Tag: Zaheer

Reading of the Week: ADHD & Substance Outcomes – the New JAMA Psych Paper; Also, Suicide & the Impact on Psychiatrists and Foulkes on Her Anxiety & Our Times

From the Editor

Stimulants are commonly prescribed to children with ADHD. Do they protect kids against future substance misuse? Or, having been exposed early to stimulants, are these patients more likely to develop substance problems in adulthood?

Past studies have attempted to answer these questions but have been limited by study design. In a new JAMA Psychiatry paper, Brooke S. G. Molina (of the University of Pittsburgh) and her co-authors take a fresh look. In a cohort study involving 547 students, some of whom were treated with stimulants while others received behavioural therapy during the first period, Molina et al. look at outcomes when these participants are in their mid 20s. “This study found no evidence that stimulant treatment was associated with increased or decreased risk for later frequent use of alcohol, marijuana, cigarette smoking, or other substances used for adolescents and young adults with childhood ADHD.” We consider the study and its implications.

In the second selection, Dr. Juveria Zaheer (of the University of Toronto) discusses patient suicide in a new Quick Takes podcast interview. Focusing on the impact on psychiatrists and residents of psychiatry, she draws from the literature, including a study she recently senior authored for The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. She notes common reactions by psychiatrists and residents, including guilt and shock. And Dr. Zaheer talks about her own experience. “I’ll never forget when it happened.” 

And in the third selection, Lucy Foulkes (of the University of Oxford) writes about anxiety and current approaches. In a Guardian essay, she notes her own history as an “anxious teen” and wonders if life is better for today’s adolescents, with awareness campaigns but not necessarily meaningful services. “We are now in a situation where many teens know or believe they are anxious but aren’t getting the help they need to manage it.”

The Reading of the Week has formal partnerships with 14 postgraduate programs and, today, we welcome PGY1s who are joining us from across Canada.

DG

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Reading of the Week: Aromatherapy for Insomnia? Also, Ramadan and Mental Health and Responding to Vaccine History

From the Editor

“Sleep is one of the indispensable needs of human beings and is essential for maintaining physical and mental health.”

So writes Yueheng Tang (of the Huazhong University of Science and Technology) and co-authors in a new paper on insomnia. That topic is always relevant; with a third wave and the ongoing stresses of the pandemic, more people than ever seem to be struggling with insomnia. In the past few weeks, I’ve received a flurry of questions from patients and non-patients about remedies for insomnia.

What to make of aromatherapy? It’s trendy – but is it evidence based? In a new paper for the Journal of Affective Disorders, Tang et al. consider aromatherapy which “has a long history in China, and it has been used to strengthen the body and treat diseases since ancient times.” They conduct a meta-analysis, drawing on sixteen articles. They find: “Aromatherapy has a significant effect on improving sleep quality.” We consider the paper and ask: should we recommend this to our patients?

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In the second selection, we look at a new podcast that explores Ramadan and its clinical implications. In this Quick Takes episode, I’m joined by Drs. Juveria Zaheer and Zainab Furqan (both of the University of Toronto). They discuss fasting, mental disorders, and offer some suggestions. For example, with drug regiments: “if a medication is dosed twice daily, we can ask if it can be given safely during the interval when the interval between doses is shortened? So can we give it then in the evening or at dawn and then at sunset again? Or can we give it as one dose? And we need to think about the side effects of the medication.”

Finally, in our third selection, a reader writes us. Dr. Suze G. Berkhout (of the University of Toronto) responds to the paper by Drs. Angela Desmond and Paul A. Offit considering the history of vaccines. “The story the authors tell is history as it is written by the victors: emphasizing the hard work and successes of scientists, while failing to acknowledge the ways in which vaccine technologies have also been part of an exclusionary politics of biomedicine.”

Note that there will be no Reading next week.

DG

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Reading of the Week: Trends in Suicide Mortality in Canada (CJP); also, Suicide Prevention (Quick Takes) and Lawrence on Her Depression (Guardian)

From the Editor

Suicide is often discussed, but what do we know about the overall rate of completions? We hear that there are more suicides in the United States over the past few years – but was does the Canadian data say?

In the first selection, we consider a new paper by Mélanie Varin (of Indigenous Services Canada) and her co-authors. Drawing on a Canadian database, they consider suicide mortality. The good news: the suicide rate in Canada decreased by 24.0% between 1981 and 2017. But, in recent years, there hasn’t been a further decline.So – is the glass half full or half empty?

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In the second selection, we look further at suicide, considering a new podcast discussing suicide and suicide prevention. I talk with Dr. Juveria Zaheer (of the University of Toronto) about COVID-19, the literature, and, yes, her suggestions for clinical interviews. “If you have a room of one hundred people, one hundred people in that room have been affected by suicide.”

Dr. Rebecca Lawrence is a UK psychiatrist and we can assume that she has done many suicide risk assessments. In a Guardian essay – our third selection – she tells her story: as a person who struggled with mental illness, then made the decision to become a psychiatrist. “If my story helps anyone unsure of their capacity to take on the job, or worried about the ‘dark secret’ of their own psychological troubles, then I think it’s worth telling.”

DG

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Reading of the Week: Should Medical Education Stay in Its Lane? Drs. Zaheer and Berkhout Respond

From the Editor

Should medical education “stay in its lane?”

Two weeks ago, we discussed an essay by the University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. Stanley Goldfarb who warns that: “Curricula will increasingly focus on climate change, social inequities, gun violence, bias and other progressive causes only tangentially related to treating illness.”

This week, we feature two letters to the editor responding to this essay, both original content for the Reading of the Week, and both from physicians affiliated with the University of Toronto.

Drawing on the medical literature and her life experience, Dr. Juveria Zaheer wonders what makes a medical expert or a physician scientist. “Being a medical expert or a physician scientist isn’t just about learning about biology – it’s about committing to the creation of a society where every life is worth living.”

Looking at medicine and philosophy, Dr. Suze G. Berkhout questions the basic assumptions of Dr. Goldfarb’s argument. “Goldfarb misrepresents the place of values in shaping scientific and medical knowledge.”

2012_canada_highwayoftears_0Staying in Your Lane: Good for Drivers, not Med Ed?

Both letters are thoughtful and worth reading.

DG

 
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Reading of the Week: Ramadan and Mental Health Care – What are the Clinical Considerations?

From the Editor

For some patients, it carries deeply religious meaning. For others, it will be a time for reflection. And for us clinicians, it must be thought of in terms of patients’ management.

As our Muslim patients begin Ramadan, there are implications for care. About 80% of Muslims in North America will fast. Should medication times change? Would sleep be disrupted? Are patients on lithium at greater risk of toxicity? In a new paper, Dr. Zainab Furqan – a resident in the University of Toronto’s Department of Psychiatry – joins co-authors from three countries in considering Ramadan and care. They note that several groups are exempt from fasting but “many people who are exempt from fasting due to illness choose to fast during this month due to the spiritual significance of Ramadan for Muslim communities.”

They write: “It is important for clinicians not to undermine the importance of this spiritual practice for their patients.”

newmoon11A small moon and big challenges for care?

In this week’s Reading, we consider their new paper.

And an invitation: the Reading of the Week series invites guest contributions. If this is of interest, please let me know.

DG

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