Browsing by Author "Rathnayake, L."
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Item Children, adolescent, and youth mental health in Sri Lanka in the context of recent violence, COVID-19, and economic crisis: A call for action.(Elsevier, 2022) Shoib, S.; Chandradasa, M.; Rathnayake, L.; Usmani, S.; Saeed, F.No Abstract AvailableItem Depressive morbidity among persons with spinal cord injury in Sri Lanka and the diagnostic utility of the Centre for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale(Elsevier Ltd, 2022) Rathnayake, L.; Baminiwatta, A.; Chandradasa, M.; Fernando, L.No abstract availableItem International collaboration to address the inevitable mental health burden in Sri Lanka in the context of the economic crisis(Elsevier, 2022) Shoib, S.; Rathnayake, L.; Badawy, M.M.; Swed, S.; Saeed, F.; Chandradasa, M.No abstract availableItem Randomised, placebo-controlled trial on topiramate add-on therapy for weight reduction and symptomatology in overweight/obese persons with Schizophrenia(Elsevier Ltd, 2022) Chandradasa, M.; Ruwanpriya, S.; de Silva, S.; Rathnayake, L.; Kuruppuarachchi, K.A.L.A.Introduction: Higher cardiovascular mortality is seen with schizophrenia due to the disorder itself and antipsychotic use. South Asians are more vulnerable to developing metabolic disorders than others. Resource-limited settings in South Asia have only a few mental health professionals, and individualised case management is mostly unavailable. Therefore, there is less monitoring and personalised support for diet and physical exercise programmes. Topiramate is useful for weight reduction and improvement of psychopathology in schizophrenia. However, there has been only one previous randomised controlled trial (RCT) done in South Asia, which possesses a quarter of the world's population. Methods: We conducted a double-blind RCT in an outpatient setting in Sri Lanka. We compared topiramate 100 mg/day with a placebo in overweight/obese adults with schizophrenia who have been on antipsychotics for at least a year. We obtained monthly anthropometric measurements and assessed the symptomatology using the brief psychiatric rating scale (BPRS). Results: Fifty patients each in the topiramate and placebo arms completed the study. Topiramate add-on therapy led to significant weight/Body Mass Index reduction and improved symptomatology as measured by the BPRS compared to the placebo. The topiramate group had significantly more reporting of loss of appetite. Discussion: According to available data, this is the RCT with most participants assessing the use of topiramate in schizophrenia and only the second in South Asia. Topiramate was shown to be useful for weight reduction and symptomatic improvement in persons with schizophrenia in a resource-limited setting in South Asia.Item Retained primitive reflexes in children, clinical implications and targeted home-based interventions(RCN Pub. Co., 2020) Chandradasa, M.; Rathnayake, L.This article discusses problems such as learning difficulties and behavioural problems that children may experience when they have retained primitive reflexes, which are typically only present in the first few months of life. The authors outline different types of primitive reflex present in infants and how each may affect a child when retained beyond the time when they are normally inhibited. Where relevant health professionals with expertise in this area are not available, children's nurses may need to assess and manage children with retained reflexes. This article explains how a nurse can assess a child for each primitive reflex and describes exercises that can be taught to a child and his or her parents to carry out at home to reintegrate the reflex.Item Socio-cultural and neurobiological perspectives of betel nut chewing in schizophrenia(Elsevier, 2018) Chandradasa, M.; Rathnayake, L.