COVID-19 as a polymorphic inflammatory spectrum of diseases: a review with focus on the brain.

There appear to be huge variations and aberrations in the reported data in COVID-19 2 years now into the pandemic. Conflicting data exist at almost every level and also in the reported epidemiological statistics across different regions. It is becoming clear that COVID-19 is a polymorphic inflammatory spectrum of diseases, and there is a wide range of inflammation-related pathology and symptoms in those infected with the virus.

Long COVID, neuropsychiatric disorders, psychotropics, present and future.

Long COVID refers to the lingering symptoms which persist or appear after the acute illness. The dominant long COVID symptoms in the two years since the pandemic began (2020-2021) have been depression, anxiety, fatigue, concentration and cognitive impairments with few reports of psychosis. Whether other symptoms will appear later on is not yet known.

Treatment-induced mood switching in affective disorders.

Many patients under treatment for mood disorders, in particular patients with bipolar mood disorders, experience episodes of mood switching from one state to another. Various hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanism of mood switching, spontaneously or induced by drug treatment. Animal models have also been used to test the role of psychotropic drugs in the switching of mood states.

Inflammatory neuropsychiatric disorders and COVID-19 neuroinflammation.

Neuropsychiatric sequalae to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection are beginning to emerge, like previous Spanish influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome episodes. Streptococcal infection in paediatric patients causing obsessive compulsive disorder (PANDAS) is another recent example of an infection-based psychiatric disorder. Inflammation associated with neuropsychiatric disorders has been previously reported but there is no standard clinical management approach established.

Hallucinations: diagnosis, neurobiology and clinical management.

Hallucinations are important diagnostic symptoms in schizophrenia, but also occur in other medical and neuropsychiatric conditions. Not all patients with hallucinations are psychotic. There has been a surge of interest in the topic of hallucinations, as new research data have begun to reveal their neurobiology.

Safety of traditional medicine and natural product supplements in psychiatry.

Traditional medicines in the form of health food and supplements are highly popular nowadays. They are often aggressively promoted with unsubstantiated health benefit claims. Patients suffering from chronic illness, such as psychiatric disorders may be attracted to these products and use them concurrently with their prescribed drugs.

Opportunities in Novel Psychotropic Drug Design from Natural Compounds.

Multiple initiatives at the national and international level support natural drug discovery. Psychiatrists and patients are not well informed about natural psychotropics in general. Existing antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs were developed from atropine, a natural product.

Neurodegeneration, Neuroregeneration, and Neuroprotection in Psychiatric Disorders.

Prevention of deterioration of brain function over time is important in the long-term management of chronic brain disorders such as dementia, schizophrenia, and mood disorders. Although the possibility of neurogenesis in the adult human brain is attractive, and there are psychiatric drugs proven to be effective inducers of neurogenesis in animals, we have yet to see their utility in clinical practice. The terms neurodegeneration and neuroregeneration are often used in a nonspecific manner.

Multitarget botanical pharmacotherapy in major depression: a toxic brain hypothesis.

A significant number of patients with major depression do not respond optimally to current antidepressant drugs. As depression is likely to be a heterogeneous disorder, it is possible that existing neurotransmitter-based antidepressant drugs do not fully address other pathologies that may exist in certain cases. Biological pathologies related to depression that have been proposed and studied extensively include inflammation and immunology, hypercortisolemia, oxidative stress, and impaired angiogenesis.

Herbal medicine for psychiatric disorders: Psychopharmacology and neuroscience-based nomenclature.

Herbs are frequently and concurrently used with prescribed drugs by patients worldwide. While clinical trials have found some herbs to be as useful as standard psychiatric drugs, most clinicians are unaware of their pharmacological mechanisms. We searched English language and other language literature with English abstracts listed in PubMed website, supplemented by additional through Google Scholar's free academic paper abstract website for publications on herbs, focussing on their clinical use in mental disorders, their neurobiology and their pharmacology.

Managing interactions between cognitive enhancers and other psychotropics.

Polypharmacy is common in psychiatry. Usage of cognitive enhancers is increasing in the psychiatric population. Many clinicians are not familiar with these new psychoactive compounds.

Patients on psychotropic medications and herbal supplement combinations: clinical considerations.

Populations using herbs and herbal preparations are widespread and growing. As many herbal ingredients exert actions on psychotropic drug targets, psychiatrists should be well informed and aware of potential drug-drug interactions in clinical practice. Reliable and clinically useful information in this area, however, is fragmented, if not deficient.

Do empowered stroke patients perform better at self-management and functional recovery after a stroke? A randomized controlled trial.

Background: Self-management after a stroke is a challenge because of multifaceted care needs and complex disabling consequences that cause further hindrance to patient participation. A 13-week stroke patient empowerment intervention (Health Empowerment Intervention for Stroke Self-management [HEISS]) was developed to enhance patients' ability to participate in self-management.

Purpose: To examine the effects of the empowerment intervention on stroke patients' self-efficacy, self-management behavior, and functional recovery.

Effects of a nurse-led heart failure clinic on hospital readmission and mortality in Hong Kong.

Background: Heart failure (HF) is a physically and socially debilitating disease that carries the burden of hospital re-admission and mortality. As an aging society, Hong Kong urgently needs to find ways to reduce the hospital readmission of HF patients. This study evaluates the effects of a nurse-led HF clinic on the hospital readmission and mortality rates among older HF patients in Hong Kong.

The chemokine receptors CXCR4/CXCR7 and their primary heterodimeric ligands CXCL12 and CXCL12/high mobility group box 1 in pancreatic cancer growth and development: finding flow.

Novel therapies need to be developed for patients with pancreatic cancer because of the poor outcomes of current regimens. Pancreatic cancer cells respond to the C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4)/C-X-C chemokine receptor type 7 (CXCR7)/C-X-C motif chemokine 12 (CXCL12)/high-mobility group box 1 signaling axis and this axis presents a novel target for therapy. C-X-C motif chemokine 12 stimulates CXCR4/CXCR7-bearing cells in a paracrine manner.

Is neurogenesis relevant in depression and in the mechanism of antidepressant drug action? A critical review.

Objectives: Major depression is a complex disorder that involves genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors in its aetiology. Recent research has suggested that hippocampal neurogenesis may play a role in antidepressant action. However, careful examination of the literature suggests that the complex biological and psychological changes associated with depression cannot be attributed to disturbance in hippocampal neurogenesis alone.

Personalized psychopharmacology for the affective disorders and schizophrenia: where is the evidence?

Individualized medicine is the ultimate aim of many medical specialties. Attempts to individualize psychopharmacology have focused on the genetic polymorphisms of neurotransmitter- and CNS-related genes. While there have been numerous reports on the discovery of possible genetic differences in various psychiatric disorders, clinical psychopharmacology has not yet significantly benefited from such data.

Predictors of poststroke quality of life in older Chinese adults.

Aim: This paper is a report of a study to identify the changes in poststroke quality of life and other clinical issues among older Chinese adults from 1 month to 6 months after stroke and the predictors of poststroke quality of life at 6 months.

Background: Stroke survivors are known to suffer from prolonged and multiple impairments leading to a compromised quality of life, but few studies report early predictors for quality of life among older Chinese adults after active rehabilitation has been undertaken during the first 6 months after stroke.

Method: A total of 214 patients with first-ever ischaemic stroke were interviewed by a research nurse at 1 month and 188 patients were interviewed again 6 months after hospital admission for stroke.

Frequency of painful physical symptoms with major depressive disorder in asia: relationship with disease severity and quality of life.

Objective: Patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) frequently report concomitant painful physical symptoms, which may negatively impact diagnosis and treatment. The purpose of this study was to estimate the frequency of painful physical symptoms in Asian patients treated for an acute episode of MDD and to describe the associated demographics, clinical status, treatment patterns, and socioeconomic burden.

Method: This multicountry, observational study enrolled 909 patients with MDD (DSM-IV-TR or ICD-10 criteria) in the psychiatric care setting from June 14, 2006, to February 15, 2007.

Depression in college: depressive symptoms and personality factors in Beijing and Hong Kong college freshmen.

Objectives: The present study investigated the 2-week prevalence of depressive symptoms in college freshmen from Beijing and Hong Kong. The relationship between depression and 3 personality factors in these college freshmen was analyzed.

Method: Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Eysenck Personality Questionnaire-Neuroticism, Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and Frost Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale were administered to 988 Beijing and 802 Hong Kong Chinese college freshmen.

Influence of exercise on serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor concentrations in healthy human subjects.

The effect of short-term exercise (15 min step-exercise) on serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels was evaluated in healthy human subjects. Results showed a short-term, significant increase in serum BDNF levels after exercise. Intra-individual differences in serum BDNF levels were remarkably small on the rest day and also when compared to rest values on the day of the exercise test.

Incidence and predictors of depression after stroke (DAS).

Objective. Depression after stroke (DAS) poses a treble burden to patients, families and health care system. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the incidence of depression among first-ever ischemic stroke patients and identify the predictors of DAS.

Web-based survey of depression, anxiety and stress in first-year tertiary education students in Hong Kong.

Objective: The mental health of tertiary education students is an area of increasing concern worldwide. The objective of this study is to examine the prevalence of depression, anxiety and stress in first-year tertiary education students in Hong Kong.

Method: Depression, anxiety and stress were measured by the 42-item Depression Anxiety Stress Scales, completed on the web by participating students anonymously.

Forecasting the number of inpatients with schizophrenia.

There has been much discussion in Japan regarding the reduction of psychiatric beds. For effective healthcare planning, reliable forecasting is important. The purpose of this study was to predict the number of future schizophrenic inpatients using quantitative methodology.