After reading these articles, you should be able to…

Recently, the FDA gave its first two approvals for medications to treat fibromyalgia (FM): first Lyrica (pregabalin) and then Cymbalta (duloxetine). While it is nice that FM is receiving some attention from big pharma, the badge of FDA approval should be taken with a grain of salt.

It has become increasingly clear that depressed patients quite often suffer from some degree of physical pain, which may adversely impact treatment outcome. Indeed, research suggests that as the pain severity of patients increases, the odds of achieving a successful antidepressant response decreases (Bair MJ et al., Psychosom Med 2004;66:17-22).

Dr. Clauw, you’ve devoted your career to the research and clinical care of patients with fibromyalgia. How do you approach the diagnosis of this illness?

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

Autism has recently hit the radar screen in psychiatry and pediatrics. This is partly due to an increase in prevalence that has been widely reported in the media, coupled with ongoing debate regarding whether vaccines are causing this so-called "autism epidemic.”

The last time we did an entire issue on ADHD was in September of 2006. In this brief article, we’ll bring you up to date on some recent developments.

Dr. Fassler, you are a child psychiatrist and you testified at the original FDA hearings leading to the black box warnings on antidepressants. Can you give us some insight into how that process played out?

A recent NIMH-sponsored eight week trial compared two atypical antipsychotics, olanzapine (Zyprexa) and risperidone (Risperdal), to the first-generation antipsychotic, molindone (Moban) in the treatment of 116 youths with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.

In the September 2007 issue of TCPR, we reviewed the very mixed literature on whether it makes sense to increase the dose of an antidepressant to achieve a response. We concluded that there is insufficient evidence, but that as long as you can avoid side effects, there is no compelling reason not to try dose escalation.