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Many mental disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, are associated with poor dietary quality and nutrient intake. There is, however, a deficit of research looking at the relationship between obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) severity, nutrient intake and dietary quality.
Aims
This study aims to explore the relationship between OCD severity, nutrient intake and dietary quality.
Method
A post hoc regression analysis was conducted with data combined from two separate clinical trials that included 85 adults with diagnosed OCD, using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5. Nutrient intakes were calculated from the Dietary Questionnaire for Epidemiological Studies version 3.2, and dietary quality was scored with the Healthy Eating Index for Australian Adults – 2013.
Results
Nutrient intake in the sample largely aligned with Australian dietary guidelines. Linear regression models adjusted for gender, age and total energy intake showed no significant associations between OCD severity, nutrient intake and dietary quality (all P > 0.05). However, OCD severity was inversely associated with caffeine (β = −15.50, 95% CI −28.88 to −2.11, P = 0.024) and magnesium (β = −6.63, 95% CI −12.72 to −0.53, P = 0.034) intake after adjusting for OCD treatment resistance.
Conclusions
This study showed OCD severity had little effect on nutrient intake and dietary quality. Dietary quality scores were higher than prior studies with healthy samples, but limitations must be noted regarding comparability. Future studies employing larger sample sizes, control groups and more accurate dietary intake measures will further elucidate the relationship between nutrient intake and dietary quality in patients with OCD.
The transition from DSM-IV to DSM-5 relaxed diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, and recognised a third eating disorder, binge eating disorder. However, a large proportion of cases remain in the ill-defined category of ‘other specified feeding and eating disorders’. We sought to investigate the utility of a proposed solution to classify this group further, subdividing based on the dominant clinical feature: binge eating/purging or restraint. Cluster analysis failed to identify clusters in a treatment-seeking sample based on symptoms of restraint, binge eating, purging and over-evaluation of shape and weight. Further investigation of this highly heterogeneous group is required.
Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is often challenging to treat and resistant to psychological interventions and prescribed medications. The adjunctive use of nutraceuticals with potential neuromodulatory effects on underpinning pathways such as the glutamatergic and serotonergic systems is one novel approach.
Objective
To assess the effectiveness and safety of a purpose-formulated combination of nutraceuticals in treating OCD: N-acetyl cysteine, L-theanine, zinc, magnesium, pyridoxal-5′ phosphate, and selenium.
Methods
A 20-week open label proof-of-concept study was undertaken involving 28 participants with treatment-resistant DSM-5-diagnosed OCD, during 2017 to 2020. The primary outcome measure was the Yale-Brown Obsessive–Compulsive Scale (YBOCS), administered every 4 weeks.
Results
An intention-to-treat analysis revealed an estimated mean reduction across time (baseline to week-20) on the YBOCS total score of −7.13 (95% confidence interval = −9.24, −5.01), with a mean reduction of −1.21 points per post-baseline visit (P ≤ .001). At 20-weeks, 23% of the participants were considered “responders” (YBOCS ≥35% reduction and “very much” or “much improved” on the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale). Statistically significant improvements were also revealed on all secondary outcomes (eg, mood, anxiety, and quality of life). Notably, treatment response on OCD outcome scales (eg, YBOCS) was greatest in those with lower baseline symptom levels, while response was limited in those with relatively more severe OCD.
Conclusions
While this pilot study lacks placebo-control, the significant time effect in this treatment-resistant OCD population is encouraging and suggests potential utility especially for those with lower symptom levels. Our findings need to be confirmed or refuted via a follow-up placebo-controlled study.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put forecasting under the spotlight, pitting epidemiological models against extrapolative time-series devices. We have been producing real-time short-term forecasts of confirmed cases and deaths using robust statistical models since 20 March 2020. The forecasts are adaptive to abrupt structural change, a major feature of the pandemic data due to data measurement errors, definitional and testing changes, policy interventions, technological advances and rapidly changing trends. The pandemic has also led to abrupt structural change in macroeconomic outcomes. Using the same methods, we forecast aggregate UK unemployment over the pandemic. The forecasts rapidly adapt to the employment policies implemented when the UK entered the first lockdown. The difference between our statistical and theory based forecasts provides a measure of the effect of furlough policies on stabilising unemployment, establishing useful scenarios had furlough policies not been implemented.
Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder that can have a devastating impact on the lives of those affected, their families, and their communities. Schizophrenia can affect both females and males but males tend to have both an earlier onset of symptoms and a worse longitudinal course of illness. This chapter explores the differences between males and females with schizophrenia, with a focus on how this difference impacts upon the lives of men. Areas discussed include prevalence and incidence rates, age at onset, and premorbid function. The role of sex hormones is discussed, followed by an examination of brain pathology and cognition. Symptom profile, response to antipsychotic medication, and psychosocial function post-diagnosis are also addressed. Finally, a typological model is proposed, with the thesis that males are differentially prone to an early-onset severe form of schizophrenia.
This chapter provides an overview of body image disorders as they pertain to men. Body image encapsulates thoughts, beliefs, and feelings about one’s physical appearance. For some men, these thoughts, beliefs, and feelings are neutral, or even positive. This is ideal, insofar as one’s body ought to be a functional and useful asset that allows an individual to live life on their own terms. Yet for others, these thoughts, beliefs, and feelings are decidedly negative.
Although research shows that there is a silent crisis in men's mental health, there remains surprisingly little literature on the subject. This important textbook provides up-to-date, practical and evidence-based information on how mental health issues affect men and the way treatments should be offered to them. Key opinion leaders from across the globe have been brought together to offer much-needed understanding about the socio-politico-economic context of men's lives today as well as ethnic and cultural effects and genetic, epigenetic and gene-environment interaction. Clinically focused chapters cover topics such as suicide and self-harm, violence, sociopathy and substance misuse in men; depression, anxiety and related disorders; and psychotic and cognitive disorders. The book uses a lifespan approach to assessment and treatment, accounting for age and developmental phase. An invaluable source of information for clinical specialists and trainees in psychiatry, psychology, and mental health nursing as well as social workers, and occupational therapists.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of telemedicine as a way to reduce COVID-19 infections was noted and consequently deregulated. However, the degree of telemedicine regulation varies from country to country, which may alter the widespread use of telemedicine. This study aimed to clarify the telepsychiatry regulations for each collaborating country/region before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods
We used snowball sampling within a global network of international telepsychiatry experts. Thirty collaborators from 17 different countries/regions responded to a questionnaire on barriers to the use and implementation of telepsychiatric care, including policy factors such as regulations and reimbursement at the end of 2019 and as of May 2020.
Results
Thirteen of 17 regions reported a relaxation of regulations due to the pandemic; consequently, all regions surveyed stated that telepsychiatry was now possible within their public healthcare systems. In some regions, restrictions on prescription medications allowed via telepsychiatry were eased, but in 11 of the 17 regions, there were still restrictions on prescribing medications via telepsychiatry. Lower insurance reimbursement amounts for telepsychiatry consultations v. in-person consultations were reevaluated in four regions, and consequently, in 15 regions telepsychiatry services were reimbursed at the same rate (or higher) than in-person consultations during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conclusions
Our results confirm that, due to COVID-19, the majority of countries surveyed are altering telemedicine regulations that had previously restricted the spread of telemedicine. These findings provide information that could guide future policy and regulatory decisions, which facilitate greater scale and spread of telepsychiatry globally.