Individuals who experience both childhood adversity and traumatic events in adulthood appear more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than those exposed to only one of these types of incidents, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, the risk was further increased in individuals with a certain genetic mutation.
Although 40 percent to 70 percent of Americans have experienced traumatic events, only about 8 percent develop PTSD during their lifetimes, according to background information in the article. PTSD is a complex anxiety disorder that involves re-experiencing, avoidance and increased arousal following exposure to a life-threatening event. "In addition to the obvious effect of environmental factors, PTSD has a heritable component," the authors write. Recent studies estimate that genetic factors account for approximately 30 percent of the difference in PTSD symptoms.
READ MORE @ SCIENCE DAILY
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Depression, drugs linked to preterm birth
Pregnant women with a history of depression who used psychiatric medication have triple the risk of premature child delivery, U.S. researchers found.
Researchers at the University of Washington, University of Michigan and Michigan State University found that a combination of medication use and depression -- either before or during pregnancy was strongly linked to delivery before 35 weeks' gestation.
Lead author Amelia Gavin of the University of Washington said the findings highlight the need for carefully planned studies that can clarify associations between depression, psychiatric medications and preterm delivery.
READ MORE @ UPI
Researchers at the University of Washington, University of Michigan and Michigan State University found that a combination of medication use and depression -- either before or during pregnancy was strongly linked to delivery before 35 weeks' gestation.
Lead author Amelia Gavin of the University of Washington said the findings highlight the need for carefully planned studies that can clarify associations between depression, psychiatric medications and preterm delivery.
READ MORE @ UPI
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
The Role of Antidepressants for the Treatment of Bipolar Depression
Although rapid-cycling bipolar disorder has been linked to the use of antidepressants, these treatments may still have a role in the management of patients with bipolar depression, said Stephen V. Sobel, MD, clinical instructor at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, in a presentation at the U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress is Las Vegas. Patients with bipolar disorder spend most of their time in depression, and antidepressants can alleviate these symptoms, said Sobel. “That’s why it’s so tempting to treat these patients with an antidepressant. But it’s important to be familiar with recent studies on the development of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and to weigh the risks and benefits,” he said.
The use of antidepressants may increase a patient’s risk of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. The Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) included 1742 patients treated with a variety of approved medications for bipolar I and bipolar II disorder, and 32% reported having rapid-cycling at baseline. After 2 years of treatment, 5% still had rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. Those who were treated with an antidepressant were 3.8 times more likely to have rapid-cycling bipolar disorder.1
READ MORE @ PSYCHIATRIC TIMES
The use of antidepressants may increase a patient’s risk of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. The Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD) included 1742 patients treated with a variety of approved medications for bipolar I and bipolar II disorder, and 32% reported having rapid-cycling at baseline. After 2 years of treatment, 5% still had rapid-cycling bipolar disorder. Those who were treated with an antidepressant were 3.8 times more likely to have rapid-cycling bipolar disorder.1
READ MORE @ PSYCHIATRIC TIMES
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Regimens: A Supplement Didn’t Help Heart Patients
Patients with heart disease are at greater risk of dying if they are depressed. And both depression and heart disease are characterized, among other things, by low levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
So scientists wondered whether heart patients with depression might benefit from a dose of omega-3s in their antidepressant medicine. In a clinical trial, two groups of heart patients taking the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft) were randomly assigned to receive a supplement of either omega-3s or a corn oil placebo.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
So scientists wondered whether heart patients with depression might benefit from a dose of omega-3s in their antidepressant medicine. In a clinical trial, two groups of heart patients taking the antidepressant sertraline (Zoloft) were randomly assigned to receive a supplement of either omega-3s or a corn oil placebo.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
Monday, November 2, 2009
What “Meaningful Use” of Electronic Health Records May Mean to Psychiatrists
With billions of dollars for electronic health record (EHR) technology purchases hanging in the balance, psychiatrists need to be paying attention to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) deliberations on the definition of “meaningful use.” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is supposed to set an interim definition in a few months. This is important to all office-based physicians because it will set the requirements they will have to meet for proving they are making meaningful use of EHR software and hardware they previously purchased. If they can make the case, starting in 2011, they would qualify for federal grants to partially compensate them for those previous software and hardware purchases.
Those grants are available for 5 years, and if obtained starting in 2011, they could amount to as much as $64,000 per practice for psychiatrists whose patient mix is at least 30% Medicaid recipients. That figure falls to $44,000 for physicians who cannot meet the Medicaid percentage and who see Medicare patients, with no specific percentage of the latter being designated.
There is also a penalty for physicians who do not meet the meaningful use definition. It comes into play after 2016; the Medicare fee schedule for professional services is reduced by 1% in 2015, by 2% in 2016, by 3% for 2017, and by between 3% to 5% in subsequent years.
The grants were authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)—which is the stimulus bill Congress passed last winter. Sebelius will set interim requirements based on recommendations from 2 new advisory committees that were established by the ARRA: a health information technology policy and a standards committee. The meaningful use requirements will be different, in part, for office-based physicians and hospitals, but they will have escalating requirements in 2011, 2013, and 2015.
READ MORE @ PSYVHIATRIC TIMES
Those grants are available for 5 years, and if obtained starting in 2011, they could amount to as much as $64,000 per practice for psychiatrists whose patient mix is at least 30% Medicaid recipients. That figure falls to $44,000 for physicians who cannot meet the Medicaid percentage and who see Medicare patients, with no specific percentage of the latter being designated.
There is also a penalty for physicians who do not meet the meaningful use definition. It comes into play after 2016; the Medicare fee schedule for professional services is reduced by 1% in 2015, by 2% in 2016, by 3% for 2017, and by between 3% to 5% in subsequent years.
The grants were authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)—which is the stimulus bill Congress passed last winter. Sebelius will set interim requirements based on recommendations from 2 new advisory committees that were established by the ARRA: a health information technology policy and a standards committee. The meaningful use requirements will be different, in part, for office-based physicians and hospitals, but they will have escalating requirements in 2011, 2013, and 2015.
READ MORE @ PSYVHIATRIC TIMES
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Long, hard road to marketplace for Vanda drug
Early next year, if all goes according to plan, doctors will be able to prescribe a new antipsychotic drug for patients with schizophrenia. When that happens, investors in a local pharmaceutical firm will surely breathe a sigh of relief.
While it's almost certain that the compound known as Fanapt will reach pharmacy shelves, the drug's future was anything but clear for most of its 13-year existence. Rockville-based Vanda Pharmaceuticals toiled for years on its development, even after larger drugmakers lost interest and the Food and Drug Administration gave the product a thumbs-down.
"Last year at this time, nobody believed in the company, and nobody believed in the compound," said Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, Vanda's president and chief executive. Today, the company has a deal for Fanapt worth nearly half a billion dollars.
READ MORE @ WASHINGTON POST
While it's almost certain that the compound known as Fanapt will reach pharmacy shelves, the drug's future was anything but clear for most of its 13-year existence. Rockville-based Vanda Pharmaceuticals toiled for years on its development, even after larger drugmakers lost interest and the Food and Drug Administration gave the product a thumbs-down.
"Last year at this time, nobody believed in the company, and nobody believed in the compound," said Mihael H. Polymeropoulos, Vanda's president and chief executive. Today, the company has a deal for Fanapt worth nearly half a billion dollars.
READ MORE @ WASHINGTON POST
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Surgery, Illness Not Linked to Mental Decline in Seniors New findings contradict previous reports of increased risks of dementia
Illness and surgery don't contribute to long-term cognitive decline in seniors and don't accelerate progression of dementia, researchers say.
The findings of a new study, published in the November issue of Anesthesiology, challenge the widely held belief that elderly patients suffer major deterioration in mental function after surgery.
"The concerns surrounding postoperative cognitive decline (POCD) following surgery certainly will not evaporate following publication of this study," researcher Michael S. Avidan, of the Washington University School of Medicine, said in a news release from the American Society of Anesthesiologists. "The important message to take from these findings is that persistent cognitive deterioration following surgery might not be a major public health problem. The decision to proceed with surgery should presently be made based on a person's general health and the specific risks and benefits of the procedure."
For the study, Avidan and colleagues looked at 575 patients tested annually at Washington University's Alzheimer Disease Research Center. At the start of the study, 361 patients had very mild or mild dementia and 214 were dementia-free. The patients were divided into three groups -- those who'd undergone non-cardiac surgery, those with illness, and those with neither.
READ MORE @ U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
The findings of a new study, published in the November issue of Anesthesiology, challenge the widely held belief that elderly patients suffer major deterioration in mental function after surgery.
"The concerns surrounding postoperative cognitive decline (POCD) following surgery certainly will not evaporate following publication of this study," researcher Michael S. Avidan, of the Washington University School of Medicine, said in a news release from the American Society of Anesthesiologists. "The important message to take from these findings is that persistent cognitive deterioration following surgery might not be a major public health problem. The decision to proceed with surgery should presently be made based on a person's general health and the specific risks and benefits of the procedure."
For the study, Avidan and colleagues looked at 575 patients tested annually at Washington University's Alzheimer Disease Research Center. At the start of the study, 361 patients had very mild or mild dementia and 214 were dementia-free. The patients were divided into three groups -- those who'd undergone non-cardiac surgery, those with illness, and those with neither.
READ MORE @ U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT
Friday, October 30, 2009
Patients with long-term diseases to be assessed for depression
GPs must assess people with chronic diseases to see whether they are suffering from depression, under new guidelines.
GPs must assess all patients with long-term diseases such as cancer to see whether they are suffering from depression, under new guidelines published today.
Too many doctors and patients assume that fatigue and weight loss are a result of the disease or the medicines they are taking, according to experts who formulated the guidelines for the National Institute for Healthcare and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Depression affects one in six people at some point, but is three times more common in people with chronic diseases than in the rest of the population.
John Hindle, a consultant physician with the Betsi Cadwaladr University local health board, who was on the guideline development group, said that improving people's mood may even make them physically better.
"We should give everybody with physical disease the opportunity to be asked about the symptoms of depression," he said.
GPs should be asking two key questions, the guidelines say: during the last month, has the patient been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless in the last month or by having little interest or pleasure in doing things?
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
GPs must assess all patients with long-term diseases such as cancer to see whether they are suffering from depression, under new guidelines published today.
Too many doctors and patients assume that fatigue and weight loss are a result of the disease or the medicines they are taking, according to experts who formulated the guidelines for the National Institute for Healthcare and Clinical Excellence (NICE).
Depression affects one in six people at some point, but is three times more common in people with chronic diseases than in the rest of the population.
John Hindle, a consultant physician with the Betsi Cadwaladr University local health board, who was on the guideline development group, said that improving people's mood may even make them physically better.
"We should give everybody with physical disease the opportunity to be asked about the symptoms of depression," he said.
GPs should be asking two key questions, the guidelines say: during the last month, has the patient been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless in the last month or by having little interest or pleasure in doing things?
READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Weight Gain Associated With Antipsychotic Drugs
Young children and adolescents who take the newest generation of antipsychotic medications risk rapid weight gain and metabolic changes that could lead to diabetes, hypertension and other illnesses, according to the biggest study yet of first-time users of the drugs.
The study, to be published Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 257 young children and adolescents in New York City and on Long Island added 8 to 15 percent to their weight after taking the pills for less than 12 weeks.
The patients, ages 4 to 19, added an average of one to one-and-a-half pounds a week.
“The degree of weight gain is alarming,” said Dr. Wayne K. Goodman, head of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on the drugs last summer and chairman of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan. “The magnitude is stunning,” he said.
Although the drugs’ influence on weight and metabolism had been previously detected, Dr. Goodman, who was not involved in the study, said the speed and magnitude of the effects found in the study were greater than previously reported — findings he said were made possible by looking exclusively at new patients.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
The study, to be published Wednesday in The Journal of the American Medical Association, found that 257 young children and adolescents in New York City and on Long Island added 8 to 15 percent to their weight after taking the pills for less than 12 weeks.
The patients, ages 4 to 19, added an average of one to one-and-a-half pounds a week.
“The degree of weight gain is alarming,” said Dr. Wayne K. Goodman, head of a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on the drugs last summer and chairman of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan. “The magnitude is stunning,” he said.
Although the drugs’ influence on weight and metabolism had been previously detected, Dr. Goodman, who was not involved in the study, said the speed and magnitude of the effects found in the study were greater than previously reported — findings he said were made possible by looking exclusively at new patients.
READ MORE @ NY TIMES
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Prescribing drugs 'off-label': an ethical prescription
More than one in five of the prescriptions U.S. doctors write for 160 common drugs is for a use other than that approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The practice is perfectly legal, though patients are largely in the dark about what "indications" or uses the FDA has approved for different prescription medications. (You can, however, always check the FDA-approved product labels for a prescription drug here.).
These "off-label uses" have not been scrutinized by the FDA for safety and effectiveness. It's not legal for drug companies actively to promote a drug for "off-label" purposes. But the practice means big money for drug makers, and some do it anyway (just last month, Pfizer agreed to plead guilty to promoting off-label uses for some of its medications and was fined $2.3 billion by the Justice Department, according to the Justice Department website).
So, while it's legal, the practice is controversial.
That leaves doctors, who often feel immense pressure to offer something--anything--to relieve a patient's suffering, in uncharted ethical waters. In some cases, the "off-label" use of a drug might be just the treatment the patient needed. But it might just as likely be a waste of time and money--or worse, pose unpredictable dangers to the patient. When "everybody's doing it" (and, yes, even physicians say stuff like that sometimes), what's a physician to do?
READ MORE @ LOS ANGELES TIMES
These "off-label uses" have not been scrutinized by the FDA for safety and effectiveness. It's not legal for drug companies actively to promote a drug for "off-label" purposes. But the practice means big money for drug makers, and some do it anyway (just last month, Pfizer agreed to plead guilty to promoting off-label uses for some of its medications and was fined $2.3 billion by the Justice Department, according to the Justice Department website).
So, while it's legal, the practice is controversial.
That leaves doctors, who often feel immense pressure to offer something--anything--to relieve a patient's suffering, in uncharted ethical waters. In some cases, the "off-label" use of a drug might be just the treatment the patient needed. But it might just as likely be a waste of time and money--or worse, pose unpredictable dangers to the patient. When "everybody's doing it" (and, yes, even physicians say stuff like that sometimes), what's a physician to do?
READ MORE @ LOS ANGELES TIMES
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Antidepressants 'work instantly'
Antidepressants get to work immediately to lift mood, contrary to current belief, UK researchers say.
Although patients may not notice the effects until months into the therapy, the team say they work subconsciously.
The action is rapid, beginning within hours of taking the drugs, and changes negative thoughts, according to the Oxford University researchers.
These subtle, positive cues may add up over time to lift the depression, the American Journal of Psychiatry reports.
It may also explain why talking therapies designed to break negative thought cycles can also help.
Psychiatrist Dr Catherine Harmer and her team at Oxford University closely studied the reactions of 33 depressed patients and 31 healthy controls given either an antidepressant or a dummy drug.
The depressed patients who took the active drug showed positive improvements in three specific measures within three hours of taking them.
These patients were more likely to think about themselves in a positive light, rather than dwelling on their bad points, the researchers said.
They were also more likely to see the positive in others. For example, if they saw a grumpy person they no longer internalised this to think that they must have done something wrong to upset the person.
READ MORE @ BBC NEWS
Although patients may not notice the effects until months into the therapy, the team say they work subconsciously.
The action is rapid, beginning within hours of taking the drugs, and changes negative thoughts, according to the Oxford University researchers.
These subtle, positive cues may add up over time to lift the depression, the American Journal of Psychiatry reports.
It may also explain why talking therapies designed to break negative thought cycles can also help.
Psychiatrist Dr Catherine Harmer and her team at Oxford University closely studied the reactions of 33 depressed patients and 31 healthy controls given either an antidepressant or a dummy drug.
The depressed patients who took the active drug showed positive improvements in three specific measures within three hours of taking them.
These patients were more likely to think about themselves in a positive light, rather than dwelling on their bad points, the researchers said.
They were also more likely to see the positive in others. For example, if they saw a grumpy person they no longer internalised this to think that they must have done something wrong to upset the person.
READ MORE @ BBC NEWS
Monday, October 26, 2009
Purging the stigma of mental illness
Joseph Rochford, associate professor of psychiatry at McGill and a director at the Douglas Hospital, hopes the hospital's Mini-Psych School will help debunk myths surrounding people suffering from mental disorders.
"Molecular biologists and geneticists are like the engineers who develop a new Formula One racing car. We're the ones who test drive it and then go back and say 'this is how it behaves.' "
That's Joseph Rochford, associate professor of psychiatry at McGill University and director of the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, on what a behaviour pharmacologist does.
The head of the neurophenotyping centre at the Douglas Institute studies how drugs used for treating mental disorders affect behaviour.
Starting this week, Rochford - also the director of academic affairs - will launch the Douglas's Mini-Psych School by giving the first session on the myths of mental illness. The purpose of the six-week course is to educate and sensitize the public to mental health issues.
READ MOEW @ MONTREAL GAZETTE
"Molecular biologists and geneticists are like the engineers who develop a new Formula One racing car. We're the ones who test drive it and then go back and say 'this is how it behaves.' "
That's Joseph Rochford, associate professor of psychiatry at McGill University and director of the Douglas Hospital Research Centre, on what a behaviour pharmacologist does.
The head of the neurophenotyping centre at the Douglas Institute studies how drugs used for treating mental disorders affect behaviour.
Starting this week, Rochford - also the director of academic affairs - will launch the Douglas's Mini-Psych School by giving the first session on the myths of mental illness. The purpose of the six-week course is to educate and sensitize the public to mental health issues.
READ MOEW @ MONTREAL GAZETTE
Sunday, October 25, 2009
New Pfizer unit to take on autism
Diane Stephenson of Groton has three tangible reasons for wanting to know as much as possible about autism.
Stephenson, associate research fellow at Pfizer Inc.'s Groton laboratories who helped start an autism research unit there earlier this year, has two nephews and a niece with the neurological disorder, which is often accompanied by language difficulties, behavioral problems, sleep interruptions, poor eye contact and low social skills.
Her sister's son Thomas, 23, has never spoken a word. And two of her brother's children, Clarise, 5, and Craig, 2, also have been diagnosed with autism.
Autism is believed to be caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors, but there is little doubt the disorder tends to run in families. Stephenson said couples who have one autistic child are 30 times more likely than others to have a second with the same disorder.
"Everyone wants a cure," said Stephenson, who has worked at the Groton labs for six years. "I felt there was something I could do."
So Stephenson, along with Pfizer colleague Howie Mayer, who has two children with autism, worked behind the scenes for a year with the idea of forming a separate research unit focusing on autism. They later added another colleague, Larry Fitzgerald, as the group put the finishing touches on its proposal, contacting key experts outside Pfizer who had a grasp on the latest breakthroughs in autism research.
READ MORE @ HARTFORD COURANT
Stephenson, associate research fellow at Pfizer Inc.'s Groton laboratories who helped start an autism research unit there earlier this year, has two nephews and a niece with the neurological disorder, which is often accompanied by language difficulties, behavioral problems, sleep interruptions, poor eye contact and low social skills.
Her sister's son Thomas, 23, has never spoken a word. And two of her brother's children, Clarise, 5, and Craig, 2, also have been diagnosed with autism.
Autism is believed to be caused by a combination of environmental and genetic factors, but there is little doubt the disorder tends to run in families. Stephenson said couples who have one autistic child are 30 times more likely than others to have a second with the same disorder.
"Everyone wants a cure," said Stephenson, who has worked at the Groton labs for six years. "I felt there was something I could do."
So Stephenson, along with Pfizer colleague Howie Mayer, who has two children with autism, worked behind the scenes for a year with the idea of forming a separate research unit focusing on autism. They later added another colleague, Larry Fitzgerald, as the group put the finishing touches on its proposal, contacting key experts outside Pfizer who had a grasp on the latest breakthroughs in autism research.
READ MORE @ HARTFORD COURANT
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Increase In Long-term Antidepressant Drug Use, UK Study Reveals
A dramatic rise in antidepressant prescriptions issued by GPs has been caused by a year on year increase in the number of people taking antidepressant drugs on a long-term basis, according to researchers from the University of Southampton.
In a paper, published in the printed edition of British Medical Journal (BMJ), scientists found that despite a drop in the number of new patients diagnosed with depression over 11 years, the number of prescriptions doubled.
"We estimate that more than 2 million people are now taking antidepressants long-term over several years, in particular women aged between 18 and 30," comments Tony Kendrick, a professor in Primary Medical Care of the University's School of Medicine, who led the study.
The number of prescriptions issued per patient rose from 2.8 in 1993 to 5.6 in 2004.
Prescription Pricing Authority data shows that more than 30 million prescriptions for SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Prozac and Seroxat, are now issued per year, twice as many as the early 1990s. Researchers at the University of Southampton found 90 per cent of people diagnosed with depression are now taking SSRIs either continuously or as repeated courses over several years.
RED MORE @ SCIENCE DAILY
In a paper, published in the printed edition of British Medical Journal (BMJ), scientists found that despite a drop in the number of new patients diagnosed with depression over 11 years, the number of prescriptions doubled.
"We estimate that more than 2 million people are now taking antidepressants long-term over several years, in particular women aged between 18 and 30," comments Tony Kendrick, a professor in Primary Medical Care of the University's School of Medicine, who led the study.
The number of prescriptions issued per patient rose from 2.8 in 1993 to 5.6 in 2004.
Prescription Pricing Authority data shows that more than 30 million prescriptions for SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Prozac and Seroxat, are now issued per year, twice as many as the early 1990s. Researchers at the University of Southampton found 90 per cent of people diagnosed with depression are now taking SSRIs either continuously or as repeated courses over several years.
RED MORE @ SCIENCE DAILY
Friday, October 23, 2009
Why antidepressants don't work for so many Northwestern research finds drugs aim at wrong target
More than half the people who take antidepressants for depression never get relief.
Why? Because the cause of depression has been oversimplified and drugs designed to treat it aim at the wrong target, according to new research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The medications are like arrows shot at the outer rings of a bull's eye instead of the center.
A study from the laboratory of long-time depression researcher Eva Redei, presented at the Neuroscience 2009 conference in Chicago this week, appears to topple two strongly held beliefs about depression. One is that stressful life events are a major cause of depression. The other is that an imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain triggers depressive symptoms.
Both findings are significant because these beliefs were the basis for developing drugs currently used to treat depression.
Redei, the David Lawrence Stein Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern's Feinberg School, found powerful molecular evidence that quashes the long-held dogma that stress is generally a major cause of depression. Her new research reveals that there is almost no overlap between stress-related genes and depression-related genes.
READ MORE @ EUREKALERT
Why? Because the cause of depression has been oversimplified and drugs designed to treat it aim at the wrong target, according to new research from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. The medications are like arrows shot at the outer rings of a bull's eye instead of the center.
A study from the laboratory of long-time depression researcher Eva Redei, presented at the Neuroscience 2009 conference in Chicago this week, appears to topple two strongly held beliefs about depression. One is that stressful life events are a major cause of depression. The other is that an imbalance in neurotransmitters in the brain triggers depressive symptoms.
Both findings are significant because these beliefs were the basis for developing drugs currently used to treat depression.
Redei, the David Lawrence Stein Professor of Psychiatry at Northwestern's Feinberg School, found powerful molecular evidence that quashes the long-held dogma that stress is generally a major cause of depression. Her new research reveals that there is almost no overlap between stress-related genes and depression-related genes.
READ MORE @ EUREKALERT
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Texas Lawsuit Blames Antipsychotic Seroquel for Woman’s Diabetes
Taking Seroquel to treat a mental disorder caused a Texas woman to develop diabetes and she wouldn’t have taken the drug if she knew of the risks, according to a lawsuit filed in Texas federal court.
Misty Peters claims she took the atypical antipsychotic drug, which is approved for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder but also is widely used by physicians to treat other unapproved “off-label” conditions, according to a report in the Southeast Texas Record.
Peters’ product liability lawsuit, filed last week in the Beaumont Division of the Eastern District of Texas, accuses Seroquel’s maker, Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, and others of promoting the drug’s benefits and downplaying its risks while knowing it could cause users to develop diabetes and other medical problems.
Seroquel Linked to Diabetes, Other Blood-Sugar Disorders
Seroquel was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997 as a member of a newer class of drugs called atypical antipsychotics. The drugs, which control levels of dopamine in the brain, are billed as being just as effective as older antipsychotic drugs like Haldol with fewer side effects, but more recent research has found a link between taking Seroquel and developing diabetes and other blood-sugar disorders.
READ MORE @ ATORNEY AT LAW
Misty Peters claims she took the atypical antipsychotic drug, which is approved for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder but also is widely used by physicians to treat other unapproved “off-label” conditions, according to a report in the Southeast Texas Record.
Peters’ product liability lawsuit, filed last week in the Beaumont Division of the Eastern District of Texas, accuses Seroquel’s maker, Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, and others of promoting the drug’s benefits and downplaying its risks while knowing it could cause users to develop diabetes and other medical problems.
Seroquel Linked to Diabetes, Other Blood-Sugar Disorders
Seroquel was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1997 as a member of a newer class of drugs called atypical antipsychotics. The drugs, which control levels of dopamine in the brain, are billed as being just as effective as older antipsychotic drugs like Haldol with fewer side effects, but more recent research has found a link between taking Seroquel and developing diabetes and other blood-sugar disorders.
READ MORE @ ATORNEY AT LAW
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
In praise of 'electroshock'
What does it feel like to be profoundly depressed?
“Sometimes you feel like your head is going to explode,” Richard Braudo explains. “There were times I was so depressed, I was comatose. You can reach the point where you don't want to live – the pain is too much.”
Mr. Braudo knows. His diagnosis: treatment-resistant bipolar affective disorder.
The Toronto lawyer and management consultant has survived 30 bouts of severe depression, each lasting many months, not to mention a couple of suicide attempts.
But, at the age of 55, he has finally achieved “stable wellness.”
Mr. Braudo credits electroconvulsive therapy for his recovery. He has undergone 10 courses of ECT since 1991, the last about 18 months ago – the longest period, by far, in his adult life that he has gone without a bout of depression.
He has chosen to tell his story to help counter the negative public image of ECT as barbaric and painful and to underscore that prescription drugs are not the be-all and end-all for people with psychiatric illnesses.
READ MORE @ GLOBE AND MAIL
“Sometimes you feel like your head is going to explode,” Richard Braudo explains. “There were times I was so depressed, I was comatose. You can reach the point where you don't want to live – the pain is too much.”
Mr. Braudo knows. His diagnosis: treatment-resistant bipolar affective disorder.
The Toronto lawyer and management consultant has survived 30 bouts of severe depression, each lasting many months, not to mention a couple of suicide attempts.
But, at the age of 55, he has finally achieved “stable wellness.”
Mr. Braudo credits electroconvulsive therapy for his recovery. He has undergone 10 courses of ECT since 1991, the last about 18 months ago – the longest period, by far, in his adult life that he has gone without a bout of depression.
He has chosen to tell his story to help counter the negative public image of ECT as barbaric and painful and to underscore that prescription drugs are not the be-all and end-all for people with psychiatric illnesses.
READ MORE @ GLOBE AND MAIL
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
MENTAL DISORDERS DON'T HINDER HEADACHE TREATMENT
Contrary to long-standing thinking, medications may offer comparable headache relief to those with and without mental disorders.
For an especially miserable time, mix recurring headaches with depression, anxiety or both. But people in such a fix have cause for optimism, courtesy of a team led by psychologist Bernadette Heckman of Ohio University in Athens.
Drug treatments for headaches work just as well for patients with these psychiatric disorders as for those with no such problems, Heckman and her colleagues report in the November Pain.
Researchers and clinicians generally assume that the presence of one or more psychiatric ailments worsens headache symptoms and thus the prospects for successful treatment. Heckman and her colleagues conducted one of the few prospective studies to test that conviction.
“Contrary to conventional clinical wisdom, many patients with psychiatric disorders responded favorably to headache treatment,” Heckman says.
The team found that, during six months of treatment at any of four outpatient headache clinics, rates of improvement in headache frequency and intensity were about the same for patients with depression, anxiety, a combination of the two or no psychiatric disorders.
In a comment published with the new study, psychologist Todd Smitherman of the University of Mississippi in Oxford and psychiatrist Donald Penzien of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson say that the new findings “give us pause to reconsider our earlier predictions” that people with mental disorders respond poorly to headache treatment.
READ MORE @ SCIENCE NEWS
For an especially miserable time, mix recurring headaches with depression, anxiety or both. But people in such a fix have cause for optimism, courtesy of a team led by psychologist Bernadette Heckman of Ohio University in Athens.
Drug treatments for headaches work just as well for patients with these psychiatric disorders as for those with no such problems, Heckman and her colleagues report in the November Pain.
Researchers and clinicians generally assume that the presence of one or more psychiatric ailments worsens headache symptoms and thus the prospects for successful treatment. Heckman and her colleagues conducted one of the few prospective studies to test that conviction.
“Contrary to conventional clinical wisdom, many patients with psychiatric disorders responded favorably to headache treatment,” Heckman says.
The team found that, during six months of treatment at any of four outpatient headache clinics, rates of improvement in headache frequency and intensity were about the same for patients with depression, anxiety, a combination of the two or no psychiatric disorders.
In a comment published with the new study, psychologist Todd Smitherman of the University of Mississippi in Oxford and psychiatrist Donald Penzien of the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson say that the new findings “give us pause to reconsider our earlier predictions” that people with mental disorders respond poorly to headache treatment.
READ MORE @ SCIENCE NEWS
Monday, October 19, 2009
Men on Tricyclic Antidepressant More Likely to Think of Suicide
All antidepressants may not be created equal when it comes to worsening of suicidal ideation during treatment, researchers found.
Men taking nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor) were 2.4 times more likely to have an increase in suicidal thoughts than were those taking escitalopram (Lexapro), Nader Perroud, MD, of King's College London, and colleagues reported online in BMC Medicine.
Nortriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, was also associated with a 9.8-fold higher risk of new onset of suicidal ideation compared with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) in the prospective open-label trial.
The reason behind the difference may be that nortriptyline acts predominantly on the noradrenergic system, which, when overactive, is associated with anxiety and agitation.
Because "suicidal ideation is more common in agitated and irritable types of depression," the researchers said, "it is possible that nortriptyline may induce or worsen suicidal thoughts in some male subjects possibly through an induction of this more agitated type of depression."
Another possibility is that nortriptyline is less effective against mood symptoms, they noted.
All antidepressants now carry black box warnings of suicidality risk, particularly in children and young adults, and especially early in treatment, but whether this risk differs between agents or by gender has been debated.
READ MORE @ MEDPAGE TODAY
Men taking nortriptyline (Aventyl, Pamelor) were 2.4 times more likely to have an increase in suicidal thoughts than were those taking escitalopram (Lexapro), Nader Perroud, MD, of King's College London, and colleagues reported online in BMC Medicine.
Nortriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant, was also associated with a 9.8-fold higher risk of new onset of suicidal ideation compared with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) in the prospective open-label trial.
The reason behind the difference may be that nortriptyline acts predominantly on the noradrenergic system, which, when overactive, is associated with anxiety and agitation.
Because "suicidal ideation is more common in agitated and irritable types of depression," the researchers said, "it is possible that nortriptyline may induce or worsen suicidal thoughts in some male subjects possibly through an induction of this more agitated type of depression."
Another possibility is that nortriptyline is less effective against mood symptoms, they noted.
All antidepressants now carry black box warnings of suicidality risk, particularly in children and young adults, and especially early in treatment, but whether this risk differs between agents or by gender has been debated.
READ MORE @ MEDPAGE TODAY
Sunday, October 18, 2009
'ECG for the mind' could diagnose depression in an hour
An innovative diagnostic technique invented by a Monash University researcher could dramatically fast-track the detection of mental and neurological illnesses.
Monash biomedical engineer Brian Lithgow has developed electrovestibulography which is something akin to an 'ECG for the mind'. Patterns of electrical activity in the brain's vestibular (or balance) system are measured against distinct response patterns found in depression, schizophrenia and other Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders.
The vestibular system is closely connected to the primitive regions of the brain that relate to emotions and behaviour, so Lithgow saw the diagnostic potential of measuring and comparing different patterns of electrovestibular activity.
Working with psychiatry researchers at Monash University's Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc) in Melbourne, Australia, he tested volunteers and found distinct response patterns, or "biomarkers", that distinguished different CNS diseases from each other and from regular electrovestibular activity.
READ MORE @ EUREKALERT"
Monash biomedical engineer Brian Lithgow has developed electrovestibulography which is something akin to an 'ECG for the mind'. Patterns of electrical activity in the brain's vestibular (or balance) system are measured against distinct response patterns found in depression, schizophrenia and other Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders.
The vestibular system is closely connected to the primitive regions of the brain that relate to emotions and behaviour, so Lithgow saw the diagnostic potential of measuring and comparing different patterns of electrovestibular activity.
Working with psychiatry researchers at Monash University's Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre (MAPrc) in Melbourne, Australia, he tested volunteers and found distinct response patterns, or "biomarkers", that distinguished different CNS diseases from each other and from regular electrovestibular activity.
READ MORE @ EUREKALERT"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
