Favorable effects of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in attentional control and conversion rate to psychosis in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

Omega-3-polyunsaturated-fatty-acids were suggested against cognitive dysfunctions and conversion to psychosis. However, a recent multicenter trial found no effect in reducing conversion rates in individuals at risk of developing schizophrenia. Patients' genetic heterogeneity and the timing of treatment might influence omega-3 efficacy.

Patient experiences of living with chronic leg ulcers and making the decision to seek professional health-care.

Objective:: The aim of the study was to elucidate how patients experience living with chronic leg ulcers before consulting a health professional, and to determine the reasons behind the decision to visit a health-care centre.

Method:: A qualitative interview study was carried out. There were 11 participants, five men and six women (age range: 27-83 years old).

Discordant prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis in asymptomatic couples screened by two screening approaches.

This study was carried out to observe the effect of screening both members of an asymptomatic couple for Chlamydia trachomatis. First void urine samples were collected from 105 women and their male sex partners. Women were recruited for screening at a sexual health clinical setting (age 16-25 years), and home sampling screening options were used for men.

Outcome in early-onset schizophrenia revisited: findings from the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre long-term follow-up study.

Objective: To compare the long-term outcome in individuals with early-onset (before age 18) and adult-onset schizophrenia spectrum disorder who were initially diagnosed and treated in the same clinical center.

Method: A prospective follow-up study of 723 consecutive first-episode psychosis patients (age range 14 to 30 years) on average 7.4 years after initial presentation to an early psychosis service, the Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre in Melbourne, Australia.

Very low-dose risperidone in first-episode psychosis: a safe and effective way to initiate treatment.

Patients experiencing a first psychotic episode have high rates of extrapyramidal symptoms (EPSs) when treated with the doses of neuroleptics used in multiepisode or chronic schizophrenia. There is some evidence that lower doses may be equally, if not more, effective but less toxic in this population. Here, we report the results of a biphasic open label trial designed to assess the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of low-dose (2-4 mg/day) risperidone treatment in a group of 96 first-episode nonaffective psychosis patients.

Clinical staging: a heuristic and practical strategy for new research and better health and social outcomes for psychotic and related mood disorders.

Most mental illnesses emerge during adolescence and early adulthood, with considerable associated distress and functional decline appearing during this critical developmental phase. Our current diagnostic system lacks therapeutic validity, particularly for the early stages of mental disorders when symptoms are still emerging and intensifying and have not yet stabilized sufficiently to fit the existing syndromal criteria. While this is, in part, due to the difficulty of distinguishing transient developmental or normative changes from the early symptoms of persistent and disabling mental illness, these factors have contributed to a growing movement for the reform of our current diagnostic system to more adequately inform the choice of therapeutic strategy, particularly in the early stages of a mental illness.

Children, adolescents, and war: the systematic engagement of youth in collective violence.

Increasingly health personnel are called on to address the needs of adolescents affected by armed conflict. Adolescents suffer as combatants, direct and indirect casualties, as dependents of combatants, and as citizens of countries whose resources are destroyed and/or consumed by war and other forms of organized violence. Survivors of war, ex-child soldiers, refugees, and others are found today in cities on all continents.

Transition to puberty as experienced by 12-year-old Swedish girls.

The purpose of this study was to describe 12-year-old girls' experiences of entering puberty. A qualitative approach was used to gather data from focus group interviews, and content analysis was used to identify common themes from the responses of 18 girls. Findings revealed four main themes: (a) growing up--awareness, bodily changes, longing; (b) mother--a close and important relationship; (c) menarche--a personal and important occurrence; and (d) sex and relationships.

What do you get when you fall in love?: Warehouse Youth Health Centre chlamydia audit.

Objective: The aim of the chlamydia audit was to determine the rate of positive diagnosis of chlamydia trachomatis in young people aged 12 to 25 years of age who were tested at the Warehouse Youth Health Centre, Sydney, Australia, in 2001 and to review current practice relating to chlamydia testing.

Design: A retrospective study was conducted on the medical records of clients identified through the pathology register as having a chlamydia test during 2001 from 1 January to 31 December 2001. The data were descriptively analysed.

Beyond weeping and crying: a gender analysis of expressions of depression.

Objective: To explore depression from a gender perspective, by capturing depressed women's and men's formulations of their experiences and understanding of their situation.

Design: Qualitative interview study.

Setting: A healthcare centre in northern Sweden.

Prevalence of tuberculosis infection among homeless young people in central and eastern Sydney.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) infection among homeless young people (aged 12-25 years) in central and eastern Sydney.

Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 16 youth refuges and four drop-in centres in Central and Eastern Sydney Health Areas and at the Cellblock Youth Health Centre, Glebe and the Kirketon Road Centre, Darlinghurst, New South Wales (NSW). Participants completed a questionnaire and underwent Mantoux testing.

Accelerated schedule of hepatitis B vaccination in high-risk youth.

Objective: To perform a feasibility and immunogenicity study of an accelerated schedule of hepatitis B immunization for high-risk youth.

Methodology: High-risk adolescents attending a youth health centre and nearby youth refuges were immunized with Engerix-B recombinant vaccine, 20 micrograms intramuscularly, at 0, 2 and 6 weeks. Serology was performed prior to immunization and 3 months after the third dose.