People and illness Flashcards
Define ADHD.
A developmental disorder characterized by grossly excessive levels of activity and a marked impairment of the ability to attend and concentrate.
Describe the clinical features of ADHD.
Inattention
Poor concentration - moves from one task to another
Excessive activity- disorganised, fidgety
Impulsivity - poor assessment of danger and accident prone, poor peer relationships.
Name the susceptibility genes associated with ADHD.
DRD4 Receptor 7-Repeat Alleles DAT1 – Dopamine Transporter gene DRD5 - Dopamine receptor gene 5HTT – Serotonin Transporter gene HTR1B - Serotonin receptor gene
What is the link between genetics and environment in the development of ADHD.
Genetic factors contribute to the development of behavioural symptoms on a background of high environmental adversity.
Name some of the organic factors that contribute towards ADHD.
smaller brain volume – frontal & parietal cortex
smaller basal ganglia
right dorso-lateral prefrontal lobe reduced
smaller cerebellar vermis
List some of the co-morbidities associated with ADHD.
Sleep disorders ODD OCD Specific learning disabilities - i.e. dyslexia Dyspraxia Social communication difficulties Anxiety Tourette syndrome Depression
How is ADHD assessed?
no specific diagnostic test direct observations in >1 setting psychoeducational assessment structured questionnaires Identifying co-morbidities developmental history
What additional tests should be performed in assessment of ADHD?
hearing and vision screening checks
screening for neurological signs and physical anomalies
Baseline height & weight (record on growth chart)
Baseline blood pressure and heart sounds
What is the mechanism of action of psychostimulants in the treatment of ADHD? Give two examples of this type of drug.
Acts on D1 receptors in the prefrontal cortex and D2 in the striatum.
Methylphenidate (Ritalin)
Dexamphetamine
What is the mechanism of action of Atomoxetine in the treatment of ADHD?
Noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor. Enhances transmission of Noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex.
What type of drug is Clonidine and what condition is it used to treat?
alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonist
ADHD
What type of drug is Guanfacine and what condition is it used to treat?
alpha2A adrenergic receptor agonist
ADHD
What are some of the side effects of psychostimulants as a treatment for ADHD?
Impaired growth (not normally long term)
Difficulty sleeping.
Anorexia
HR and BP abnormalities
How long does it take for Atomoxetine to take effect as a treatment for ADHD?
About 4-6 weeks.
What are some of the side effects of using Guanfacine as a treatment for ADHD?
Weight gain, tiredness, dizziness, hypotension.
List some of the different forms of dexamphetamine available.
Elvanse - long acting
Daytrana - transdermal patch
Dexedrine - fast acting 5mg tablets
How should health be monitored in children on psychostimulants?
HR and BP on every dose adjustment and every 6 months
Pre-treatment height and weight and every 6 months
Complete detailed history
What are some contraindications to using psychostimulants?
History of depression, anorexia, psychosis, suicidal tendencies, preexisting cardiovascular disorders.
What should be monitored in children who taken Atomoxetine?
BP, HR, height, weight, mood, LFTs.
What are some of the side effects of Atomoxetine?
Reduced sleep, reduced apatite, suicidal ideation.
How does clonidine and guanfacine work in the treatment of ADHD?
Inhibit noradrenaline at the synapse.
How long does it take clonidine and guanfacine to have a therapeutic effect?
4-6 weeks
Name some of the non-pharmacological treatments of ADHD.
Pyschoeducation
Behaviour therapy
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)
Parent education programmes
What dietary changes can be made to treat children with ADHD?
Reducing sugar, additives, caffeine, food colourings.
Supplement diet with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids,
What are the 7 categories to be explored in a mental state exam?
Appearance & Behaviour Speech Mood & Affect Thought Form & Content Perception Cognition Insight
What would you include in assessment of appearance as part of MSE?
Ethnicity, build, hair colour, clothing.
Biological vs chronological age
Evidence of self-neglect
Physical illness or intoxication
What would you include in assessment of behaviour as part of MSE?
Level of motor activity (agitation or motor retardation)
Eye contact
Rapport and engagement with interview
Body language and posture
Any unusual or socially inappropriate behaviour.
What would you include in assessment of speech as part of MSE?
Rate and quantity of speech Rhythm Volume Tone Spontaneity
Define mood and effect.
Mood: a person’s emotional state overall.
Affect: changes in a person’s emotions that you observe moment to moment during the interview.
How would you assess a person’s subjective and objective mood?
Subjective: how the person tells you how they feel in their own words.
Objective: your impression of the person’s mood during the interview. (euthymic (normal), elevated, low, anxious).
Define the following words which describe effect: reactive, flattened, blunted, labile.
Reactive: appropriate to the situation or topic being discussed.
Flattened: limited emotional reaction.
Blunted: no observed emotional reactions (specifically associated with psychosis)
Labile: excessive emotional fluctuations.
What would you include in assessment of thought form as part of MSE?
Is the flow of their thoughts logical or illogical.
Include specific quotes if possible.
Define the terms “flight of ideas” and “knight’s move thinking”. What conditions are these terms associated with?
“flight of ideas” - rapid flow of speech, moving from topic to topic with logical connections (mania)
“knight’s move thinking” - little or no logical connections between thoughts (schizophrenia)
What would you look for when you assess thought content as part of a MSE?
Are there any topics discussed more than others?
Delusions, over-valued ideas and obsessions.
Define delusions, over-valued ideas and obsessions. What conditions are associated with these terms?
Delusions: a fixed false belief that is held in contrary to evidence that is out of keeping with the person’s religious or cultural background (psychosis)
Over-valued idea: a false belief, not totally fixed but causing great disability. (Anorexia nervosa, hypochondriasis)
Obsessions: recurrent, intrusive, distressing ideas, impulses or images that the patient recognises as their own (OCD)
What must ALWAYS be included in a mental state exam?
Risk assessment - any thoughts of harm to self or others, including degree of planning and intent. Always document, even if negative.
What should you look out for when assessing a person’s perception as part of a MSE?
Hallucinations - perception without external stimulus.
Illusion - false perception of a real stimulus (e.g. seeing a person in a shadow)
What conditions are associated with auditory hallucinations and visual, olfactory, gustatory and tactile hallucinations?
Auditory - psychosis
All the others - not associated with pychiatric illness - drugs, drug or alcohol withdrawal, delirium.
How would you assess alertness, orientation, concentration and memory as part of the cognition section of a MSE?
Alertness - do they seem fully awake.
Orientation - to time, place and person.
Concentration - can they maintain focus during the interview, are they easily distracted.
Memory - tell them 3 objects, ask to repeat until they are correct, continue with history and ask again in a few minutes.
Define insight as part of a MSE.
The patient’s understanding of their presentation and need for treatment.
Define psychiatry.
Medical specialty concerned with diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental health disorders
Define psychosis.
A mental illness characterized by an altered relationship with reality.
Define bipolar disorder.
Mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and mania.
Describe the aetiology of depression in basic terms.
Combination of biological, psychological and social factors.
Describe the biological factors which cause depression.
Genetics
Medical comorbidities (thyroid, MS)
Psychiatric comorbidities (schizophrenia, OH)
Medications (steroids)
Neurochemical (decreased 5HT, NA, DA)
Neuroendocrine (decreased T3, TSH, increased cortisol)
Describe the psychological factors which cause depression.
Personality traits - anxious, obsessive
Personality disorders
Coping skills
Adverse life events
Describe the social factors which cause depression.
Poor social support
Socioeconomic disadvantage
Northernization
What is the point prevalence and the lifetime incidence of depression? What percent of people never seek treatment for depression?
Point prevalence 4-7%
Lifetime incidence 20%
33% never seek treatment
What are the core clinical features of depression?
Low mood +/- anhedonia +/- fatigue, every day >2 weeks
What are the biological clinical features of depression?
Diurnal variation (worse in the morning), insomnia, ↓ appetite,↓ weight, ↓ libido, constipation, amenorrhoea
What are the cognitive clinical features of depression?
↓ concentration, slow / negative thinking, guilt, loss of self esteem, hopeless, suicidality
How is mild, moderate and severe depression classified?
Mild: 2 or more core features + 2 or more associated features + ok function
Moderate: 2 or more core, 4 or more associated, low function
Severe: 2 or more core, 6 or more associated, very low function +/- psychosis
What are some of the potential outcomes of depression?
Recurrent depressive disorder Substance misuse Anxiety Suicide Cardiovascular disease
What are some possible differential diagnoses of depression?
Dysthymia - low mood, chronic >2 years but not enough for depression
Cyclothymia - alternating mild low and elevated mood.
Atypical depression - low mood but reversed associated side effects.
Seasonal affective disorder - winter
Adjustment reaction - adaptation to stressor, can include low mood.
Grief - feelings, thoughts and behaviour associated with bereavement.
How is depression assessed?
Clinical history Risk assessment MSE (mental state exam) Physical exam Baseline blds
When can be depression be life threatening? How is this managed?
If the person is suicidal or due to self neglect (i.e. not eating and drinking)
Needs hospitalization. If they refuse, needs the mental health act.
What type of treatment would be used from moderate and severe depression?
Moderate: antidepressants
Severe: antidepressants + antipsychotics, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
How do SSRIs work in treating depression? How long do they take to have an effect? Give a few examples.
Block 5HT reuptake, increasing the amount in the synapse and magnifying its effect. 4-5 weeks. Citalopram, fluoxetine.
What are the side-effects of SSRIs?
Nausea, vomiting, weight gain, dizziness, anxiety, suicidality, mania.
How to tricyclic antidepressants (TCA) work? What are some of the side-effects? Name some examples.
Block 5HT reuptake, NA uptake.
Side effects: anti-adrenergic (↓BP), anti-cholinergic, ECG changes (arrhythmia).
Amitriptyline, maprotiline.
How do monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) work in the treatment of depression? What are some of the side-effects?
They block MAO-A and MAO-B which break down 5HT, NA and DA in the CNS.
Hypertension.
What are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd line pharmacological treatments for depression?
1st - SSRI
2nd - TCA
3rd - MAOI
What is electrotherapy and what conditions can it be used to treat? What are the risks and side-effects?
Controlled seizure and anaesthetic used to treat depression, mania and catatonia.
Anaesthetic risks and side effects: memory (rare).
How can depression be treated psychologically?
CBT
Psychotherapy
Family therapy
What can be targeted as part of a social approach to treating depression.
Activities, housing, finances, employment.
What are the normal stages of grief?
Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance
Describe the elimination of nascent cancer.
- Innate immune response recognises tumour cell establishment.
- Natural Killer cells and other effectors recruited to site by chemokines, which also target tumour growth directly.
- Tumour specific T cells home to tumour site, along with macrophages and other effectors to eliminate tumour cells.
What is immunoediting? What factors allow for immunoediting to occur?
The production of low antigenicity tumour cells by selection.
Pressure from immune system coupled with genomic instability.
What factor will be increased to allow neovascularisation of a tumour to occur?
increased VEGF
What factors need to be increased for intravasation of a tumour to occur?
Increased MMPs and uPA (urokinase plasminogen activator).
A change in what factors needs to occur for extravasation of a tumour to occur?
Change in selectin and CDD4
What factor need to be increased, decreased and changed for local invasion of a tumour to occur?
Increased - HGF, CKs, uPA, MMPs, CKR
Decreased - E-cadherins
Changed - integrins
What factor needs to be decreased for growth at the ectopic site to occur?
Decreased angiostatin/endostatin which is an anti-angiogenic factor.
What is the result of a mutation in the oncogene that encodes BRAF?
Leads to constitutive activation of downstream signalling in the MAP kinase pathway. Uncontrolled cell proliferation.
How does vemurafenib work in the treatment of people whose metastatic melanoma has a BRAF gene change?
It is a reversible ATP competitive inhibitor which binds to the kinase domain of BRAF. Causes programmed cell death of the tumour cells.
How does nivolumab work in the treatment of cancer?
Binds to PDL-1, preventing it from binding to the PD-1 domain on T cells, stopping T cells from being destroyed.
How does IL-2 work in treating cancer? What precautions have to be taken when using IL-2 therapy?
Promotes expansion of tumour specific T cells. Has a very narrow therapeutic index, must be administered by a doctor who has a license to administer IL-2.
What type of drug is ipilimumab? How can it be used to treat cancer? What are potential adverse effects?
Monoclonal antibody. CTLA-4 is an ‘off-switch’ for cytotoxic T cells. CTLA-4 is often upregulated by tumour cells. Ipilimumab blocks CTLA-4, enhancing inflammation and blocking immunosuppressive effects. It also increases the number of active T cells.
Gut blisters.
Name the different primary and secondary lymphoid organs?
Primary: the thymus
Secondary: Lymph nodes, the spleen, tonsils, peyer’s patches and mucosa associated lymphoid tissue (MALT)
Where are T cells and B cells produced and programmed?
B cells - produced and programmed in the bone marrow.
T-cells - Produced in the bone marrow, programmed in the thymus.
What is Di George syndrome?
When someone is born without a thymus therefore no T cells are programmed and so no cell mediated immunity.
Where do B-cells get their name?
Named after the bursa of fabricius, an organ in birds where B-cells are produced.
What is the name given to the first node that a lymphatic vessel drains into?
The first regional lymph node.
What is lymphoid tissue?
Tissue consisting of a large collection of small lymphocytes (7micrometers) held together by a delicate skeleton of reticular fibres.
By what two processes are lymph nodes cleaned?
1) mechanical filtration - settling tank
2) biological filtration - via star shaped macrophages called fixed stellate macrophages.
What kind of epithelium are tonsillar crypts lined with?
Stratified squamous epithelium.
In the appendix, where is the bulk of the lymphoid tissue located?
In the submucosa.
In the spleen, where are B-cells and T-cells located?
T cells around the arteries, B cells further out.
How are old RBCs removed in the spleen?
They are phagocytosed by macrophages.
In the thymus, what type of cells surround the developing T cells and bring about maturation?
Thymic nurse cells.
In a lymph node, what does the presence of lymphoid nodules in the outer cortex suggest?
That an antibody response has occurred.
What do lymphoid nodules produce?
Memory B lymphocytes.
Where are B cells and T cells located in a lymph node?
B-cells - outer cortex and in the medullary cords.
T-cells - deep cortex