Psychiatry - October 2008 - (Page 48)

The Interface INTRODUCTION For many individuals, asthma is a chronic and potentially lifethreatening disease. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the lifetime prevalence of asthma in the US population is approximately 11 percent.1 However, rates appear to be accelerating. A recent national surveillance report from the CDC indicates that between the years 1980 and 1996, the 12-month prevalence rate of asthmatic disease verifiably increased.2 Given that approximately 1 in 10 Americans suffers from this sporadic lung dysfunction, we wondered if there were any interfacing clinical facets between asthma and psychiatry. In exploring this, we will first examine the evidence for possible relationships between asthma and mood and anxiety disorders. Then, we will review the available data on the relationships between asthma and psychological trauma, both in childhood and adulthood. THE PREVALENCE OF MOOD AND ANXIETY DISORDERS IN ASTHMATICS ASTHMA: Wheezing, Woes, and Worries by Randy A. Sansone, MD, and Lori A. Sansone, MD Psychiatry (Edgemont) 2008;5(10):48–52 This ongoing column is dedicated to the challenging clinical interface between psychiatry and primary care—two fields that are inexorably linked. ABSTRACT We examine the associations between asthma and mood and anxiety disorders and between asthma and trauma in childhood and adulthood. Our findings indicate that there is a higher-than-expected 48 Psychiatry 2008 [ O C T O B E R ] prevalence of mood and anxiety disorders among asthmatics as well as a higher frequency of asthma among the traumatized. There are a number of potential confounds in these data, but we close with a proposed risk model. One approach to exploring a potential clinical interface between asthma and psychiatric phenomena is to examine whether particular Axis I disorders are over-represented in individuals who suffer from the disease. In our review of the literature, both mood and anxiety disorders clearly emerge as the predominant psychiatric syndromes associated with asthmatic disease. Mood disorders in asthmatics. A number of studies have examined the prevalence of mood disorders among individuals suffering from asthma. For example, Brown, Khan, and Mahadi examined 32 patients with asthma and found that 25 percent evidenced current major depression.3 Afari and colleagues 48

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Psychiatry - October 2008 Editor’s Message Editorial Advisory Board Contents Psych Rx Treatment of Migraine and the Role of Psychiatric Medications Play Therapy: A Case-based Example of a Nondirective Approach Delirium and Antipsychotics: A Systematic Review of Epidemiologyand Somatic Treatment Options Severely Mood-disordered Youth Respond Less Well to Treatment in a Community Clinic than Youth with Bipolar Disorder Beyond Informed Consent: The Ethics of Informing, Anticipating, and Warning Asthma: Wheezing, Woes, and Worries Classified Advertising Journal Watch Information for Authors

Psychiatry - October 2008

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