The long-term course and prognosis of postpartum depression: a retrospective longitudinal cohort study.

The purpose is to investigate the natural course and long-term prognosis of postpartum depression (PPD). In this retrospective longitudinal cohort study, mothers diagnosed as either suffering from PPD or without PPD were reassessed 5-8 years thereafter by a semi-structured interview and their charts were reviewed for past psychiatric illness prior to the index (initial) episode and for new-onset episodes in the following years. Present psychiatric state was also evaluated by interview and questionnaires.

Vitamin D Supplementation in Chronic Schizophrenia Patients Treated with Clozapine: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-controlled Clinical Trial.

Background: While accumulating evidence suggests that vitamin D deficiency may be involved in the risk to develop schizophrenia and its outcome, there are no studies on vitamin D supplementation in this context. We sought to assess the effect of vitamin D supplementation on psychiatric, cognitive and metabolic parameters in chronic clozapine-treated schizophrenia patients.

Methods: This eight-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, recruited schizophrenia patients who had been maintained on clozapine treatment for at least 18weeks and had low levels of vitamin D (<75nmol/l) and total PANSS scores >70 (to ascertain the presence of residual symptoms).

Seasonal pattern of manic episode admissions among bipolar I disorder patients is associated with male gender and presence of psychotic features.

Background: Bipolar I disorder (BD-I) patients demonstrate disrupted chronobiology expressed as seasonal variation in mood symptoms. The seasonal pattern (SP) specifier of mood disorders was recently extended by the DSM-5, to be applied to manic episodes. However, the significance of seasonality of manic episodes for the course of BD-I is unknown.

Cross-sectional analysis of cardiovascular risk factors in children with parental history of premature ischemic heart disease.

This study aimed to evaluate the presence of cardiovascular risk factors in children with a parental history of premature ischemic heart disease (two- or three-vessel disease diagnosed before the age of 55 in men and 65 in women). A prospective cross-sectional study was performed on 55 children. The following parameters were assessed: body mass index (BMI), waist and hip circumference, blood pressure, lipids profile, fasting glucose (FG), C-reactive protein (CRP), and carotid intimal-medial thickness (CIMT).