Older patients are increasingly prescribed multiple drugs that, when combined, can lead to negative side effects and poor health outcomes. A new Cochrane Library evidence review reveals that little is known about the best ways to avoid inappropriate prescribing of medications for seniors or how to maximize health benefits while minimizing prescriptions.
A clinical study of 30 adult patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine has shown that smoked cannabis may be an effective treatment for spasticity – a common and disabling symptom of this neurological disease. The placebo-controlled trial also resulted in reduced perception of pain, although participants […]
In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, researchers failed to find evidence for the use of aripiprazole (Abilify®) in depression. In this study the investigators assessed the efficacy of low-dose aripiprazole added to antidepressant therapy (ADT) in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) with inadequate response to prior ADT.
Between 2000 and 2009 in the United States, the annual rate of maternal opiate use increased nearly 5-fold, while diagnosis of the drug withdrawal syndrome among newborns, neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS), increased almost 3-fold, accompanied by a substantial increase in hospital charges related to NAS, according to a study published online by JAMA. The study […]
Schoolteachers who underwent a short but intensive program of meditation were less depressed, anxious or stressed – and more compassionate and aware of others’ feelings, according to a UCSF-led study that blended ancient meditation practices with the most current scientific methods for regulating emotions.
Scientists today reported striking new evidence that green, or unroasted, coffee beans can produce a substantial decrease in body weight in a relatively short period of time. In a study presented at the 243rd National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the world’s largest scientific society, Joe Vinson, Ph.D., and colleagues described […]
The antipsychotic medication risperidone is more effective for initial treatment of mania in children diagnosed with bipolar disorder compared to other mood stabilizing medications, but it carries the potential for serious metabolic side effects, according to an NIMH-funded study published online ahead of print January 2, 2012, in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
A new multi-center study, including neurologists and neurosurgeons from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, reveals that Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) – a treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients with medication-resistant muscle movement impairment or tremors – can improve those symptoms and reduce medications for patients implanted with the device. The […]
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