Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0917801 (insomnia)
 10,606 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The responsibility of the folate deficiency in some neuropsychiatric disorders is recent knowledge. The role of the folate on the nervous system is not yet well definite, but the action on the metabolism of the amino-acids, on the purine and the pyrimidine synthesis and on the metabolism of the catecholamins are certainly essential. The neuropsychiatric diseases secondary to the folate deficiency are numerous: dementia, schizophrenia like syndromes, insomnia, irritability, forgetfulness, endogenous depression, organic psychosis, pueperal psychosis, peripheral neuropathy, myelopathy (spinal cord syndrome and/or pyramidal tract damage), restless legs syndrome. Clinically the diagnosis may be difficult with sub acute combined degenration secondary to the pernicious anaemia, and the dosage of the folate (in serum, in red-cells and in cerebrospinal fluid) is necessary. The congenital defects in the uptake or utilization of the folate are associated with neuropsychiatric disturbances. The treatment is easy and safe if the vitamin B12 deficiency is eliminated and if employed with caution in epileptic patients because folate can induced seizures.
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PMID:[Folate and the nervous system (author's transl)]. 22 16

Increased intracranial pressure and papilledema are occasionally observed in patients harboring spinal tumors in the cervical region or at the craniocervical junction, and the mechanical obstruction to the cerebrospinal fluid circulation is assumed to be responsible for such symptoms and signs. However, increased intracranial pressure is very rare in spinal tumors locating in the dorso-lumbar region; only 44 such cases having been reported in the literature. Recently we saw a 58-year-old female who presented with three brief episodes of loss of consciousness associated with nausea and vomiting, progressive dementia and insomnia. Neurologic examination disclosed an early papilledema, weakness of both legs and dementia. A left carotid angiogram revealed a small aneurysm arising from C2 segment of the internal carotid artery. Right carotid and bilateral vertebral angiograms were not contributory. The aneurysm was clipped at the first operation. The aneurysm was found apparently unruptured. A ventriculoperitoneal shunt failed to improve her dementia. Finally, a total myelographic block was found at L1 level, and a neurinoma arising from the right D12 was removed. After this, all symptoms and signs disappeared within 3 weeks. Pertinent literature on the low spinal cord tumor associated with an intracranial pressure was reviewed and the mechanism of the elevation of intracranial pressure in such cases were discussed.
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PMID:[Thoraco-lumbar spinal tumor associated with papilledema (author's transl)]. 91 17

Thalamic degenerations or dementias are poorly understood conditions. The familial forms are (1) selective thalamic degenerations and (2) thalamic degenerations associated with multiple system atrophy. Selective thalamic degenerations share clinical and pathologic features with fatal familial insomnia, an autosomal dominant disease linked to a mutation at codon 178 of the prion protein (PrP) gene that causes the substitution of asparagine for aspartic acid (178Asn mutation). We amplified the carboxyl terminal coding region of the PrP gene from subjects with selective thalamic dementia or thalamic dementia associated with multiple system atrophy. Three of the four kindreds with selective thalamic dementia and none of the three kindreds with thalamic dementia associated with multiple system atrophy had the PrP 178Asn mutation. Thus, analysis of the PrP gene may be useful in diagnosing the subtypes of thalamic dementia. Moreover, since selective thalamic dementia with the PrP 178Asn mutation and fatal familial insomnia share clinical and histopathologic features, we propose that they are the same disease.
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PMID:Analysis of the prion protein gene in thalamic dementia. 135 93

Despite some evidence that neuroleptic medication is overused or misused in long-term care facilities for the elderly, there has been virtually no attention paid to the pattern of use of antidepressants in these facilities. All patients in long-term care in a geriatric hospital and a home for the aged who were receiving antidepressants were identified; 10.5% of the patients in the hospital and 12.7% in the home for the aged were receiving an antidepressant. The rate of use of antidepressants on the different units ranged from 0% to 26.8%. The most commonly prescribed antidepressant was doxepin followed by nortriptyline. The mean dose of antidepressant was 34.8 mg. Although depression was the most common reason for the prescription of an antidepressant (69% of patients receiving one), other reasons included pain, agitation, aggression, and insomnia. Patients had been receiving antidepressants for up to 10 years, with a mean duration of 32 months. The majority of patients (60%) had a history of depression predating their institutional admission. Patients receiving antidepressants were compared to a group not receiving antidepressants, who were matched for age, sex, unit, and attending physician. Patients receiving antidepressants were more likely to have a history of stroke (33.8% versus 16.9%). There was no significant difference between the two groups regarding the prevalence of dementia, Parkinson's disease, thyroid disease, malignant tumor, congestive heart failure, or diabetes mellitus. Prospective studies are required to determine the efficacy of antidepressants in this population and to identify factors that can predict a positive response to treatment.
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PMID:Pattern of use of antidepressants in long-term care facilities for the elderly. 141 68

Health conditions of primary caregivers for elderly aged 65 and over living at home were surveyed. Subjects were 167 caregivers in Osaka prefecture. Results obtained were as follows. 1) The primary caregivers were largely associated with and varied with the sex of the cared elderly. The caregivers for the female elderly were almost daughters-in-law or daughters. The caregivers for the male elderly were mostly their elderly wives. 2) Seventy-five percent of the caregivers had health complaints, such as anxiety for health, physical fatigue, lower back pain, sleeplessness, or emotional fatigue. 3) Logistic regression analysis was used to statistically analyze factors in the home care environment. Health conditions of the caregivers showed significant correlation with age of caregivers, sex of the elderly, degree of dementia, and number of family members.
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PMID:[Health conditions of caregivers of elderly living at home and the influence of factors present in the home care environment]. 146 43

The elderly have more organic sleep problems disturbing sleep and contributing to insomnia than younger individuals. The most common disorders afflicting the elderly are obstructive sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and nocturnal myoclonus. Poor sleep habits often aggravate or contribute to the ongoing difficulty with sleeping. In the depressed elderly, characteristic EEG changes occur that may help distinguish major depression from pseudodementia; however, it should be considered that pseudodementia may be a harbinger of primary dementia. A careful sleep history and often evaluation by polysomnography are central to the management of sleep problems in the elderly. In conjunction with treatment of any underlying organic sleep disorders, brief administration of short-acting benzodiazepine sedatives for sleep onset insomnia or rapid-acting intermediate half-life benzodiazepines for sleep maintenance insomnia can be quite helpful in the elderly, especially if behavioral techniques also are employed. Elimination of medications, alcohol, and caffeine, which disturb sleep, is also an important part of the treatment approach.
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PMID:Sleep disorders in geriatric patients. 160 Apr 90

Quality of sleep influences the level of daytime functioning, including stress levels, psychosomatic complaints, general health, and overall well-being. As people age, they complain more about disturbed sleep, insomnia, increased time in bed, and sleep fragmentation. These complaints can be related to circadian rhythm desynchronization, hypnotic or other medication use, chronic bedrest, napping, dementia, or to sleep apnea, a disorder of respiratory cessation which is quite prevalent in the elderly. We review here the results of 12 years of research on sleep in the elderly. In studies of three populations of elderly, it was found that between 24% and 42% had five or more apneas per hour of sleep and 4%-14% had 20 or more apneas per hour of sleep. Since apnea is related to dementia and even to mortality, this high prevalence of apnea is of extreme importance.
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PMID:Prevalent sleep problems in the aged. 176 Apr 57

Depression is highly prevalent in the elderly and there are difficulties with definition and diagnosis. The signs and symptoms of depression may differ from those in younger patients since the elderly are frequently preoccupied with physical ailments and may have more agitation, insomnia and hypochondriasis. The aetiology and cause of depression and its association with psychosocial and other risk factors are discussed, with particular reference to masked depression, depressive delusional illness and 'pseudo dementia'. A range of treatments have been used in depressive patients, including psychotherapy, cognitive therapy, ECT and various drug treatments. In the elderly drugs may cause more problems than in younger patients. These can be divided into those associated with: pharmacokinetics, polypharmacy, side effects, dosage and lethality. Trials of antidepressants in the elderly are discussed and include trials with tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors and SSRIs. Particular reference is made to a trial of fluvoxamine versus mianserin in the elderly, which demonstrated that fluvoxamine is as effective as mianserin in treating depression, and has fewer side effects.
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PMID:The elderly depressed and treatment with fluvoxamine. 180 33

Three studies were conducted on elderly patients with dementia. A case of control study on life styles before falling ill revealed that "intake of sweets" was significantly associated with clinically diagnosed dementia of the Alzheimer's type. Evaluation of treatments of outpatients suggests that proper care and some kinds of neuroleptics are useful for alleviation of abnormal behavior such as agitation, wandering, hallucination, insomnia and depression, but not for improvement of cognitive function and memory. A study on caregivers of elderly demented patients was undertaken to determine the relationship between the components of burden and symptoms of patients. Insomnia and abnormal behavior of patients correlated with physical and mental components of the burden of caregivers. Memory disturbance, psychological symptoms and deterioration in ADL correlated with physical burden. These studies indicate that symptoms accompanying dementia such as insomnia, wandering, hallucination and agitation should be the treated intensively for the purpose of improvement of the quality of the lives of patients and caregivers.
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PMID:[Prevention and treatment of dementia: what should we do today?]. 194 24

Sleep structure is qualitatively and quantitatively changed by aging. The elderly usually go to bed in early evening and wake up in early morning, and they also take several naps in the day time. The polyphasic sleep is one of the typical sleep patterns found in the elderly. Comparing the sleep of the elderly with that of young adults by the method of polysomnography, the characteristics of the sleep of the elderly are in the prolongation of sleep latency, shortening of total sleep time, increase of Stage W and Stage 1, decrease of Stage 3 and 4, and also decrease of Stage REM and the advance of REM phase. Insomnia is a frequently observed symptom in the elderly. The so-called psychophysiological insomnia due to transient psychological or situational stress is common in the elderly. However, insomnia following the mental disturbance (depression), chronic use of drug or alcohol, dementia (vascular or Alzheimer type) are also important in the elderly. Sleep apnea syndrome is recently found as an important cause of insomnia. Concerning the treatment and prevention of insomnia, it is necessary to exclude the causes of insomnia, to improve the environmental conditions and to keep the regular rhythm of sleep-wake cycle. It is also important to carefully select and use the adequate hypnotics considering the pharmacokinetics and adverse effects of the drugs in the elderly.
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PMID:[Sleep disturbance in the elderly]. 219 Nov 61


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