The Week in Review: December 4-8

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This week, Psychiatric Times® discussed a wide variety of psychiatric issues and industry updates, from adjunctive cariprazine for the treatment of major depressive disorder to a new app for prescribing antidepressants and antipsychotics. Here are some highlights from the week.

Neurosteroid Therapeutics “Offer Great Promise” in Postpartum Depression

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“I am a passionate advocate for women’s mental health, and I am always extremely honored to work with women and mothers. Wherever you go around the world, childbirth, is such a profound time really represents our common humanity in a powerful way,” said Samantha Meltzer-Brody, MD, MPH, during her President’s Plenary session, “The Development of Neurosteroid Therapeutics in Postpartum Depression: Where Are We Now?” at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2023 Annual Meeting.

Dr Meltzer-Brody is the Assad Meymandi Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as well as the director of the UNC Center for Women’s Mood Disorders. Continue Reading

Adjunctive Cariprazine in Treating Major Depressive Disorder

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Augmenting antidepressant with a second-generation antipsychotic is a well-supported option in a clinician’s arsenal when treating a patient with major depressive disorder (MDD).

The poster, “Long-Term Efficacy of Adjunctive Cariprazine in Patients With MDD: Results From an Open-Label 26-Week Safety Study,” presented at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology 2023 Annual Meeting, demonstrated the efficacy of cariprazine as such an adjunctive treatment. Continue Reading

Is the Holiday Season Stroke Season?

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A cerebrovascular accident (CVA), or stroke, is a disruption of blood flow to the brain caused by a blockage or rupture in a blood vessel. Of the nearly 800,000 strokes that occur annually in the United States, about 87% are ischemic infarcts caused by an obstruction (clot) in a blood vessel. Stroke is the fifth leading cause of death and a significant cause of disability in the United States, but a large percentage of strokes are preventable.

According to the American Heart Association, stroke risk factors include smoking, alcohol misuse, physical inactivity, or poor sleep and diet. These lifestyle choices can result in heart arrhythmias, blood clotting disorders, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity, all of which are associated with stroke. Tsao et al report that over 30% of adults in America have at least 1 of these conditions or lifestyle habits. Fortunately, many of these risk factors are controllable with strategies and persistence. Continue Reading

Prescribing Antidepressants and Antipsychotics? There’s an App for That

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A web-based application to aid in selection of antidepressants and antipsychotics through ranked matching of adverse-effect profiles with patient preference and tolerance will facilitate evidence-based and personalized prescribing of these agents, according to the investigator-developers.

Lead author Toby Pillinger, MRCPsych, PhD, of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience at King’s College London, and principle investigator Robert McCutcheon, MRCPsych, PhD, of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, and colleagues described the digital application in an award-winning poster presented at the 2023 summer meeting of the British Association of Psychopharmacology (BAP) in Manchester, United Kingdom, and in a detailed report in the November issue of Lancet Psychiatry. Continue Reading

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