A REVIEW ON POTENTIAL BIOACTIVE CHEMICAL FROM RAUWOLFIA SERPENTINA: RESERPINE

The drug Rauwolfia serpentina is known to Indian system of medicine since last many centuries. Because of snake like shape of drug, it has been known as sarpgandha. Although Rauwolfia serpentina contain more than 50 alkaloids but Reserpine is the principal alkaloid of Rauwolfia serpentina. Reserpine has a success application in antihypertensive even at a smaller dose. Rhizomes of Rauwolfia serpentine also have hepatoprotective activity including antihypertensive, hepatoprotective, Rauwolfia serpentina have many other medicinal uses like: Antidiahoerreal, antipsychotic, sedative, anticancer (in breast) etc. Although Rauwolfia serpentina contains major four Indole alkaloids but main object of this context is to provide knowledge about the main active alkaloid Reserpine, having more concentration in the root of plant, play a major role in antihypertensive activity of Rauwolfia serpentina. A much lesser dose of Reserpine is required to provide an antihypertensive effect otherwise it can cause some serious adverse effect like- lethargy, sedation, psychiatric depression, hypotension, nausea, bradycardia, bronchospasm and withdrawal psychosis. Because of its potent activity Reserpine is still used as antihypertensive and sedative agent.

Management of Depression by General Practitioners: Impact of Physician Gender

Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine whether anecdotal claims of gender differences in the treatment of depression by general practitioners (GPs) existed in practice. Method: Referral letters from 100 GPs to a specialized psychiatric depression clinic were analysed by word count and gender of referrer. Second, a Web-based survey of 517 participants examined the impact of GP gender in terms of levels of management nuances. Results: The first study established that female GPs wrote distinctly longer referral letters. The second study identified that female GPs were seen as distinctly more caring over a range of parameters and identified the impact of some GP–patient gender differences. Conclusions: Reasons why female GPs are viewed as more caring – and any impact on the management of those with a depressive disorder – would benefit from refined investigation.

Culturally sensitive validation of screening questionnaires for depression in older African– Caribbean people living in south London

BackgroundWe tested the validity of two screens for depression in older African–Caribbean adults, the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) and a new Caribbean Culture-Specific Screen for emotional distress (CCSS). Two independent criteria were used for validity: (a) a psychiatric diagnosis derived from GMS–AGECAT, and (b) a culturally sensitive assessment of mental disorder, derived from a tool developed with local African–Caribbean religious healers.MethodOne hundred and sixty-four consecutive African–Caribbean primary care users, aged 60 years or older, were screened with the GDS and the CCSS. Diagnostic interviews were carried out on 80% of high scorers and 20% of low scorers.ResultsThe number of cases detected by the two separate diagnostic approaches was similar. However, the agreement between who was and who was not a case was only modest. At a cutoff of $5, the GDS was an adequate case detector for psychiatric depression, and, at a cut-off of $4, for ‘depressed/lost spirit’, as defined by culture-specific criteria. It performed as well as the new CCSS.ConclusionsAt a cut-off of $4 the 15-item GDS can be recommended as a case detector for significant forms of depression in older African–Caribbean people living in south London.

Circadian timing of sleepiness in man and woman

Men and women living contentedly in long-term isolation from the usual time-of-day cues have revealed surprising new regularities about the timing of human sleep/wake alternations. Contemporary effort to ferret out and articulate these regularities in quantitative terms lead to a diversity of mathematical models. If these eventually acquire predictive competence then we may expect practical improvements of therapy for insomnia, jet lag, and some kinds of psychiatric depression.