Effects of antipsychotic drugs on energy metabolism.

Schizophrenia (SCZ) is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder associated with altered bioenergetic pathways and mitochondrial dysfunction. Antipsychotic medications, both first and second-generation, are commonly prescribed to manage SCZ symptoms, but their direct impact on mitochondrial function remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigated the effects of commonly prescribed antipsychotics on bioenergetic pathways in cultured neurons.

A placebo-controlled, randomised pilot trial of N-acetylcysteine or placebo for cessation of tobacco smoking.

Smoking represents a significant health threat to the population, however there remains a core group of consistent smokers that are largely unable to break the addiction. Novel therapies are required to assist this group with cessation. N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is a nutraceutical supplement that has shown efficacy compared to placebo in previous pilot studies for assisting smokers to quit or reduce their consumption of cigarettes.

Age as a predictor of quit attempts and quit success in smoking cessation: findings from the International Tobacco Control Four-Country survey (2002-14).

Background And Aims: Past research has found that young smokers are more likely to make quit attempts; however, there are conflicting findings regarding age and quit success. This study examined the degree to which smoker age is related to making quit attempts and quit success.

Design: Ten waves of the International Tobacco Control Policy Cohort survey (ITC-4C) collected between 2002 and 2014, with nine wave-to-wave transitions with predictors at the first wave predicting quit attempts and success by the next wave.

The reality of at risk mental state services: a response to recent criticisms.

Background: In the 1990s criteria were developed to detect individuals at high and imminent risk of developing a psychotic disorder. These are known as the at risk mental state, ultra high risk or clinical high risk criteria. Individuals meeting these criteria are symptomatic and help-seeking.

Promoting mental health in out of home care in Australia.

Young people in out of home care (OoHC) typically have worse mental health outcomes than peers who grow up within a family of origin. Innovations to improve the mental health of this group have tended to focus on pathology rather than mental health promotion and prevention of mental illnesses, and are often costly and challenging to implement. This qualitative study explored perspectives from young people with experience of OoHC in Melbourne, Australia regarding the promotion of mental health in OoHC.

N-acetylcysteine for cessation of tobacco smoking: rationale and study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Tobacco smoking is a highly prevalent, addictive behaviour and a key public health priority. However available cessation therapies have low quit and high relapse rates, indicating an urgent need for more effective treatments. Predicated on promising preclinical and pilot clinical data, this paper presents a rationale and protocol for the trial of N-acetylcysteine (NAC) as a novel anti-craving smoking cessation aid.

Perceived stress and psychosis: The effect of perceived stress on psychotic-like experiences in a community sample of adolescents.

Aims: Psychotic-like experiences (PLE) are sub-threshold, non-clinical forms of psychosis which can place an individual at greater risk of development of a psychotic disorder. Subtypes of PLE have also been shown to exist (bizarre experiences, persecutory ideation, perceptual abnormalities and magical thinking). Perceived stress relates to how two individuals may deal with the same objectively stressful event in different ways.

A review of the neurobiological underpinning of comorbid substance use and mood disorders.

Background: There is evidence that substance use disorders and other mental disorders may have shared biological mechanisms. However, the neurobiological basis of this comorbidity remains only partially explained. This review describes the historical evolution of the dual disorders concept and approach, and reviews the existing literature on neurobiological findings specifically regarding comorbid substance use and mood disorders.

The Ultra-High-Risk for psychosis groups: Evidence to maintain the status quo.

Individuals are considered Ultra-High-Risk (UHR) for psychosis if they meet a set of standardised criteria including presumed genetic vulnerability (Trait), or a recent history of Attenuated Psychotic Symptoms (APS) or Brief Limited Intermittent Psychotic Symptoms (BLIPS). Recent calls to revise these criteria have arisen from evidence that Trait, APS and BLIPS groups may transition to psychosis at different rates. Concurrently, it has become clear that the UHR status confers clinical risk beyond transition to psychosis.

Predictors of change in social networks, support and satisfaction following a first episode psychosis: A cohort study.

Background: Diminished social networks are common in psychosis but few studies have measured these comprehensively and prospectively to determine how networks and support evolve during the early phase. There is little information regarding perceived support in the early phase of illness. The aim of this study was to describe social support, networks and perceived satisfaction, explore the clinical correlates of these outcomes and examine whether phases of untreated psychosis are linked with social network variables to determine potential opportunities for intervention.

Solar insolation in springtime influences age of onset of bipolar I disorder.

Objective: To confirm prior findings that the larger the maximum monthly increase in solar insolation in springtime, the younger the age of onset of bipolar disorder.

Method: Data were collected from 5536 patients at 50 sites in 32 countries on six continents. Onset occurred at 456 locations in 57 countries.

Autism and schizophrenia: one, two or many disorders?

Autism and psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia co-occur more frequently than would be expected by chance alone. Exactly why this should be remains unclear, but a better understanding would have important implications for diagnosis, treatment and for biological explanations of both conditions.

Cannabis-induced attenuated psychotic symptoms: implications for prognosis in young people at ultra-high risk for psychosis.

Background: Cannabis use shows a robust dose-dependent relationship with psychosis risk among the general population. Despite this, it has been difficult to link cannabis use with risk for transitioning to a psychotic disorder among individuals at ultra-high risk (UHR) for psychosis. The present study examined UHR transition risk as a function of cannabis use characteristics which vary substantially between individuals including age of first use, cannabis abuse severity and a history of cannabis-induced attenuated psychotic symptoms (APS).

Correlates of physical activity in people living with psychotic illness.

Objective: In the light of the high prevalence of physical comorbidities in people with psychotic illness, there is a need to explore modifiable risk factors that may contribute to this disease burden. The benefits of physical activity to both physical and mental health have been well established. We aimed to examine the prevalence and correlates of physical activity in a national sample of adults living with psychotic illness.

Neighbourhood level social deprivation and the risk of psychotic disorders: a systematic review.

Purpose: The incidence of psychotic disorders varies according to the geographical area, and it has been investigated whether neighbourhood level factors may be associated with this variation. The aim of this systematic review is to collate and appraise the literature on the association between social deprivation and the incidence or risk for psychotic disorders.

Method: A systematic review was conducted, and studies were included if they were in English, provided a measure of social deprivation for more than one geographically defined area and examined either the correlation, rate ratio or risk of psychotic disorder.

Individual placement and support, supported education in young people with mental illness: an exploratory feasibility study.

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of adapting individual placement and support (IPS) to education for young people presenting to a tertiary mental health service who wished to re-engage with or be supported in their education.

Methods: The study was an uncontrolled trial. Twenty young people with severe mental illness were recruited and worked with an educational specialist providing adapted IPS for education (IPSed).

Ethical considerations in preventive interventions for bipolar disorder.

Aim: Early intervention and prevention of serious mental disorders such as bipolar disorder has the promise of decreasing the burden associated with these disorders. With increasing early and preventive intervention efforts among cohorts such as those with a familial risk for bipolar disorder, there is a need to examine the associated ethical concerns. The aim of this review was to examine the ethical issues underpinning the clinical research on pre-onset identification and preventive interventions for bipolar disorder.

Prodromal symptoms and remission following first episode psychosis.

Introduction: Describing the trajectory of prodromal symptoms has obvious appeal in supporting advances towards sub-clinical intervention. Identifying clinical phenomena associated with unfavourable illness outcomes could have greater significance in explaining some heterogeneity within and between psychotic disorders and advancing understanding of pre-psychotic typologies. Few studies have assessed the continuity, if any, between prodromal phases and illness outcome one year after treatment.

Cardiovascular risk factor associations in adults with psychosis and adults in a national comparator sample.

Objective: Antipsychotic drug treatment alters status on key risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to test whether cardiovascular risk factor associations differ in adults with psychosis and adults from the general community.

Method: Data were analysed for those aged 25-64 years from a nationally representative psychosis sample (n = 1,457) and a national comparator sample (n = 8,866).