Clinical Psychiatry News back issues from August 2008:
SOFAR focuses on military families.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Alone soldier, bandaged up to his elbow, stood amid a crowd of clinicians, parents, and teachers, telling the story of a bad day in Iraq. His audience had gathered at Boston Medical Center to discuss the impact of war and terrorism on children, Kenneth I. Reich, Ed.D., recalled ...
Vital signs.(News)(Statistical table)(Brief article)
Aug 01, 2008 ... <Pre> Aggregate Hospital Costs of Select Diagnoses (in millions of dollars) Affective disorders$3,338 Schizophrenia and related disorders$2,411 Alcohol-related mental disorders $1,169 Senility and ...
Alcoholism is increasingly seen as medical illness; U.S. survey also finds heightened stigma.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- The public became more likely to regard alcohol dependence as a medical illness over a 10-year period, but stigmatization of alcoholism increased over that period as well, the latest results of a biannual survey addressing public attitudes toward the disorder show. ...
Congress acts to expand parity, reverse pay cuts.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Congress moved a step closer to mental health parity under Medicare last month when it overrode a presidential veto of legislation that decreased cost sharing for mental health care and codified coverage of psychiatric medications. The mental health provisions were part of a ...
ADHD prevalence climbs 4% annually among U.S. teens.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... The percentage of adolescents being diagnosed with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is on the rise, but prevalence rates remain constant among younger children, a new study shows. Among children aged 12-17 years, the prevalence of attention-deficit/hyper-activity ...
Bioterrorism threat lives on, as do vaccine-related events.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. -- Despite the grateful lull that has followed Sept. 11 and the anthrax scare in 2001, bioterrorism remains a very real threat, a Food and Drug Administration counterterrorism official says. Dr. Boris Lushniak, the FDA's assistant commissioner for ...
Panels discourage black box warning on AEDs; Antiepileptic drug patients should get medication guide explaining suicidality risk, members suggest.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... BELTSVILLE, MD.--A boxed warning about an increased suicidality risk with the use of antiepileptic drugs should not be added to the labels of drugs in this class, but patients prescribed these drugs should receive information about this risk with every prescription, according to the ...
Overall child well-being has improved, new report finds.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- Today's young people engage in less risky behavior, are healthier, and have better access to educational opportunities than their parents did when they were teens, a recent report suggests. But the overall gains that have been made over the last 30 years might ...
AMA urged to use apology as a 'Springboard'.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... African American physicians are looking for action to back up the words of apology recently tendered by the American Medical Association for more than a century of racial inequity and bias. In accepting the AMA's apology, Dr. Nelson L. Adams, president of the National Medical ...
HHS pushes doctors to start using electronic prescribing.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Federal officials are urging physicians to begin electronic prescribing as soon as possible now that Congress has authorized bonus payments for the successful use of the technology. Under the recently enacted Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act (H.R. 6331)--the ...
Insured, uninsured report access problems.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... One in five Americans postponed or skipped needed medical care last year because of cost, insurance problems, or difficulty getting an appointment, according to a report from the Center for Studying Health System Change. Researchers, who compared nationwide survey data from the ...
Aetna defends its use of preferred provider networks.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SAN FRANCISCO -- Speaking at the insurance industry's annual meeting, an Aetna executive defended the company's performance-based physician networks, saying that they were a way to keep costs down and to let patients know which physicians offered the best and most cost-effective care. ...
FDA rejects 'approvable,' 'not approvable' terms.(News)
Aug 01, 2008; ... The Food and Drug Administration will no longer issue "approvable" or "not approvable" letters when a drug application is not approved. Instead, the agency will issue a "complete response" letter at the end of the review period, the FDA has announced. The change goes into ...
Sleep and memory: can learning be enhanced?(GUEST EDITORIAL)(Guest editorial)
Aug 01, 2008; ... The history of sleep and memory research began with Ebbinghaus in 1885. Research remained dormant for some time, but by the late 1980s, studies involving trampolining (Percept. Mot. Skills 1988;6:635-45), intensive study of a foreign language (Int. J. Psychophysiol. 1989;8:43-7), and ...
ACP stand on marijuana is appropriate.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
Aug 01, 2008; ... In our primary care clinic, I see many patients with chronic pain disorders ("Internist Group Backs Use of Medical Marijuana," April 2008, p. 56). These patients either have used marijuana or are currently using it for its presumptive medicinal benefits (as an analgesic, for ...
Another close call.(LETTERS)(Letter to the editor)
Aug 01, 2008; ... I really enjoyed Dr. H. Steven Moffic's article ("Is There a [Real] Doctor on the Plane?" The Ethical Way, June 2008, p. 62). The same thing happened to me on a return flight from Hawaii. There was a man with chest pain on the plane. The flight attendant got on the ...
Pain relievers.(Cartoon)
Aug 01, 2008 ... TELL ME MORE ABOUT YOUR ...
Physicians were distressed to learn of the psychiatric patient who died while waiting to be seen in a Brooklyn hospital. How can such tragedies be prevented?(FINK! STILL AT LARGE)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Several weeks ago, JAMA published a commentary, "Physicians Behaving Badly," detailing some of the inhumane ways in which doctors (and, I might add, hospital staff and office personnel) treat patients (JAMA 2008;300:21-2). The recent incident, ending in the death of a patient at ...
Double trouble: mixed bipolar episodes.(PRACTICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY)
Aug 01, 2008; ... By DSM-IV standards, mixed episodes must satisfy criteria for both manic and depressive episodes and are relatively rare in bipolar disorder, but not everyone goes by this definition. "There's a general feeling that the DSM-IV notion is overly conservative," said Dr. Roger S ....
Cognitive dysfunction may worsen quality of life in bipolar.(PRACTICAL PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY)(Clinical report)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- Poor cognitive function in patients with bipolar disorder might contribute to worse quality of life, results of a Portuguese study of 55 patients show. Poorer self-reported quality of life was significantly correlated with worse cognitive performance. In ...
Three trials provide guidance on race, ethnicity: in STEP-BD, response to treatment for psychosis was 40% for white patients and 0 for black patients.(Adult Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... PHOENIX--Teasing out any differences in the success of psychiatric treatment by race or ethnicity is hampered by a dearth of data on minorities, but secondary analyses of major studies on depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia provide some insights. Across the three ...
Race may play role in Dx of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder.(Adult Psychiatry)(Clinical report)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- Clinicians appear to be more likely to diagnose black patients with schizophrenia than white patients, even after controlling for symptom presentation, according to a study of more than 200 patients. "The findings suggest that a racial bias exists in clinical ...
Pregnancy not tied to risk of mental illness.(Adult Pschyiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Pregnancy does not raise the risk of developing any of the most prevalent mental disorders, with the notable exception of postpartum depression, according to a report in the Archives of General Psychiatry. "Pregnancy is traditionally viewed as a stressful period that may provoke ...
Happily married women report less insomnia.(Adult Pschyiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... BALTIMORE--Women who are happily married in midlife report fewer sleep problems than unhappily married or unmarried women, based on data from nearly 3,000 women. Previous studies have shown that married people, especially women, consistently report less insomnia, compared with ...
Guidance in works on treatment of borderline.(Adult Psychiatry)(Brief article)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Clinicians should not use drugs to specifically treat borderline personality disorder and should not use brief pharmaceutical interventions to treat the symptoms of the condition, under a draft guideline published by the health effectiveness agency for England and Wales. The ...
English smoking ban resulted in more cessation.(Adult Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... As many as 400,000 smokers have quit their habit as a result of England's ban on smoking in public places, according to a British cancer charity. Cancer Research UK said the Smoking Toolkit Study it supports at University College London found that smokers were quitting in ...
Patient questionnaire for depression helpful.(Adult Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... PHOENIX--Clinicians in 17 diverse outpatient psychiatric practices across the United States reported that having patients complete a simple, short questionnaire about depression at each visit was helpful in 93% of visits and led to treatment changes in 40% of patient contacts. ...
Pregabalin for generalized anxiety disorder.(EVIDENCE - BASED PSYCHIATRIC MEDICINE)
Aug 01, 2008; ... The Problem You have a patient with generalized anxiety disorder who previously has been treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, and buspirone with inadequate relief. In an attempt to avoid a benzodiazepine, you ...
Treating situational anxiety.(THE PSYCHIATRIST'S TOOLBOX)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Former Texas Sen. Phil Gramm's recent comment that we are in the midst of a "mental recession" did not go over well on the campaign trail. However, we psychiatrists know that today in America, we do find ourselves in a state of national anxiety. We are in the midst of a ...
Diabetes and depression show bidirectional association.(Adult Pschyiatry)(Clinical report)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Type 2 diabetes and depressive symptoms have a bidirectional association: People with diabetes are at increased risk of developing depressive symptoms, and those with depressive symptoms are at increased risk of developing diabetes, according to a report in JAMA. These results, ...
Reevaluate adolescents' need for antipsychotics: in study, protective effect of long-term use was offset by 'shocking' weight gain.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... PHOENIX--To continue second-generation antipsychotics in adolescents with bipolar disorder after their psychosis or aggression has stabilized may not be helpful beyond 6 months of therapy, preliminary data from a randomized, controlled trial suggest. Details on 21 of 68 patients ...
Family-focused therapy may benefit bipolar adolescents.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... KOLOA, HAWAII--Two studies show encouraging results for the effectiveness of including family-focused therapy in the treatment of adolescents with bipolar disorder. Although patients must be "stabilized and treated with the appropriate medication, clearly with bipolar ...
Teenage bisexuality associated with risky sexual behaviors.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... NEW YORK -- More than 10% of teens in New York City public high schools who have ever had intercourse reported bisexual behavior in a 2005 survey, according to a recent analysis. Those teens reported a higher prevalence of risky behaviors, including lower rates of condom use and ...
Adolescents' eating disorders can shift over time.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SEATTLE--Sizable proportions of adolescents progress along a spectrum of eating-disordered behavior over time, highlighting the importance of early detection and intervention, Diann M. Ackard, Ph.D., said at an international conference sponsored by the Academy for Eating Disorders. ...
Combination of sleep and weight problems may lower quality of life.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... BALTIMORE--Both increased weight and sleep problems were associated with children's reports of poor quality of life, based on results from a study of 100 children aged 8-12 years. Previous studies have linked poor quality of life to overweight and to sleep problems in children ...
Metformin decreases food intake, perceived hunger.(Child/Adolescent Psychiatry)(Clinical report)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SAN FRANCISCO -- Metformin appears to exert its weight-loss effects in obese children by reducing their desire to eat and thus decreasing their food intake. A substudy of a government-sponsored placebo-controlled trial found that children taking metformin not only ate less, they ...
Laptop dementia screener is accurate, faster than MMSE.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... CHICAGO -- A quick, computerized screening test for dementia may be one step closer to reality. Researchers at the University of Florida Alzheimer's Center and Research Institute have developed the Dementia Screening Battery, a self-administered test that takes about 15 minutes ...
Type 2 diabetes doesn't affect Alzheimer's risk.(Geriatric Psychiatry)(Clinical report)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- Type 2 diabetes did not increase the risk of onset or progression of Alzheimer's disease in older adults, according to results from a study of more than 700 individuals presented in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Geriatrics Society. The prevalences ...
Simpler frailty assessment recommended for nursing homes.(Geriatric Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SALT LAKE CITY -- Diagnosing frailty in a nursing home resident can be a time-consuming undertaking. According to Dr. John E. Morley, a generally accepted definition of frailty is useful but not practical for most nursing homes because they don't have the time or the staff to ...
Varenicline curbs alcohol cravings, increases abstinence in smokers.(Addiction Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- The antismoking drug varenicline also appears to curb alcohol cravings in smokers who are heavy drinkers, results of a small pilot study show. Nondependent heavy drinkers taking varenicline (Chantix) were more likely to be abstinent during the 2-hour period of free ...
Treating gambling difficult in military.(Addiction Psychiatry)(Survey)
Aug 01, 2008; ... WASHINGTON -- Military personnel are at risk for problem gambling, but it is often difficult for them to get adequate treatment, according to the director of a Veterans Affairs program for problem gamblers. In 2002, there were 1.4 million active service members. That year, the ...
Perspective.(Community Psychiatry)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Most adult patients with panic disorder spend years trying to figure out what is wrong with them. They undergo cardiac evaluations for their heart problems, gastro evaluations for the butterflies in their stomachs, neurological exams for their light-headedness, and thyroid ...
Treating pediatric panic disorder.(PREVENTION IN ACTION)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Monsters in the closet. Bogeymen under the bed. Flying shadow creatures cast by bedroom curtains blowing in the breeze. These are the stuff of childhood fears--all of which are readily dismissed as products of overactive imaginations and emotional immaturity. Less easy to ...
Parkinson's Tx may raise risk of impulse control.(Neuropsychiatric Medicine)
Aug 01, 2008; ... CHICAGO -- Evidence continues to mount that dopaminergic therapy increases the odds of impulse control disorders in patients who have Parkinson's disease. Dopamine agonist (DA)-treated patients had two-to threefold elevated odds of having a current impulse control disorder ...
Rapid response may predict binge eating outcome.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SEATTLE--The predictive utility of a rapid response to treatment for binge eating disorder and obesity depends on the type of treatment, a randomized, controlled trial shows. It also is important to identify predictors, because many patients with binge eating disorder do not ...
Some see psychosocial barriers to weight loss.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SEATTLE--Money and time are the leading barriers to seeking weight-loss treatment among overweight and obese adults, but stigma and a belief that one is too heavy for treatment become more influential barriers as people get heavier. Little is known from the literature about ...
Sleep apnea increased mortality in 14-year study.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
Aug 01, 2008; ... BALTIMORE--Moderte to severe sleep apnea significantly increased the risk of all-cause mortality, according to 14 years of follow-up data from a large community sample. "Sleep apnea is a disease of public health significance," said Nathaniel Marshall, Ph.D., of the University of ...
Prolactin may be key link between stress, psoriasis.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
Aug 01, 2008; ... KYOTO, JAPAN -- Prolactin may be a key mediator in the pathway by which psychological stress triggers and exacerbates psoriasis, Dr. Ewan A. Langan said at an international investigative dermatology meeting. This raises the intriguing prospect that prolactin may offer a novel ...
Sodium oxybate may improve sleep in fibromyalgia patients.(Psychosomatic Medicine)(Clinical report)
Aug 01, 2008; ... PHOENIX--Preliminary data on the off-label use of sodium oxybate suggest that it improved sleep in a randomized, placebo-controlled study of 151 patients with fibromyalgia who completed 8 weeks of treatment at 21 medical centers. The study enrolled 195 patients who started with ...
Benefits sustained from eating disorder program.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SEATTLE--Initial improvements in anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa achieved in an intensive residential treatment program are largely sustained 4-5 years later, Dr. Timothy D. Brewerton reported. "Data on long-term follow-up of individuals with anorexia nervosa and bulimia ...
Emotion-focused therapy promising for eating disorders.(Psychosomatic Medicine)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SEATTLE--Patients with eating disorders who receive emotion-focused therapy experience a decrease in psychological morbidity and possible reductions in bingeing and vomiting, preliminary results of the first evaluation of this therapy for eating disorders show. "Affect has long ...
Disordered breathing takes toll on nighttime BP.(Psychosmatic Medicine)(Clinical report)
Aug 01, 2008; ... People who have sleep-disordered breathing are less likely to experience a normal nighttime decrease in systolic blood pressure, and they are at increased risk of adverse cardiac and other outcomes, according to the results of a new prospective study. Most people experience a ...
Education key to preventing female athlete triad.(Psychosmatic Medicine)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SEATTLE--Education and the collaborative efforts of a team of professionals are important for preventing the female athlete triad, according to Sharon H. Thompson, Ed.D. The definition of the female athlete triad has been expanded recently, said Dr. Thompson, professor of health ...
Heart failure patients overestimate life expectancy.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Ambulatory patients with heart failure tend to substantially overestimate their life expectancy, especially those who are younger or who have severe disease, investigators reported. Their misperception could "fundamentally influence medical decision making regarding medications, ...
Try Gabapentin, antidepressants for hot flashes.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... CHICAGO -- Gabapentin and four newer antidepressants significantly reduce hot flash activity, according to a meta-analysis of 10 placebo-controlled studies that was presented as a poster at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. As a group, the ...
Take practical approach to menopause management.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... CALGARY, ALTA. -- Reassurance, relief, and reassessment are hallmark factors in the practical management of menopause. "We need to remind women that menopausal symptoms are normal," Dr. Cynthia Stuenkel said at the annual meeting of the Society of Obstetricians and ...
FDA considers changes to drug label pregnancy info.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... The system that uses letters of the alphabet to categorize drugs' pregnancy and lactation risks will be eliminated and replaced by a more consistent format designed to be more comprehensive and useful to health care professionals and patients who are of childbearing age, pregnant, or ...
CV safety studies needed for new diabetes drugs.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... SILVER SPRING, MD.--A Food and Drug Administration advisory panel has agreed in a 14-2 vote that developers of new drugs or biologics for type 2 diabetes should be required to conduct a long-term study evaluating cardiovascular safety or should provide "equivalent evidence" to rule out an ...
Severe psoriasis appears to be potent risk factor for stroke.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... KYOTO, JAPAN -- Severe psoriasis appears to be a potent risk factor for stroke independent of the traditional stroke risk factors, Dr. Rahat S. Azfar said at an international investigative dermatology meeting. She presented a casecontrol study drawn from the U.K. General ...
Cognitive impairment-antihistamine link debated.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... KYOTO, JAPAN -- Fexofenadine is the sole truly nonsedating antihistamine--and the only one that does not cause objectively measurable cognitive and psychomotor impairment at doses commonly used in clinical practice, said Dr. Kazuhiko Yanai. Fexofenadine (Allegra) is the only ...
Modafinil reduces severe cancer fatigue.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... CHICAGO -- The wakefulness-promoting drug modafinil reduced self-reported severe fatigue, according to a study of more than 600 cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy that was presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Gary R. Morrow, Ph.D., ...
No evidence of 'chemobrain' seen in small sample of breast cancer patients.(Across Specialties)
Aug 01, 2008; ... CHICAGO -- Chemotherapy-related cognitive impairment was infrequent in a small study of 30 patients who underwent adjuvant chemotherapy for nonmetastatic breast cancer. "People could be making decisions about whether or not to have chemotherapy based on stories they've heard ...
In practice's losing race, good health is a winner.(Practice Trends)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Faced with 15%-18% average yearly increases in the health insurance premiums he pays for his staff, Dr. John K. Randall decided to do something about it. He staged a weight loss contest, loosely modeled after the fitness reality television show, "The Biggest Loser." Fourteen ...
Grassley seeks APA disclosures.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
Aug 01, 2008; ... Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) has asked the American Psychiatric Association (APA) to disclose how much financial support it receives from the pharmaceutical industry. The senator requested that the association provide an accounting of industry funding from January 2003 to the present, ...
Vt. psychiatrists unduly influenced.(POLICY & PRACTICE)
Aug 01, 2008; ... The Vermont attorney general is alleging that psychiatrists in the state are being inappropriately influenced by pharmaceutical industry money. In a report issued last month, the AG found that drugmakers spent $3 million in Vermont in fiscal 2007 in sales and marketing efforts directed at ...