Depression - Articles - Page 19

An Antidepressant Diet

May 8, 2019

Felice Jacka, MD Professor at Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia. Director, Food and Mood Centre. Founder and President, International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research. Dr. Jacka has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

We have a decade of observational evidence linking the quality of people’s diets to their risk for depression. Those findings were pretty consistent across countries, cultures, and age groups: A healthy diet is associated with an approximately 30% reduction in the risk for depression and a 40% improvement in cognition.

An Opioid Combo Falls Short in Depression

February 1, 2019

Chris Aiken, MD

Chris Aiken, MD.
Editor-in-Chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report. Practicing psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Aiken has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Opioids have a bad name these days. But let’s not forget that they were once considered a first-line treatment for depression before the discovery of MAOIs and tricyclics in the 1950s. That history has been revived recently by buprenorphine, a partial opioid agonist that was fast-tracked by the FDA for treatment-resistant depression.

Wellbutrin Augmentation: When Does It Work?

January 1, 2019

Chris Aiken, MD

Chris Aiken, MD Editor-in-Chief of The Carlat Psychiatry Report. Practicing psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Aiken has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dear Dr. Aiken: In the July/August 2018 issue, you wrote that bupropion (Wellbutrin) augmentation does not work in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). So why do we see it work so often in practice?

Is Ketamine Just Another Opiate?

January 1, 2019

Michael Posternak, MD.

Michael Posternak, MD. Dr. Posternak has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Ketamine’s rapid antidepressant effects have now been demonstrated in over two dozen double-blind, placebo-controlled trials, but how it works is less clear. For many years, NMDA receptor antagonism was thought responsible, but other NMDA antagonists have not worked well in depression.

Bullying and Suicidality: Some Practical Tips

September 1, 2018

Joshua D. Feder, MD.

Joshua D. Feder, MD. Child and family psychiatrist, Solana Beach, CA, Editor-in-Chief of The Carlat Child Psychiatry Report. Dr. Feder has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

What can you do when one of your patients reports being bullied? Research has shown that being bullied increases the risk of depression, anxiety, and suicidality in children. In this article, we’ll give you some tips for how to ask about bullying, how to assess its impact, and how to help your patients and their families deal with the problem.

Lifestyle Interventions for Treatment-Resistant Depression

July 6, 2018

Treatment resistant depression (TRD) is not untreatable. The challenge is to keep hope alive and the patient engaged in their recovery, writes Editor-in-chief Chris Aiken in the July/August issue of The Carlat Psychiatry Report. In addition to using antidepressants as part of treatment, Dr. Aiken says you should recommend the...

Benefits of Alpha-Stim

December 5, 2016

Lila Massoumi, MD Chairperson, Caucus on Complementary, Alternative, and Integrative Medicine, American Psychiatric Association Dr. Massoumi has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Dr. Massoumi is one of the most nationally prominent psychiatrists teaching about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments. In this Expert Q&A she discussses cranial electrotherapy stimulation (CES), with a focus on Alpha-Stim.

Statins and SSRIs Together Lead to Better Outcomes in Depression

December 5, 2016

Bret A. Moore, PsyD, ABPP

Bret A. Moore, PsyD, ABPP Board-Certified Clinical Psychologist, San Antonio, TX Dr. Moore has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Is depression a disorder of inflammation? This intriguing hypothesis has been floating around in the literature over the past few years. Thus far, the findings are suggestive but not definitive. For instance, one marker of inflammation, C-reactive protein, was found to be higher in people with psychological distress and depression.

Citalopram Safety Warning Has Serious Consequences for VA Patients

July 1, 2016

Bret A. Moore, PsyD, ABPP

Bret A. Moore, PsyD, ABPP Board-Certified Clinical Psychologist, San Antonio, TX Dr. Moore has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

In the summer of 2011, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reported that post-marketing surveillance showed that patients taking greater than 40 mg/day of citalopram were at greater risk of QT prolongation. Shortly thereafter, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) alerted its providers to this warning. VA researchers recently published a study detailing the results of this warning on patients.

NEWS OF NOTE

Fetzima Approved for Depression

September 1, 2013

In July 2013, the FDA approved the SNRI Fetzima (levomilnacipran) for major depressive disorder (MDD) in adults (Forest Laboratories, Inc). The efficacy of Fetzima at doses 40 mg to 120 mg once daily was established in three, eight-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies in adults diagnosed MDD.