Risk-taking in schizophrenia and controls with and without cannabis dependence.

Background: Risk-based decision making is altered in people with schizophrenia and in people with cannabis use compared to healthy controls; the pattern of risk-assessment in people with co-occurring schizophrenia and cannabis dependence is poorly understood. This study examined measures of risk-taking and decision-making in people with and without schizophrenia and/or cannabis dependence.

Methods: Participants with schizophrenia (n=24), cannabis dependence (n=23), schizophrenia and co-occurring cannabis dependence (n=18), and healthy controls (n=24) were recruited from the community via advertisements and completed a one-visit battery of symptom, risk-based decision making, gambling behavior, cognitive, and addiction assessments.

Participants with schizophrenia retain the information necessary for informed consent during clinical trials.

Objective: Cognitive impairment is a characteristic of schizophrenia. This impairment may affect the retention of information required for ongoing knowledgeable participation in clinical trials. This study monitored retention of study-related knowledge-including assessment of therapeutic misconception-in people with stable, DSM-IV schizophrenia during participation in placebo-controlled clinical trials of adjunctive agents.

Cortical structural abnormalities in deficit versus nondeficit schizophrenia.

Objective: To examine the structural integrity of the dorsolateral prefrontal-basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit in people with the deficit form of schizophrenia.

Method: A three-dimensional structural MRI sequence was used to conduct morphometric assessments of cortical and subcortical regions in deficit and nondeficit outpatients with schizophrenia and healthy controls.

Results: The superior prefrontal and superior and middle temporal gyral gray matter volumes were significantly smaller in the deficit versus the nondeficit group and normal control groups.

Short interval between symptom onset and medical care as an indication of rapid onset of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome.

Objective: To assess how many patients with interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBlS) obtain medical care soon after symptom onset, and to determine how these patients differ from those who have medical care later.

Patients And Methods: In a risk-factor study of IC/PBlS, we recruited women with IC/PBlS symptoms of < or =12 months' duration and carefully identified the onset date, first medical encounter and early clinical findings.

Results: Of 138 women with IC/PBlS for < or =12 months, 49% sought medical care within 7 days and another 31% within 4 weeks.

Assessing urgency in interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome.

Objectives: Interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS) at present is a symptom-based diagnosis. The Interstitial Cystitis Symptom Index (ICSI), also known as the O'Leary-Sant Symptom Index, is a widely used scale that assesses the four cardinal symptoms of IC/PBS (ie, bladder pain, urgency, frequency, and nocturia), by asking how often each is experienced. In an ongoing case-control study of recent-onset IC/PBS, we compared the ICSI with a series of questions that addressed the severity of these symptoms.

Dysuria at onset of interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome in women.

Objectives: In an ongoing national study of women to identify risk factors for interstitial cystitis/painful bladder syndrome (IC/PBS), dysuria was identified at the onset of IC/PBS in a small majority and the evidence for urinary tract infection was evaluated.

Methods: In women with IC/PBS of 12 months' duration or less, symptoms and pertinent laboratory tests at onset were assessed by telephone interview and medical record review.

Results: Of 138 women, 75 (54%) reported that they had started to experience burning or pain on urination at the onset of IC/PBS.

Occupational exposure to pfiesteria species in estuarine waters is not a risk factor for illness.

Background: Exposure to the dinoflagellate Pfiesteria has, under certain circumstances, been associated with deficits in human learning and memory. However, uncertainties remain about the health risk of chronic, low-level exposures (as seen among occupationally exposed commercial fishermen), particularly in light of studies suggesting that Pfiesteria strains are widespread in the estuarine environment in the U.S.

Using the International Continence Society's definition of painful bladder syndrome.

Objectives: To determine what proportion of patients with recent-onset interstitial cystitis (IC)/painful bladder syndrome (PBS) met the International Continence Society (ICS) definition and how those who met the definition differed from those who did not.

Methods: We recruited women who had recent-onset IC/PBS for an ongoing case-control study to identify its risk factors and studied our first 138 eligible patients to identify those who met the ICS definition. We then compared those who met the definition with those who did not by variables acquired from interviews and medical records.

Racial differences in the prevalence of vertebral fractures in older men: the Baltimore Men's Osteoporosis Study.

Older black men have higher adjusted bone mineral density (BMD) and a lower adjusted rate of decline in hip BMD than older white men. There are few published data on the prevalence of morphometric vertebral fractures in older white men and no published data for older black men. The study's objective was to estimate the prevalence of vertebral fractures in older men and explore differences in prevalence between older white and black men.

Racial differences in rate of decline in bone mass in older men: the Baltimore men's osteoporosis study.

Unlabelled: Older black men have higher adjusted BMD than older white men. Using data from a longitudinal cohort study of older men followed for a mean of 18.8 +/- 6.

Racial differences in bone mineral density in older men.

Unlabelled: Studies have examined factors related to BMD in older white, but not black, men. We measured BMD in older white and black men and examined factors related to racial differences in BMD. Black men had significantly higher adjusted BMD at all sites.

Early development in males with Fragile X syndrome: a review of the literature.

This article reviews the current bibliographic knowledge on early neurobehavioral development and milestones in Fragile X syndrome (FraX), with emphasis on males affected by the condition. Three broad areas of early development were examined: (1) gross and fine motor, (2) speech and language, and (3) social. The result of the current review indicates very limited information on the developmental milestones in all three areas.