Creativity linked to mental illness
People in creative professions
are treated more often for mental illness as compared to the general
population as there is a particularly salient connection between writing and
schizophrenia, researchers say.
Last year, the Karolinska Institutet team showed that
artists and scientists were more common amongst families where bipolar disorder and schizophrenia is
present, compared to the population at large.
They subsequently expanded their study to many more
psychiatric diagnoses like schizoaffective disorder, depression, anxiety syndrome, alcohol
abuse, drug abuse, autism, ADHD, anorexia nervosa and suicide - and to include people in outpatient care
rather than exclusively hospital patients.
The present study tracked almost 1.2 million patients and their relatives, identified down to second-cousin level. Since all were matched with healthy controls, the study incorporated much of the Swedish population from the most recent decades.
The present study tracked almost 1.2 million patients and their relatives, identified down to second-cousin level. Since all were matched with healthy controls, the study incorporated much of the Swedish population from the most recent decades.
All data was anonymized and cannot be linked to any
individuals.
The results confirmed those of their previous study -
certain mental illness - bipolar disorder - is more prevalent in the entire
group of people with artistic or scientific professions, such as dancers,
researchers, photographers and authors.
Authors specifically also were more common among most of the
other psychiatric diseases (including schizophrenia, depression, anxiety
syndrome and substance abuse) and were almost 50 per cent more likely to commit
suicide than the general population. The researchers also observed that
creative professions were more common in the relatives of patients with
schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anorexia nervosa and, to some extent, autism.
According to Simon Kyaga, consultant in psychiatry and
doctoral student at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics,
the results give cause to reconsider approaches to mental illness. "If one
takes the view that certain phenomena associated
with the patient's illness are beneficial, it opens the way for a new approach
to treatment," he said.
"In that case, the doctor
and patient must come to an agreement on what
is to be treated, and at what cost. In psychiatry and medicine generally there
has been a tradition to see the disease in black-and-white terms and to
endeavour to treat the patient by removing everything regarded as morbid,"
Kyaga added.
Source: www.timesofindia.com
22.10.2012
Pre-scan preparation
must before CT, MRI scans
An allergic reaction to a dye administered before
computed tomography (CT) resulted in a patient’s death. It’s believed the
patient died of multiple organ failure. Experts warn it is essential to
pre-scan the patient for conditions like asthma, lung ailments, etc. so that
pre-scan drugs can be given to ensure no complications arise after
administrating the dye.
Doctors
are now stressing upon the importance of pre-scan preparation. This comes in
the wake of the death of a patient in JJ Hospital allegedly due to an allergic
reaction to a dye administered before computed tomography (CT) scan last week.
The dye is administered intravenously and helps in identifying inflammation,
cysts and other abnormalities.
According
to doctors there was an adverse reaction after the administration of the dye
owing to the patient’s multi-system disorder. The batch of the dye medication
has since been sent to the state FDA which will analyse the samples.
‘Most
hospitals have a standard operating procedure whereby the patient’s consent is
taken before administering the dye. It is essential to know the patient’s
history and identify conditions like asthma, lung ailments, etc. Accordingly,
pre-scan drugs are given to ensure no complications arise after administrating
the dye,’ said Dr Subhash Ramani, professor and radiologist at Tata Memorial
Hospital, The Indian Express quoted.
Contrast
dyes cause side effects such as nausea, skin infection and dizziness. The
percentage of deaths is small. Doctors say patients with existing additional
conditions need to exercise extra caution as they already have a compromised
immune system.
Dr
Suleman Merchant, head of the radiology department of Sion Hospital said,
‘Death due to contrast reaction is not unheard of. If a patient’s medical
condition is that of borderline failure, especially the renal chemistry, then
administering the dye can result in complete failure leading to death.’
Source: http://health.india.com
22.10.212
We are made wise
not by the recollection of our past, but by the responsibility for our future
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