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The Carlat Psychiatry Report

Sleep Disorders (September) | 2015

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A Narcolepsy Primer, With a Focus on Xyrem

September 1, 2015

Talia Puzantian, PharmD, BCPP and Daniel Carlat, MD

Narcolepsy affects about 1 out of 2000 people, for a prevalence rate of 0.05%. This puts it officially in the category of rare diseases. So why are we asking you to read about such a rare disorder? Partly because there’s a lot of comorbidity between narcolepsy and most psychiatric disorders. And partly because Jazz Pharmaceuticals is placing lots of ads in psychiatric journals urging us to diagnose more narcolepsy so that we’ll use their new drug Xyrem. Read More

What Psychiatrists Should Know About Sleep Medicine

September 1, 2015

Robert S. Rosenberg, DO, FCCP

What basic questions should we be asking our patients who complain of sleep problems? We talk to Robert S. Rosenberg, DO, FCCP, to get his insight on sleep disorders, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, sleep studies, and benzodiazepines. Read More

Should We Add Stimulants to SSRIs to Treat Geriatric Depression?

September 1, 2015

Geriatric depression often presents with apathy, low energy and motivation, and cognitive decline, so theoretically stimulants are a natural choice. Past studies of combining stimulants with antidepressants have been mainly small open trials, with mostly positive results. But we haven’t seen the kind of rigorous double-blind methodology we’d like. A new study fills that gap. Read More

Rexulti for Schizophrenia and MDD: Is It Abilify, Round 2?

September 1, 2015

On July 10, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Otsuka and Lundbeck’s Rexulti (brexpiprazole) for schizophrenia and as an add-on to antidepressants for adults with depression. As the name suggests, it’s chemically and structurally related to aripiprazole (Abilify). Read More