Bjorn Melander and Friennds & other: 2008

Saturday 6 September 2008

Suicide Prevention And Antidepressants

�Antidepressants ar the cornerstone of treatment of depressive disorders in health care. Their efficaciousness in treating depression is undisputable, although it leaves room for improvement. However, recent reports also suggest that antidepressants might, in some uncommon cases, actually worsen suicidal tendencies instead of alleviating them. As a consequence, research has intensified to clarify this issue, and regulatory regime in many countries get reconsidered their cost-benefit ratio. While on that point is no doubt that such potential side-effects of antidepressant therapy are a very good issue, it is important to incur a balanced view of all the clinical and epidemiological facts pertaining the effect of antidepressant therapy in relation to suicidal behaviour.

Depression and risk of exposure of self-destructive behaviour

Suicide is a significant public health issue. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that annually just about one meg people world-wide complete self-annihilation. Thus, world-wide significantly more people die by suicide than e.g. in armed conflicts or as victims of terror, or tragic natural disasters such as earthquakes. Furthermore, completed suicides interpret only a tip of the crisphead lettuce of self-destructive behaviour, as for every completed suicide, there is more than ten-fold bit of nonfatal suicide attempts, and as many as almost one tenth of individuals world-wide, also in the EU, report having had suicidal ideation over their lifetime (Bernal et al., 2007; Nock et al., 2008).

In legion psychological necropsy studies conducted worldwide, more than 90% of subjects completing felo-de-se were shown to have suffered from mental disorders. Suicides hold multiple causes and should therefore not be seen as but consequences of mental disorders. Nevertheless, for health care, the hard relationship between mental disorders and suicides involves an obligation for prevention. Mood disorders, principally major depression and bipolar disorder, ar associated with about 60% of completed suicides (Mann et al., 2005). More than half of the subjects completing suicide during major natural depression communicate their intent during the last 3 months, and nigh all patients attempting suicide report self-destructive ideation (Isomets� et al., 1994; Sokero et al., 2003). This communication of intent allows prevention by appropriate handling and other measures. However, the problem faced by psychiatrists is a high number of suicidal patients and the difficulty of identifying those at highest risk of completion among them.

Among psychiatric patients with major depression, nonfatal suicidal behavior is outstandingly common. Almost half (virtually 40%) have attempted self-annihilation, and one half to two thirds of them (47%-69%) have suicidal ideation (Sokero et al., 2003; Malone et al., 1995) when depressed. The risk for suicide attempts is closely intertwined with the commonly recurrent course of depression; the risk is about octuple during a major depressive episode compared to periods of total remission (Sokero et al., 2005). The more metre a patient spends in a depressed state, the higher is the risk of self-destructive acts over time. Among depressed patients having self-destructive ideation, decline in self-destructive ideation is predicted by declines in the levels of both depressive symptoms as well as hopelessness (Sokero et al., 2006).

Thus, reduction the badness and the duration of a depressed state by antidepressant treatment is probable to be an effective preventive beat for suicidal acts, and alleviation of depression and hopelessness pot be moderately expected to result in disappearance of suicidal thoughts.

Suicide prevention strategies

Depression is present in more than half of suicides, simply in the majority of these suicides it has remained untreated at time of death (Isomets� et al, 1994; Henriksson et al., 2001). Even after a self-destruction attempt, depression often corpse unrecognized, untreated or undertreated (Oquendo et al., 2002).

The function of targeting depression for suicide bar has been highlighted in a world-wide review and consensus of leading authorities in felo-de-se research, in which the effectiveness of specific suicide-preventive interventions was examined: Only physician education in realisation and treatment of depression as well as constraining access to lethal means were intelligibly identified to prevent suicide, other interventions still need more examination (Mann et al., 2005). Thus, treating mood disorders and other psychiatric disorders is a central constituent of suicide prevention.

Improved recognition and treatment of depressed patients in primary care aboard improved admission to psychiatric services is a florida key prevention strategy for self-destruction.

Antidepressants and suicide peril: what is the evidence?

In numerous short-run randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of antidepressants for depression in children and adolescents ( First, short-term clinical trials are designed to produce statistical evidence of efficaciousness for regulative purposes, and their duration is only as retentive as necessary to give rise this evidence. Thus, the trial ends when the drug response has evolved. During the trial patients spend most of their weeks with possible incline effects, simply not so far full antidepressant drug response. With regard to suicidal behaviour, the benefits come with the response, gradually o'er time.

Second, for honourable reasons, subjects who are severely self-destructive at the time of evaluation for the run must be excluded, since they mightiness receive placebo. This changes the balance between discovered negative and positive personal effects with regard to self-destructive behaviour in these trials. Worsening of mild preexisting or newly emerging self-destructive behaviour can be normally detected. However, as nigh severely suicidal patients moldiness be excluded before a trial starts, it remains unknown whether they would benefit from the active treatment. As naturalistic studies do hint such improvement, this diagonal is not merely hypothetical. Antidepressant trials have not been intentional to look into suicidal behaviour, and they cannot allow for unbiased information on their overall effects related to it.

Third, factors resulting in short-term suicidal ideation, or even less dangerous suicide attempts do non necessarily consequence in significantly increased risk for realised suicide, as mental disorders and their symptoms related to completed suicides are usually more than severe. There is no evidence of increased rates completed suicides in antidepressant trials (Khan et al, 2003).

Fourth, clinical trials do not reflect usual treatment. In usual guardianship, the attending doctor crapper promptly discontinue antidepressants that involve unendurable side-effects, adapt dosage, and switch and combine agents. Antidepressants are only portion of handling, which should always include a trusting relationship between the doctor and the patient, with necessary support and psychosocial treatments.

The most important test for the role of antidepressants in suicide prevention is real life: In contrast to these randomized clinical trials, data-based studies of antidepressant intervention, which typically include profusely highly self-destructive patients, demonstrate a marked alleviation of suicidal behaviour in the vast legal age of patients. In clinical practice, the benefits of treatment are seen over time as the dose response consolidates. Patient population studies of adolescents report lower rates of self-destruction attempts and of adults both attempts and completions over time as discussion continues (Valuck et al., 2004; Jick et al., 2004; Simon et al., 2007; Sokero et al., 2006; Simon et al., 2006).

In many western countries (e.g. Korkeila et al., 2007), increasing use of antidepressants on the national and regional level expectedly correlates with declining suicide mortality. Of course, such ecological studies do non prove that antidepressants take caused the observed decline in suicides, but still, they are uniform with a positive or at worst, neutral net effect on suicides. Most importantly, there is no evidence for increased national suicide rates due to increased enjoyment of antidepressants.

Antidepressants reduce the rigourousness, and the time a patient spends in a depressive state, which ar credible factors in reduction the risk of exposure for self-destructive acts.

Clinical implications
Depression is the most important single factor predisposing to self-destruction, and more than than half of all subjects completing suicide are known to have suffered from clinical depression. Thus, any treatment that is widely available, safe and efficacious in alleviating depression is plausible for purposes of suicide bar.

Register-based and observational studies have provided individual-level information on down subjects on and off antidepressants in real life conditions: Compared to randomised clinical trials these studies give a more realistic account of risk of suicidal behavior, and intimate antidepressants to be good for self-destruction prevention.

While antidepressants likely have a potential for provoking suicidal behaviour in some vulnerable individuals in the early phases of treatment, from a public health perspective, the epidemiologically much more important upshot of antidepressants is to alleviate depression and thus reduce the risk of suicide.

This button is available in Spanish.

References

1. Bernal M, Haro JM, Bernert S, et al.; ESEMED/ MHEDEA Investigators. Risk factors for suicidality in Europe: results from the ESEMED

Wednesday 27 August 2008

Fall Out Boy to release 'Folie' on Nov. 4

Release escort coincides with U.S. election

Fall Out Boy will release its fifth album, "Folie a Deux," Nov. 4 via Island, the same day as the U.S. presidential election. The project was heralded Aug. 25 with the release of an online mixtape, "Welcome to the New Administration."

On it were five Fall Out Boy demos expected to seem on the album, including "Lake Effect Kid," "America's Sweethearts," "I Don't Care (27)," "ALPHAdog and OMEGAlomaniac" and "Catch Me if You Can/Proclamation of Emancipation," the latter featuring Gym Class Heroes' Travis McCoy.

The album's number one single, which has yet to be named, will hit radio Sept. 15, sources evidence Billboard.

"Folie a Deux" is the review to 2007's "Infinity on High," which has sold 1.3 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Thursday 7 August 2008

Foreign Beggars

Artist: Foreign Beggars

   Genre(s):
Rap: Hip-Hop
   Other

Discography:

Stray Point Agenda

Year: 2007
Tracks: 18

Bukkake Ski Trip

Year: 2006
Tracks: 18

Asylum Speakers

Year: 2003
Tracks: 21

Slow Broiled Ilk

Year:
Tracks: 5

Tuesday 1 July 2008

'Master Key(R) of Music: For Piano: The Foundation': The First Book of Its Kind to Take a Musical Newcomer Down the Path Towards Learning the True Language of Music

INDIANAPOLIS, June 25 -- "Master Key(R) of Music: For
Piano: The Foundation" (published by AuthorHouse --
http://www.authorhouse.com), presented by Musical DNA(R) Software, takes a
new approach to teaching musicians of all skill levels -- from the very
first steps -- down the path towards acquiring a circularly complete
fluency in the musical language.

"Master Key(R) of Music" is the first book in history to teach the
exact visual translation of the language of music -- color-coded to the
rainbow, geometrically precise, and interchangeable in two and three
dimensions -- as well as the correlating instrument fingerboards, the
accompanying multiple forms of musical notation (in the complete range of
every instrument) and the paralleled musical spellings of every shape --
all within a single manuscript.

The book starts in the simplest manner, by presenting one note at a
time (specifically, the 12 individual notes of the "Master Circle"), then
moves on to encompass two notes at a time (lines), three notes at a time
(triangles), four notes at a time (trapezoids) and finally the seven-note
master patterns musicians commonly refer to as the "Scales." Once the
reader has mastered these individual patterns, the book then explains how
all of these shapes fit together like pieces of a larger puzzle. This
effectively reveals -- in a more efficient manner than ever before -- the
true "backdrop" of our inherited musical language.

Acquiring a genuine proficiency in the musical "shapes" will result in
a more circularly complete fluency in the musical language, leading to
advanced levels of sight-reading, memorization, composition, transposition,
improvisation and musical exploration.

"Master Key(R) of Music" stands apart as the best educational tool and
resource workbook as well as a multi-faceted map of the language of music
that merits exploration by people of all skill levels and ages.

"Master Key(R) of Music" is the first book by Kenneth R. Lemons,
president and CEO of Musical DNA(R) Software, LLC. More information is
available at http://musicaldnasoftware.com.

Musical DNA(R) Software, LLC, an Indianapolis-based startup, is the
inventor of the world's first visual translation of the language of music
-- color-coded to the rainbow, geometrically precise and interchangeable in
two and three dimensions. Musical DNA's(R) concepts are currently being
applied towards music education and composition through the Master Key(R)
of Music series of books, which are complemented by interactive software.
Future products and applications will stretch into an array of markets,
including musical recording, audio equalization, instrument/venue tuning
and calibration, child development and special needs, children's toys,
speech therapy, medical applications and language translation.

AuthorHouse is the premier book publisher (http://www.authorhouse.com)
for emerging, self-published
(http://www.authorhouse.com/GetPublished/FAQ.aspx) authors. For more
information, please visit http://www.authorhouse.com.

EDITORS: For review copies or interview requests, contact:
Promotional Services Department
Tel: 888-728-8467
Fax: 812-961-3133
Email: pressreleases@authorhouse.com
(When requesting a review copy, please provide a street address.)

This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information,
visit http://www.ereleases.com.

See Also

Thursday 26 June 2008

Oprah named most powerful celebrity again

Talk show host Oprah Winfrey is the world's most powerful celebrity for the second straight year and for the fifth time ever, according to the 2008 Forbes Celebrity 100 Power List.

The annual list also included two couples among its top 10. Actress Angelina Jolie came in at No. 3 and her partner Brad Pitt nabbed No. 10, while music mogul newlyweds, Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z were fourth and seventh.

Golfer Tiger Woods remained No. 2 and soccer player David Beckham was No. 5, while actor Johnny Depp took sixth.

Music group The Police nabbed No. 8 after reuniting for a successful world tour and British author JK Rowling was No. 9 after the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book.

"It's not surprising that Oprah Winfrey and Tiger Woods remain at the top this year - they're certainly some of the biggest earners," said Matthew Miller of Forbes magazine.

The rankings give the most weight to earnings over the past year but also factors in such things as Internet presence, press clippings, magazine covers and mentions on TV and radio.

During the past year Winfrey made $US275 million, Woods, $US115 million, Knowles $US80 million, Beckham $US50 million, Depp $US72 million, Jay-Z $US82 million, and The Police $US115 million.

While Jolie's earnings of $US14 million and Pitt's salary of $US20 million pale in comparison, the popularity of the couple, who have four children and twins on the way, and their constant presence in magazines saw their power soar.

"Had (Jolie) made a couple of millions dollars more she probably would have been close to topping the list because the number of magazine covers that she was on, the number of stories she was mentioned in, far surpassed anyone else on the list," Miller said.

And it was Beckham's move to Los Angeles with former Spice Girl wife Victoria and their three sons in a blaze of publicity that helped propel him into the top 10 for the first time.

In contrast, Rowling earned $US300 million in the past 12 months, more than Winfrey, but is a reluctant celebrity.

The 2008 top 100 is made up of 20 film actors, 20 athletes, 10 musicians, 10 talk show hosts, 10 TV actors, five "tween" stars, five directors/producers, five celebrity personalities, four authors, four hip-hop impresarios, four chefs and three models.

The "tween" category, a marketing term that usually refers to an audience ages 9 to 12, is new, Forbes said, with Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus making her debut in the top 100 at No. 35 "following a sold-out concert tour, a hit 3D movie, and a controversial photo shoot that had the press buzzing."

Among those dropping from the list are Tom Hanks, Jessica Alba, Hayden Panettiere, Adam Sandler and Scarlett Johansson, The Rolling Stones, Elton John and Jessica Simpson.

The full list can be seen at www.forbes.com/celebrities.

See Also

Wednesday 25 June 2008

Pankananda

Artist: Pankananda

   Genre(s):
Electronic

Discography:

auf seiner Veranda (FEST022)

Year: 2004
Tracks: 5

Nick Cannon - Cannon Plans Family With Carey

Rapper/actor NICK CANNON is desperate to start a family with his new wife MARIAH CAREY, according the star's half-brother.

Reuben Cannon says his newly-wed brother "definitely wants kids" with the Hero hitmaker and is excited about becoming a first time father.

He tells Usmagazine.com, "I am not sure exactly if now is the time. Both of their careers are crazy right now."

And Reuben also claims Cannon has always loved Carey - he has been a longtime fan of her music.

He adds, "He was a fan. He loves her more than any other girl."

See Also

Tuesday 24 June 2008

Gwyneth Paltrow - Paltrow Martin Is A Perfectionist

Hollywood actress GWYNETH PALTROW has lavished praise on her husband CHRIS MARTIN for working so hard on his band COLDPLAY's new album - after he deemed their last effort "s**t".

The Sliding Doors star has supported Martin while he has been writing and recording the group's fourth album Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, which is released later this year (08).

Paltrow insists her husband had a low opinion of the band's last LP, 2005's X+Y, and that spurred him on to make his new album much better.

And she is convinced she has never seen anyone put that much effort into a project.

She says, "I've been around a lot of very talented people and a lot of people who really work hard and I've never seen anything like it. Nowhere near. I've never seen anyone put every atom and molecule of themselves into something.

"To some people, you would say, 'Wow that was a great film,' or 'That was a great book - how are you going to raise the bar?'

"But if you regard your last work as s**t, where do you go from there?"

See Also

Useless I.D.

Artist: Useless I.D.

   Genre(s):
Rock: Punk-Rock

Discography:

Redemption

Year: 2004
Tracks: 12

Vin Diesel and girlfriend welcome a daughter

NEW YORK —

Vin Diesel is a dad.

Diesel, star of "The Pacifier" and "The Chronicles of Riddick," and his girlfriend, model Paloma Jimenez, welcomed a baby girl in Los Angeles on April 2, his representative, Meredith O'Sullivan, said in an e-mail Friday.

O'Sullivan said the 40-year-old action star wasn't releasing the baby's name.

Diesel's screen credits also include "The Fast and the Furious," "Boiler Room" and "Saving Private Ryan." He'll next be seen in the sci-fi movie "Babylon A.D.," slated for release Aug. 29.

See Also

The Witnesses - 6/24/2008

Lost somewhere in Andr� T�chin�s The Witnesses, a rather bewildered Emmanuelle Beart plays the part of Sarah, a frustrated children's book author with a new baby she doesn't really understand. Although the other main characters are only known to each other through her, she seems merely female window dressing for most of this men's film. Of much more import to the filmmaker are the activities of one Manu (Johan Libereau), a rather rudderless young man who's caught the eye of a doctor out cruising one fateful summer night in a Paris park. Because of that one inexplicable attraction in the summer of 1984 (rather portentously titled here "Happy Days"), we get a rather desultory melodrama about a love quadrangle during the start of the AIDS epidemic in France. And all the while, Sarah keeps writing in the sad expectation that somebody in the film will care.

No such luck. Manu is the story's free spirit and for a good while the only character the script seems much interested in. He's the animating force that's keeping the doctor, Adrien (the sharp, excellent Michel Blanc), going through the motions of his rather sad routine life. As much as Adrien wants romance from the substantially younger Manu, the feelings aren't reciprocated, and he confides his frustration to his good friend Sarah. That's when Manu starts hanging around, and Sarah's husband Mehdi (Sami Bouajila), starts to like what he sees…

The script throws complications at its characters, of course, though for the most part they are just that -- complications -- and not anything that helps advance a story which ultimately doesn't quite exist. For a time it doesn't quite matter, as T�chin� is content with showing us these beautiful, talented people enjoying themselves boating down the Seine, luxuriating in the ripe and fecund summertime, basking in life. Unfortunately T�chin� is also much more enamored of the charms of Manu than many in the audience are likely to be. While as written here, and as acted by the decently capable but rather affectless Libereau, Manu comes off as perfectly likeable, but hardly the animating principle that T�chin� appears to believe him to be. Given that fundamental failing, and the resulting inability to sketch in any of the remaining characters in any meaningful fashion, it's quickly difficult to follow the film with much interest, even when things take a turn for the serious once the specter of the new epidemic, AIDS, is raised.

The AIDS drama in America has typically been one of lost innocence. They have typically celebrated the flowering of sexual expression in the 1970s and then borne witness to the chill that followed in the aftermath of the plague's devastation in the 1980s. The Witnesses bears some sense of great historical change, though it comes in fragments. Manu watches news reports from America of tainted blood donor centers and general hysteria over the mystery disease. Adrien turns his medical expertise to treatment and education. But these are never quite woven together into any sort of meaningful portrait, and plenty of scenarios with possibilities -- the sexually conflicted Mehdi's job on the vice squad where he rounds up gays and prostitutes, Sarah's emotionally stunted narcissism, or the mystery of everyone's attraction to Manu -- are left dangling without much examination. In the end, The Witnesses bears witness to little more than a cursory glance at a particularly eventful period in history, one that deserves art of a more thoughtful nature.

Aka Les T�moins.

See Also