Archives for March, 2010

Impact of Depression on Earnings

Posted By Kelly On Wednesday, March 31st 2010   under:  Depression      
The raging controversy in managed care continues to focus on whether reducing expenditures actually means saving money. Recent data published in The American Journal of Psychiatry appear to throw new light on this topic by looking at the depression treatment effectiveness in terms of its impact on patients' earnings. Mingliang Zhang, Ph.D., associate director of outcomes research for Merck & Co. Inc., and his colleagues compared the costs of depression treatment ... Read More

Is 5-HTP Safe?

Posted By Kelly On Sunday, March 28th 2010   under:  Question - Answer   Tags: , ,    
Question. Prime Time Live recently aired a story on treatment of depression, obesity and insomnia with 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP). Is 5-HTP effective and safe? Answer. Well, the media are often ahead of the scientists on these things, but I must say I am very skeptical about the 5-HTP story (although I did not see the Prime Time piece). By the way, 5-HTP is the precursor chemical for serotonin, which as you probably ... Read More

Depression and the medically ill

Posted By Kelly On Friday, March 26th 2010   under:  Question - Answer      
Question. Are you aware of any fairly recent articles or publications dealing with the evaluation and treatment of depression in the medically ill, the terminally ill, the dying, the hospice patient, etc.? I would appreciate any information you might have available. Answer. There are numerous articles and studies on evaluating and treating depression in the medically ill. You may be interested in seeing the entire October, 1994 issue of Psychiatric Annals, ... Read More

Prozac and Alcohol’s Effects

Posted By Kelly On Wednesday, March 24th 2010   under:  Question - Answer   Tags:    
Question. I suffer from depression and have been on Prozac for a number of years now. It seems that after I have a few drinks, I notice a marked increase in my depression and irritability the next day. Could alcohol ingested in small amounts as this be causing a real chemical change in my brain, or am I just imagining this? Answer. I know of at least one study showing no ... Read More

Sex Drive and Prozac

Posted By Kelly On Monday, March 22nd 2010   under:  Question - Answer   Tags: , , ,    
Question. I was diagnosed with major depression and have taken several antidepressants that do not work. I have been taking Prozac for about a month and am experiencing a severe decrease in sex drive. I was informed that cyproheptadine, yohimbine, or bethanachol can help, but I can find no information about these medications. Can you tell me about their cost, method of action, side effects, dosage and success rate? Answer. There ... Read More

Postpartum Depression and ECT

Posted By Kelly On Friday, March 19th 2010   under:  Question - Answer   Tags: , , , , , , ,    
Question. After I had a baby, I was diagnosed with postpartum depression and later postpartum psychosis. I tried many antidepressants and was also put on lithium after a manic phase. I also tried hormone replacement therapy, but nothing worked for me. ECT has been suggested several times, but I am very scared of this form of treatment. Is it possible to have postpartum depression that later develops into bipolar disorder, ... Read More

The Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

Posted By Kelly On Tuesday, March 16th 2010   under:  Book review   Tags: , ,    
The Treatment of Anxiety Disorders: Clinician's Guide and Patient Treatment Manuals Gavin Andrews, Rocco Crino, Caroline Hunt, Lisa Lampe, Andrew Page, 423 pp, ISBN 0-521-46927-9, Cambridge University Press 1996 Writing for psychiatrists and clinical psychologists, Gavin Andrews and his co-authors claim that their book 'provides most of the information needed for the successful treatment of patients with anxiety disorders'. About three-quarters of the book is said to be unique in terms of ... Read More

Drug Use In Assisted Suicide And Euthanasia

Posted By Kelly On Saturday, March 13th 2010   under:  Book review   Tags: , ,    
Editors: Margaret P. Battin, Arthur G. Lipman Pharmaceutical Products Press, 10 Alice St, Binghamton, NY 13904-1580 USA 1996/360 pp Balanced discussion of a controversial topic Overall Rating Very good Strengths Balanced discussion of ethical, personal, legal, and pharmaceutical aspects of assisted suicide and euthanasia Audience All those (potentially) involved in decision making regarding assisted suicide and euthanasia It is generally assumed that death by assisted suicide or euthanasia is to be caused by lethal doses of drugs, not guns or ... Read More

Management of Resistant Depression. Prophylaxis. Conclusion

Posted By Kelly On Wednesday, March 10th 2010   under:  Management   Tags: , ,    
Prophylaxis Discussing prevention of relapse or recurrence of major depression is beyond the scope of this paper but is clearly important. Long-term use of antidepressants is sometimes necessary particularly if patients have two or more episodes. Compliance becomes absolutely necessary, but side effects often cause patients to stop taking medications. Tricyclics and, to a lesser degree, traditional monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) have many side effects because they act on the muscarinic, ... Read More

Management of Resistant Depression. Less Approaches. Treatment Resistance.

Posted By Kelly On Monday, March 8th 2010   under:  Management   Tags: , ,    
Less common approaches. Many less commonly used antidepressant therapies are supported by anecdotal evidence only. They include light therapy (non-seasonal affective disorder), high-dose TCA or MAOI therapy (only if serum levels can be monitored), intravenous clomipramine or maprotiline (allows for rapid perfusion, avoids first pass liver metabolism), bromocriptine, high-dose selegiline, and psychosurgery. Modern stereotaxic psychosurgical procedures offer symptom relief with minimal risk, and reports of large trials indicate that up to ... Read More
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