mahya kaveh

Despite remarkable advancements in the use of embryo donation, concerns havearisen regarding its potential effects on the psychological well-being of children conceivedthrough this assisted reproductive technology and their parent-child relationships.   In a cross-sectional analytical study, the psychological adjustment of 31 children aged3 to 7 born through embryo donation was assessed and compared to 30 age-matched childrenfrom families who conceived naturally using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire.Parenting styles within these families were also evaluated using the Baumrind Parenting StylesInventory through clinical interviews.   Although 8 out of 31 children born through embryo donation (25.8%) and 3 out of 30children from natural conception families exhibited psychological maladjustment, this differencewas not statistically significant. Furthermore, parenting styles did not significantly differbetween the two groups. The absence of genetic parent-child relationships does not appear to be a dominantfactor influencing the psychological adjustment of children or parenting styles.

 Dementia presents with a variety of behavioral and psychiatric disorders, including a range of psychosis, anxiety, depression, behavioral aggression, and delirium.

 This study aimed to report a 74-year-old man showing gradually progressive deterioration in his memory for five years. The patient developed trichotillomania (TTM) subsequent to his dementia. Neuropsychological examination indicated the deficits to be more predominantly in the frontal lobe.

 This study reviewed the literature on TTM in dementia case reports that had mostly investigated the cases of right-handed men aged > 65 years. TTM Patients with underlying disease had not any improvement. Although there was some heterogeneous evidence for the presence of brain abnormalities in individuals with hair-pulling behavior, no definitive conclusion was drawn. Mild to severe generalized atrophy in the cerebral cortex was observed in the frontal, parietal, temporal, occipital, and cingulate lobes.

Abnormalities occurring in the glutamatergic system during obsessive-compulsive disorder, as a debilitating mental health condition, have been thus far illustrated. However, open-label and clinical trials of ketamine augmentation in limited subjects with treatment-refractory Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) have not documented very persistent anti-OCD effects. Therefore, this controlled trial was conducted on patients with treatment-refractory OCD to evaluate the therapeutic efficacy of ketamine augmentation, as a non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist. In this prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial, a total number of 30 subjects with treatment-refractory OCD were randomly assigned to either the group with the intravenous infusion of ketamine 0.5 mg/kg or the one receiving a dose of midazolam 0.045 mg/kg as an active placebo over 40 min. The OCD Visual Analog Scale (OCD-VAS) and the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) were also performed at mid-infusion, 1 h later, and on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th days following it.
The mean OCD-VAS score in the group taking ketamine was lower than the value in the group receiving midazolam during the treatment. Even though these differences were not significant, the trend of changes in each study group was considerable (P=0.001). Response to treatment in the ketamine group was significantly higher than the midazolam group on the third day of treatment (P=0.042). According to the findings of the present study, it can be stated that the adjuvant therapy with ketamine could bring significant positive effects on the third day of the treatment.

 Anxiety persists following coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and has caused dysfunction.

 We compared the effect of the online Balint group and pharmacotherapy on COVID-19-induced anxiety in Iranian healthcare workers (HCWs).

 In the current clinical trial in the north of Iran in 2021, the participants were randomly assigned to two groups, including the Balint group (eight 60-minute online sessions) and the pharmacotherapy group (sertraline), following a phone screening procedure by a psychiatrist. The groups filled out two questionnaires, namely the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale and Corona Disease Anxiety Scale, at baseline and after the intervention (fourth week).

 Forty-five HCWs were assessed. There was a significant difference in total anxiety score and also in sub-component in each group (P ≤ 0.001). No significant differences were observed regarding the effectiveness of both interventions in anxiety (P = 0.52); however, the pharmacotherapy interventions significantly affected the resilience and related subscales (P ≤ 0.05). The domain of spiritual influences significantly increased in the pharmacotherapy group (P = 0.031).

 Balint group and pharmacotherapy can improve COVID-19-induced anxiety and boost resilience in HCWs.