Entries categorized as Pharmacotherapy

A New Generation Of Rapid-Acting Antidepressants?

On March 11, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Depression / No Comments

Conventional antidepressant treatments generally require three to four weeks to become effective, thus the discovery of treatments with a more rapid onset is a major goal of biological psychiatry. The first drug found to produce rapid improvement in mood was the NMDA glutamate receptor antagonist, ketamine. In a new issue of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, researchers from the National Institutes of Health report that another medication, scopolamine, also appears to produce replicable rapid improvement in mood. (read the full story)

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Critical Brain Chemical Shown To Play A Role In Severe Depression

On March 9, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Depression / No Comments

The next advance in treating major depression may relate to a group of brain chemicals that are involved in virtually all our brain activity, according to a study published today in Biological Psychiatry. The study is co-authored by Drs. Andrea J. Levinson and Zafiris J. Daskalakis of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). This study shows that compared to healthy individuals, people who have major depressive disorder have altered functions of the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid). (read the full story)

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UT Southwestern Researchers Find That Gene Mutation Is Linked To Autism-Like Symptoms In Mice

On March 3, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Autism / No Comments

When a gene implicated in human autism is disabled in mice, the rodents show learning problems and obsessive, repetitive behaviors, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. The researchers also report that a drug affecting a specific type of nerve function reduced the obsessive behavior in the animals, suggesting a potential way to treat repetitive behaviors in humans. The findings appear in the Feb. 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. (read the full story)

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Childhood Stress Such As Abuse Or Emotional Neglect Can Result In Structural Brain Changes

On March 1, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Brain Imaging / No Comments

New research using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) shows that childhood stress such as abuse or emotional neglect, in particular when combined with genetic factors, can result in structural brain changes, rendering these people more vulnerable to developing depression. The study led by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has just been published in the international scientific journal, Neuropsychopharmacology. (read the full story)

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A New Way To Kill Cancer Cells Through Synthetic Lethality

On February 27, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Cancer / No Comments

Ovarian and breast cancer treatments being developed that mix a protein inhibitor and traditional anticancer drugs are showing signs of success, according to a new review for Faculty of 1000 Biology Reports. Susan Bates and Christina Annunziata looked at several recent papers on this form of treatment, which takes advantage of the synthetic lethality of BRCA (breast cancer susceptibility genes) and poly-ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) proteins to attack cancerous cells whilst sparing healthy ones. (continue reading)

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Rapamycin Rescues Learning And Memory In An Alzheimer’s Disease Mouse Model

On February 26, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Immunology / 1 Comment

Rapamycin, a drug that keeps the immune system from attacking transplanted organs, may have another exciting use: fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Rapamycin rescued learning and memory deficits in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s, a team from The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio reported Tuesday (Feb. 23). The study, in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, offers the first evidence that the drug is able to reverse Alzheimer’s-like deficits in an animal model, said the senior author, Salvatore Oddo, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Physiology of the UT Health Science Center San Antonio. (continue reading)

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Adapting To Clogged Airways Makes Common Pathogen Resist Powerful Antibiotics – Even Without Previous Exposure

On February 26, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

People with cystic fibrosis frequently have lung infections that defy treatment. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited disease that clogs airways with thick mucous. While the life expectancy for children with cystic fibrosis has increased over the past few decades, many lives are still shortened in young adulthood by the ravages of lung infections. (continue reading)

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The Top Ten Autism Research Findings Of 2009 (Autism Speaks)

On February 12, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Autism / No Comments

Autism Speaks, the world’s largest autism science and advocacy organization has released its annual list of the 10 most significant research achievements to have impacted autism during the previous year. Every year, Autism Speaks documents the progress made toward its mission to discover the causes and treatment for autism spectrum disorders, and compiles a list of the 10 most significant research achievements to have impacted autism during the previous year. continue reading)

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DSM-5 Proposed Revisions Include New Category Of Addiction And Related Disorders And New Category Of Behavioral Addictions Also Proposed

On February 12, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Substance Abuse / No Comments

The American Psychiatric Association’s proposed diagnostic criteria for the fifth edition of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) will eliminate the current categories of substance abuse and dependence, replacing them with the new category “addiction and related disorders.” This will include “substance use disorders,” with each drug identified as a category such as “alcohol use disorder.” The DSM Substance-Related Disorders Work Group members also have recommended a new category of behavioral addictions, in which gambling will be the sole disorder. (continue reading)

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Deficits In Brain’s Reward System Observed In ADHD Patients

On February 6, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In ADHD, Brain Imaging / No Comments

A brain-imaging study conducted at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory provides the first definitive evidence that patients suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have lower-than-normal levels of certain proteins essential for experiencing reward and motivation. “These deficits in the brain’s reward system may help explain clinical symptoms of ADHD, including inattention and reduced motivation, as well as the propensity for complications such as drug abuse and obesity among ADHD patients,” said lead author Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse and a long-time collaborator on neuroimaging research at Brookhaven Lab. (continue reading)

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Animal Behavioral Studies Can Mimic Human Behavior

On February 6, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Neuroscience / No Comments

Studying animals in behavioral experiments has been a cornerstone of psychological research, but whether the observations are relevant for human behavior has been unclear. Weill Cornell Medical College researchers have identified an alteration to the DNA of a gene that imparts similar anxiety-related behavior in both humans and mice, demonstrating that laboratory animals can be accurately used to study these human behaviors. (continue reading)

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Antidepressant Medication May Result In Improved Cognitive Function After Stroke

On February 4, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

Antidepressant medication has taken a beating in recent published scientific literature that examines its efficacy to treat depression. Now for some good news on antidepressant medication. Patients who received the antidepressant escitalopram following a stroke appeared to recover more of their thinking, learning, and memory skills than those taking placebo or participating in problem-solving therapy, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. (continue reading)

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Deep Brain Stimulation Treats Depression By Stimulating The Pleasure Center

On February 1, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Deep Brain Stimulation / No Comments

Even with the best of available treatments, over a third of patients with depression may not achieve a satisfactory antidepressant response. Deep brain stimulation (DBS), a form of targeted electrical stimulation in the brain via implanted electrodes, is now undergoing careful testing to determine whether it could play a role in the treatment of patients who have not sufficiently improved during more traditional forms of treatment. (continue reading)

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Surplus Of Serotonin Receptors May Explain Failure Of Antidepressants In Some Patients

On January 24, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Depression / No Comments

A new study from researchers at Columbia University Medical Center shows that an excess of one type of serotonin receptor in the center of the brain may explain why antidepressants fail to relieve symptoms of depression for 50 percent of patients. The study in a mouse model is the first to find a causal link between receptor number and antidepressant treatment and may lead to more personalized treatment for depression, including treatments for patients who do not respond to antidepressants and ways to identify these patients before they undergo costly, and ultimately, futile therapies. (continue reading)

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Study Finds Decrease In Postoperative Delirium In Elderly Patients

On January 24, 2010 / By Chris Fisher / In Public Health / No Comments

A recent study published in the January issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings demonstrates that the prevalence of delirium can be decreased by 50 percent with light sedation, compared to deep sedation, in elderly patients who undergo hip fracture repair under spinal anesthesia with propofol sedation. (continue reading)

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