Brown University Psychopharmacology Update articles

Recent articles from Brown University Psychopharmacology Update

Editor's Commentary: Metformin in Psychiatry
November 1, 2012... We've mentioned metformin eight times in The Update over the past 5 years. Not all of those mentions have been feature articles -- the most recent was an announcement of a new formulation in the September 2012 issue -- but that is still a remarkable frequency when one considers that the drug...

Clozapine Superior to Prolactin Raisers in Protecting Bone Density
November 1, 2012... Research involving hospitalized women with chronic schizophrenia in China has found that the prolactinsparing antipsychotic clozapine is beneficial in protecting bone mineral density (BMD) when compared with a number of prolactin-raising antipsychotic options. With osteoporosis common in...

SSRIs and Dose-Related Risk of Injurious Fall
November 1, 2012... Depressive symptoms are common in patients with dementia, and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), with their relative safety over the tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs), are commonly prescribed for this patient population. Bone cells are known to possess functional serotonergic...

MAOIs Do Not Appear to Increase Hemodynamic Events during Anesthesia
November 1, 2012... A new retrospective study in Holland has found that antidepressive treatment with monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) during anesthesia does not cause an increase in the frequency of hemodynamic events, such as hypertension and tachycardia. These results are important to clinicians who may be...

High-Dose Vitamin D No Better Than Placebo on Depression Scores
November 1, 2012... Six months of supplementation with high doses of vitamin D showed no significant overall effects on depressive symptom scores when compared with six months of placebo treatment, according to researchers in a study that sought to clarify the possible relationship between depression and vitamin...