and the presence of specific genetic variants in candidate genes could be correlated. On the other hand, twins studies have estimated its heritability.

Eating and Nutrition Disorders: Intra and Post-Lockdown Pandemic Emergencies.

Eating Disorders (ED), currently specified as Eating and Nutrition Disorders (DAN), have impacted their morbidity since the last years of the last century, afflicting large segments of the population, predominantly youth, in the westernized "hemisphere." In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted and negatively influenced eating behaviors in both the general population and DAN sufferers. In agreement with many authors, distancing and social isolation have produced eating disconducts or aggravated symptoms in patients undergoing treatment.

Genetics As a Key to Understand Mood Disorders.

Mood disorders are mental health class that health professionals use to broadly describe all types of depression and bipolar disorders. Heritability of both bipolar and depressive disorder is in the range of 50%, which means that genes alone are not sufficient to explain all the cases of mood disorders, but they confer a substantial risk which is combined with environmental stressors to determine the final illness. In the recent years, a number of studies considered the idea to develop a strategic plan to employ the tools of genetics to advance the understanding, treatment, and outcomes for mood disorders.

New Therapeutic Strategies for Eating Disorders and Obesity Treatment.

Eating disorders are disabling, deadly, and costly mental disorders that considerably impair physical health and disrupt psychosocial functioning. Disturbed attitudes towards weight, body shape, and eating play a key role in the origin and maintenance of eating disorders. Eating disorders have been increasing over the past 50 years and changes in the food environment have been implicated.

Endophenotype and Psychiatry: an Interesting Combination.

The endophenotype is a measurable component which is characterized as an intermediate part of the path existing between the genotype and phenotype of a disease. In the context of psychiatric pathologies, an endophenotype is such if it shares inheritable variations with it, if it is evident both during the active and inactive phases of the pathology, if it is co-transmitted in the family, and if it is evident in both affected family members from pathology, and in healthy people. This review reports the available literature data of the interesting combination between endophenotype and psychiatry.

Body Identity Search: The Suspended Body.

The morphological transformations that occur during adolescence with rapid rhythm have an unprecedented psychological resonance and it is of fundamental importance to understand the way in which they are lived, perceived and elaborated.These fast body changes and the related social pressures make young people paying more attention to their physical appearance. Among the changes that the adolescent must face are: accepting their own body, acquiring a social role, establishing new relationships with peers,achieving emotional independence from parents.

Is internet changing our mind?

In the last decades internet has transformed our way to communicate, relate and work. Probably it has already changed also the way of thinking, perceiving ourselves and reality. The increasing web-based social networking services is a striking feature of modern human society.

Sleep Disorders: Are They a Genetic Question?

Sleep disorders are commonly studied from the psychiatric and neurological point of view, leaving aside other aspects such as genetic component. Despite the limited literature regarding this field, different genetic variants have been proposed to be associated with sleep disorders. In this review, we summerize the experimental research that has brought to light the pivotal genetic influence in the development of these pathologies.

Genetics and Psychiatry: Myth or Reality?

Greek mythology and philosophical speculations were the first human productions on madness and psychiatry. Likewise, the origins of genetics sink their roots in a very remote and difficult time. This work tries to give an idea of the relationship between genetics and psychiatry through the myth and reality.

Clinical Utilisation and Usefullness of the Rating Scale of Mixed States, ("Gt-Msrs"): a Multicenter Study.

The rating scale "G.T. MSRS" has been designed to improve the clinical effectiveness of the clinician psychiatrists, by enabling them to make an early "general" diagnosis of mixed states.

Pharmacogenetics: does a personal therapy exist?

Pharmacogenetics is a powerful tool to improve drug response and to maximize therapeutic efficacy and safety using genetic information of each individual. This review collects the available literature understanding the influence of heritability on an individual's drug metabolism.

Genetic of addiction: common and uncommon factors.

Epidemiological studies strongly suggest that genetic factors operate at all steps of addictions, including vulnerability to initiation, continued use, and propensity to become dependent. Several studies have been popular to investigate the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors, including the availability of and exposure to a substance, and shared and unique environments. The genetic influence on addiction has proved to be substantial, and heritabilities for most addictive disorders are moderate to high.

The starting point of eating disorders: role of genetics.

Eating disorders are perplexing diseases of which the etiology is still unknown. Recent research has focused on the possibility that genetics plays a role in vulnerability to these pathologies. This study gives an overview of the available literature focusing on family, twin and molecular genetic studies of eating disorders.

New antidepressant drugs for new depressions.

Although depressive disorders have been known for centuries, drug treatment is relatively recent. It was only in the 1950s, when studyof a drug for tuberculosis, Iproniazid, that its antidepressant propertieswere identified. After 50 years more selective and specific drugs have been discovered.

Involvement of genetic factors in bipolar disorders: current status.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, and the ability to carry out day-to-day tasks. The involvement of genetic factors has been evaluated through twin, family, linkage and association studies but specific genes that contribute to the illness remain unclear. This study gives an overview of available literature.