7:49 AM 5/20/2012 - Mike Nova's starred items
via Medicine JournalFeeds » Psychiatry by admin on 5/18/12
J Clin Psychiatry. 2012 Apr;73(4):e567-73
Authors: Connolly RK, Helmer A, Cristancho MA, Cristancho P, O’Reardon JP
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a US Food and Drug Administration-approved treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD) in patients who have not responded to 1 adequate antidepressant trial in the current episode. In a retrospective cohort study, we examined the effectiveness and safety of TMS in the first 100 consecutive patients treated for depression (full DSM-IV criteria for major depressive episode in either major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder) at an academic medical center between July 21, 2008, and March 25, 2011.
METHOD: TMS was flexibly dosed in a course of up to 30 sessions, adjunctive to current medications, for 85 patients treated for acute depression. The primary outcomes were response and remission rates at treatment end point as measured by the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale (CGI-I) at 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes included change in the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS); Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology, self-report (QIDS-SR); Beck Depression Inventory (BDI); Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI); and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS). Enduring benefit was assessed over 6 months in patients receiving maintenance TMS treatment. Data from 12 patients who received TMS as maintenance or continuation treatment after prior electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or TMS given in a clinical trial setting were also reviewed.
RESULTS: The clinical cohort was treatment resistant, with a mean of 3.4 failed adequate trials in the current episode. Thirty-one individuals had received prior lifetime ECT, and 60% had a history of psychiatric hospitalization. The CGI-I response rate was 50.6% and the remission rate was 24.7% at 6 weeks. The mean change was -7.8 points in HDRS score, -5.4 in QIDS-SR, -11.4 in BDI, -5.8 in BAI, and -6.9 in SDS. The HDRS response and remission rates were 41.2% and 35.3%, respectively. Forty-two patients (49%) entered 6 months of maintenance TMS treatment. Sixty-two percent (26/42 patients) maintained their responder status at the last assessment during the maintenance treatment. TMS treatment was well tolerated, with a discontinuation rate of 3% in the acute treatment phase. No serious adverse events related to TMS were observed during acute or maintenance treatment.
CONCLUSIONS: Adjunctive TMS was found to be safe and effective in both acute and maintenance treatment of patients with treatment-resistant depression.
PMID: 22579164 [PubMed - in process]
via Medicine JournalFeeds » Psychiatry by admin on 5/18/12
J Clin Psychiatry. 2012 Apr;73(4):513-7
Authors: Aggarwal NK, Rosenheck RA, Woods SW, Sernyak MJ
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: There has been concern that racial minorities are disproportionately prescribed long-acting injectable antipsychotic drugs.
METHOD: Comprehensive administrative data and clinician survey were used to identify all patients with a DSM-IV diagnosis of schizophrenia who received long-acting antipsychotic prescriptions from July 2009 to June 2010 at a community mental health center. Charts were reviewed retrospectively to validate long-acting antipsychotic prescription (eg, medication, dosage) and merged with administrative data from all center patients documenting sociodemographic characteristics (ie, age, race, gender) and comorbid diagnoses. We used bivariate χ2, t tests, and multivariate logistic regression to compare the subsample of patients receiving long-acting injectable drugs (n = 102) to patients not receiving long-acting injectable drugs (n = 799) who were diagnosed with schizophrenia for the same period.
RESULTS: White patients were significantly less likely to receive long-acting antipsychotic prescriptions than minority patients (OR = 0.52, P < .007); ie, nonwhites were 1.89 times more likely to receive such drugs. Age, gender, and comorbid diagnoses, including substance abuse, were unrelated to long-acting injectable prescription, and race/ethnicity was not associated with use of specific agents (haloperidol decanoate, fluphenazine decanoate, or risperidone microspheres) (P = .73).
CONCLUSIONS: Racial minorities are more likely than other patients with schizophrenia to receive long-acting injectionable antipsychotics, a finding that suggests their prescribers may consider them less adherent to antipsychotic prescriptions.
PMID: 22579151 [PubMed - in process]
via Medicine JournalFeeds » Psychiatry by admin on 5/18/12
J Clin Psychiatry. 2012 Apr;73(4):506-12
Authors: Anglin RE, Garside SL, Tarnopolsky MA, Mazurek MF, Rosebush PI
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Mitochondrial disorders are caused by gene mutations in mitochondrial or nuclear DNA and affect energy-dependent organs such as the brain. Patients with psychiatric illness, particularly those with medical comorbidities, may have primary mitochondrial disorders. To date, this issue has received little attention in the literature, and mitochondrial disorders are likely underdiagnosed in psychiatric patients.
DATA SOURCES: This article describes a patient who presented with borderline personality disorder and treatment-resistant depression and was ultimately diagnosed with mitochondrial encephalomyopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) 3271. We also searched the literature for all case reports of patients with mitochondrial disorders who initially present with prominent psychiatric symptoms by using MEDLINE (from 1948-February 2011), Embase (from 1980-February 2011), PsycINFO (from 1806-February 2011), and the search terms mitochondrial disorder, mitochondria, psychiatry, mental disorders, major depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and psychosis.
STUDY SELECTION: Fifty cases of mitochondrial disorders with prominent psychiatric symptomatology were identified.
DATA EXTRACTION: Information about the psychiatric presentation of the cases was extracted. This information was combined with our case, the most common psychiatric manifestations of mitochondrial disorders were identified, and the important diagnostic and treatment implications for patients with psychiatric illness were reviewed.
RESULTS: The most common psychiatric presentations in the cases of mitochondrial disorders included mood disorder, cognitive deterioration, psychosis, and anxiety. The most common diagnosis (52% of cases) was a MELAS mutation. Other genetic mitochondrial diagnoses included polymerase gamma mutations, Kearns-Sayre syndrome, mitochondrial DNA deletions, point mutations, twinkle mutations, and novel mutations.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients with mitochondrial disorders can present with primary psychiatric symptomatology, including mood disorder, cognitive impairment, psychosis, and anxiety. Psychiatrists need to be aware of the clinical features that are indicative of a mitochondrial disorder, investigate patients with suggestive presentations, and be knowledgeable about the treatment implications of the diagnosis.
PMID: 22579150 [PubMed - in process]
via Medicine JournalFeeds » Psychiatry by admin on 5/18/12
J Clin Psychiatry. 2012 Apr;73(4):486-96
Authors: Farahani A, Correll CU
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To perform a meta-analysis of antidepressant-antipsychotic cotreatment versus antidepressant or antipsychotic monotherapy for psychotic depression.
DATA SOURCES: We performed an electronic search (from inception of databases until February 28, 2011) in PubMed/MEDLINE, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO, without language or time restrictions. Search terms were (psychosis OR psychotic OR hallucinations OR hallucinating OR delusions OR delusional) AND (depression OR depressed OR major depressive disorder) AND (random OR randomized OR randomly).
STUDY SELECTION: Eight randomized, placebo-controlled acute-phase studies in adults (N = 762) with standardized criteria-defined psychotic depression (including Research Diagnostic Criteria, DSM-III, DSM-IV, or ICD-10) were meta-analyzed, yielding 10 comparisons. Antidepressant-antipsychotic cotreatment was compared in 5 trials with 6 treatment arms (n = 337) with antidepressant monotherapy and in 4 trials with 4 treatment arms (n = 447) with antipsychotic monotherapy.
DATA EXTRACTION: Primary outcome was study-defined inefficacy; secondary outcomes included all-cause discontinuation, specific psychopathology ratings, and side effects. Using random effects models, we calculated relative risk (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs), number-needed-to-treat/harm (NNT/NNH), and effect size (ES).
RESULTS: Antidepressant-antipsychotic cotreatment outperformed antidepressant monotherapy regarding less study-defined inefficacy (no. of comparisons = 6; n = 378; RR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.59-0.98; P = .03; heterogeneity [I2] = 34%) (NNT = 7; 95% CI, 4-20; P = .009) and Clinical Global Impressions-Severity of Illness scores (no. of comparisons = 4; n = 289; ES = -0.25; 95% CI, -0.49 to -0.02; P = .03; I2 = 0%), with trend-level superiority for depression ratings (no. of comparisons = 5; n = 324; ES = -0.20; 95% CI, -0.44 to 0.03; P = .09; I2 = 10%), but not regarding psychosis ratings (no. of comparisons = 3; n = 161; ES = -0.24; 95% CI, -0.85 to 0.38; P = .45; I2 = 70%). Antidepressant-antipsychotic cotreatment also outperformed antipsychotic monotherapy regarding less study-defined inefficacy (no. of comparisons = 4; n = 447; RR = 0.73; 95% CI, 0.63-0.84; P < .0001; I2 = 0%) (NNT = 5; 95% CI, 4-8; P < .0001) and depression ratings (no. of comparisons = 4; n = 428; ES = -0.49; 95% CI, -0.75 to -0.23; P = .0002; I2 = 27%), while anxiety (P = .11) and psychosis (P = .06) ratings only trended toward favoring cotreatment. All-cause discontinuation and reported side-effect rates were similar, except for more somnolence with antidepressant-antipsychotic cotreatment versus antidepressants (P = .02). Only 1 open-label, 4-month extension study (n = 59) assessed maintenance/relapse-prevention efficacy of antidepressant-antipsychotic cotreatment versus antidepressant monotherapy, without group differences.
CONCLUSIONS: Antidepressant-antipsychotic cotreatment was superior to monotherapy with either drug class in the acute treatment of psychotic depression. These results support recent treatment guidelines, but more studies are needed to assess specific combinations and maintenance/relapse-prevention efficacy.
PMID: 22579147 [PubMed - in process]
via Medicine JournalFeeds » Psychiatry by admin on 5/18/12
J Clin Psychiatry. 2012 Apr;73(4):437-43
Authors: Zimmerman M
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), is a categorical system that provides descriptive diagnostic criteria for psychiatric syndromes. These syndrome descriptions are imperfect representations of an underlying behavioral, psychological, or biological dysfunction; thus, the criteria could be conceptualized as a type of test for the etiologically defined illnesses. Accordingly, as with any other diagnostic test, diagnoses based on DSM-IV criteria produce some false positive and some false negative results. That is, some patients who meet the criteria will not have the illness (ie, false positives), and some who do not meet the criteria because their symptoms fall below the diagnostic threshold will have the illness and incorrectly not receive the diagnosis (ie, false negatives). In this context, I consider the controversy over whether the diagnostic threshold for bipolar disorder should be lowered.
METHOD: Longitudinal studies of the prognostic significance of subthreshold bipolar disorder are considered.
RESULTS: Subthreshold bipolarity is a risk factor for the future emergence of bipolar disorder, but the majority of individuals with subthreshold bipolarity do not develop a future manic or hypomanic episode.
CONCLUSIONS: The diagnostic threshold for bipolar disorder should not be lowered for 4 reasons: (1) the results of longitudinal studies suggest that lowering the diagnostic threshold for bipolar disorder will result in a greater increase in false positive than true positive diagnoses; (2) there are no controlled studies demonstrating the efficacy of mood stabilizers in treating subthreshold bipolar disorder; (3) if a false negative diagnosis occurs and bipolar disorder is underdiagnosed, diagnosis and treatment can be changed when a manic/hypomanic episode emerges; and (4) if bipolar disorder is overdiagnosed and patients are inappropriately prescribed a mood stabilizer, the absence of a future manic/hypomanic episode would incorrectly be considered evidence of the efficacy of treatment, and the unnecessary medications that might cause medically significant side effects would not be discontinued.
PMID: 22579144 [PubMed - in process]
via Behavior and Law by Mike Nova on 5/19/12
Punishment Outside Prison - NYTimes.com
May 19, 2012
Punishment Outside Prison
By LINCOLN CAPLAN
Probation and parole for convicted offenders are complex and growing problems in criminal justice. Scholars and others with the American Law Institute, meeting in Washington this week, are to present draft proposals on ways to reform laws about offenders who serve these out-of-custody sentences.
The draft recommends fewer such community-based sentences, with shorter terms and fewer conditions imposed so that supervision is better defined. When finalized, the plan will be a model for state penal codes.
In 2010, more than 2.3 million people were behind bars in the United States. More than twice that number, 4.9 million, were under probation or parole. Such sentences — imposed either for lesser offenses like shoplifting, or after release from prison for more serious offenses — are considered easy time compared with incarceration and a first step toward a fresh start. But often, that turns out to be wrong.
Increasingly, these offenders are not reintegrated into society. Often, so many conditions are imposed on their probation or parole — like not being allowed to drink alcohol after being convicted of passing a bad check — that it is easy to violate just one and end up in custody. And the consequences of community sentences even for those never imprisoned — like not being permitted to vote or to qualify for, say, a beautician’s license — make it difficult to find a job. Under a sound justice system, most offenders should do their time and get a second chance. For many, probation and parole lead to prison, not back to a normal life.
via psychiatry - Google Blog Search by Benedict Carey, NY Times on 5/18/12
The simple fact was that he had done something wrong, and at the end of a long and revolutionary career it didn't matter how often he'd been right, how powerful he once was, or what it would mean for his legacy. Dr. Robert L.
via psychiatry - Google Blog Search by Alan on 5/19/12
Dr. Robert L. Spitzer favored gay reparative therapy, but now realizes he was wrong. …he was at his computer, ready to recant a study he had done himself, a poorly conceived 2003 investigation that supported the use of ...
via psychiatry - Google News on 5/19/12
'Behavioral addiction' affects us all ReporterHerald.com Should the American Psychiatric Association expand its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as proposed, then compulsive shopping, sex, time on the Internet and playing of video games could be considered medical conditions, ... New Scientist reports on protest of psychiatric labelingExaminer.com Can someone be mildly alcoholic? | The RepublicThe Republic 'Label jars, not people': Lobbying against the shrinksNew Scientist The Conversation all 9 news articles » |
Mike Nova's starred items
via Medicine JournalFeeds » Psychiatry by admin on 5/19/12
J Psychiatr Res. 2012 May 14;
Authors: Wang J, Häusermann M, Wydler H, Mohler-Kuo M, Weiss MG
Abstract
Few population-based surveys in Europe have examined the link between suicidality and sexual orientation. The objective of this study was to assess the prevalences of and risk for suicidality by sexual orientation, especially among adolescent and young adult men. Data came from three probability-based surveys in Switzerland from 2002: 1) Geneva Gay Men’s Health Survey (GGMHS) with 571 gay/bisexual men, 2) Swiss Multicenter Adolescent Survey on Health (SMASH) with 7,428 16-20 year olds, and 3) Swiss Recruit Survey (ch-x) with 22,415 new recruits. In GGMHS, suicidal ideation (12 months/lifetime) was reported by 22%/55%, suicide plans 12%/38%, and suicide attempts 4%/19%. While lifetime prevalences and ratios are similar across age groups, men under 25 years reported the highest 12-month prevalences for suicidal ideation (35.4%) and suicide attempts (11.5%) and the lowest attempt ratios (1:1.5 for attempt to plan and 1:3.1 for attempt to ideation). The lifetime prevalence of suicide attempts among homo/bisexual men aged 16-20 years varies from 5.1% in ch-x to 14.1% in SMASH to 22.0% in GGMHS. Compared to their heterosexual counterparts, significantly more homo/bisexual men reported 12-month suicidal ideation, plans, and attempts (OR = 2.09-2.26) and lifetime suicidal ideation (OR = 2.15) and suicide attempts (OR = 4.68-5.36). Prevalences and ratios vary among gay men by age and among young men by both sexual orientation and study population. Lifetime prevalences and ratios of non-fatal suicidal behaviors appear constant across age groups as is the increased risk of suicidality among young homo/bisexual men.
PMID: 22591853 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
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The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), long the master reference work in psychiatry, is seriously flawed and needs radical change from its current “field guide” form, according to an essay by two Johns Hopkins psychiatrists published in the May 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
