July 2nd 2024
Kisunla (donanemab-azbt) is now approved by the FDA for adults with early symptomatic Alzheimer disease.
Psychiatry Roundup: March 2016
April 5th 2016Editors' choices of noteworthy psychiatry stories from around the Web: genetics of schizophrenia, Alzheimer disease, the perils of mixing prescription and over-the-counter medications, new guidelines for treating pain with opioids, and other topics.
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Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in Neuropsychiatry: An Update
February 27th 2015The potential of TMS as a treatment for cognitive disorders, fatigue, pain, and other manifestations of brain disease is discussed, as is the encouraging prospect for neuropsychiatric management of many patients.
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The Monoaminergic System and Its Putative Role in Alzheimer Disease
August 14th 2014The SSRIs, although principally targeting serotonin transporter, are complex drugs that might work on other neurotransmitter and receptor systems. It is likely worthwhile to look at the effects of other monoamine and neuropeptide systems on the enzymatic machinery cleaving the amyloid precursor protein.
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Deep Brain Stimulation for Depression and Alzheimer Disease: An Emerging Therapy
November 11th 2013Demographic shifts and rising life expectancies will lead to an epidemic of chronic neuropsychiatric disease, and societal and public health costs will be enormous. Deep brain stimulation--a procedure that interfaces directly with the neural elements that drive pathological behavior--could be useful.
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No Mortality Increase With Antipsychotics in Prospective Study
June 17th 2013Results of a 10-week prospective study, recently reported at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry, offered no conclusive evidence about the mortality risk of elderly patients with Alzheimer disease who were treated with antipsychotics.
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SuperAgers: Insights Into the Brains of 80+-Year-Old Memory Superstars
June 6th 2013Despite the prevalent perception that cognitive decline in the aged population is inevitable, researchers with Northwestern University's SuperAging Project are finding that "excellent memory capacity in late life is a biological possibility."
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Deep Brain Stimulation: Evidence Based Science or Wishful Thinking?
May 28th 2013Because of new imaging techniques and advances in our understanding of neurophysiology, neurological and psychiatric disorders are increasingly being recognized as disorders of circuit functions in the brain. Using techniques such as DBS, neurosurgeons are able to pinpoint malfunctioning circuits and to recalibrate them.
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Deep Brain Stimulation: New Promise in Alzheimer Disease and Depression?
December 13th 2012The evolution of deep brain stimulation for various neuropsychiatric disorders results from advances in structural and functional brain imaging, increased understanding of neurocircuitry of the brain, and improvements in neurosurgical techniques and equipment.
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Brain Aging and Dementia: Practical Tips From Clinical Research
June 29th 2012Age is a major risk factor for the development of Alzheimer disease and other dementias. New technologies in brain imaging represent major advances in our ability to diagnose age-related cognitive and behavioral disorders.
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Mild Cognitive Impairment-An Added Value to Patient and Physician
February 29th 2012While there are currently no treatments for AD, it is important to examine what we are treating. By the time AD is diagnosed by clinical symptoms, 8 to possibly 15 years of pathological damage has already occurred.
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Video: Delaying Symptom Deterioration in Alzheimer Dementia
December 17th 2011Anton Porsteinsson, MD, discusses some specifics for fine-tuning the care of patients with Alzheimer disease. Here: optimizing physical health and mental stimulation and promoting a brain-healthy diet and aerobic exercise.
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Video: Determinants of Alzheimer Disease -- Is Our Destiny Genetic?
December 17th 2011In this video, Anton Porsteinsson, MD, discusses some of the causative factors of Alzheimer disease: genetics, environment, personality. He goes on to explain that although there are clear determinants for AD, there are preventive actions that can be taken to delay the onset of disability.
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Alzheimer’s Redux: A Preliminary Take on the New Diagnostic Criteria
June 17th 2011If telling patients they have “pre-clinical Alzheimer’s” or “MCI due to Alzheimer’s Disease”-absent effective treatment-produces more emotional suffering than it relieves, a difficult ethical question arises; namely, can such a disclosure be justified under the foundational principle of non-malfeasance?
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Early Alzheimer's Diagnosis and Treatment: Future Hopes, Current Dangers
August 7th 2010The furor surrounding the recently proposed Alzheimer's Guidelines was provoked by their premature attempt to introduce early diagnosis, well before accurate tools are available. The same laudable, but currently clearly unrealistic ambition has propelled two of the worst suggestions for new diagnoses in DSM-5: Psychosis Risk and Mild Neurocognitive.
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Alzheimer's Tests: A Research Tool Not Ready For Clinical Use
August 5th 2010In July, panels sponsored jointly by the National Institute of Aging and the Alzheimer's Association presented controversial proposed guidelines for diagnosing Alzheimer's at three different stages of its progression.
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