The largest and most rigorous study to date on the treatment of bipolar depression was just published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study, conducted as part of the NIMH-funded Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD), enrolled a total of 366 subjects with either bipolar I or II disorder during a major depressive episode.

On February 21, 2007, the FDA directed all manufacturers of stimulants to develop Medication Guides for patients, spelling out, in non-technical language, the dangers of taking these medications.

We’ve known for some time now that clozapine and Zyprexa (olanzapine) cause the most weight gain of any antipsychotic, but we didn’t know the actual mechanism – until now.

In the February issue of TCPR, we reported a recent FDA panel’s opinion that rTMS (repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation) was relatively ineffective for treatment-resistant depression. The type of rTMS that has been tested for depression generally involves 10 Hz (ten pulses per second).

After reading these articles, you should be able to…

Every month seems to bring a new FDA advisory or an alarming research finding about the use of medications in pregnancy. In this article, we update you on what we consider to be the most important developments over the past couple of years.

Over the last several years, we’ve all seen many FDA warnings and cautionary letters from drug companies about the effects of psychotropics in pregnancy. As a result, it’s easy to become a little skittish about prescribing any medication for pregnant women.

Dr. Brizendine, as the director of the UCSF Women’s Mood and Hormone Clinic, you receive many referrals of women who are having difficulty with menopause. What are the typical problems that women have during this period?

Provigil (modafinil) is FDA approved for excessive sleepiness due to various causes. An ADHD indication was rejected because of its possible association with a single case of Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

The combination of Effexor (venlafaxine) and Remeron (mirtazapine) has been dubbed “California Rocket Fuel” by Stephen Stahl (see page 290 of his Essential Psychopharmacology, 2nd Edition) because of the multiple ways the combination boosts various neurotransmitter systems.