Involvement of the Na, K-ATPase α1 Isoform and Endogenous Cardiac Steroids in Depression- and Manic-like Behaviors.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and common chronic mental illness characterized by recurrent mood swings between depression and mania. The biological basis of the disease is poorly understood, and its treatment is unsatisfactory. Na, K-ATPase is a major plasma membrane transporter and signal transducer.

A 10-year comparison of short versus long-term court-ordered psychiatric hospitalization: a follow-up study.

Background: The Israel Mental Health Act of 1991 stipulates a process for court-ordered involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. As in many Western countries, this process is initiated when an individual is deemed "not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder (NCR-MD)" or "incompetent to stand trial (IST)." A patient thus hospitalized may be discharged by the district psychiatric committee (DPC).

Genetic insights into childhood-onset schizophrenia: The yield of clinical exome sequencing.

Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is a rare form of schizophrenia with an onset prior to 13 years of age. Although genetic factors play a role in COS etiology, only a few causal variants have been reported to date. This study presents a diagnostic exome sequencing (ES) in 37 Israeli Jewish families with a proband diagnosed with COS.

Vanadium in Bipolar Disorders-Reviving an Old Hypothesis.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe and common chronic mental illness. The biological basis of the disease is poorly understood and its treatment is unsatisfactory. Our previous studies supported the notion that alterations in Na, K-ATPase activity were involved in the etiology of BD.

Elevated brain-derived cell-free DNA among patients with first psychotic episode - a proof-of-concept study.

Schizophrenia is a common, severe, and debilitating psychiatric disorder. Despite extensive research there is as yet no biological marker that can aid in its diagnosis and course prediction. This precludes early detection and intervention.

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Face-Emotion Recognition as Mediators in Conduct Problems of Children With ADHD.

Background: Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with increased risk for conduct problems (CP), as well as with callous-unemotional traits (CUt) and lower accuracy in face emotional recognition (FER). It is unclear, however, whether CUt and low accuracy in FER contribute to the risk for CP in ADHD. The present study investigated the possibility of such contribution.

Expansion of the GRIA2 phenotypic representation: a novel de novo loss of function mutation in a case with childhood onset schizophrenia.

Childhood-onset schizophrenia (COS) is a rare form of schizophrenia with an onset before 13 years of age. There is rising evidence that genetic factors play a major role in COS etiology, yet, only a few single gene mutations have been discovered. Here we present a diagnostic whole-exome sequencing (WES) in an Israeli Jewish female with COS and additional neuropsychiatric conditions such as obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), anxiety, and aggressive behavior.

Toward risk adjustment in mental health in Israel: calculation of risk adjustment rates from large outpatient and inpatient databases.

Background: In 2015, mental health services were added to the Israeli National Health Insurance package of services. As such, these services are financed by the budget which is allocated to the Health Plans according to a risk adjustment scheme. An inter-ministerial team suggested a formula by which the mental health budget should be allocated among the Health Plans.

Commentary: seclusion and mechanical restraint of psychiatric patients in Israel - an update.

Recently, Miodownik et al. reported in this journal the results of a study on seclusion and mechanical restraint of psychiatric patients in Israel (Isr J Health Policy Res 8:9, 2019). The study was a retrospective examination over a year of one inpatient ward in a psychiatric hospital.

[IDENTIFYING PREDICTORS OF MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES CONSUMPTION IN ISRAEL].

Introduction: The budget for health services in Israel was recently increased to cover mental health. It was suggested to divide funds for psychiatric hospitalization between the HMOs based on their share of insured members. For ambulatory care, it was suggested to add risk adjustment based on age only to the capitation formula used for allocating health care funds.

Higher adaptive functioning and lower rate of psychotic comorbidity in married versus unmarried individuals with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is a relatively common genetic disorder.

A comparison of decisions to discharge committed psychiatric patients between treating physicians and district psychiatric committees: an outcome study.

Background: The Israel Mental Health Act of 1991 stipulates a process for involuntary psychiatric hospitalization (IPH). A patient thus hospitalized may be discharged by either the treating psychiatrist (TP) or the district psychiatric committee (DPC). The decision rendered by the DPC is often at odds with the recommendation of the TP.

Distinctive gene expression profile in women with history of postpartum depression.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is a disease which incorporates a variety of depressive states differing in nature and severity. To assist in the understanding of the pathogenesis of the disease, we aimed to ascertain a molecular mechanism underlying PPD development. We applied microarray technology to characterize gene expression of euthymic women with a history of PPD and compared the results with healthy controls.

Loss of function of PCDH12 underlies recessive microcephaly mimicking intrauterine infection.

Objective: To identify the genetic basis of a recessive syndrome characterized by prenatal hyperechogenic brain foci, congenital microcephaly, hypothalamic midbrain dysplasia, epilepsy, and profound global developmental disability.

Methods: Identification of the responsible gene by whole exome sequencing and homozygosity mapping.

Results: Ten patients from 4 consanguineous Palestinian families manifested in utero with hyperechogenic brain foci, microcephaly, and intrauterine growth retardation.

Transitioning home: A four-stage reintegration hospital discharge program for adolescents hospitalized for eating disorders.

Purpose: Treatment for adolescents with eating disorders (ED) is multidimensional and extends after hospitalization. After participating in a four-step reintegration plan, treatment success including post-discharge community and social reintegration were examined from perspectives of patients, family members, and healthcare providers.

Design And Methods: Six pairs of patients and parents, and seven parents without their children were interviewed 2 to 30 months following discharge.

Severe methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase deficiency: clinical clues to a potentially treatable cause of adult-onset hereditary spastic paraplegia.

Importance: Hereditary spastic paraplegia is a highly heterogeneous group of neurogenetic disorders with pure and complicated clinical phenotypes. No treatment is available for these disorders. We identified 2 unrelated families, each with 2 siblings with severe methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) deficiency manifesting a complicated form of adult-onset hereditary spastic paraparesis partially responsive to betaine therapy.

Postpartum hospitalization of psychotic parents with their infant: a case study.

Background: Parents with mental illness are at risk for exacerbations during the postpartum period. The management of family members needing concurrent psychiatric hospitalization is unclear. This article describes the advantages and difficulties of a family hospitalization, focusing on the splitting processes in the staff and the use of "couple ego functions'.

The making of a psychiatrist: an Israeli perspective.

When medical school educators - polished veteran doctors - review data on their students' attitudes towards residencies, they remember their own long days in the anatomy dissection room. They recall treating their first teenage patient and comforting a patient seeking solace while succumbing to a fatal illness. They think about why they made their important career choice.

The Jerusalem psychiatric mother-baby unit.

The Jerusalem mother and baby unit (MBU) is influenced by the psychoanalytical orientation of the staff, and the historical and cultural conditions surrounding the unit. Forty-three patients with 44 babies (one set of twins) were admitted in 13 years, a rate of admission far from the theoretical demand. Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and mood disorders have been the major diagnoses in more than 50% of the patients.

The fitness of the mental patient to be a witness.

The determination of whether a patient has criminal responsibility or is able to stand trial is routine psychiatric work. Cases in which we- psychiatrists- are asked to express our opinion on whether a patient can testify, however, are quite rare. We shall attempt to clarify some of the issues relating to the testimony of mentally ill patients through a case presentation.

An unusual effect of ECT on drug-induced parkinsonism and tardive dystonia.

A patient with schizoaffective disorder and anticholinergic refractory neuroleptic-induced parkinsonism manifested a marked increase of parkinsonian symptoms and dystonia after ECT. This is the first report in the literature of such an unusual reaction of parkinsonian and dystonic symptoms to ECT.