Newly published recommendations for pharmacological and psychosocial treatments from the Schizophrenia Patient Outcomes Research Team (PORT) are the first to address related treatments, such as smoking cessation, substance abuse, and weight loss, and they are the first update since 2003.
Of particular utility in the position statement is a checklist for identifying children who are at risk for sudden death, independent of ADHD or stimulant drug treatments.
The empirical basis for the effectiveness of 12-step recovery and the psychotherapeutic benefits of opioid agonist maintenance were among the topics of several symposia with introspective views of time-tested treatments at the 40th Annual Medical-Scientific Conference of the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) in New Orleans.
A study of the adverse effects of 4 second-generation antipsychotics in children and adolescents documented substantial weight gain during 11 weeks of treatment with each agent, with the increased abdominal fat that has been associated with development of metabolic syndrome in adults. Metabolic abnormalities emerged with 3 of the 4 agents, differing in type and severity with the agent and, in some cases, with the dose.
New compounds and novel applications for established products were evaluated in many of the clinical trials reported at the recent 49th annual NIMH-sponsored New Clinical Drugs Evaluation Unit meeting.
The NIMH-sponsored New Clinical Drugs Evaluation Unit (NCDEU) meeting is a favored venue for reports and reviews of NIH-funded psychopharmacological studies, and this was true of the recent annual meeting in Hollywood, Fla. The meeting included a workshop on new investigations of antidepressant use in Alzheimer disease and a panel session on the safety of pharmacotherapy in older adults.
Smoking cessation services should be integrated into substance use disorder treatment programs, according to David Kalman, MD, Department of Psychiatry, University of Massachusetts, and colleagues, in their recent review of tobacco dependency among patients who sought treatment for alcoholism.1
The FDA recently approved iloperidone (Fanapt, Vanda Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of schizophrenia, reversing a July 2008 determination that the New Drug Application (NDA) was “not approvable.” An FDA spokesperson explained in an interview in Forbes (May 8), “Vanda provided the FDA with additional data and arguments that led us to reinterpret results of several of their studies.”
Second-generation (atypical) antipsychotic drugs may not have an advantage for cardiovascular risk over typical antipsychotics, according to a recent, large retrospective cohort study. Researchers at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Tennessee found that risk of sudden cardiac death is heightened with antipsychotics, whether typical or atypical, and the risk increases significantly with increasing doses.
Mortality in elderly patients with dementia markedly and progressively increases with extended use of antipsychotics, according to the first long-term controlled study of risk in this population. Earlier evidence of this risk was from short-term trials not exceeding 14 weeks.
Patients who have had a myocardial infarction (MI) should be screened and appropriately treated for depression, according to a guideline recently issued by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).1 The group recommends use of a standardized depression symptom checklist during hospitalization and “at regular intervals” thereafter.
Anew study shows that the rate of remission in adolescents treated for depression for 36 weeks was more than double that of adolescents treated for 12 weeks, whether treatment was with an antidepressant, cognitive-behavioral therapy, or a combination of both.1
Patients with bipolar depression who exhibit even minimal manic symptoms are at heightened risk for switching into mania if they receive antidepressant medication, according to a new report from the Bipolar Collaborative Network.
Mortality in elderly patients with dementia markedly and progressively increases with extended use of antipsychotics, according to the first long-term controlled study of risk in this population. Earlier evidence of this risk was from short-term trials not exceeding 14 weeks.
Are serum concentrations of folate and vitamin B12 related to the onset of dementia? Can depression be prevented with folate, vitamin B12, and B6 supplementation? Two recent studies shed light on these questions.
Sildenafil (Viagra, Revatio) reduced antidepressant-associated sexual dysfunction in women in a randomized controlled trial, which investigators characterize as the first conducted in women with this adverse drug effect.
An NIMH-sponsored study found that extending the duration of therapy for depressed adolescents increased the rate of response and decreased relapse rates relative to acute, short-term treatment.
Depression-not the use of antidepressants-is associated with increased mortality in patients with heart failure, according to a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.1
Studies of antipsychotics in child prenpresented at the 48th Annual New Clinical Drugs Evaluation Unit (NCDEU) Meeting, conducted by the NIMH in Phoenix, May 27-30, provide some data where there have been relatively little on the increasing use of these agents.
Participants from around the globe recently came together to create an international consensus statement on bipolar disorder that was presented at the 21st Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP).
A strategic plan to guide research priorities and resource allocations of the NIMH was released recently by NIMH Director, Thomas R. Insel, MD. The plan is intended to provide direction over the next 5 years toward the institute’s stated vision of “a world in which mental illnesses are prevented and cured.”
Drugs approved by the FDA just before mandated deadlines are more likely to have safety issues after entering the market than those approved at other times, according to a study in the March 27 New England Journal of Medicine.1 Coincidentally, on that date, the FDA announced the first group of marketed medications, including the atypical antipsychotic clozapine (Clozaril), for which it is requiring additional safety plans under the FDA Amendments Act of 2007.
Two new studies of antipsychotic efficacy for nonpsychotic behaviors in persons with developmental disability provide data where there has been relatively little, but their contrary findings leave this a controversial use of medication.
Maintaining abstinence from alcohol "one day at a time" may be easier with appropriate treatment, but even with the best treatment it can become more difficult as the days add up.
The therapeutic challenges presented by comorbid psychiatric and substance abuse disorders, along with strategies and initiatives to improve treatment, were the focus of a recent collection of studies and reviews in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment.
The FDA recently approved the use of aripiprazole (Abilify) in combination with antidepressant medication for the treatment of major depression in adults. Although a variety of agents have been used in efforts to augment the effect of antidepressants, this first approved adjunct is likely to increase this use of atypical antipsychotics.
Almost 3 years after the FDA warned of increased mortality in elderly patients who received atypical antipsychotics off-label for neuropsychiatric syndromes of dementia, no medication has been approved as safe and effective for this increasingly challenging problem. Recent publications, however, including a white paper from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP), indicate that clinical investigators are wrestling with the dilemma and considering potential alternatives to antipsychotics.
Several new substances and new uses for available products were evaluated in research projects reported at the 47th annual NIMH-sponsored New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit, held this past June in Boca Raton, Fla. The agonists included a melatonergic compound for depression, 2 new agents for schizophrenia, some g-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic antipsychotics, and several drugs being evaluated for non-approved indications.
Precision of psychiatric drug safety assessments, availability of adequately trained psychiatric researchers, and participation of a diverse research population were prominent among the topics of several panels and workshops on research methodology at the NIMH-sponsored 47th annual New Clinical Drug Evaluation Unit (NCDEU) meeting that took place earlier this year in Boca Raton, Fla.
Widespread media reports and billboard campaigns decrying a methamphetamine epidemic are drawing attention away from the greater and more entrenched use of cocaine, according to a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) scientist speaking at the American Society of Addiction Medicine's (ASAM) 38th Annual Medical-Scientific Conference, held in Miami, April 26 to 29.
