Clinical Psychiatry News articles from December 2008

Clinical Psychiatry News archives from December 2008

Report sounds alarm on obesity.(Report)
December 1, 2008... CHICAGO -- America's state mental health program directors are muscling up to tackle the obesity crisis in persons with serious mental illness. "It's an epidemic within an epidemic," according to Dr. Alan Q. Radke, coeditor of a new,...

Projected U.S. health expenditures.(VITAL SIGNS)
December 1, 2008... Note: Based on 2006 National Health Expenditures data. Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (in trillions of dollars)

Returning vets, families in need of interventions: substance abuse emerging as top concern.
December 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Combat conditions in Iraq and Afghanistan that foster posttraumatic stress disorder are creating a need for interventions among returning veterans to prevent substance abuse that can emerge as a coping mechanism, according to...

Conflict-of-interest issues are stirring up psychiatry.
December 1, 2008... The debate about conflict of interest in psychiatry is being pushed out into the open, driven by the seemingly relentless pursuit of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), coverage in major national newspapers, and the overall move in medicine to...

Providers sought to offer free mental health care to veterans.
December 1, 2008... A volunteer organization is seeking psychiatrists and other mental health professionals to join its network of providers who are helping to meet the demand for services among military personnel returning from Iraq and Afghanistan and their...

P4P is just one of many tools.(GUEST EDITORIAL)
December 1, 2008... Health care policy makers' enthusiastic embrace of pay for performance as the dominant strategy to improve quality and rein in health care costs needs to be weighed against significant questions about the program's cost-effectiveness and likely...

Rethinking foster care.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2008... I was pleased to see the recent examination of the foster care system in Clinical Psychiatry News ("Foster Care: Casey Program a Good Model," Prevention in Action, July 2008, p. 38). But I am also concerned that current approaches to improving...

Fink! Still at large: a study shows increased activity in the brains of aggressive boys who watched a video clip of one person inflicting pain on another. Are these findings surprising?(Opinion)
December 1, 2008... I am stunned by these results. Until now, I had thought that behavior was developmental and learned. The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago, showed that there is a genuine biologic component to the aggression in...

Guideline issued on newer antidepressants.(Adult Psychiatry)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Second-generation antidepressants are similarly effective in the treatment of major depression in adults, thus drug selection should be driven by adverse event profile, cost, and patient preference, according to a clinical practice guideline...

Obesity raises depression odds in black women.
December 1, 2008... CHICAGO -- The odds of comorbid depression are 41% greater in obese than in nonobese African American women, according to a large national study. Based upon this finding, obese African American women should routinely be screened for...

Menopausal status affects depression's presentation.(Adult Psychiatry)
December 1, 2008... LAKE BUENA VISTA, FLA. -- Use of hormone therapy and menopausal status can influence the presentation and treatment of major depression, Dr. Susan G. Kornstein said at the annual meeting of the North American Menopause Society. "There is...

St. John's wort for depression.(EVIDENCE-BASED PSYCHIATRIC MEDICINE)
December 1, 2008... The Problem You have a patient who suffers with depression. He is not interested in taking synthetic antidepressants, but asks you about St. John's wort. The Question Is St. John's wort efficacious for the treatment of...

Knowledge gap exists on best practices for PTSD.(Adult Psychiatry)
December 1, 2008... CHICAGO -- Two studies suggest that community-level mental health professionals are likely to assist active military personnel, veterans, and their families, but many feel unequipped to do so effectively. Responses to a 38-item online...

Traditional acupuncture improves PTSD symptoms in veterans.
December 1, 2008... CHICAGO -- Brief exposure to acupuncture significantly improved the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder when this treatment was compared with usual care in a randomized controlled trial in 55 veterans. Traditional Chinese medicine...

Race, insurance status affect Trauma outcomes.
December 1, 2008... Trauma patients' race and insurance status separately influence their mortality risk, according to the results of a large database analysis. This finding, from a review of information on 311,503 cases in the National Trauma Data Bank in...

How about a bailout for our patients?(THE PSYCHIATRIST'S TOOLBOX)
December 1, 2008... As I write this column, congressional committees have been holding hearings with chief executives of the Big Three automakers about the pros and cons of bailing out that ailing industry. At this point, the debate is whether a $25 billion bridge...

Patch improves sexual function in postmenopausal women.
December 1, 2008... The testosterone patch improves sexual function and decreases emotional distress in postmenopausal women who have hypoactive sexual desire disorder, but the patch's long-term safety needs to be studied, according to a report. "The increase...

Consider behavioral therapies first for ASD.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
December 1, 2008... BALTIMORE -- Medication is not a surefire solution for the symptoms associated with autism spectrum disorders, according to Dr. Kenneth E. Towbin. "Many people seek medication for children with autism spectrum disorders, imagining that...

Prevalence of autism in three states linked to precipitation.
December 1, 2008... Autism prevalence in three Western states has been linked to precipitation there, so that the heavier the precipitation, the higher the prevalence of the disorder among genetically vulnerable children, a report in the Archives of Pediatric and...

Keeping youth safe: it takes a neighborhood.(PREVENTION IN ACTION)
December 1, 2008... It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a neighborhood to keep one safe. That's the message from new research looking at the impact of neighborhood-level factors on aggressive and delinquent behavior among urban adolescents. ...

DBS effective in early-onset form of dystonia.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)
December 1, 2008... CHICAGO -- The efficacy of deep brain stimulation can be maintained for up to 10 years in DYT1 dystonia, according to data from a study in 26 consecutive patients. This prospective study is the first to report on more than 3 years of...

IVIG may slow progression of Alzheimer's.(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... CHICAGO -- Continuous intravenous infusions of immunoglobulin for 9 months stabilized cognition and function for Alzheimer's patients enrolled in a small placebo-controlled trial. The 18-month-long phase II study included 24 patients with...

Exercise improves outcomes in heart failure.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2008... NEW ORLEANS -- In the largest study of exercise training as part of the management of heart failure to date, a guided exercise program was safe and modestly effective, although investigators acknowledged that patients found it hard to keep up...

Using stairs at work cuts cardiovascular risk.(Across Specialties)
December 1, 2008... MUNICH -- "No thanks, I'll take the stairs instead." This was the cry that rang through the corridors of University Hospital, Geneva, last year as physicians and nurses participating in the Geneva stair study eschewed elevators in favor of...

Policy & practice.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2008... Army and NIMH to Study Suicides The National Institute of Mental Health has signed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Army to study suicide and suicidal behavior among active-duty soldiers, National Guard members, and Army...

Health reform '09: major overhaul--or not.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2008... WASHINGTON -- Can President-elect Barack Obama really shepherd through major health reform? Not until the Medicare physician payment system gets fixed, according to Robert Laszewski. "How do you plan a health care budget in Medicare and the...

Yes, we can (ethically change).(THE ETHICAL WAY)
December 1, 2008... As I loosen my American flag tie, and press on to finish this column on the day of our national presidential election, it's hard not to think about change. Once the theme solely of Sen. Barack Obama's campaign ("Change We Can Believe In"), it...

Many medical practices Ill prepared for disasters.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2008... SAN DIEGO -- About one-third of medical practices have no emergency medical preparedness plan to deal with disasters such as hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and terrorist attacks, results from a national survey demonstrated. In fact, more...

Children in need less likely to get samples.(Practice Trends)(Clinical report)
December 1, 2008... Free drug samples not only do little to equalize medication access in the pediatric population, but they also may pose safety concerns in young patients, results of a recent study show. The practice of providing free drug samples to...

Nurture relationships with referring physicians.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2008... SAN DIEGO -- Any plan for marketing a medical practice should include a strategy for nurturing relationships with physicians who refer to you, Andrea T. Eliscu, R.N., advised at the annual conference of the Medical Group Management Association....

Hospitalists urged to act as 'agents of change'.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2008... VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Hospitalists are ideally qualified and positioned to drive hospital quality improvement initiatives, Dr. Larry Wellikson said at the annual Canadian Hospitalist Conference. "We are owners, not renters," he said,...

Federal panel recognizes Gulf War syndrome.(Practice Trends)
December 1, 2008... It's been a long time coming for veterans whose health complaints have been met with skepticism, but a federal committee has determined that Gulf War syndrome is not only real, it is tied to two causes: exposure to pyridostigmine bromide and...

Free information on drug abuse.(FYI)
December 1, 2008... The National Institute on Drug Abuse has launched DrugPubs, a research dissemination center that distributes materials on drug abuse and addiction for all audiences, including health professionals, researchers, teachers, teenagers, and other...

Disability etiquette booklet.(FYI)
December 1, 2008... The United Spinal Association has published a booklet, "Disability Etiquette," covering basic principles of interaction that apply to most people with disabilities as well as detailed information on mobility and sensory impairments,...

Tip sheet on preventing aging.(FYI)
December 1, 2008... "Can We Prevent Aging? Tips from the National Institute on Aging" is a publication for consumers that describes the benefits and risks of hormone supplements, calorie restriction, and other anti-aging interventions. To order free print copies...

Where young people drink.(FYI)
December 1, 2008... A new report from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health analyzes where young people aged 12-20 years consume alcoholic drinks. Most of them drank at someone else's home the last time they used alcohol. The percentage who had their most...

Postmarket drug safety information.(FYI)
December 1, 2008... The Food and Drug Administration has created a Web page containing a wide variety of safety information about prescription drugs for both health care professionals and consumers. This new Web page, www.fda.gov/cder/drugsafety.htm, includes...

Alcohol use by pregnant women.(FYI)
December 1, 2008... The National Survey on Drug Use and Health is offering a six-page report that analyzes patterns of alcohol use among pregnant women and recent mothers. According to the survey, combined 2006 and 2007 data show that the rate of past-month...

NIH web site adds Parkinson's Info.(FYI)
December 1, 2008... Information about Parkinson's disease and current treatment options for it has been added to the National Institutes of Health's NIH Senior Health Web site. The Web site is geared toward older adults and features clear language, large-print...

May-December loves: mind the gap?(REEL LIFE)
December 1, 2008... Spring-winter romance and marriage are nothing new. In Chaucer's "Merchant's Tale," 60-year-old "January" takes late teenager "May" as his bride, extolling the appeal of a young woman who can be molded "like warm wax." In a letter written in...