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Biomedical subjects

Zoltán Rihmer

Publications and source records attributed to Zoltán Rihmer.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2007

Suicide risk in mood disorders.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The aim of this review is to highlight the traditional and newly recognized suicide risk factors in patients with mood disorders. RECENT FINDINGS: Current research findings clearly suggest that suicidal behaviour in patients with mood disorder is a 'state-dependent' phenomenon. Recently, there is, however, a growing body of evidence that besides the well accepted clinically explorable suicide risk factors in mood disorders (e.g., severe depression, prior suicide attempt, comorbid anxiety, substance use, personality disorders and so on), mixed state of depression could also be an important precursor of suicidal behaviour. This might be particularly true in unrecognized cases of bipolar depressives, when antidepressant monotherapy (unprotected by mood stabilizers or atypical antipsychotics) can worsen the clinical picture and rarely induce an aggressive or self-destructive behaviour. SUMMARY: In the majority of patients with mood disorders, suicidal behaviour is predictable and preventable, with a good chance. A careful and systematic exploration of suicide risk factors in patients with mood disorder helps clinicians to identify patients at high suicide risk. A successful, acute and long-term treatment of these patients substantially reduces the suicidal behaviour even in this high-risk population.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Do antidepressants t(h)reat(en) depressives? Toward a clinically judicious formulation of the antidepressant-suicidality FDA advisory in light of declining national suicide statistics from many countries.

Given that suicidality is a well-known symptom and outcome of untreated or inadequately treated depressive illness, the United States (US) Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning of emergent suicidality in children and adolescents based on the antidepressant arm of placebo-controlled randomized trials (RCTs) has created understandable concern in clinical practice. The issues involved are of broader public health importance for all age groups. As in other branches of medicine, psychiatrists must always be vigilant of the rare risk of iatrogenesis when prescribing potent agents like antidepressants for patients with depressive disorders where the risk of suicidality is inherent. The overall evidence we review suggests that the widespread use of antidepressants in the new "SSRI-era" appear to have actually led to highly significant decline in suicide rates in most countries with traditionally high baseline suicide rates. The decline is particularly striking for women who, compared with men, seek more help for depression. Recent clinical data on large samples in the US too have revealed a protective effect of antidepressant against suicide. We argue that the discrepancy between RCTs (in children) and national and clinical suicide statistics (in adults) may reside in new provocative data documenting high rates of unrecognized pseudo-unipolar mixed states particularly in juvenile, but also in adult, clinical populations. Such an interpretation accords well with equally provocative data that bipolar II (which is often "mixed" in nature) may well represent a particularly vulnerable clinical substrate for suicidality. In this respect, the widespread (at least in the psychiatric sector) augmentation of antidepressants with benzodiazepines, atypical antipsychotics or mood stabilizers may represent one situation where current practice is superior to evidence-based medicine. We conclude that rather than being a threat, the judicious clinical use of antidepressants actually does serve to effectively treat and indeed protect depressed patients from suicidal outcome. The fact of being in treatment with regular clinical follow-up appears beneficial as well.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

The close link between suicide attempts and mixed (bipolar) depression: implications for suicide prevention.

BACKGROUND: Previous reports have shown a significant relationship between suicide ideation and mixed depression. The aim of this study was to explore the prevalence and clinical characteristics of mixed depression among non-violent suicide attempters. METHODS: Using a structured interview (modified Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview) and assessing all the symptoms of 16 psychiatric diagnoses, the authors examined 100 consecutive nonviolent suicide attempters (aged 18-65) within 24 h after their attempts. Mixed depression was defined as a major depressive episode (MDE)/dysthymic disorder plus 3 or more co-occurring hypomanic symptoms, according to the definition validated by Akiskal and Benazzi [Akiskal, H.S., Benazzi, F., 2003a. Delineating depressive mixed states: Their therapeutic significance. Clin. Approaches Bipolar Disord. 2, 41-47, Akiskal, H.S., Benazzi, F., 2003b. Family history validation of the bipolar nature of depressive mixed states. J. Affect. Disord. 73, 113-122.]. RESULTS: Current mixed depression was present in 63.0% in the total sample, and in 70.8% among the 89 depressive suicide attempters. Irritability, distractibility and psychomotor agitation were present in more than 90% of the subjects with mixed depression. The rate of mixed depression was significantly higher among bipolar than non-bipolar depressive suicide attempters (90% vs. 62%). Patients with mixed depression had the following concurrent disorders: bipolar disorders 41.0%, panic disorder 30.0%, generalized anxiety disorder 89.0%, alcohol abuse/dependence 56.0%, and substance abuse 27.0%. Mixed depression versus non-mixed depression had the following significant associations (odds ratio=OR): females 2.4, bipolar II disorder 9.3, generalized anxiety disorder 41.3, irritability 101.6 and psychomotor agitation 61.1. LIMITATIONS: The study didn't include suicide attempters with very high risk of fatality. CONCLUSIONS: The important new finding of this study is the very high prevalence of mixed depression among depressed suicide attempters. The rates of mixed depression among bipolar and non-bipolar depressive suicide attempters were much higher than previously reported among nonsuicidal bipolar II and unipolar depressive outpatients, suggesting that suicide attempters come mainly from mixed depressives with predominantly bipolar II base. Irritability and psychomotor agitation were the strongest predictors of suicide attempt. From a public health standpoint, our data highlight the necessity of detecting and treating mixed (bipolar) depression in the prevention of suicidal behaviour.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

Suicide behaviour of patients treated with antidepressants.

Although antidepressants undoubtedly treat depression and decrease suicidality in case of severely ill depressives in the case of good clinical response, there is evidence that antidepressants can worsen depression and can increase suicidality in a very small subpopulation. Some individual case histories were published that of SSRIs can induce suicidal behaviour, mainly at the beginning of the treatment, during akathisia, restlessness and agitation. Some clinical trials suggested that provocation of suicidality could be a serious side-effect of antidepressants. The almost double frequency of suicidal behaviour of patients on antidepressants compared to patients on placebo; it is in sharp contrast with the 2-6 fold lower suicide risk of antidepressant treatment versus untreated patients.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed2006

[Affective temperaments: psychometric properties of the Hungarian TEMPS-A].

The study examines the psychometric properties of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Autoquestionnaire (TEMPS-A) based on 717 (438 females and 279 males) healthy subjects in a Hungarian normative sample. The questionnaire is a self-report 110-item tool that postulates five affective temperaments: depressive, cyclothymic, irritable, hyperthymic, and anxious. Most of the TEMPS-A scales have excellent internal consistencies (0.78-0.84), except for the Depressive Temperament Scale, which had a Cronbach's alfa coefficient of 0.63. The item-analyses have identified a few deficient items which do not fit into the scale. In line with the literary data, women had higher mean scores on the depressive, cyclothymic, and anxious subscales, whereas men scored higher on the cyclothymic subscale. Cut-offs for each temperament were based on z-scores higher than + 2S.D. Dominant nervous-anxious (4.3%), depressive (3.8%), cyclothymic (3.2%), and irritable (3.2%) temperaments were the most common in this normative population, whereas dominant hyperthymic (1.8%) temperament was relatively uncommon. Factor analyses of the TEMPS-A items yielded considerable overlap between depressive and cognitive anxiety traits. The strongest correlation was observed between the anxious and the depressive temperament subscales in line with some international findings (r=0.62**). To test construct validity, we administered the Beck Depression Inventory, Profile of Mood States (shortened version) and the Cloninger Temperaments and Character Inventory, which all supported the validity of TEMPS-A subscales. Based on the results obtained with the Hungarian normative sample, the TEMPS-A is a reliable and valid instrument in personality psychology, and further refinement on clinical samples opens new and interesting research avenues.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2006

[Creativity and mental illness].

It has been known for a long time that people with salient social and artistic creativity suffer more frequently from psychiatric illnesses than the average population. In their review paper, the authors assess the Hungarian and international scientific literature regarding the association of creativity and psychopathology. They conclude that contrary to the concept prevailing in the first part of the 20th century about the strong association between schizophrenia and creativity, the results of empirical research now unambiguously suggest that prominent social and artistic creativity is associated primarily with affective, and more specifically with bipolar affective illnesses. In addition, we already know that as regards the development of creativity, it is not the given affective (depressive, manic, hypomanic) episode which is important, but the hyperthymic or cyclothymic temperament structure which also predisposes for affective illness.

Bipolar Disorder↗
PubMed2005

Agitated "unipolar" depression re-conceptualized as a depressive mixed state: implications for the antidepressant-suicide controversy.

BACKGROUND: The nosologic status of agitated depression is unresolved. Are they unipolar (UP) or bipolar (BP)? Are they mixed states? Even more controversial is the notion that antidepressants might play some role in the suicidality of such patients (Akiskal and Mallya, 1987) [Akiskal, H.S., Mallya, G., 1987. Criteria for the "soft" bipolar spectrum: treatment implications. Psychopharmacol Bull. 23, 68-73]. METHODS: After excluding all patients with history of hypomanic episodes occurring outside the frame of a major depressive episode (MDE), even those with a shorter duration of hypomanic symptoms than stipulated in DSM-IV, the remaining consecutive 254 unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) private adult (> 21 years old) outpatients were interviewed (off psychoactive drugs for 2 weeks) with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-CV), the Hypomania Interview Guide (HIGH-C), and the Family History Screen. Intra-MDE hypomanic symptoms were systematically assessed, with > or = 3 such symptoms required for a diagnosis of depressive mixed state (DMX). Agitated depression was defined as an MDE with HIGH-C psychomotor agitation score > or = 2. Logistic regression was used to study associations and control for confounding variables. RESULTS: In this strictly defined unipolar sample, agitated depression was present in 19.7%. Compared with its non-agitated counterpart, it had significantly fewer recurrences, less chronicity, higher rate of family history for bipolar disorder, and DMX; and, among the intra-depressive non-euphoric hypomanic symptoms (in decreasing order of frequency), distractibility, racing/crowded thoughts, irritable mood, talkativeness, and risky behavior. The most striking finding was the robust association between agitated depression and DMX (OR = 36.9). Furthermore, patients with psychomotor agitation had significantly higher rate of weight loss and suicidal ideation. Of DMX symptoms, we found an association between suicidal ideation, psychomotor activation, and racing thoughts. Agitated depression was tested by forward stepwise logistic regression versus all variables significantly different in the pairwise comparisons, yielding DMX, talkativeness, and suicidal ideation as the independent significant positive predictors. LIMITATIONS: No suicidal ideation scale was used. CONCLUSIONS: Agitated depression emerges as a distinct affective syndrome with weight loss, pressure of speech, racing thoughts and suicidal ideation. Psychomotor activation and racing thoughts during MDD independently predicted suicidal ideation. In this "unipolar" MDD sample, agitated depression had a strong clustering of intra-episode non-euphoric hypomanic symptoms (i.e. DMX) which, coupled with its association with bipolar family history, support its link with the bipolar spectrum. Agitated depression is therefore best regarded as "pseudo-unipolar." These findings overall accord with classical German concepts of agitated depression as a mixed state. Given that these patients are typically activated along the lines of risk-taking behavior, Kraepelin's rubric of "excited (mixed) depression" appears to us the preferred terminology over "agitated depression". CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: The data reported herein, placed in the setting of the literature reviewed in the discussion suggest that the reports of increased risk of suicidal ideation and/or behavior in some depressed patients treated by antidepressant monotherapy or combinations thereof might be attributed to baseline psychomotor activation/agitation as part of an unrecognized bipolar mixed state. Whether antidepressants induce de novo suicidality in MDD cannot be answered without adequately powered prospective double-blind studies, unlikely to be conducted because of ethical constraints. Nonetheless, we submit that agitated, activated, or otherwise excited depressions (which we consider as depressive mixed states) overlap considerably with the so-called antidepressant "activation syndrome." Furthermore, the rare occurrence of suicidality on antidepressants should not obscure the fact that the advent of the new antidepressants is associated with worldwide decline in suicide rates. We finally wish to point out that our formal nosology (i.e. DSM-IV and ICD-10), in its failure to recognize the bipolar nature of depressive mixed states, thereby fails to shield pseudo-unipolar patients from antidepressant monotherapy, which is inappropriate for such patients.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

[1+1 or 2x1? Another form of dual antidepressive mechanism of action].

The primary aim of this review is to summarize the result of clinical trials comparing tricyclic antidepressants with first generation SSRIs, dual action (serotonergic and noradrenergic) agents like venlafaxine or mirtazapine with SSRIs and escitalopram with other SSRIs and venlafaxine. The review analyzes the relationship between the clinical efficacy and tolerability data and the mode of action. The clinical data suggest that multiple mode of action can substantially improve efficacy, however the relative risk of side-effects also increases if a drug affects multiple neurotransmitters. A new opportunity of development is the molecule of escitalopram introduced to the market some years ago. Its unique dual action on serotonergic transmission offers improved efficacy without compromising the favourable side-effect profile due to selectivity. Based on clinical trials escitalopram shows improved efficacy, faster onset of action and higher remission rates compared to first generation SSRIs. Remission rates with escitalopram are at least as high as with venlafaxine and escitalopram shows faster onset of action, earlier sustained remission and better tolerability. The good clinical efficacy data of escitalopram may be explained by its unique dual serotonergic effect on serotonin transporter protein.

Adrenergic Uptake Inhibitors↗
PubMed2004

Parkinson's disease and depression.

The prevalence of depression in Parkinson's disease is around 40%, but, unfortunately, such depression is frequently unrecognized and untreated. However, recognition and appropriate treatment of depression in patients with Parkinson's disease is essential for clinical practice. This review focuses on the epidemiology, pathophysiology and treatment of depression associated with Parkinson's disease.

Depression↗
PubMed2004

[Review of antidepressants from the TCAs to the third generation drugs].

Standpoints regarding the pathomechanism of unipolar major depressive disorder (MDD) and the relevant pharmaco-therapeutical possibilities are discussed in the paper. Generations of the antidepressants from the tri- and teracyclic drugs (TCAs) to the modern, dual-acting antidepressants, including the still popular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are surveyed in more detailed. Pharmacodynamic properties of each antidepressant subgroup with the therapeutical benefits, the occasional side-effects and with some characteristic features of the detailed ingredients in certain cases are emphasized. Some benefits and possible disadvantages regarding the combinations are also discussed briefly. The main aim of this review is to give an objective approach to the psychiatrists in order to choose the best and optimal pharmaco-therapeutical method in their daily practice.

Antidepressive Agents↗
PubMed2004

Suicide prevention strategies--a brief review.

Since suicide is a very complex, multicausal human behaviour, its prevention should also be complex. The prediction of suicide is very difficult at the level of the general population, but it is much easier among patients with certain mental disorders, because most persons who kill themselves have diagnosable and treatable psychiatric disorders. This article reviews the most important biological and non-biological suicide prevention strategies.

Age Distribution↗
PubMed2003

Possible effect of gender and season on the length of hospitalisation in unipolar major depressives.

BACKGROUND: Seasonal variation as well as gender differences of several phenomena of affective disorders are a common topic of interest. METHODS: The authors analysed the possible effect of season and gender on the length of hospital stay in 529 in-patients with unipolar major depressive episode. RESULTS: Age and menopausal status alone did not influence the length of hospitalisation but there was a statistical tendency (only for females) for the shortest hospital stay in summer, that reached significance in females younger than 50 years. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a possible seasonal and gender effect on recovery from major depression. LIMITATIONS: Retrospective nature of the study, lack of systematic assessment of clinical response and no data collection about marital status and living conditions, that also can influence the time of discharge.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Bipolar disorders and suicidal behaviour.

Major depressive disorder is the leading cause of suicide, particularly in the absence of adequate treatment. The aim of this paper is to analyse the relationship between different forms of major mood disorders and suicidal behaviour. Population-based epidemiological surveys as well as clinical studies on the clinically explorable suicide risk factors in bipolar and unipolar depressive disorders are reviewed. The present literature shows that patients with bipolar disorders are at higher risk of attempted and completed suicide than that of patients with unipolar major depression. Contrasting only bipolar I and bipolar II patients, current findings indicate that the rate of prior suicide attempt is higher in bipolar II patients, and bipolar II disorder is overrepresented in depressed suicide victims. Among patients with different clinical manifestations of major mood disorders (unipolar major depression. bipolar I and bipolar II disorder), bipolar patients in general, and bipolar II subjects in particular carry the highest risk of suicide.

Bipolar Disorder↗