Clinical Psychiatry News articles from October 2007

Clinical Psychiatry News archives from October 2007

More adolescents getting drug Tx.(News)
October 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- Adolescent admissions for substance abuse increased 61% between 1993 and 2003, from about 95,000 admissions to 153,000, Dr. H. Westley Clark said at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association. Of those, 88%...

Median compensation for psychiatrists.(VITAL SIGNS)
October 1, 2007... Median Compensation for Psychiatrists Actual Adjusted for inflation 2002 $163,144 $163,144 2003 2004 2005 2006 $192,609 $171,877 Notes: Based on survey data from 57 providers. Amounts adjusted for inflation...

Military to focus on improving mental health care: services aim to 'create culture of support.'.(News)
October 1, 2007... ROCKVILLE, MD. -- The recent release of a Department of Defense task force report on the state of mental health care in the armed services may mark an important change in the way the military approaches the mental health of active and former...

Suicide rates spike in youth and young adults.(News)
October 1, 2007... Suicide among youth and young adults is again on the rise after a 13-year decline, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. An analysis of annual data from the CDC's National Vital Statistic System (NVSS)...

Experts dubious about bipolar study.(News)(Disease/Disorder overview)
October 1, 2007... Experts say the recent study reporting a huge increase in bipolar diagnoses in youths was not surprising, but it did leave some wishing that they had more information on how often those diagnoses might be correct. "We know that more and...

Federal study to look at ADHD drugs, possible heart risks.(News)
October 1, 2007... Officials at the Food and Drug Administration and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality are launching a largescale study aimed at determining whether the medications used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder expose...

Study affirms impact of depression.(News)
October 1, 2007... Depression is more disabling than four other chronic conditions--angina, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes, researchers reported. And when depression is comorbid with any one of these chronic physical conditions, it impairs patients more...

Global mental health burden underestimated.(News)
October 1, 2007... Mental health and other neuropsychiatric conditions create nearly 14% of the global burden of disease and frequently go untreated in many poor countries because of a lack of financial and human resources, according to authors of a Lancet series...

New cardiac alert added to haloperidol label.(News)
October 1, 2007... Awarning about the risks of sudden death, QT prolongation, and torsades de pointes in people treated with haloperidol--especially with off-label intravenous use--has been added to the drug's label, the Food and Drug Administration has...

Diabetic eye disease could triple by 2050.(News)
October 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- Diabetic eye disease is expected to triple in the United States by the year 2050, investigators from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported at the annual scientific sessions of the American Diabetes Association. ...

Preventive measures could save 100,000 lives each year.(News)
October 1, 2007... Increasing the use of aspirin, influenza immunizations, and a few other preventive measures would save more than 100,000 lives annually in the United States, a new study shows. Aspirin proved to be the biggest lifesaver. Researchers found...

National drug use survey reveals ups and downs.(News)
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- There's good and bad news from the 2006 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Overall drug use among adolescents has declined since 2002, but prescription drug misuse among young adults has skyrocketed. In the federally...

Cultural competence is not optional.(GUEST EDITORIAL)
October 1, 2007... Increasingly, we are becoming aware of the prevalence of mental health problems around the globe. Depression--a major public health issue--has reached alarming proportions, and other mental illnesses are taking a toll on our patients in terms...

Do physician bloggers compromise patient privacy?(POINT/COUNTERPOINT)
October 1, 2007... Sophisticated bloggers can conceal patient identity. I write a doctor's blog, and I post in the open (www.talesfromthewomb.blogspot.com). I write fictionalized medical events, discuss studies relevant to neonatal outcomes, and, on occasion,...

Addressing global warming.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2007... I am heartened by Dr. H. Steven Moffic's article on global warming, and I enjoyed his humor ("Taking the Temperature on Global Warming," The Ethical Way, August 2007, p. 63). I agree completely that the "global" designation allows many to...

Helping pseudoseizure patients.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2007... Thank you for the article on pseudo-seizures ("Video/EEG 'Test' Can Diagnose Pseudoseizures," July 2007, p. 18). Dr. Alexander E. Obolsky offered readers an informed perspective about diagnosing pseudoseizures, a frequently misunderstood...

An offensive characterization.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
October 1, 2007... I resent Dr. Jamshid A. Marvasti's characterization of the London and Glasgow bombing plotters as "bomber/warriors" ("Physicians as Killers?" Guest Editorial, August 2007, p. 14). First, a "warrior" would fight foes capable of defending...

Online game playing can be helpful, hurtful.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- More patients than ever who seek mental health care are living at least part of their time in fantasy worlds--and they're not alone there. Millions of people around the world play online games that immerse them in a...

Omega-3 fatty acids and borderline personality disorder.(EVIDENCE-BASED PSYCHIATRIC MEDICINE)
October 1, 2007... The Problem You have a patient with borderline personality disorder who is enrolled in dialectical behavior therapy and a regular exercise program. He is receiving treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, an antipsychotic,...

Technique may reduce auditory hallucinations: improvement brought by transcranial magnetic stimulation appears short lived.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... SACRAMENTO -- Transcranial magnetic stimulation has much promise for the treatment of auditory hallucinations, but the improvement that patients experience often is short lived and the techniques used need some improvement, Dr. Ralph E. Hoffman...

CBT's role in treatment of schizophrenia is growing.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... SACRAMENTO -- Cognitive-behavioral therapy is playing an increasingly important role in schizophrenia treatment, Dr. Jesse H. Wright said at a meeting on psychotic disorders sponsored by the University of California, Davis. "The...

Psychiatrists encouraged to stop underprescribing clozapine.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... SACRAMENTO -- The Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Interventional Effectiveness clearly showed the effectiveness of clozapine, but the drug is seldom prescribed by psychiatrists, Dr. Stephen R. Marder said at a meeting on psychotic disorders...

The art of Debbie Kizer.(VISIONARY ART)
October 1, 2007... Debbie Kizer likes to create art on small and unusual surfaces--like wooden ice cream spoons. She is in the process of painting one wooden spoon each day for the next year. "I enjoy painting on really tiny things," says Ms. Kizer, who is...

Dr. Ellis helped change our field for the better.(THE PSYCHIATRIST'S TOOLBOX)(Albert Ellis)
October 1, 2007... Three years ago, at the age of 90, Albert Ellis, Ph.D., told a reporter that he planned to continue working and teaching as long as he could. "While I'm alive, I want to keep doing what I want to do," he said. "See people. Give workshops....

PET scans show depressed dopamine activity in ADHD.(Adult Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... Adults with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder showed depressed dopamine activity in the caudate area of the brain on positron emission tomography, reported Dr. Nora D. Volkow of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Bethesda, Md., and...

Antidepressant warnings may have caused drop in new Rx.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... New prescriptions for antidepressants in children and adolescents dropped by 33% in Tennessee after regulatory agencies issued warnings about increased risks for suicide, according to Dr. Benji T. Kurian and his associates at Vanderbilt...

Preteen alcohol use, suicidal behavior linked.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... Adolescents who first drank alcohol before 13 years of age were significantly more likely to exhibit suicidal behavior than their peers who didn't drink alcohol, based on results from the 2005 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of 13,639 U.S. students...

Adolescent surveys broaden thinking about bullying.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... SAN FRANCISCO -- Bullying that was experienced or witnessed by 185 high school students went beyond the more commonly acknowledged forms of bullying to include racial/ethnic harassment, sexual harassment, and homophobic epithets, Sandra...

Healthful living may slow Alzheimer's disease.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- A concerted effort to take better care of the brain with more healthful behaviors is likely to reduce the future incidence of Alzheimer's disease and may even slow disease progression in those who already have the disease, Dr. Nancy...

Insomnia in elderly: medicate with care; Many clinicians prefer nonbenzodiazepines over benzodiazepines because they carry less risk of falls.(PRACTICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY)
October 1, 2007... More than half of older adults have one or more chronic sleep complaints, according to data reported by the National Institute on Aging (Sleep 1995;18:425-32). The reasons are multiple: medical and psychiatric illnesses and the medications...

Suicides high among Rochester, N.Y., home care seniors.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... NEW ORLEANS -- Rates of suicide are highest, proportionately, among the elderly, and seem to be very high among seniors who receive home care in the Rochester, N.Y., area, according to a poster presented at the annual meeting of the American...

Dual treatment best in co-occurring disorders: optimal approach is for addiction psychiatrists to focus on treatment, leave monitoring to primary care.(Addiction Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... MIAMI -- In people with co-occurring substance use and mental health disorders, optimal treatment consists of brief screening and ongoing monitoring by primary care physicians, coupled with addiction psychiatry assessment and treatment,...

Alter environment to stem stimulant misuse on campus.(Addiction Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... MIAMI -- Some general principles of substance abuse prevention are suitable for targeting college students who misuse stimulants to enhance performance, Dr. Theodore V Parran Jr. said at the annual conference of the American Society of...

Combine behavioral therapies to stop marijuana abuse.(Addiction Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... MIAMI -- A triple combination of behavioral therapies yields the best abstinence rates among heavy users of marijuana, Dr. Ahmed M. Elkashef said at the annual conference of the American Society of Addiction Medicine. This optimal...

Perspective.(Community Psychiatry)
October 1, 2007... Many people think of violent kids as junior psychopaths who get gratification from committing violent acts. Instead, they should be seen as children whose behavior represents an absence of the prosocial family and community protective...

School-based violence prevention can work.(PREVENTION IN ACTION)
October 1, 2007... The spate of high-profile school shootings in recent years has brought youth violence to the forefront of the nation's consciousness. According to the results of a nationwide survey of high school students conducted by the Centers for...

Civilian TBI data show dire long-term outcomes.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)
October 1, 2007... WASHINGTON -- Long-term data from a registry of civilians with traumatic brain injury may yield information that is relevant to the care of injured veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, said Jean A. Langlois, Sc.D., at a meeting on...

Cigarette smoking reduces Parkinson's risk.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2007... A pooled analysis of 11 clinical studies has confirmed that cigarette smoking protects against Parkinson's disease in a dose-dependent manner. Many studies have suggested that smoking may play a protective role in PD, but most have been...

Migraine often improves over long term.(Pain Medicine)
October 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- Migraine appears to have a favorable long-term prognosis in many patients, with more than a third experiencing cessation of headache and the vast majority of persistent migraineurs reporting symptom improvement over 12 years. ...

Few migraineurs use emergency department.(Pain Medicine)
October 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- Headache is the fifth most common emergency department complaint, but only a small percentage of migraineurs use emergency care for treatment, according to an analysis of the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention study...

Study elucidates menopause-related sleep issues.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
October 1, 2007... MINNEAPOLIS -- Women with no history of sleep disorders often report sleep problems--especially difficulty falling asleep--as they undergo menopause. Their complaints were validated by a sleep study of more than 700 women presented at the...

Depression affects heart rate variability.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
October 1, 2007... Depression severely impairs the recovery of heart rate variability after acute coronary syndrome, reported Dr. Alexander H. Glassman of Columbia University, New York, and his associates. In addition, heart rate variability (HRV) continues...

Obesity rate rises in more than half of states.(Across Specialties)
October 1, 2007... Adult obesity is on the rise in 31 states, and no states have experienced a drop in obesity, according to a study from Trust for America's Health. Mississippi topped the list of the fattest states, with the highest adult obesity rates for...

Back to the future: tricyclic overdoses are increasing.(Across Specialties)
October 1, 2007... DALLAS -- Tricyclic antidepressant overdoses are making a comeback in parallel with the medications' increasing use for indications other than depression. In the pre-SSRI era, when tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) ruled antidepressant...

Statins may slow dementia in Alzheimer's disease.(Across Specialties)(Clinical report)
October 1, 2007... Statin drugs may have a potential role in slowing the neurodegenerative processes involved in Alzheimer's disease, according to new evidence reported by Dr. Gail Li of the University of Washington, Seattle, and her colleagues. Dr. Samuel...

NQF substance abuse standards.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
October 1, 2007... The National Quality Forum has issued a set of national, evidence-based consensus standards on identifying and treating substance abuse. The 11 practices were endorsed by 365 NQF member organizations, including health care providers,...

Settlement on Zyprexa leaks.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
October 1, 2007... A former consultant to Eli Lilly & Co. has agreed to pay the drug maker $100,000 to settle complaints that he leaked confidential information about Zyprexa (olanzapine) to a plaintiffs' attorney. Dr. David Egilman was an expert witness for the...

Court date set for Ayres.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Psychiatrist Dr. William Ayres)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... Psychiatrist Dr. William Ayres is set to go before a jury in San Mateo County, Calif, in March 2008 to face charges that he molested seven young male patients. In his Sept. 6 arraignment, Dr. Ayres pleaded not guilty. He has maintained his...

Lawmakers OK delay in Rx rule.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
October 1, 2007... Coming down to the wire on a new federal mandate requiring the use of tamper-resistant prescription pads for all Medicaid prescriptions beginning Oct. 1, lawmakers in the House and the Senate passed legislation in late September that would...

Rise in adverse drug event reports.(POLICY & PRACTICE)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The number of serious and fatal adverse drug events (ADEs) reported to the Food and Drug Administration more than doubled between 1998 and 2005, according to a report in the Sept. 10 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. The agency defines a...

Task force looks at physician gifts.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
October 1, 2007... In New Jersey, which is sometimes called the nation's medicine cabinet, the state's attorney general is taking a closer look at the gift-giving practices of pharmaceutical and medical device companies. The Attorney General's Advisory Task Force...

Self-referral rule marks return to earlier policy.(Practice Trends)
October 1, 2007... In issuing the third phase of the final regulations implementing the physician self-referral rule, also known as the Stark law, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services has returned to a stance it held in the first phase. The Stark...

State Medicaid programs fall short in all categories.(DATA WATCH)
October 1, 2007... State Medicaid Programs Fall Short in All Categories Quality of Care 29.4% Reimbursement 46.1% Eligibility 51.8% Scope of Services 58.9% Note: Data calculated using the percentage of the mean score out of the...

How much training is best for residents?(INPATIENT PRACTICE)(Interview)
October 1, 2007... The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has reduced the amount of inpatient training necessary for psychiatry residents from a minimum of 9 months to a minimum of 6 months. At least two psychiatrists who supervise residents...

Residency duty-hour changes tied to mortality reductions.(Practice Trends)
October 1, 2007... TORONTO -- In the second year after the new Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education duty-hours rules became effective, mortality in patients hospitalized for four common medical conditions--acute myocardial infarction, heart...

To drive or not to drive? That is the ...(THE ETHICAL WAY)
October 1, 2007... Do you routinely ask about a new patient's driving record--past and present? Is there anything on your intake form related to driving? Have you ever tried to get a driver's license removed from a patient? Are you familiar with the literature on...

Physicians deliver street medicine to the homeless.(Practice Trends)
October 1, 2007... Dr. Jim Withers is a familiar sight on the nighttime streets of Pittsburgh. That's because for the last 15 years he's been leaving the hospital behind to seek out unsheltered homeless people in need of medical attention. When he...

Number of uninsured Americans continues to increase.(Practice Trends)
October 1, 2007... The number of Americans without health insurance reached 47 million last year, up from 44.8 million in 2005, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau. The percentage of individuals without health insurance also rose from...

A survey shows that religious physicians more often refer to clergy members than to psychiatrists. What explains these practices, and how can they be changed?(FINK! STILL AT LARGE)
October 1, 2007... Religion should be a private matter. Unfortunately for those physicians who are deeply religious, it is often difficult or impossible for them to separate their public physician role from their private belief system. We see this phenomenon in...

Worker disability system criticized as destructive.(Practice Trends)
October 1, 2007... CHICAGO -- The fundamental cause of most lost workdays and lost jobs attributed to medical conditions is not really medical necessity. Instead, it's uncoordinated, nonmedical decision making that distorts the stay-at-work/return-to-work process...

Advisory on injectable naltrexone.(FYI)
October 1, 2007... The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment has released the Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory: Naltrexone for Extended-Released Injectable Suspension for Treatment of Alcohol Dependence (SMA07-4267). The advisory addresses questions that...

Brochure on substance abuse, AIDS.(FYI)
October 1, 2007... The Center for Substance Abuse Treatment has a new brochure entitled "Drugs, Alcohol, and HIV/AIDS: A Consumer Guide for African Americans." The brochure is intended for African American patients/clients who are under treatment for substance...

Updated Medicare information.(FYI)
October 1, 2007... The 2nd edition of The Guide to Medicare Preventive Services for Physicians, Providers, Suppliers, and Other Health Care Professionals is available from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services at...

Progress Report on Alzheimer's.(FYI)
October 1, 2007... The National Institute on Aging's Alzheimer's Disease Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center has published the "2005-2006 Progress Report on Alzheimer's Disease: Journey to Discovery." The 64-page report, which describes advances in discovering...

Reducing cognitive dysfunction.(FYI)
October 1, 2007... A new software product, "MindFit Back on Track," is aimed at reducing cognitive dysfunction that occurs in some women during and after chemotherapy for breast cancer. Used for 20 minutes a day, 3 days a week, the product includes exercises to...

Substance abuse supervision guide.(FYI)(substance abuse and mental health services administration)(Brief article)
October 1, 2007... The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has released "Competencies for Substance Abuse Treatment Clinical Supervisors" (Technical Assistance Publication 21-A). It lists the competencies needed to supervise treatment...

Free web-supported EMR.(FYI)
October 1, 2007... GlaceEMR 2.0 is a totally free electronic medical record system that is certified by the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology. All licenses, software support, and upgrades are financed through advertising revenue. The...