Internet and Psychiatry

The association of lethality of suicide attempts with platelet to lymphocyte ratio and mean platelet volume

May 31, 2020

Leo Sher, M.D. A research article, “High-lethality of suicide attempts associated with platelet to lymphocyte ratio and mean platelet volume in psychiatric inpatient setting” has been published in the World Journal of Biological Psychiatry online ahead of print (1). The authors examined several biological parameters in 259 suicide attempters and 164 suicide non-attempters (controls). Study […]

Fifteen years ago

A seasonal effect on cortisol levels in patients with major depression

May 4, 2020

Leo Sher, M.D. Our research paper, “Higher cortisol levels in spring and fall in patients with major depression” was published 15 years ago in the May 2005 issue of Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology & Biological Psychiatry (1). We examined whether there is a seasonal effect on clinical parameters, baseline cortisol and prolactin levels, and cortisol and […]

Ten years ago

The 2003 SARS outbreak and suicide among older adults

April 19, 2020

Leo Sher, M.D. A research article, “The impact of epidemic outbreak: the case of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and suicide among older adults in Hong Kong” was published 10 years ago in Crisis – The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention (1). There was a significant increase in suicide deaths among those aged […]

Editorials

Birth order: Clinical importance?

March 29, 2020

Gagandeep Kaur, M.D., Kanwarjeet Singh Brar, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Birth order is defined as the sequential order in which siblings are born (1). Discussion about this issue began in the 19th century (2). Since birth order confers a strong impact on development, inquire about birth order when eliciting a history. There are five variables […]

Editorials

COVID-19 – Brace for impact

March 29, 2020

Ahmed Adel Eladely, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Introduction SARS-CO-2 is a coronavirus causing a worldwide pandemic (1). First recognized in China, it spread, and in just three months has reached at least 199 countries. With an increasing number of people affected, by late-March there were well over 465,000 patients known to exhibit COVID-19 infections and […]

Editorials

Struggles in stepmother and stepchild relationships

March 29, 2020

Gagandeep Kaur, M.D., Kanwarjeet S. Brar, M.D., Steven B. Lippmann, M.D. Introduction Stepmother is a term that refers to a woman not someone’s biological mother (1). The Latin prefix “step” means orphan. A stepmother becomes a legal parent of a child only when the biological mother gives permission, is deceased, or has deserted the child; […]

The 18th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behavior (ESSSB 18) has been postponed

March 24, 2020

Leo Sher, M.D. The organizers of the 18th European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behavior (ESSSB 18) have notified that the ESSSB 18 has been postponed. The ESSSB 18 organizers state that “…due to the global crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic, we are forced to postpone the congress to a later date. The congress […]

Research news

Anhedonia as a clinical correlate of inflammation

March 22, 2020

Leo Sher, M.D. A research report, “Anhedonia as a clinical correlate of inflammation in adolescents across psychiatric conditions” has recently been published in the World Journal of Biological Psychiatry (1). Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York examined the relationships between a panel of inflammatory cytokines and key psychiatric […]

Fifteen years ago

Cerebrospinal fluid monoamine metabolites in depressed patients with or without comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and healthy controls

March 11, 2020

Leo Sher, M.D. Our research paper, “Higher cerebrospinal fluid homovanillic acid levels in depressed patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder” was published 15 years ago in the March 2005 issue of European Neuropsychopharmacology (1). In this study, we compared clinical features and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) monoamine metabolites in drug-free depressed subjects with a current major […]

Research news

Chest computed tomography findings in Coronavirus Disease -19

February 27, 2020

Leo Sher, M.D. A research report, “Chest CT findings in Coronavirus Disease -19 (COVID-19): Relationship to duration of infection” has been published in Radiology online ahead of print (1). Researchers led by Dr. Adam Bernheim from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York examined chest CTs of 121 symptomatic patients infected […]