News

Wayne S. Fenton, MD, died in Washington, DC, on September 3, 2006.

The need for better tools, as well as better use of existing tools, to measure treatment response in clinical trials was a principle focus of the 46th annual NIMH-sponsored NCDEU (New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit) meeting, held June 12-15 in Boca Raton, Fla. Improved clinical research techniques are needed to better separate treatment effect from placebo response, to distinguish between active comparators, and to facilitate development of novel treatments, according to several presenters at the conference.

Effective treatment of drug abuse and addiction in the criminal justice system saves the community money and reduces crime, the NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported in a recently released booklet, Principles of Drug Abuse Treatment for Criminal Justice Populations.

In its latest report on medication errors, a committee assembled by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) included some sidebars on psychiatric drugs. The report, issued in July, said that there is too little data on misadministration of psychiatric drugs and that clinical trials with psychiatric drugs have been small and incapable of providing pragmatic, comparative information.

A new edition of an established text is an opportunity for its authors and editors to review new information and prune what is no longer useful. The 4th edition of Principles and Practice of Psychopharmacotherapy is more successful at the former than it is at the latter.

Chances appear good that Congress will once again veto a threatened cut in Medicare physician payments for calendar 2007--cuts that would cost psychiatrists an average of 7% in their billings.

Ahmed Abdullai often wandered aimlessly and slept in a graveyard in Tamale, northern Ghana. Now, with the help of BasicNeeds--an international development charity--Abdullai takes medications to stabilize his mental illness, learns gardening skills, lives at home, contributes to the family farm, and feels like a "human being once again."

In the era of Google and PubMed, a medical reference book finds itself in a precarious position. Is there a role for a bundled, unchangeable hard copy of data that may become outdated in the near (and more easily accessed) future?

Studies showing that more and more children are using psychiatric medications have generated reactions--some would say overreactions--with ritualistic sameness.

The increase in youth violence and aggression in the past 50 years has been called an "epidemic." This epidemic has had a tremendous impact on society. From an economic and public health perspective, primary prevention of youth violence is obviously desirable.

Typically, delirium worsens at night ("sundowning"), with lucid intervals often present in the morning. It is important to realize that delirium may appear before any abnormal laboratory values are detected and may persist after the resolution of these abnormalities.

Despite the progressive increase in the number of available antidepressants, many patients with depression continue to be symptomatic.

If done properly, the assessment of alcohol and substance use disorders in the emergency department (ED) or psychiatric emergency service can be the first step toward recovery.

The degree to which season changes affect mood, energy, sleep, appetite, food preference, or desire to socialize with others has been called "seasonality." Identification of a seasonal pattern can only be made if both the patient and physician actively look for it.

Since children are a vulnerable population, ethical issues in the conduct of medication studies involving them are extremely important. We recently reported the results of a study that examined youths' and parents' attitudes about, and experiences with, participation in psychopharmacology treatment research.

In a presentation given at the midyear meeting of the American Epilepsy Society, Andres Kanner, MD cited studies from the literature showing that the rates of depression, anxiety, psychosis, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are significantly higher among persons with epilepsy than among the general population

Most physicians make at least some use of the placebo effect to enhance treatments, whether they realize it or not. This article examines the extent of the placebo effect in patients with psychiatric illness, and reviews what is known about how placebos work.

Alcohol is the drug of choice for adolescents, with cigarettes and marijuana being second and third. Contrary to widespread belief, alcohol dependence is most common in 18- to 20-year-olds, with progressively decreasing rates of alcohol dependence in older age groups.

Depressive disorders and symptoms are common in cancer patients (up to 58% have depressive symptoms and up to 38% have major depression), worsen over the course of cancer treatment, persist long after cancer therapy, recur with the recurrence of cancer, and significantly impact quality of life.

The longitudinal course of bipolar disorder (BD) is characterized by a low rate of recovery, a high rate of recurrence, and poor interepisodic functioning. There is a need to invoke a chronic disease management model (CDMM) when treating individuals with BD.

Emergency department (ED) visits have increased from 89 million in 1992 to more than 110 million in 2002, while the number of EDs decreased by about 15% during the same period. One suspected consequence of ED overcrowding is an increased tendency to disregard a psychiatric problem, especially if it is not the chief complaint.

Complaints of persistent memory loss in otherwise well-functioning individuals after recovery from a psychiatric illness through electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) are best viewed as a conversion reaction or a somatoform disorder. The Camelford experience is a model for the complaints of ECT's profound personal memory losses.

Diabetes mellitus (DM) has been a significant public health problem for many years. However, the number of cases is continuing to grow at such an alarming rate that some have suggested we are facing or are already experiencing a diabetes epidemic.

Sleep disorders are very common and are often underrecognized and underreported in children. If left untreated, these disorders can cause serious developmental and physiologic problems.

It was just over a generation ago that the routine combination of psychotherapy and drug therapy seemed impossible. Then, one meta-analysis found that combined treatment with psychotherapy and medication was found to be notably superior to either treatment alone.

As Americans' use of personal electronic devices increases, so too, do the controversies surrounding these now seemingly indispensable tools.

Depression has long been recognized as a primary concern for health care providers. Many approaches to treating depression have been developed, ranging from medications, to long-term psychotherapy, to shorter, more structured cognitive-behavioral treatments--all of which help some of the patients, some of the time, to some extent.

CBT is a comprehensive system of therapy that builds on core therapeutic values by using a wide range of reliable methods to produce cognitive and behavioral change.

Despite advances in our understanding of depression therapy, many patients with depression remain unresponsive to treatment. As many as 50% of patients who begin treatment with an antidepressant do not respond.

Psychotropic Drug Handbook, 8th Edition