Delusions of Pregnancy in the Elderly

Harland, Rachel; Warner, N.J.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1166(199701)12:1<115::aid-gps486>3.0.co;2-l

Cited by 16 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…Delusion of pregnancy is a Somatic Type (i.e., delusion that the individual has some general medical condition) Delusional Disorder classified by the DSM-5 within Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic Disorders . It refers to the false belief of being pregnant in the absence of physical sings suggestive of pregnancy that may be experienced by psychotic women [10-12] and men [13,14]. According to the DSM-5, the disorder is not a consequence of the direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g., a drug of abuse, a medication) or a general medical condition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endocrinology and physiology of pseudocyesis

Tarı́n

Hermenegildo

Garcı́a-Pérez

et al. 2013

Reprod Biol Endocrinol

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This literature review on pseudocyesis or false pregnancy aims to find epidemiological, psychiatric/psychologic, gynecological and endocrine traits associated with this condition in order to propose neuroendocrine/endocrine mechanisms leading to the emergence of pseudocyetic traits. Ten women from 5 selected studies were analyzed after applying stringent criteria to discriminate between cases of true pseudocyesis (pseudocyesis vera) versus delusional, simulated or erroneous pseudocyesis. The analysis of the reviewed studies evidenced that pseudocyesis shares many endocrine traits with both polycystic ovarian syndrome and major depressive disorder, although the endocrine traits are more akin to polycystic ovarian syndrome than to major depressive disorder. Data support the notion that pseudocyetic women may have increased sympathetic nervous system activity, dysfunction of central nervous system catecholaminergic pathways and decreased steroid feedback inhibition of gonadotropin-releasing hormone. Although other neuroendocrine/endocrine pathways may be involved, the neuroendocrine/endocrine mechanisms proposed in this review may lead to the development of pseudocyetic traits including hypomenorrhea or amenorrhea, galactorrhea, diurnal and/or nocturnal hyperprolactinemia, abdominal distension and apparent fetal movements and labor pains at the expected date of delivery.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Endocrinology and physiology of pseudocyesis

Tarı́n

Hermenegildo

Garcı́a-Pérez

et al. 2013

Reprod Biol Endocrinol

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“…Here a young female, usually of reproductive age group, having extreme desire of conceiving, develops classic symptoms of pregnancy i.e. amenorrhea, nausea, breast enlargement, pigmentation and abdominal distention followed by in some cases even labour pain [5,[11][12][13].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delusion of Pregnancy in a 60 Years Old Lady

Khasnobis¹,

Ghosh²,

Choudhury³

2019

AJPN

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BACKGROUND-The delusion of pregnancy is a condition where the person strongly believes that he/she is pregnant in spite of providing enough evidence to the contrary. Though previously it was considered rare, the number of such cases are gradually increasing in developing countries but the literature regarding this is very meagre in India particularly in the NorthEast. METHOD-In this article we report the unique case of a 60yrs old woman from rural Assam who developed delusion of pregnancy following her menopause thirteen years back, which has been continuing ever since. RESULT-A 60ys old woman presented in the OPD of Tertiary Care Hospital with feelings of movement of foetus in her womb. This was also associated with tremulousness of whole body, burning sensation of both lower limbs, palpitation, irritability and disturbed sleep for 13yrs with episodic exacerbation currently increased for 4-5months. She was a housewife, completed her family and lived with her husband and three children. She was apparently well 13yrs back when following her menopause at age 42yrs she started to doubt if she is pregnant or not. Multiple gynaecologists' opinion was taken but that did not convince her and she continued to believe she was pregnant and felt the movement of the baby inside her womb. CONCLUSION-Although these kinds of patient visit the obstetrician first but historically and clinically this type of delusion of pregnancy is clearly different from the phenomenon of pseudocyesis. Hence treatment approach of both are also different. We need further research to explore this rarely reported phenomenon.

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“…Delusion of pregnancy has rarely been described in the context of neurodegenerative disorders rather than primary psychiatric conditions. This may simply be a reflection of the fact that neurodegenerative disorders occur more frequently with increasing age, although post-menopausal delusion of pregnancy is described [3]. Transient delusions, predominantly of somatic type and including delusion of pregnancy, have been reported in a 36 year-old woman with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease [6] but prior reports of delusion of pregnancy in FTLD/MND have not been identified.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Delusion of pregnancy has been documented as a symptom of psychiatric disorder, most often schizophrenia but sometimes psychotic depression, occurring not only in women of child-bearing age but also in postmenopausal women and in men [1][2][3]. A patient with delusion of pregnancy in the context of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with motor neurone disease (FTLD/MND) is presented.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Delusion of Pregnancy in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration with Motor Neurone Disease (FTLD/MND)

Larner

2008

Behavioural Neurology

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Psychotic phenomena such as delusions and hallucinations are rare in frontotemporal dementia syndromes but have recently been recognised as an early feature in some cases of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with motor neurone disease (FTLD/MND). A patient with delusion of pregnancy as an early feature of FTLD/MND is presented to illustrate the need to consider neurodegenerative disease as well as primary psychiatric disorder as the underlying cause of this striking symptom.

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Delusions of Pregnancy in the Elderly

Cited by 16 publications

References 5 publications

Endocrinology and physiology of pseudocyesis

Endocrinology and physiology of pseudocyesis

Delusion of Pregnancy in a 60 Years Old Lady

Delusion of Pregnancy in Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration with Motor Neurone Disease (FTLD/MND)

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