News

It was just over a generation ago that the routine combination of psychotherapy and drug therapy seemed impossible. Then, one meta-analysis found that combined treatment with psychotherapy and medication was found to be notably superior to either treatment alone.

Depression has long been recognized as a primary concern for health care providers. Many approaches to treating depression have been developed, ranging from medications, to long-term psychotherapy, to shorter, more structured cognitive-behavioral treatments--all of which help some of the patients, some of the time, to some extent.

Spontaneous nontraumatic intracerebral hemorrhage is associated with greater mortality and more severe neurologic deficits than any other stroke subtype, with as many as half of all patients dying within 30 days and only 10% of survivors regaining functional independence.

Mitoxantrone (Novantrone) may benefit patients with recurrent neuromyelitis optica (NMO) also known as Devic disease, an inflammatory disorder that strikes the optic nerves and spinal cord.

The addition of mitoxantrone (Novantrone) to interferon beta-1b (IFN beta-1b, Betaseron) therapy for the treatment of patients with aggressive multiple sclerosis (MS) unresponsive to standard therapy may reduce the number of new enhancing lesions as well as life-threatening risks associated with mitoxantrone therapy.

Perceptions

How will the recent presidential veto on expansion of funding for stem cell research impact scientific endeavors in the United States?

Ampakines, agents that have been shown to enhance memory, appear to trigger endogenous brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a natural mechanism in the brain that could restore neuronal viability and synaptic plasticity through increased trophic support.

There will be some major changes in the Medicare fee schedule for 2007. While psychiatrists are apt to make out better than some other subspecialties, it is unclear whether total payments for psychiatrists will go up or down.

In a study published in the April issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, researchers sought to determine whether young women who were hospitalized with acute MI also had higher rates of depression than other groups.

Having lost a few battles over state laws allowing psychologists to prescribe drugs in some cases, organized psychiatry is trying a new tactic--this time at the national level--in order to define professional boundaries in scientifically appropriate ways.