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HealthyPlace.com Newsletter

This Week - May 26, 2003

This week's newsletter contains a wrapup of news from the American Psychiatric Association annual convention as well as other important mental health news.

APA Wrapup

1. Psychiatrist attacked by homeless man
2. Depression - Antidepressant News
3. Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Antipsychotics

More Mental Health News

1. Britain Launches New SSRI Safety Probe
2. The Dangers of Exercise Bulimia
3. Adult ADD prevalent and starting to be taken seriously but treatment docs flying by seat of pants
4. House okays bill to block school-ordered meds for kids
5. Pregabalin effective for treating psychiatric and sleep-related symptoms of anxiety
6. RU-486, the abortion pill, works to relieve psychotic depression
7. "I'm only half alive"
8. Thought for today

APA Wrapup

Street Attack Stuns Visiting Doctors

APA members were shocked when a prominent psychiatrist at their convention was assaulted by a man police said is homeless and has a history of mental problems. Homeless mentally ill all over streets of San Francisco. Read the details

Depression

1. Zoloft, SSRIs, Prevents Recurrence of Postpartum Depression
2. Expectant Moms Battle Depression More Than Thought
3. SSRIs Relatively Safe While Nursing
4. At VA, Antipsychotics Prescribed More Often for Depression Plus PTSD
5. Imperceptible Strokes Linked to Depression in Elderly

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Schizophrenia, Bipolar, Antipsychotics

Largest-Ever International Schizophrenia Study Highlights Differences in Patient Outcomes
Although patients treated with atypical antipsychotics experienced marked improvement in their quality of life, various treatments differed in terms of effectiveness, sometimes significantly.

Motor and Sexual Side Effects More Likely with Risperidone (Risperdal) than Quetiapine (Seroquel)
Those on risperidone appear to be nearly twice as likely to have motor and sexual problems. Docs also note increase in prolactin levels produced by risperidone.

Stigma, Insurance and Access to Treatment and Services Emerge as Top Barriers to Schizophrenics
A new national survey indicates that there are three major barriers to improved quality of life for people with schizophrenia and for their caregivers -- stigma, inadequate insurance and access to treatment and services.

Risk Factors for Diabetes in People with Schizophrenia Mirror Those of General Population
Many people with schizophrenia who developed diabetes during treatment with antipsychotics tended to be predisposed to diabetes.

Abilify (Aripiprazole) Demonstrates Better Weight Change Profile Than Olanzapine (Zyprexa)
Differences favoring aripiprazole also seen in incidences of elevated cholesterol and triglyceride levels, according to study.

Abilify Significantly Improved Symptoms of Acute Bipolar Mania
Patients with bipolar disorder experiencing an acute manic episode who received treatment with aripiprazole (Abilify) showed significant improvement in their symptoms and significantly higher response rates compared to either haloperidol (Haldol) or placebo.

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Britain Launches New SSRI Safety Probe

Britain's Department of Health says a new expert group had met for the first time to review the safety of antidepressant drugs following the dissolution of the first group amid concerns that some members had pharmaceutical industry ties.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) drugs such as GlaxoSmithKline Plc's top-selling Seroxat (sold as Paxil in the U.S.) and Eli Lilly & Co's Prozac are under scrutiny because of concerns they may cause withdrawal reactions, violent behavior and feelings of suicide.

Professor Alasdair Breckenbridge, head of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said in a statement: "SSRIs have been kept under close review for the past 5-6 years.

"However, we are aware that there is ongoing interest among patients about withdrawal reactions, feelings of suicide and whether these are linked to SSRIs. As a result, there will be an in-depth investigation into these very areas."

Related Articles

• Getting Off Antidepressants: Antidepressant Discontinuation Syndrome
• SSRIs and Discontinuation Events
• Suddenly Stopping Antidepressant Treatment Can Lead to Some Nasty Side Effects

Exercise Bulimia and Its Dangers

Bulimia involves bingeing and purging and often congers the image of a woman consuming huge quantities of food followed by vomiting to eliminate the unwanted calories. But bulimics do not always purge through vomiting. Certain individuals elect to purge through extreme exercise (compulsive exercising). Why and what can happen is the subject of this column.

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REMUDA RANCH - Help for your eating disorder

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Attention Deficit May Affect 4 in 100 Adults

Adult ADD starting to be taken seriously but treatment docs flying by seat of pants

ADHD in adults can cause significant problems at work and in relationships, researchers appearing at the American Psychiatric Association meeting in San Francisco said last week.

None of the stimulant drugs -- such as Ritalin and Adderall -- widely used to treat children have been approved for use in adults, researchers said. But they get it anyway.

"Most of what we do is by the seat of our pants," says Dr. Richard Weisler, a psychiatrist at Duke University. "We'd have to extrapolate from childhood data. We didn't know what doses to give and their side effects."

Researchers pointed to several recent studies saying it appears the stimulant drugs are safe and generally have fewer side effects in adults than they do in children.

Doctors have been prescribing stimulants like Ritalin and Adderall, which block the uptake of dopamine in the brain, for adults, based on the belief that they would work the same way they do in children.

The drugs had been approved only for treatment of narcolepsy in adults. So far, only one nonstimulant drug, Strattera, has been approved for treatment of adults with ADHD.

So far, studies show the benefits are significant for adults who get treatment for ADHD. In one study sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health, 73 percent "definitively improved" over six months, said Dr. Thomas Spencer, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital who is a lead investigator. Twenty-three percent of those who took a placebo got better, he said.

"Adults respond as well as kids," he said. "When you up the dose, adults do spectacularly."

Until recently, ADHD was an "orphan disease" in adults, Dr. Spencer said. Many doctors -- and the FDA -- simply believed it wasn't a real mental illness.

But gradually, bolstered by imaging studies that showed distinct abnormalities in brains of people who suffered from ADHD, recognition grew, at least by pediatric psychiatrists, who still do most of the treatment and diagnosing.

ADHD is a public health problem in children," said Dr. Spencer. "People who treat adults haven't been trained in it, but that's beginning to change."

House OKs Bill Blocking School-Ordered Drugs

The U.S. House passed a bill last Wednesday that would block schools from ordering troublesome students to take mood-altering drugs as a condition of attending class.

The bill, approved 425-1, makes clear that the school can consult parents about whether psychotropic drugs for such conditions as attention deficit disorder or attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder could benefit a child, but they are not allowed to require it.

Sponsored by Georgia Republican Max Burns, the bill also states that decisions about drugs should be made by doctors, not teachers and administrators. ADD can be confused with other emotional or learning problems.

An increasing number of children have been prescribed drugs for ADD and other conditions, stirring concern about whether doctors, parents, insurers and schools were too quick to turn to pills to solve childhood problems.

The Senate hasn't yet acted on the legislation.

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Studies Suggest Pfizer's Pregabalin Significantly Improves Somatic And Psychic Symptoms Associated With Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Pregabalin was effective in treating a broad range of symptoms in patients with generalized anxiety disorder.

Pfizer says pregabalin provided relief of both psychiatric and sleep-related anxiety symptoms as early as the first week of treatment, according to data from a combination of five placebo-controlled studies.

Pregabalin appears to work at least as quickly as benzodiazepines in treating anxiety, and with less risk for dependence," Pfizer said. "Pregabalin also appears to work significantly faster than antidepressants, which can take up to two or three weeks to begin working.

Controversial Drug Helps Depression

When it comes to psychotic depression, abortion drug RU-486 is making an impact. The hormone cortisol is found in high levels in patients with psychotic depression. By blocking that hormone, RU-486 resets an area of the brain that is not working.
Read more here.

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Bulletin Board:
Only Half Alive

amazonlady1:

"I am a 27 year old female who recently tried to committ suicide. I shot myself. When I woke up from surgery, I was mad at the world for saving me. I wanted to die. I now struggle day to day with these same feelings. I have been burned emotionally alot and am non-trusting but also in desperation for some way to find hope."

Can you help amazonlady1? Respond here .

Listen to the HealthyPlace.com Radio Show on surviving suicide, why people try to kill themselves and how to cope with suicidal thoughts.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Here's something to think about...

What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult for each other?
- George Eliot

From all of us here at HealthyPlace.com, we hope you have a good week.

Previous Newsletters

• May 20, 2003
• May 12, 2003
• April 28, 2003
• April 14, 2003
• March 31, 2003
• March 24, 2003
• March 12, 2003

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