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Introduction
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December 2008 - present
July 1997 - December 2008
Publications
Publications (65)
Persons with mental illness (PWMI) experience rejection, isolation, and discrimination in employment, education, and housing due to the prejudice associated with the illness. Families affiliated with PWMI often internalize the public’s prejudice towards mental illness. Such internalized stigma can further impact the health and quality of life of bo...
In the last decade, spirituality gained increasing recognition, with an individualized approach to the significance of symptoms and the purpose of treatment. Many psychiatrists started adopting the term “biopsychosocial-spiritual” management. Modern psychological therapies have drawn from the principles of ancient Eastern traditions. However, the s...
The COVID-19 pandemic had global implications for people’s physical and mental health. Sleep is one of the determinants of health and well-being and sleep disturbance and mental illness are closely correlated. The COVID-19 infection, as well as the restrictions associated with the control of its spread, have resulted in a higher prevalence of sleep...
Background
This study aimed to enhance the cultural adaptation and training on administering the Arabic versions of the Calgary Depression Scale in Schizophrenia (CDSS) and The International Scale for Suicidal Thinking (ISST) to Arab schizophrenia patients in Doha, Qatar.
Methods
We applied the qualitative thematic analysis of the focus group disc...
Background
In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global health pandemic. The rapid spread and high fatalities associated with COVID-19 have increased interest in assessing Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) toward this illness among the general population in comparison to specific subgroups. Most publications to date...
Objective:Qatar is a developing Arab country where most of the population consists of immigrants. This study assessed the associations between immigration and psychosis in Qatar and the factors contributing to the new diagnosis of psychosis.
Methods:Data was collected retrospectively for all patients with psychotic disorders over two years. The pat...
Dimensionality reduction approaches are commonly used for the deconvolution of high-dimensional metabolomics datasets into underlying core metabolic processes. However, current state-of-the-art methods are widely incapable of detecting nonlinearities in metabolomics data. Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) are a deep learning method designed to learn...
Background
Negative attitudes toward mental illness by Health Care Professionals (HCP) have been reported in many countries across the world. Stigmatizing attitudes by HCP can have adverse consequences on people with mental illness from delays in seeking help to decreased quality of care provided. Assessing such attitudes is an essential step in un...
Background
There is evidence that sleep disturbances and exercise are risk factors for suicide attempts; however, whether sleep disturbances are independently associated with suicide attempts is debatable. We compared the sleep and exercise patterns of individuals who attempted suicide to those of the general population and investigated whether sle...
Background
Schizophrenia (SZ) and bipolar disorder (BD) share many features: overlap in mood and psychotic symptoms, common genetic predisposition, treatment with antipsychotics (APs), and similar metabolic comorbidities. The pathophysiology of both is still not well defined, and no biomarkers can be used clinically for diagnosis and management. Th...
Background:
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is the constellation of physical and psychological symptoms before menstruation. Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of PMS with more depressive and anxiety symptoms. The Mini international neuropsychiatric interview, module U (MINI-U), assesses the diagnostic criteria for probable PMDD....
Background: Many studies have shown a high prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms in COVID-19 patients and the general population. However, very few studies directly examined the potential impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and none compared HRQoL in COVID-19 patients to the general population amid the pandemic.
M...
Stigma impacts persons with mental illness (PWMI), their families and network of friends, the public and health care professionals. Stigma is a major barrier for PWMI to seeking treatment, which contributes to the burden of disease, disability, and mortality. Research on stigma is relatively scant in the Middle East region and particularly in Qatar...
Background: This study aimed to enhance the cultural adaptation and training on administering the Arabic versions of the Calgary Depression Scale in Schizophrenia (CDSS) and The International Scale for Suicidal Thinking (ISST) to Arab schizophrenia patients in Doha, Qatar.
Methods: We applied the qualitative thematic analysis of the focus group dis...
The aims of this study were to retrospectively assess the profiles of subjects with suicide attempts and self-harm in Doha, Qatar; and whether the available data were complete. We reviewed all the records of fatal and non-fatal suicides together with accidental self-ham cases seen in the major Emergency Department in Doha, over a one-year period. T...
Dimensionality reduction approaches are commonly used for the deconvolution of high-dimensional metabolomics datasets into underlying core metabolic processes. However, current state-of-the-art methods are widely incapable of detecting nonlinearities in metabolomics data. Variational Autoencoders (VAEs) are a deep learning method designed to learn...
Objective
Even though all guidelines recommend generally against antipsychotic polypharmacy, antipsychotic polypharmacy appears to be a very common practice across the globe. This study aimed to examine the prescription patterns of antipsychotics in Qatar, in comparison with the international guidelines, and to scrutinize the sociodemographic and c...
We report a consanguineous family in which schizophrenia segregates in a manner consistent with recessive inheritance of a rare, partial-penetrance susceptibility allele. From 4 marriages between 2 sets of siblings who are half first cousins, 6 offspring have diagnoses of psychotic disorder. Homozygosity mapping revealed a 6.1-Mb homozygous region...
Correlation networks are frequently used to statistically extract biological interactions between omics markers. Network edge selection is typically based on the statistical significance of the correlation coefficients. This procedure, however, is not guaranteed to capture biological mechanisms. We here propose an alternative approach for network r...
This study aimed to assess the differential effects of first-generation (FGA) and second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) on the prevalence of risk factors for metabolic syndrome among mentally ill patients in Qatar. We also wanted to check if there is proper adherence with the guidelines for prescribing antipsychotics and the monitoring of metaboli...
Introduction
The elderly population is increasing around the world, and the prevalence of dementia increases with age. Hence, it is expected that the number of people with dementia will increase significantly in the coming years. The Mini–Mental Status Examination – 2 (MMSE-2) and Mini-Cog are widely used tests to screen for dementia. These scales...
The Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview, version 6, module K (MINI6-Mod-K) is a diagnostic tool to confirm schizophrenia; whereas the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale in Schizophrenia (PANSS) is a scale to assess psychotic symptoms severity. The objective of this study was to cross-validate the diagnostic questions (categorical) from...
Background
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a severe form of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) that affects the functioning and includes various physical, depressive, and anxiety symptoms. The Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview, Module U (MINI-U), assesses the diagnostic criteria for probable PMDD. The Premenstrual Symptoms Screening...
The article Self-Reported Sleep and Exercise Patterns in Patients with Schizophrenia: a Cross-Sectional Comparative Study written by Nancy Kiwan, Ziyad Mahfoud, Suhaila Ghuloum, Rifka Chamali, Arij Yehya, Samer Hammoudeh, Yahya Hani, Iman Amro, and Hassen Al-Amin
Background
Adequate sleep and physical activity have been linked to the overall well-being of both medical and psychiatric patients. Patients with schizophrenia have shown abnormal sleep patterns and decreased physical activity that were linked to their psychopathology and physical health. These phenomena are not studied yet in Arab patients with s...
Correlation networks are commonly used to statistically extract biological interactions between omics markers. Network edge selection is typically based on the significance of the underlying correlation coefficients. A statistical cutoff, however, is not guaranteed to capture biological reality, and heavily depends on dataset properties such as sam...
Background: There are few research studies from Arab countries on suicide since many cultural and religious factors influence reporting. Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore the correlates of near-fatal deliberate self-harm in Qatar. Method: The study comprised a retrospective review of documented data of all patients with a suicide attem...
Background
Disturbances in sleep duration and quality have been associated with obesity and other metabolic changes. Patients with mental disorders (MD) are known to have more sleep problems, and antipsychotics (AP), used in the treatment of these patients, can also cause weight gain. This study aimed to compare the self-reported sleep patterns bet...
As part of a project to translate and validate scales used in the diagnosis and treatment of Arab patients with schizophrenia, this study aimed to explore the experience of clinical research coordinators (CRCs) while administering the Arabic version of the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) on Arab schizophrenia patients. We previously re...
Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is not well-studied in Arab populations. The goal of this study was to validate the Arabic version of the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST) using the DSM diagnosis of PMDD as the gold standard. The PSST was translated and culturally adapted using back translation and the approval of the original auth...
Background:
Metabolic abnormalities are common in patients maintained on antipsychotics. These abnormalities increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality in this population. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) in subjects maintained on antipsychotics relative to controls in Qatar, and to ass...
Background:
The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is a widely used assessment for patients with schizophrenia across clinical and research settings. This scale allows the classification of the psychotic symptoms to better understand the psychopathology in patients with schizophrenia. There are no available data on the different componen...
The aim of this study was to measure advanced glycation end products (AGEs) among participants maintained on antipsychotics using the AGE Reader and to compare them with controls from the general population. Participants maintained on antipsychotics for at least 6 months were recruited from the Psychiatry Department at Rumailah Hospital, Doha, Qata...
Introduction
The elderly population is increasing around the world, and the prevalence of dementia increases with age. Hence, it is expected that the number of people with dementia will increase significantly in the coming years. The Mini–Mental Status Examination – 2 (MMSE-2) and Mini-Cog are widely used tests to screen for dementia. These scales...
Background
Patients with schizophrenia are known to have higher rates of mortality and morbidity when compared to the general population. Suicidality is a major contributor to increased mortality. The International Suicide Prevention Trial (InterSePT) Scale for Suicidal Thinking (ISST) is a validated tool to assess current suicidal ideation in pati...
Background:
Patients with schizophrenia commonly show both depressive and negative symptoms that can differentially affect the prognosis and course of treatment. The Calgary Depression Scale for Schizophrenia (CDSS) was designed to distinguish between depression and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. The purpose of this study is to...
Background:
The Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) is widely used for patients with schizophrenia. This scale is reliable and valid. The PANSS was translated and validated in several languages.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to translate and validate the PANSS in the Arab population.
Subjects and methods:
The PANSS was translat...
Background:
The Cardiac Depression Scale (CDS) has been designed to measure depressive symptoms in patients with heart disease. There is no Arabic version of the CDS. We translated and validated the CDS in an Arabic sample of patients with heart disease.
Methods:
Forward and back translation of the CDS was followed by assessment of cultural rele...
Lidocaine injections in the rostral ventromedial medulla (RVM) have been shown to produce significant reduction of neuropathic manifestations in rats. This effect has been attributed to selective block of a pain descending facilitatory system, responsible for chronic pain. However, recent observations from our laboratory did not provide confirmatio...
Dopaminergic and glutamatergic inputs converge on nucleus accumbens (NAC) and affect the neuropathic pain. We tested the effects of daily systemic administration of dizocilpine (MK-801), a N-methyl-d-Aspartate (NMDA) noncompetitive receptor antagonist, or apomorphine (APO), a dopamine (DA) D1 and D2 receptor agonist, on neuropathic manifestations i...
Dopaminergic and glutamatergic mechanisms are involved in the development and modulation of neuropathy. Cytokines and neurotrophins can be also involved in the supraspinal maintenance of neuropathic pain. We assessed the effects of chronic intraperitoneal (ip) injection of dizocilpine (MK-801), a N-methyl-d-Aspartate (NMDA) noncompetitive receptor...
Attenuation of neuropathic manifestations in experimental animals, by lidocaine injection in the rostral ventro-medial medulla (RVM), has been traditionally attributed to selective block of a descending pain facilitatory system. However, the presence of descending fibers carrying this effect and the selective action of lidocaine on the facilitatory...
The neurodevelopment of hippocampus and prefrontal cortex are known to influence different functions in normal and pathological conditions including cognition and sensorimotor functions. The neonatal lesion of the ventral hippocampus (VH) in rats has been established as an animal model of schizophrenia and is used to study postpubertal changes in b...
This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of an Arabic version of the 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15).
121 community-dwelling older adults and primary care patients aged 60 and above participated in this study. Older adults with dementia, those with thyroid dysfunction, and hearing or speech impairments were excluded. Tes...
Thalamic somatosensory nuclei have been classified into medial and lateral systems based on their role in nociception. An imbalance between these two systems may result in abnormal somatic sensations and spontaneous pain. This study aims to investigate the effects of transient or permanent block of the medial and intralaminar nuclear groups on the...
Controversial results have been recently reported on the role of supraspinal centers in the modulation of nociceptive behavior in animal models of mononeuropathy. Our aim was to investigate the role of the various spinal pathways in the modulation of the neuropathic manifestations. Several groups of rats were subjected to selective spinal-tract les...
We describe a woman with intractable temporal lobe epilepsy secondary to dysgenesis of the left temporal lobe who had a marked and long-term exacerbation of her preexisting vocal tics after a temporal lobectomy that completely controlled her seizures. The patient was determined to have right-sided speech dominance by the Wada test. This is, to our...
Massive gastric dilatation is a very serious condition that is extremely rare in patients with no history of gastrointestinal disease. Several cases have been reported in patients with eating disorders, particularly after a binge. We report here the case of a young woman who developed severe gastric dilatation after a single binge.
A computed tomog...
Nociceptive behavior in animal models for mononeuropathy has been shown to be altered by spinal tract lesions which suggest a possible supraspinal modulation. The thalamus constitutes a chief center for the processing of nociception. We have, therefore, investigated the effects of transient or permanent blocks of the lateral somatosensory thalamic...
The proper maturation of the hippocampus is essential for the development of different behaviours, including memory, pain responses and avoidance. The mechanisms involved in the neurodevelopment of nociception have also been implicated in several neuropsychiatric disorders. The neonatal lesion of the ventral hippocampus (VH) in rats, an animal mode...
Recent imaging reports demonstrate the activation of the orbitofrontal cortical (OFC) area during acute and chronic pain. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of chronic perfusion of this area with morphine on nociception in control rats and in rats subjected to mononeuropathy. Chronic perfusion of morphine, using miniosmotic pumps, pro...
Clinical and recent imaging reports demonstrate the involvement of various cerebral prefrontal areas in the processing of pain. This has received further confirmation from animal experimentation showing an alteration of the threshold of acute nociceptive reflexes by various manipulations in the orbito-frontal cortical areas. The present study inves...
The mesocorticolimbic circuitry has been implicated in the pathophysiology of several neuropsychiatric syndromes like chronic pain and addiction. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dizocilpine (MK-801), a non-competitive N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, on sensorimotor behaviors and the consequent changes in the do...
Abnormalities in the glutamatergic system, glutamate/dopamine/gamma-aminobutyric acid interactions, and cortical development are implicated in schizophrenia. Moreover, patients with schizophrenia show symptom exacerbation in response to N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) antagonist drugs. Using an animal model of schizophrenia, we compared the impact of n...
Neonatal lesions of the ventral hippocampus in rats produce changes in spontaneous and pharmacologically induced dopamine-dependent behaviors that emerge in early adulthood. Neural mechanisms underlying these changes may have implications for understanding the neurobiology of schizophrenia, putatively a neurodevelopmental disorder. In this study, w...
Neonatal excitotoxic damage of the ventral hippocampus (VH) is a heuristic model of schizophrenia. We investigated whether: (1) neonatal damage of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has effects similar to the neonatal VH lesion; and (2) intrinsic mPFC neurons contribute to the abnormal behaviors associated with VH lesions. Neonatal rats were lesio...
Prepulse inhibition (PPI) of the acoustic startle reflex, a measure of sensory gating, is reduced in schizophrenic patients. Dopamine agonists and NMDA receptor antagonists such as phencyclidine (PCP) can disrupt PPI in animals, consistent with both the dopamine and glutamate hypotheses of schizophrenia. In this study, we sought to further characte...
In unanaesthetized decerebrate spinal cats, bremazocine (0.012-0.2 mg/kg, i.v.) selectively inhibited the late C-fibre reflex discharge, recorded in sectioned lumbo-sacral ventral root filaments, after supramaximal electrical stimulation of the ipsilateral sural or common peroneal nerve. This action was naloxone-reversible. The results suggest that...