Psychiatrists often have patients who come in bearing long lists of medications for various comorbid conditions. Is there any evidence that we should evaluate and treat such patients differently than patients without medical illnesses?

Medication discontinuation is alarmingly common among patients with schizophrenia—it may range anywhere from 42% to 74%.

Due to their inhibition of both serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake, the SNRIs venlafaxine (Effexor) and duloxetine (Cymbalta) have been billed as possessing an advantage over SSRIs.

Given that taking B vitamins can lower plasma homocysteine levels, a group of researchers recently examined whether supplemental B vitamins could low the rate of brain atrophy in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

The last time TCPR covered the topic of psychotropics in pregnancy was less than two years ago, in February of 2009. Since then, however, some new treatment guidelines have been published, and they appear to be useful to clinicians.

As a pharmacist specializing in psychopharmacology, I am commonly consulted by psychiatrists to provide updated information on the safety of medications in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

These new guidelines were issued jointly by our APA and by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. In addition to providing a nice summary of the neonatal risks of antidepressant exposure, the paper offers clear, concise, and easy to follow algorithms for the management of depression in three scenarios doctors are likely to encounter.

The Motherisk Program is a teratogen information service that has been around for more than 20 years.

SSRIs theoretically work by inhibiting the reuptake of serotonin, presumably by blocking the serotonin transporter pump whose job is to clean up excess serotonin in the synapses between neurons.