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Chronic kidney failure is characterized by irreversible kidney function damage, with a slow and progressive evolution until reaching terminal uremia. Epidemiologically, this disease has become an increasing public health problem due to its increasing numbers. Objective. To identify variables predicting psychiatric symptoms in patients with chronic renal failure undergoing hemodialysis treatment. Method. The sample consisted of thirty participants, with a mean age of 60 years, who completed the Psychosocial Functioning, Psychological resources, Family relations, Coping with stress scales and a Symptom Inventory. Additionally, thirty informal primary caregivers, with a mean age of 47 years, answered the Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale. Results. The main identified psychiatric symptoms were depression and somatization. Regarding psychiatric symptoms, the prediction models revealed that the highest percentages of explained variance occurred in somatization and anxiety. Discussion. It is necessary to carry out and further evaluate psychological interventions to improve patients' and caregivers' quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past years, psychopathology has frequently been represented as a complex system, where psychiatric symptoms are causally interconnected in a network architecture. The network theory of psychopathology has led to more than 300 novel publications, academic courses, methodology for estimating novel models, and freely available software. However, despite the success of this novel research avenue, all relevant information has mostly been published in English. This paper translates the network theory of psychopathology and its model, together with its relevance for research and clinical practice of psychology and psychiatry, to the Spanish language. To serve the dissemination of this theory, this paper serves as an introductory paper for Spanish scholars, for example, as a starting point to learn more about the approach or for academic courses. The main idea of the network theory of psychopathology is that the activation of one clinical symptom in the network leads to the activation of a neighboring symptom. If symptoms are strongly connected with each other, for example, excessive worry and insomnia, they are more likely to be in the same state, meaning that if a person faces a stressful life event such as losing one's job, the activation of the symptom excessive worry will increase the probability they will also suffer from insomnia. In this way, a whole symptom activation pattern develops from which mental disorders emerge. Mental disorders are conceived as stable states of strongly connected symptom networks, allowing for a common explanatory model for multiple mental disorders, thereby providing a comprehensive model of psychopathology. Traditional representations of mental disorders conceptualize symptoms as merely passive indicators of latent, underlying mental disorders which act as common causes for patients' symptomatology. The network theory of psychopathology flips the explanatory and statistical model: instead of focusing on one underlying cause or underlying causes, it proposes to study the direct interactions between these symptoms. This imposes two important implications for the conceptualization of mental disorders. First, symptoms are no longer statistically exchangeable since every symptom can have a different role in the onset and development of psychopathology. Some symptoms can be more important than others in keeping the whole system "stuck" in a disordered state. Second, comorbidity is conceptualized as clustering symptoms which are connected to each other via certain "bridge symptoms". Bridge symptoms are symptoms which are attributed to two (or more) mental disorders, such as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). If a person suffers from symptoms of MDD, such as loss of motivation and depressed mood, this can lead to the activation of bridge symptoms such as fatigue and concentration problems, which by themselves lead to the activation of GAD symptoms such as irritability and excessive worry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Médica Clínica Las Condes is the property of Editorial Sanchez y Barcelo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Revista Médica Clínica Las Condes is the property of Editorial Sanchez y Barcelo and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Parkinson disease (PD) is considered a movement disorder; nonetheless its current conception includes a series of non-motor symptoms comprising neurocognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms. The objective of the present review is to offer an updated perspective of PD associated cognitive and psychiatric symptoms. The spectrum of cognitive dysfunction includes mild cognitive impairment and PD associated dementia, while the most common psychiatric symptoms include depression, anxiety, apathy, psychosis and impulse control disorders. The neurobiological base of cognitive and psychiatric features in PD involves dysfunction of corticosubcortical circuitry, as well as different neurotransmitter systems, especially monoaminergic and cholinergic systems. Cognitive and psychiatric features in PD have a relevant detrimental effect in the quality of life of patients and caregivers. Furthermore, the presence of such symptoms makes PD treatment a complex matter, in some cases restricting therapeutic options; timely identification and management in therefore relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chorea-acanthocytosis is an uncommon neurodegenerative disorder, usually with a low rate of progression. It is characterized by Huntington disease-like involuntary movements, cognitive decline, behavioral changes, seizures and polyneuropathy. Chorea-acanthocytosis belongs to the group of neuroacanthocytosis syndromes, a group of genetically defined diseases associated with progressive degeneration of the basal ganglia and peripheral red blood cell acanthocytes. The onset of the disease is variable in its manifestations and psychiatric symptoms may dominate the clinical picture. Case report: A 48-year-old woman with a history of seizures since age 35 developed behavioral and affective changes that led to her referral to our mental health unit. She had an unsteady gait, motor clumsiness, emotional instability and impulsivity. Personality changes related with medical illness were diagnosed despite a normal neurological survey. Subsequent development of choreic involuntary movements, evidence of striatal atrophy on MRI and detection of acanthocytes in a peripheral blood smear allowed diagnosis. The role of the basal ganglia in psychiatric manifestations and the pathophysiology of chorea-acanthocytosis are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Asperger's Syndrome (AS) forms part of the whole spectrum of autistic disorders. Until recently it has not been studied in early ages. The aim of this study is to determine the AS's prevalence of symptoms in general preschool, rural and urban population. In addition, the association of the development areas and symptoms of anxiety and the presence of symptoms of AS was analized. The sample of this study consisted in 1104 preschool children between 3-6 years old. The presence of AS's symptoms was evaluated by a screening tool for psychiatric disorders. This tool was The prevalence of symptoms of AS for parents and teachers was 11.7‰ and 8.1‰, respectively. The presence of AS's symptoms was associated with language compression delays, general and fine motor coordination, self-help skills and impairment in game activities. In addition, our results showed that the AS has a strong association with specific phobia symptoms and tics. We conclude that an early detection of AS's symptoms is possible since we found similar prevalence described in other recent researches. Given the impairment associated with AS, its detection is highly recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuropsychiatric manifestations (NPM) are found in approximately 25% of children and adolescents with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). In 70%, the involvement of MNP will be in the first year from the time of diagnosis. The most common manifestations are: headache (66%), psychosis (36%), cognitive dysfunction (27%) and stroke (24%). Factors associated with neuropsychiatric involvement include: autoantibodies such as lymphotoxin, cytoplasmic membrane, antineural, antirribosomal P, antineurofilamen-to, and high levels of cytokines (interferon alpha and interleukin 6). The antiphospholipid antibodies may be implicated in the pathogenesis of various manifestations of SLE NP including chorea, stroke and seizures. The treatment is based mainly on immunosuppressive drugs in combination with high doses of prednisone and second line agents such as cyclophosphamide or azathioprine. The development of children with LES-NP is relatively good, overall survival is 95% to 97%; 20% of children experience an outbreak of disease in childhood and 25% have evidence of permanent neuropsychiatric damage. This review describes neuropsychiatric manifestations of SLE in pediatric age, the diagnosis challenges and current treatment options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]