Background: Thyroid function disorder is a common feature in depression, with mixed type of response. Some cases are associated with hyperthyroidism and most commonly hypothyroidism. Unipolar and bipolar depressions are also related differently in consideration to thyroid status. This study comprises of assessment of the thyroid disorder prevalence in depressive patients and comparative analysis among unipolar and bipolar groups.Methods: Study consisted of 161 unipolar and 160 bipolar cases of depression as diagnosed by ICD 10 criteria supported by MINI. Thyroid profiling was done against common thyroid hormones TSH, T3, T4 and FT4 by standard method.Results: Gender wise males were dominant with majority in bipolar group in the younger age group. Most of the cases were normal with few hyperthyroid and hypothyroid cases. Bipolar group comprised the majority of overt hyperthyroid, overt hypothyroid and subclinical hyperthyroid cases, whereas unipolars were more in the subclinical hypothyroid category.Conclusions: This study concludes that differences exist in the thyroid response among the unipolar and bipolar depression group, more prominent numbers of hypothyroidism in unipolar group.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistance is a challenge for effective management of infections as it increases the morbidity, mortality and costs of treating infectious diseases. AIMS: This study was aimed to obtain the profile of the bacterial isolates and their antibiotic resistance pattern. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: It is a cross sectional study carried out in a tertiary care psychiatry hospital in India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Isolation and identification of the isolates were done by standard methods. Susceptibility patterns were checked by Kirby Bauer disc diffusion method. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Statistical analysis was done by using SPSS 16.0 version to calculate the frequencies as well as for cross tabulation. RESULTS: Significant bacterial growth observed in 43(25.6%) samples, of which 39(90.7%) showed resistant to at least one of the antibiotics used and 36(83.7%) were multi-drug resistant. Gram negative organism accounted for the 25(58.14%) of total significant isolates, Escherichia coli being the highest (76%) in this group. Among multi-drug resistant (MDR) isolates E.coli was the highest (44.4%) and imipenem resistance was also observed in 1(5.3%) of 19 E.coli isolates. Among the 43 isolates 18(41.86%) were Gram positive with Streptococcus spp. showing incidence of 41.7% among the total MDR isolates. CONCLUSION: Increasing incidence of MDR strains seen in the population requires continuous monitoring and a restricted use of antibiotics to keep a check on resistance pattern, for effective treatment plan.

Introduction:Early diagnosis and management of depression is important for better therapeutic outcome. Strategies for distinguishing between unipolar and bipolar depression are yet to be defined, resulting improper management. This study aims at comparing the socio-demographic and other variables between patients with unipolar and bipolar depression, along with assessment of severity of depression.Materials and Methods:This cross sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care psychiatry hospital in North-East India. The study included total of 330 subjects selected through purposive sampling technique from outpatient department after obtaining due informed consent. Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) version 6.0 and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) were applied. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16.0 was applied for analysis.Results:Bipolar group had onset of illness at significantly younger age with more chronicity (32.85 ± 11.084). Mean BDI score was significantly higher in the unipolar depressive group.Conclusion:Careful approach in eliciting symptom severity and associated socio demographic profiles in depressed patients may be helpful in early diagnosis of bipolar depression.