Clinical Psychiatry News articles from October 2003

Clinical Psychiatry News archives from October 2003

Insulin resistance theory advanced: tied to Alzheimer's, depression.(News)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- A new theory linking insulin resistance to depression and the development of Alzheimer's disease could allow clinicians to someday identify patients at risk for dementia and, perhaps, prevent it by treating the insulin dysregulation....

How much time do you spend with patients?(Vital Signs)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... How Much Time Do You Spend With Patients? Mean Time In Minutes Psychiatry 32.4 Cardiovascular Diseases 22.2 Internal Medicine 19.4 Family...

Multiple suicide attempters' risk profiles different: these adolescents face far higher health risks than do young single attempters.(News)
October 1, 2003... WAIKOLOA, HAWAII -- The 5% of adolescents who report attempting suicide more than once in the course of a year have a health risk profile "staggeringly" different from those who report trying to harm themselves once or not at all, according to...

Broader world view aids post-Sept. 11 resilience: more than 7,000 people studied: Internet survey participation cathartic.
October 1, 2003... WAIKOLOA, HAWAII -- People who were most resilient in the 6 months after Sept. 11, 2001, were those with more education, fewer negative changes in their existential world view, larger and more supportive social networks, and less emotional...

Panel backs memantine for moderate, severe Alzheimer's: FDA approval likely this year.(News)
October 1, 2003... BETHESDA, M D. -- By the end of this year, the first drug to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease could be approved by the Food and Drug Administration. At a meeting of the FDA's peripheral and central nervous system drugs advisory...

Bullying linked to depression, suicide: impact on children.(News)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Children who are bullied are five times more likely to be depressed than their peers and are more likely to be suicidal, according to a report issued by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, an organization of prosecutors, sheriffs, police chiefs, and...

Tools may miss depression in African American patients: standard questionnaires fall short.(News)
October 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- Depression may present differently in African Americans than in whites, especially in African American men. This may explain the relatively low rate of diagnosed depression in African Americans, L. DiAnne Bradford, Ph.D.,...

Life story presentations.(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... When we think about the presentation of life stories by people who are in treatment, Alcoholics Anonymous usually comes to mind. "Speaker meetings" held by AA allow the speakers to feel that they have given something back to the community....

Hypnosis: underused technique.(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... Lots of patients are seeking out medical hypnosis regularly to help them stop smoking, lose weight, sleep better, or function better sexually. They're also interested in hypnosis for other reasons, including pain, phobias, and obsessive...

Bridging the provider-payer gap.(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... If providers and payers do not work together to improve the health care system, politicians will do it for us. Physicians, hospitals, health plans, and others should join forces and lobby together for medical liability reform. Tort reform...

Ephedra effects.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... Dr. Eric Roskes made some good points about herbal products ("More on Wellness and Health," Letters, August 2003, p. 24). He mentioned a patient who became psychotic after using a product containing many ingredients, including ephedra. For...

More on patient suicide.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... I would like to thank Dr. Paul J. Fink for his article "Surviving Patient Suicide" (Fink! Still at Large, June 2003, p. 9). I wanted to bring up an aspect that he did not address that I think is a huge issue for many doctors, not just...

Do you provide treatment for children and adolescents in your practice?(Talk Back Online)
October 1, 2003... Do you provide treatment for children and adolescents in your practice? (September 2003, p. 5) No 40% Yes 60% To Talk Back, visit www.eclinicalpsychiatrynews.com Note: Table made of pie chart.

Eating psychoanalysis.(Letter to the Editor)
October 1, 2003... While in no way implying that biologic underpinnings of craving for food at night will not be found one day, and that it will not show itself to be a biologically discrete disorder worthy of its own niche in the future DSMs, I find...

Remembering Jack O. Scher.(Obituary)
October 1, 2003... Jack O. Scher, founding publisher of the six medical specialty newspapers that became the building blocks of the International Medical News Group, died on June 4 at his home in Faber, Va. He was 76 years old. Mr. Scher launched his first...

Cultural considerations in psychiatric Tx. (treatment).(Fink! Still at Large)
October 1, 2003... Patients are less homogeneous than they were, say, 20 years ago. As a result, today's psychiatrists practicing in America must be able to treat people of many different cultures. Given these changing demographics, should we adjust our treatment...

Character.(Reel Life)(Movie Review)
October 1, 2003... The film "Character" is based on the 1938 novel "Karakter" by Ferdinand Bordewijk. Although he is relatively unknown to the English-speaking world, Bordewijk is one of Holland's foremost 20th-century writers, and "Karakter" has earned a place...

Treating bipolar depression.(Practical Psychopharmacology)
October 1, 2003... When it comes to treating bipolar depression, there seems to be consensus on two points: It is responsible for the lion's share of disability in the disorder, and it is exceptionally difficult to treat. Studies have found that more than 60%...

Mentally ill need us all.(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... Over the past decade, mental health clinicians and researchers have played an important role in promoting awareness of mental health issues in general health care settings. In response, primary care providers have assumed an ever-increasing...

Dress rehearsal for disaster.(Editorial)
October 1, 2003... When the lights suddenly went out in the late afternoon at Lenox Hill Hospital, a 652-bed community hospital in Manhattan's Upper East Side, nobody knew what had happened. By the time the Blackout of 2003 ended for us, more than 24 hours...

Opioids may induce mania in bipolar patients: no explanation behind the trigger.(Adult Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... PITTSBURGH -- If a patient taking opioid analgesics turns hypomanic or manic, he or she may have an undiagnosed bipolar disorder, Dr. Charles Schaffer said in a poster presentation at the Fifth International Conference on Bipolar Disorder. ...

Glutamate analogue may help treat anxiety: LY354740 similar to glutamate.(Adult Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... TORONTO -- Preliminary studies show that a glutamate analogue called LY354740 may be effective for treating anxiety, Dr. K. Ranga Rama Krishnan reported at the annual conference of the Anxiety Disorders Association of America. Studies...

Probing GABA reveals complexity of disorders: gamma-aminobutyric acid.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- Drugs that modulate the effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid--a ubiquitous neurotransmitter found mostly in the central nervous system--can help treat a range of psychiatric disorders, Dr. Philip T. Ninan said at the annual...

Stopping benzodiazepine treatment to indigent appears to cause no harm: Los Angeles County study.(Adult Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- About one-third of indigent psychiatric patients being treated with benzodiazepines in Los Angeles County may have stopped taking the drug when the county changed its formulary in 2002. But those patients apparently suffered no...

Patient alliance key in attachment therapy: positive transference important.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... LOS ANGELES -- The challenge in attachment therapy is to form a therapeutic alliance with a patient who finds it difficult to establish trusting relationships, Allan Schore, Ph.D., said at a conference on attachment theory sponsored by the...

Intersubjectivity seen as separate from attachment: different from traditional thought.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... LOS ANGELES -- Intersubjectivity should be considered a major motivational drive that confers important survival advantages such as sex or the need for attachment, Dr. Daniel Stern said at a conference on attachment theory sponsored by the...

Pregnant women wary of taking antidepressants: false perceptions of birth defect risk.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- In a study of anti-depressant monotherapy use among pregnant women in their first trimester and women planning pregnancies, 95% of the participants believed that antidepressants posed a risk for birth defects and 87% believed...

Aggression tied to serotonergic, structural deficits: intermittent explosive disorder. (Adult Psychiatry).
October 1, 2003... SANTA FE, N.M. -- A growing body of research suggests that intermittent explosive disorder, characterized by regular impulsive, aggressive acts, is the result of childhood abuse combined with biological predisposition, Dr. Emil F. Coccaro said...

Side effects guide antipsychotic drug choices: atypicals vs. typicals.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- Atypical antipsychotics may or may not be more effective in treating schizophrenia than their first-generation cousins. That means clinicians choose antipsychotics largely based on side effects and patient preferences. ...

Glutaminergics promising for cognitive, negative symptoms: amino acids for schizophrenia.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... HARRIMAN, N.Y. -- Glutaminergic agents, for the most part natural substances, show considerable promise for the treatment of persistent cognitive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, Dr. Daniel Javitt said at a meeting on psychopharmacology...

Postpsychotic adjustment may be part of psychosis: PPAS is a changing state. (postpsychotic adjustment state).(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... NEW YORK -- A psychotic episode is a traumatic event, and what appears to be a subsequent psychotic episode might actually be a normal part of the emergence from that event, Mary D. Moller said at a meeting of the World Association for...

Use caution when adding Rx to atypicals: augmenting psychotropics ill advised. (another antipsychotic drug).(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... HARRIMAN, N.Y. -- As a general principle, other psychotropics should be combined with an atypical antipsychotic cautiously and only when truly necessary, Dr. Rajiv Tandon said at a meeting on psychopharmacology sponsored by New York University....

Thyroid hormone T3 doesn't boost effectiveness of SSRIs: clash with APA guidelines. (American Psychiatric Association).(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... PHILADELPHIA -- The thyroid hormone T3, when taken along with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, provides no extra benefits for patients with major depression, according to a study that was presented at the annual meeting of the...

Higher-dose atypical regimens are becoming more common: economic pressures distorting Tx. (treatment).(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... HARRIMAN, N.Y. -- Substantially high doses of new-generation antipsychotics are being used with increasing frequency in clinical practice, Dr. Norman Sussman said at a meeting on psychopharmacology sponsored by New York University. "We're...

Sexual aversion an issue for borderline patients: new observation. (borderline personality disorder).(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- Sexual aversion appears to be far more common in patients with borderline personality disorder than has been previously recognized, Mary C. Zanarini, Ed.D., said at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association....

Venlafaxine XR holds own in panic disorder: matches paroxetine.(Adult Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- The serotoninnorepinephrine reuptake inhibitor venlafaxine is as effective as paroxetine in the treatment of panic disorder, Dr. Mark Pollack reported at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. ...

Antipsychotic weight gain.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder can lose the weight they gain from using atypical antipsychotics when they participate in a weight loss intervention, reported Betty Vreeland of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of...

Prescribing heroin to addicts.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The controlled prescription of heroin and methadone to treatment--resistant heroin addicts results in clinically significant improvements over methadone use alone, reported Dr. Wim van den Brink of the Central Committee on the Treatment of...

Dementia in schizophrenia.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Nearly half of patients with late-onset schizophrenia developed dementia in a prospective, controlled study, reported Dr. Henry Brodaty and his associates at Prince of Wales Hospital in Sydney, Australia. After 5 years of follow-up,...

Bipolar disorder management.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... The pharmacotherapeutic management of bipolar I outpatients is more effective with family--focused psychoeducation than with crisis management, reported David J. Miklowitz, Ph.D., of the University of Colorado at Boulder, and his colleagues....

Psychiatric risk factors.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Genetic factors control many of the patterns of comorbidity of internalizing and externalizing disorders, reported Dr. Kenneth S. Kendler and his colleagues at Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond. In an analysis of responses to...

New tool spots abuse, neglect in teen addicts: 20-to 45-minute interview.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... ASPEN, COLO. -- A new structured interview demonstrates convincing clinical utility for identification of reportable abuse and neglect in youths with substance abuse and conduct problems, Dr. Thomas J. Crowley said at a meeting on stress...

Early puberty, ethnicity may contribute to teen smoking: parental monitoring matters.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... TAMPA, FLA. -- Understanding preadolescent expectations about cigarette smoking may offer opportunities to assist teens in lifetime tobacco avoidance. Youths who smoke typically progress through a sequence of stages, Michiko Otsuki said at...

Newly diagnosed epilepsy responds well to topiramate monotherapy: higher dose more effective.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... HONOLULU -- Topiramate mono-therapy proved effective in children and adolescents newly diagnosed with epilepsy, Dr. John M. Pellock reported at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology. The study involved 151 children and...

Multifamily therapy holds promise for anxiety.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... ASPEN, COLO. -- Multifamily group therapy is a highly promising intervention for childhood anxiety disorders, Dr. Marianne Z. Wamboldt said at a meeting on stress sponsored by the University of Colorado, Denver. In her pilot study, an...

Signs of autism show as early as 6 months: study of high-risk siblings.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... TAMPA, FLA. -- Children who are ultimately diagnosed with autism show developmental abnormalities as early as 6 months of age, Rebecca J. Landa, Ph.D., said at a meeting of the Society for Research in Child Development. In the first...

Dysmorphic facial features may offer clues about variant of autism: complex vs. essential autism.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... COLUMBIA, M.O. -- Autistic children with dysmorphic facial features have a different variant of the disorder than do their nondysmorphic peers, Dr. Judith Miles said at a meeting on common pediatric problems sponsored by the University of...

Six key questions provide a quick screen for autism: two negative prompt referral.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... COLUMBIA, Mo. -- There are 23 questions on the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, but physicians can use just the 6 key questions to screen quickly for autism, Janet E. Farmer, Ph.D., said at a meeting on common pediatric problems...

Tool may help diagnose personality disorders: SWAP-200-A to be released by next spring. (Shedler-Western Assessment Procedure).(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... ROME -- A new psychiatric assessment tool that is being developed could change the way adolescent personality disorders are diagnosed and classified. The Shedler-Westen Assessment Procedure 200-item Q-sort for Adolescents (SWAP-200-A) to...

For gender-variant children, validation is key: outreach program for parents.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... What do you tell parents when their young son refuses to act like a "normal" boy? How do you counsel parents who worry about the son who delights in dressing up in his sister's clothes or playing with her Barbie? "Parents are concerned if...

Abusive inmates.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Male and female teens who are abused by their intimate partners are more likely to engage in long-term risky behavior, compared with teens who aren't abused, said Dr. Timothy A. Roberts,of the University of Rochester and his colleagues. ...

Cigarettes and 'bad girl' image.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Adolescent girls who smoked cigarettes were less confident in terms of physical, social, and family levels of self-concept, but not significantly different in terms of peer self-concept, compared with adolescent girls who didn't smoke, said...

Lithium may mitigate mania.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Treatment with lithium improved the symptoms of acutely manic adolescents in an open, systematic treatment trial, said Dr. Vivian Kafantaris of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System, Glen Oaks, N.Y., and her colleagues (J. Am. Acad....

Comorbidity and anxiety.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Comorbid disorders are common among adolescents with anxiety, and those who have comorbidity use more mental health services than those who don't, said Cecilia A. Essau of Psychologisches Institut I in Munster, Germany. In a study of 192...

Sertraline soothes MDD. (major depressive disorder).(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Children and adolescents with major depressive disorder who took sertraline showed significant improvement, compared with those who took a placebo, said Dr. Karen Dineen Wagner of the University of Texas, Galveston, and her colleagues. ...

Support diabetic teens.(Clinical Capsules)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... Motivational interviewing strategies helped diabetic teens improve both their attitudes about diabetes and their glycemic control, said Dr. S. Channon of the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, and associates. A group of 22 diabetics...

Conflict with fathers affects suicide reattempts: potent risk factor.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... TAMPA, FLA. -- After a single suicide attempt, adolescents whose parental relationships include high levels of conflict with fathers are at risk for a second attempt, Barry Wagner, Ph.D., said at a meeting of the Society for Research in Child...

Differences seen in drugs used for suicide attempts: young people vs. adults.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... SANTA FE, N.M. -- Young people and adults tend to use markedly different drugs for suicidal overdoses, Ted R. Miller, Ph.D., reported at the annual conference of the American Association of Suicidology. He analyzed 1997 hospital discharge...

Hot vs. cold aggression: differences guide therapy: unplanned vs. premeditated.(Child/ Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- Differentiating between affectively "hot" and "cold" aggression in youth who have primary disorders of aggression is useful in guiding therapy, Dr. Hans Steiner said at a satellite symposium held in conjunction with the annual...

School-age aggression increases over time; students become less likely to target property: rethinking TOCA-R scale. (Teacher Observation of Classroom Adaptation-Revised).(Child/ Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- School children are more likely to be aggressive toward other students than toward property, and with time, aggression toward property tends to decrease, and interpersonal aggression to increase, Kimberly T. Kendziora, Ph.D., said...

Differences in efficacy of drugs for Alzheimer's emerge at 2-year follow-up: galantamine, rivastigmine, donepezil.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- In the short term, donepezil, rivastigmine, and galantamine appear to be equally effective in treating Alzheimer's disease, a small study has found. But according to unpublished results by the same investigator, differences do...

Antioxidants may protect women from Alzheimer's: lycopene, vitamin c.(Geriatric Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... ALBUQUERQUE -- Diets high in antioxidant-rich foods were associated with a lower likelihood of Alzheimer's disease in women in a study presented at the annual meeting of the International Academy of Nutrition and Aging. Heidi Wengreen,...

Women with Alzheimer's: exercise aids mood, stamina, decreased resting heart rate.(Geriatric Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... ALBUQUERQUE -- A simple exercise program can improve mood and cardiovascular function in women with Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Patricia Heyn reported at the annual meeting of the International Academy of Nutrition and Aging. Twelve female...

Rivastigmine switch well tolerated: donepezil patients.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Alzheimer's patients who respond poorly to donepezil seem to do well with an immediate switch to rivastigmine, reported Dr. Carl Sadowsky of St. Mary's Neuroscience Center, West Palm Beach, Fla. Switching patients within 24-36...

Alcohol withdrawal worse for older patients: increased risk of falls.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Alcohol withdrawal symptoms can last longer and pose more risks for elderly patients, who often experience more prolonged and severe symptoms and need higher doses of detox medications than younger patients. "Because of these...

Hypnotic may benefit sleep, limit grogginess: not yet FDA approved.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- An investigational non-benzodiazepine hypnotic seems to be safe and effective for elderly patients with insomnia. In a clinical study, the drug provided deep, sustained sleep and a low level of next-day somnolence, compared with...

Low-dose morphine, dronabinol help dementia: nursing home patients.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Australian and American dementia patients in some nursing homes are benefiting from some nontraditional pharmacotherapy. In the United States, a synthetic tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) compound called dronabinol has been found...

Divalproex seems to help dementia-related behavior, mood problems: low side-effect profile.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Divalproex sodium appears to improve behavior, mood, and sleep in elderly nursing home patients with dementia, Jane Meingold, Pharm.D., reported in a poster session at a meeting of the International Psychogeriatric Association. ...

Placing mentally ill in community units no panacea: deinstitutionalization in the Netherlands.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Housing elderly, long-term mental patients in the community doesn't necessarily mean they will become happy, well-integrated members of that community. Efforts in the Netherlands to deinstitutionalize chronically mentally ill...

Counseling helps lift depression among Alzheimer's caregivers: study in U.S., U.K., Australia.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Caregivers for Alzheimer's disease patients responded positively to counseling for the stresses involved in their tasks, according to a three-country study, but differences in caregiver demographics and reactions toward counseling in...

Apathy undermines bonds between spouses, dementia patients: worse than excessive behavior.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Apathy is much more likely than excessive behavior to damage the relationship between a person with dementia and the spouse-caregiver, because it is associated with the death of reciprocal interaction. Even though excessive...

Screen for depression in patients older than 85: underrecognized, undertreated.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- Depression is underrecognized and undertreated by physicians who care for the oldest old, Dr. Max Stek reported at a meeting of the International Psychogeriatric Association. Depression is poorly studied and poorly understood...

Comorbid personality disorders can complicate antidepressant treatment: remission proves elusive.(Geriatric Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- The presence of comorbid personality disorders is associated with a poorer response to standard antidepressant treatment in elderly patients, reported Dr. John L. Beyer of Duke University Medical Center, Raleigh, N.C. In an...

Depression often occurs before late-onset epilepsy in elderly: unexplained relationship.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... CHICAGO -- An unexplained link might exist between depression in the elderly and the development of late-onset seizure disorders, Dr. Deirdre P. McLaughlin reported at a meeting of the International Psychogeriatric Association. In a study...

Elderly bipolar patients may benefit from antidepressants: fewer hospitalizations.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- The first study of antidepressant therapy in elderly patients with bipolar disorder has found that the drugs did not induce mania but instead halved the rate of hospitalizations for mania and decreased the hospitalization rate...

Buprenorphine opiate detox beats anesthesia: safety concerns.(Addiction Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- Opiate detoxification by the rapid buprenorphine method offers clear advantages over the trendy--but far riskier--anesthesia rapid opiate detox method, Dr. Herbert D. Kleber reported at the annual meeting of the American...

Promising Tx on horizon for opioid dependence: lofexidine, injectable depot naltrexone. (treatment).(Addiction Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- New treatments for opioid dependence are in the pipeline in response to a growing addict population--and to the limitations of existing medications, Dr. Herbert D. Kleber said at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric...

New theories emerge about predisposition for alcoholism: are dopamine receptors protective?(Addiction Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... NEW ORLEANS -- Two new theories have emerged about how genetic predisposition for alcoholism works in the brain, on the basis of research presented at the annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine. Lowered activity in the...

Small amounts of GHB can cause respiratory depression or death: GABA useful in dependency Tx. (gamma-hydroxybutyrate, gamma-aminobutyric acid, treatment).(Addiction Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... SAN FRANCISCO -- New insights are coming to the fore about illicit drugs, including new "club drugs" and those that have been on the scene for many years. Contrary to public perception about these recreational agents, substantial morbidity and...

Stress plays key role in substance dependence: core elements of success.(Addiction Psychiatry)
October 1, 2003... ASPEN, COLO. -- The psychological therapies of proven efficacy for substance dependence share several key elements, Dr. Thomas J. Crowley said at a meeting on stress sponsored by the University of Colorado. First, they all emphasize that...

Black women more likely to report partner abuse: common screening question not useful.(Community Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- A commonly asked safety screening question failed to detect a large percentage of women who had reported abuse in a study conducted at a Wisconsin family practice clinic, Robert L. Peralta, Ph.D., said during a poster presentation...

Adolescent, elderly refugees prone to mental disorders: identity struggles.(Community Psychiatry)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Adolescents and the elderly are the refugees most likely to develop mental disorders, including depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, Dr. Soma Ganesan said at a meeting on PTSD sponsored by Vancouver General Hospital....

Genetic advances may revolutionize epilepsy Tx: human genome project. (treatment).(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)
October 1, 2003... MIAMI BEACH -- The human genome project and rapid advances in technology are leading to the discovery of the genes responsible for epilepsy. The forthcoming knowledge, coupled with anticipated advances in pharmacogenomics in particular,...

Psychoneuroimmunology shifts away from stress--based models: field on the move.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)
October 1, 2003... ASPEN, COLO. -- Psychoneuroimmunology has changed drastically since many physicians first encountered the field in medical school, Mark L. Laudenslager, Ph.D., said at a meeting on stress sponsored by the University of Colorado. The...