novel-medications | CARLAT PUBLISHING

Psilocybin vs Escitalopram for Depression

September 10, 2021

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

Psilocybin is inching its way toward FDA approval in depression, but will this trial from the New England Journal of Medicine help it along or set it back?

Silexan: A Novel Anxiolytic

July 30, 2020

Chris Aiken, MD.

Chris Aiken, MD. Editor-in-Chief of TCPR. 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.

This German medication outperformed paroxetine in generalized anxiety disorder and is available over the counter in the U.S.

CLINICAL Q&A

The Modafinils in Bipolar Depression

June 10, 2020

Chris Aiken, MD.

Chris Aiken, MD. Editor-in-Chief of TCPR. 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.

Provigil and Nuvigil, the modafinils, may not work for full depressive episodes, but they do something else in bipolar disorder that’s important to patients. This article explores their cognitive effects, as well as their potential to cause addiction and mania.

Nuplazid: Novel Mechanism, Modest Benefits

March 30, 2020

Randall Moore, MD, JD. and Chris Aiken, MD.

Randall Moore, MD, JD. Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Texas A & M University Health Science Center College of Medicine. Chris Aiken, MD. Editor-in-Chief of TCPR. Practicing psychiatrist, Winston-Salem, NC. Dr. Moore and Dr. Aiken have disclosed that they have no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Pimavanserin (Nuplazid) aims to treat psychosis without blocking dopamine. Though FDA-approved for psychosis associated with Parkinson’s disease, the drug is being tested in a host of other disorders: Depression, dementia, and sexual dysfunction.

Antipsychotics Fall Short in Delirium

March 30, 2020

Adrienne Grzenda, MD.

Adrienne Grzenda, MD. Dr. Grzenda has disclosed that she has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Antipsychotics remain a mainstay of delirium treatment despite significant concerns about their safety and efficacy. A pair of reports recently evaluated the evidence on their use in delirium.

Getting Uncomfortable with Esketamine

January 13, 2020

Nolan Williams, MD

Nolan Williams, MD

Director of the Brain Stimulation Lab and Interventional Psychiatry Clinical Research Program; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University, CA. Dr. Williams has disclosed that he has no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

The FDA approval of esketamine (Spravalto) left some unanswered questions, including suicide, addiction, withdrawal, neurotoxicity, and bladder inflammation. Nolan Williams addresses those risks and looks at where esketamine fits among other options like TMS and ECT. Dr. Williams directs the Interventional Psychiatry Clinical Research Program and Brain Stimulation Lab at Stanford University.

Anti-Inflammatories as Antidepressants?

October 3, 2019

Edmund S. Higgins, MD.

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

A host of anti-inflammatory medicines are effective in treatment-resistant depression, particularly celecoxib.

Gabapentin Enacarbil XR Efficacy Less Than Expected for AUD

August 1, 2019

Thomas Jordan, MD

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

This 2019 randomized, double-blind, placebo- controlled trial study casts doubt on using gabapentin enacarbil extended-release (GE-XR) (Horizant), an extended-release version of gabapentin, for treatment in patients with alcohol use disorder

A New Dopamine and Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor for Excessive Sleepiness

July 3, 2019

Talia Puzantian, Chris Aiken, MD, and Chris Aiken

Talia Puzantian, PharmD, BCPP Chris Aiken, MD. Drs. Puzantian and Aiken have disclosed that they have no relevant financial or other interests in any commercial companies pertaining to this educational activity.

Solriamfetol (Sunosi) was just approved for excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy and sleep apnea, but it may have important psychiatric effects as well.

New Augmentation Strategies in OCD

July 3, 2019

Michael Posternak, MD.

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

Two medications show promise in OCD, and their mechanisms are novel: one glutamatergic, one dopaminergic.