Clinical Psychiatry News articles from January 2006

Clinical Psychiatry News archives from January 2006

PTSD: terrorists' tactics working?(Post-traumatic stress disorder)
January 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Recent studies of psychopathology resulting from terrorist attacks underscore three important points for psychiatrists to keep in mind, Dr. Sandro Galea said at the annual meeting of the International Society for Traumatic Stress...

Are patients willing to pay for quality?(VITAL SIGNS)(Statistical table)(Survey)
January 1, 2006... Are Patients Willing to Pay for Quality? Would you go to a highly recommended doctor who doesn't take your insurance? Very willing 14% Somewhat willing 39% Not very willing 26% Not at all willing 21% Note:...

Panel supports ADHD drug patch with warning: methylphenidate sensitization a concern.(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)
January 1, 2006... GAITHERSBURG, MD. -- A federal advisory panel has supported approval of a transdermal methylphenidate patch for treating ADHD in children--with a caveat. Because of the patch's potential to cause sensitization to methylphenidate, the Food...

New paradigm embraced for alcohol treatment.(Addiction Psychiatry)(Clinical report)
January 1, 2006... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- Treatment of alcohol abuse can be effective in the absence of total abstinence, several leaders in addiction treatment say. "Reduced drinking, I think, may be a suitable alternative for some patients," Dr. Henry R....

FDA plans reorganization aimed at improving drug safety, development.(Food and Drug Administration)
January 1, 2006... Officials at the Food and Drug Administration are planning to reorganize its Center for Drug Evaluation and Research in an effort to improve the agency's approach to drug safety and to help improve drug development. The FDA plans to...

CIND estimated in 23% of older U.S. population.(cognitive impairment not classified as dementia)
January 1, 2006... ORLANDO -- Preliminary findings suggest a 23% prevalence of cognitive impairment not classified as dementia in the U.S. population aged 70 or older, according to results presented at the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America....

Clinical Psychiatry News' top stories of 2005.(black box labeling for antidepressants)(new device approal for depressed patients)(Hurricane Katrina survivors in depression)
January 1, 2006... A decrease in the number of antidepressants prescribed for children and adolescents by psychiatrists and primary care physicians kept the Food and Drug Administration's decision to require black box labeling on antidepressants as a top issue in...

Paxil pregnancy warning strengthened again.(News)
January 1, 2006... The Food and Drug Administration has stepped up warnings that paroxetine increases the risk of congenital defects, especially cardiovascular malformations. In September, GlaxoSmithKline, which markets paroxetine under the trade name Paxil,...

Conventional drugs appear riskier for elderly.(News)
January 1, 2006... Conventional antipsychotics appear even more likely than atypical antipsychotics to increase the risk of death in elderly patients, Dr. Philip S. Wang and his colleagues have reported. The study suggests that conventional antipsychotics...

Extended-release Depakote gets mania indication.(drug approval)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month approved a new indication for Depakote ER for the treatment of acute mania or mixed episodes associated with bipolar disorder with or without psychotic features. The approval was based in...

Urban areas with the highest syphilis rates in 2004.(DATA WATCH)(Statistical table)
January 1, 2006... Urban Areas With the Highest Syphilis Rates in 2004 Cases per 100,000 Population San Francisco 45.9 Atlanta 34.6 Baltimore 33.2 New Orleans 16.4 St. Louis 14.1...

Syphilis rate continues 5-year rise.(News)
January 1, 2006... The rate of syphilis infection in the United States continues to rise, with an overall increase in the number of reported cases of 8% in 2004, compared with 2003, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported. In 2004, the...

Raising awareness on racism.(FINK! STILL AT LARGE)
January 1, 2006... During the same week in which thousands of people of all hues waited in line at the U.S. Capitol to pay their last respects to civil rights heroine Rosa Parks, Air Force Academy football coach Fisher DeBerry said his team lost a game because...

Selecting patients for VNS.(vagus nerve stimulation )
January 1, 2006... The Food and Drug Administration's approval of vagus nerve stimulation for the long-term treatment of severe depression is an important development for psychiatry. Finally, we have in our armamentarium a long-term treatment for patients with...

How to read a balance sheet.(Column)
January 1, 2006... A balance sheet provides an essential picture of your practice's financial health, yet, amazingly, few physicians can make heads or tails of one. Medical schools don't teach that stuff, of course, but most doctors don't see a reason to learn...

Dramatizing dementia: when less is more.(movies featuring persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease)
January 1, 2006... Actors ply their craft by imbuing characters with integrity in the literal sense: unbroken completeness, an inner sense of personal wholeness. We can imagine the challenge when an actor must portray someone with Alzheimer's dementia, a disease...

Illinois program addresses depression.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2006... Dr. Robert T. London invited readers to let him know what we think of depression screening and a possible expanded role for primary care physicians in identifying, treating, and referring patients ("Identifying Depression: We Must Do More," The...

Nivola's George Johnston.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2006... It was great to read Dr. Roland Atkinson's review of "Junebug" ("The Humble Art of Family Life," Reel Life, November 2005, p. 20). I agree with his views about the family, especially his point that it is not dysfunctional. We got to North...

Enough already.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2006... You are missing the point in your recent article about the American Medical Association's opposition to voluntary Medicare reporting ("AMA Assails Voluntary Reporting Program," December 2005, p. 8). The federal government and Medicare...

Staying within the boundaries.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2006... The debate about conflicts of interest is extremely important and timely ("Should experts with potential conflicts of interest be allowed to serve on FDA advisory panels?" Pro & Con, September 2005, p. 16). As psychiatrists, it behooves us...

Combo therapy appears effective in treating ADHD.(attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder)(Clinical report)
January 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Combining stimulant medication and cognitive therapy is a promising approach for treating adult patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, reported Dr. Anthony L. Rostain. In an open-label study involving 45...

Combined-therapy program helps obese patients lose more weight.(Adult Psychiatry)(Brief article)(Clinical report)
January 1, 2006... Group lifestyle modification should be prescribed along with weight-loss medication to obese patients trying to lose weight, said Thomas A. Wadden, Ph.D., of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and his colleagues. In a 1-year...

Questionnaire helps to identify patients' drug diversion, misuse.(Adult Psychiatry)
January 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Patients with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder who engage in drug diversion or misuse are easy to identify, Dr. Timothy Wilens said at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. To gauge the extent and...

Severely mentally ill women often impoverished, vulnerable.(Adult Psychiatry)
January 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Many women with severe mental illness live below the poverty line, preliminary data from a small study suggest. "Women with severe mental illness are impoverished," Natalie D. Crawford said in an interview during a poster...

Risperidone use linked to pituitary tumors.(drug therapy)
January 1, 2006... PITTSBURGH -- Treatment with the atypical antipsychotic drug risperidone was associated with an unusually high number of reports of pituitary tumors in an analysis done by the Food and Drug Administration of more than 2.5 million records in its...

Medication noncompliance high among Asians with schizophrenia.(care and treatment)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- Medication noncompliance among Asian patients with schizophrenia stands at nearly 50%, results from a survey of Singapore teaching hospitals suggest. "We ought to be aware that patients with schizophrenia tend to have high...

Quetiapine effective for acute bipolar mania in older adults.(care and treatment)
January 1, 2006... STOCKHOLM -- Quetiapine effectively reduces symptoms of acute mania in patients with bipolar I disorder aged older than 55 years, according to a secondary analysis of results from two double-blind, randomized, controlled trials. At dosages...

Can exercise treat depression?
January 1, 2006... The Problem One of your patients has mild to moderate depression. You recommend that he engage in regular exercise. The Question Is there any evidence that exercise is an effective way to treat depression? The Analysis ...

Marriage suffers more if the husband's depression is first.(care and treatment)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Among married couples in which both partners are depressed, the degree of marital satisfaction is lower for both husbands and wives when the husband develops depression first, Kimberly A. Van Orden said at the annual meeting of...

The art of John Cadigan.(care and treatment)
January 1, 2006... John Cadigan immerses himself in a unique process: woodcutting. His craft serves not only as a form of artistic expression, but as a way to tame his "demons," ease his strong feelings of paranoia, and soothe his soul. To create the...

Thinking on atypical dosages has changed: survey shows daily dosage of clozapine, risperdone down; trend is upward with olanzapine, quetiapine.(dosage and administration)
January 1, 2006... NEW YORK -- In the decade-plus since the advent of second-generation antipsychotics, recommended and customary dosages have changed--some up, some down--as clinical experience and post-marketing data have accumulated, Dr. Ewald Horwath said at...

Tapering off medications even with recent-onset schizophrenia a bad idea.(revaluations)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... TUCSON, ARIZ. -- With research showing exceedingly high rates of relapse among schizophrenia patients and greater difficulty in treating un-medicated patients, the once-common practice of tapering off medications, even after a long period of...

Combined therapy calms panic patients.(care and treatment)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Panic disorder treatment protocols combining pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy are consistently more effective than either therapy alone, based on a metaanalysis of 23 studies including 1,709 adult patients, Dr. Toshi A. Furukawa...

New training aimed at improving PTSD care: developers hope that decision science will increase practitioners' use of evidence-based treatments.(posttraumatic stress disorder)(care and treatment)
January 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Training based on decision science could prove more effective than traditional methods in persuading mental health professionals to adopt evidence-based treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder, an expert said at the annual...

Prolonged exposure therapy works in community settings.(care and treatment)
January 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Not only is prolonged exposure therapy effective in treating posttraumatic stress disorder, it appears to be easily and successfully transported to community clinics, Elizabeth Hembree, Ph.D., reported at the annual meeting of the...

Case managers key for homeless.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Mentally ill homeless people are more likely to return to community ambulatory care centers for needed care if they have a strong collaborative relationship with their case manager, reported Mayur M. Desai, Ph.D., of the Veterans Affairs...

Psychopathy and sex offenders.(care and treatment)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... Sexual offenders who exhibit high levels of psychopathology should be evaluated for comorbid depressive symptoms and anxiety disorders as part of their treatment, reported Jill D. Stinson of the University of Arizona, Tucson, and her...

PTSD after cancer.(care and treatment)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... Cancer patients who show elevated dissociative symptoms and acute emotional distress soon after their diagnosis may be at greater risk for posttraumatic stress disorder, reported Maria Kangas and her associates at the University of New South...

Dual diagnosis may raise crime risk.(risk factors)(Brief article)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... Women who have a dual diagnosis of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and substance abuse/dependence are more at risk for engaging in criminal activity than are women in the general population, though their risk is lower than that of men with a...

Sleep deprivation affects academics, behavior.(research)
January 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- When a child is sleep deprived, it shows at school. In a study of 74 healthy 6- to 12-year-old students, experimentally reducing the duration of their sleep at home for 1 week resulted in academic and attention problems...

Survey: racial differences in ADHD views, misconceptions.(surveys)(Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder )(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... MONTREAL -- Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder is underdiagnosed among African American children, but African American parents suspect otherwise, Dr. Rahn Bailey said at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the...

Adenotonsillectomy no panacea for behavior and school issues.(Disease/Disorder overview)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIF. -- Adenotonsillectomy significantly improved the quality of life, daytime sleepiness, and daytime and nighttime breathing of children with obstructive sleep apnea, but it did not change their behavior, concentration, or...

Cognitive-behavioral therapy effective for OCD.(care and treatment)(Statistical data)
January 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder often responds very well to an intense course of cognitive-behavioral therapy with an emphasis on exposure and response prevention. Unfortunately, up to 5 million patients in the United...

More data support link between sudden-onset OCD, strep.(obsessive-compulsive disorder)(care and treatment)(Tic disorders)
January 1, 2006... TORONTO -- A sudden, severe onset of childhood obsessive-compulsive disorder with tics should prompt a throat culture for group A streptococcus, Dr. Tanya Murphy said at the joint annual meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent...

Conduct disorder Tx can reduce aggression: children with impulsive-affective CD are more likely to respond than those with predatory CD.(care and treatment)
January 1, 2006... TORONTO -- Impulsive-affective conduct disorder responds better to medication than does predatory conduct disorder, Dr. Robert Findling said at the joint annual meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the Canadian...

Careful assessment needed to treat conduct disorders.
January 1, 2006... ALBUQUERQUE -- Conduct disorders represent a complex family of conditions, and effective treatment requires careful assessment of contributing variables and comorbid conditions, Dr. David J. Mullen reported at a psychiatric symposium sponsored...

Top triggers for stress in children.(Chart)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Top Triggers for Stress in Children Grades/school/homework 36% Family 32% Friends/teasing/gossip 21% Siblings 20% Mean/annoying people 20% Parents 14% Yelling/loud noise ...

Ethnicity and depression in teen girls.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Depression scores among white girls and young women decrease over time, but the scores tend to hold steady among their African American counterparts, reported Debra L. Franko, Ph.D., of Northeastern University, Boston, and her associates. ...

Modafinil for ADHD.(Drug overview)
January 1, 2006... Modafinil film-coated tablets significantly improved clinical symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years, said Dr. Joseph Biederman of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and his...

Teens' perception of body weight.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Many young teens from disadvantaged backgrounds do not perceive obesity as unacceptable, and despite common perceptions, not all of them are striving for thinness, reported Wendy Wills of the Centre for Research in Primary and Community Care,...

With dementia diagnosis, knowledge is power: anxiety and depression levels may go down after diagnosis is disclosed to patients and caregivers.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
January 1, 2006... ORLANDO -- Contrary to many physicians' fears, disclosing a diagnosis of dementia to patients and their caregivers does not produce negative reactions, and in some cases actually lowers their anxiety and depression levels, according to a...

Acetaminophen increases activity levels in patients with dementia.(Drug overview)
January 1, 2006... Regular administration of acetaminophen raises levels of general activity, social interaction, engagement with media such as television or magazines, and worklike activity in elderly patients with moderate to severe dementia, reported John T....

Testosterone replacement may improve QOL in Alzheimer's.(Quality of life )(Drug overview)
January 1, 2006... Testosterone replacement improved the quality of life for men with Alzheimer's disease and low serum testosterone levels in a small preliminary study, reported Po H. Lu, PsyD., and associates at the University of California, Los Angeles, David...

Incentive system may keep substance abusers in treatment.
January 1, 2006... PHOENIX -- Small awards for good attendance and clean urine tests can help keep more addicts in treatment longer, greatly improving their chances of staying drug free, a federally sponsored study shows. The feasibility and benefit of this...

Memantine may have alcoholism use.(Drug overview)
January 1, 2006... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- Memantine, the Alzheimer's drug, could have a new use: alcohol-dependence treatment. In a small pilot study of 16 people who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual criteria for alcohol dependence and who were treated...

Perspective.(Community Psychiatry)
January 1, 2006... We know that children in foster care have been exposed to trauma by virtue of their need to be brought into protective services. We also know from the findings of multiple experts that children who have been traumatized have greater likelihood...

Helping children in foster care.
January 1, 2006... Children and adolescents in foster care often emerge from the social service system more battle weary than soldiers on the front line. In one recent study of nearly 500 adults who had been in foster care in Oregon or Washington between 1988...

Insomnia classification brings new terminology.(Disease/Disorder overview)
January 1, 2006... DENVER -- Recent changes in the International Classification of Sleep Disorders definition of insomnia reflect a significant evolution in expert opinion regarding the fundamental nature of these disorders, according to speakers at a satellite...

Quantitative EEG diagnostic of vascular dementia severity.
January 1, 2006... PORTO, PORTUGAL -- Quantitative EEG shows promise as a clinical diagnostic tool that is sensitive enough to distinguish mild from moderate subcortical dementia, according to one study presented at the Fourth International Congress on Vascular...

Chronic pain, addiction behavior are different: giving shorter-acting opioids to those already taking long-acting formulations might create tolerance.
January 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Learning to differentiate between drug-seeking behavior and unmet pain needs can help emergency physicians cope better with chronic pain patients, who are frequent emergency department visitors, said Dr. James Ducharme at the...

New Botox wrinkle: helping frequent migraine sufferers?
January 1, 2006... PHILADELPHIA -- Botulinum toxin type A was found to be an effective, well-tolerated prophylactic treatment for patients with transformed migraine, according to studies that were reported at the annual meeting of the American Headache Society....

Dermatology and the psyche.
January 1, 2006... When I was in junior high school, I remember a time when I suffered with a set of warts--on both feet. Walking to school day after day was excruciating as the warts grew larger. Finally, I complained to my parents, and my father took me to a...

Pain relievers.(Psychosomatic Medicine)(Cartoon)
January 1, 2006... "You say 'helpers,' I say 'codependents.'"

Duloxetine lifts arthritis pain, aids cognition.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
January 1, 2006... SANTA ANA PUEBLO, N.M. -- Elderly people with depression and arthritis experienced significant pain relief with duloxetine in a placebo-controlled trial reported at the annual meeting of the Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Conducted by...

Incontinence risk higher in depressed women.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... ATLANTA -- Women with postpartum depression are more likely than are non-depressed women to have urge urinary incontinence, according to findings presented in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Urogynecologic Society. Of 146...

Findings highlight depression, MI connections.(Myocardial infarction)(Disease/Disorder overview)
January 1, 2006... Depression strikes one in five patients hospitalized for myocardial infarction, with severe consequences, including a threefold increased risk of cardiac mortality and significantly elevated mortality from all causes, a comprehensive evidence...

Sadness alters Tx for depression-related fatigue.
January 1, 2006... SAN DIEGO -- When choosing a therapy for physical fatigue in patients being treated for depression, it is important to consider the presence or absence of residual sadness, Dr. Stephen C. Ellen said at a psychopharmacology congress sponsored by...

Biofeedback effective for chronic constipation.
January 1, 2006... HONOLULU -- Biofeedback proved superior to standard therapy for long-term management of patients with the most common cause of chronic constipation in the first-ever randomized trial featuring a full year of follow-up. Previous short-term...

Medications 'ancillary' in eating disorder Tx.
January 1, 2006... For the treatment of eating disorders, medication takes a back seat. "Pharmacotherapy is important but ancillary," said Dr. Scott J. Crow, president of the Academy for Eating Disorders and professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota,...

Depression rates high in patients with eating disorders.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
January 1, 2006... BALTIMORE -- Depression frequently co-occurs with eating disorders, making treatment challenging, Dr. Graham W. Redgrave said at a symposium on mood disorders sponsored by Johns Hopkins University. "There are high rates of concurrent major...

Electronic records: one small step for a physician.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... WASHINGTON -- Physicians who are too nervous to completely convert their offices to electronic health records can start the process with a few "baby steps" to make it less intimidating, Dr. Daniel Sands said at a health care congress sponsored...

IOM calls for standard performance measures.(Institute of Medicine)
January 1, 2006... While various organizations have made substantial progress developing health care performance measures, it's time for Congress to establish an entity that can standardize these measures across the health care system, according to a report from...

APA policy outlook for 2006.(American Psychiatric Association )(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... The American Psychiatric Association is keeping an eye on a host of issues for the New Year. Once again, securing parity for mental health care treatment is at the top of the APA's list of priorities. Other issues being watched by the...

Mental health parity.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... The APA hopes that Congress will pass legislation requiring nondiscriminatory coverage for treatment of mental illness. "We have last year's bill introduced in the House, with the addition of [parity for] alcohol and substance abuse treatment,"...

Addressing Medicare.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... The parity bills now in Congress apply only to private health insurance plans, Mr. Meyers pointed out. The bills do not address Medicare, even though Medicare beneficiaries have to pay a higher copay--50% of the bill--for mental health care...

New drug benefit.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
January 1, 2006... The APA also is aiming for technical changes to the new Medicare drug benefit--for instance, making sure mental health patients have appropriate access to psychotropic drugs. One problem is the exclusion of benzodiazepines from the new...

NIH issues.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
January 1, 2006... The APA has two areas of concern when it comes to NIH: reorganization and budget issues, Mr. Meyers said. "Potentially, the reorganization of NIH would be an attempt to restructure it." In written testimony to the House Committee on Energy and...

Psychiatric subspecialties.(Disease/Disorder overview)
January 1, 2006... Another issue of importance to the APA is keeping up the supply of practitioners in some of the psychiatric subspecialties, particularly geriatric psychiatrists and child and adolescent psychiatrists. The association is interested in a bill...

Privacy concerns.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Health privacy is also a major issue. "We have really serious concerns about maintenance of medical records confidentiality" under laws such as the Patriot Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, Mr. Meyers said. "We...

Overcoming addiction: three physicians' stories.
January 1, 2006... When Dr. Michael W. Sullivan started taking hydrocodone to cope with the pressures of his 100-plus hours a week ob.gyn. residency in Cincinnati in 1996, he knew he was hooked. "It was love at first sight," he recalled. "That...

Autism resource launched.(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... The nonprofit organization Autism Speaks has launched a new Web site, offering resources for those directly affected by the disorder. The site offers information for two different audiences: families who want to learn more about autism and...

Venlafaxine OK'd for panic disorder.(Disease/Disorder overview)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... Effexor XR (venlafaxine HC1), a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, is now indicated for the treatment of adults with long- and short-term panic disorder. For more information, contact Wyeth by visiting www.effexorxr.com or by calling...

Brochure offers stroke info in Spanish.(www.niapublications.org/spnagepages/stroke-sp.asp )(Drug overview)
January 1, 2006... The National Institute on Aging is offering a free fact sheet in Spanish with information on recognizing the warning signs of a stroke. "Accidente Cerebrovascular" can be downloaded at www.niapublications.org/spnagepages/stroke-sp.asp or...

Site gathers schizophrenia research.(www.schizophreniaforum.org.)(Website overview)(Brief article)
January 1, 2006... The National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression is sponsoring a new Web site geared toward schizophrenia researchers. The Web site includes forums for the discussion of current hypotheses and treatment ideas. The site is...