Lurasidone is edging its way into antipsychotic market
Dec/10/10 00:22 Filed in: Pharmacology | Economy
When you thought we had reached the point of antipsychotic’s market saturation, yet another drug is edging its way into this $20 billion market. The drug is Lurasidone, the company is Sunovion (formerly Sepracor) and the FDA approval is likely by the end of this year. Lurasidone is simply another antipsychotic—no more, no less. The two major clinical trials (Pearl 1 and Pearl 2) have shown inconsistent efficacy results, high rates of side effects such as akathisia (restlessness), parkinsonism (tremor and stiffness), and sedation, and apparent inferiority to Zyprexa. Like several of the newer antipsychotics (such as Ability, Geodon, and Fanapt), Lurasidone causes little weight gain and few metabolic abnormalities. With no clear advantages over its many competitors, Lurasidone will succeed or fail based purely on the strength of its promotional campaign.
The Angry Birds
You always think it can't happen to you. Addiction is something that happens to other people, other families. Let me first talk about anger, because it's an emotion we commonly address in psychotherapy. Anger is a normal human emotion, but it's gotten a bad rap, and the inappropriate expression of anger can make life very difficult. When anger is recognized and used wisely, it can help us to solve problems, to stand up for what we believe in, and to change the world. It's never a terribly comfortable emotion, and often people strive to decrease their comfort by discharging anger. So tonight I downloaded the Angry Birds app to my iTouch. Oh, I'm not so sure about this. I've catapulting these little animated critters at piggys in pens all night. I spent over an hour on level twelve. I can't stop. I posted on my Facebook about it, and an old high school friend--who's now a physicist at Stanford-- told me not to do it..."It's like crack." It's late and I want to go to bed. But what about the piggys in the stone pens on Level 15? Doesn't some angry bird need to smash them? If you know any shortcuts, please do share. Not sure I'll ever blog again....
Mental Health Stability in Veterans with Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Receiving Varenicline
This is a very interesting study about the effects of varenicline, a treatment for smoking cessation, on mental health stability in veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Link to the article
Link to the article
Psychiatry: Ancient, Medieval and Modern
A good free article by Frederick Lyman Hills, wrote in 1901, found in Google Books; it’s from “Popular Science” of that year and you can read it for free. The link is:
Psychiatry--ancient, mediaeval and modern - nov 1901 - Pagina 31 on Google Books
Psychiatry--ancient, mediaeval and modern - nov 1901 - Pagina 31 on Google Books
Psychoanalysis.org: The New York Psychoanalytic Society
Dec/05/10 08:51 Filed in: Psychoanalysis
The New York Psychoanalytic Society is the oldest psychoanalytic organization in the United States. It was founded in 1911 by Dr. Abraham A. Brill and a small group of like-minded colleagues, who were excited by and committed to the revolutionary discoveries of Sigmund Freud and his students. Training in psychoanalysis was rather informal until 1931 when the Society established the New York Psychoanalytic Institute. It was the first psychoanalytic training center in the United States, and it has had a long and distinguished history. It was here that major advances in psychoanalytic theory and practice were made. The Institute was the professional home of many of the best known analysts of their time.
http://www.psychoanalysis.org
http://www.psychoanalysis.org
Antipsychotics are the Best-Selling Drugs in the United States
Dec/04/10 13:57 Filed in: Drugs | Pharmacology
Antipsychotics are a very big ($11 billion!!) and hotly contested area in drugs market. These drugs are increasingly used for bipolar disease and also for other mental illnesses, including some for which they have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. A major shift: Seroquel, from AstraZeneca, has passed Zyprexa from Eli Lilly and Risperdal form Johnson & Johnson as the top-selling schizophrenia drug. One possible reason: controversy over Zyprexa's potential to cause weight gain in some patients. Abilify, a schizophrenia medicine from Bristol-Myers Squibb and Japan's Otsuka, is also gaining ground fast.
A video on Medscape:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/732297
An article on IMS Health Reports:
http://www.imshealth.com/portal/site/imshealth/......
A video on Medscape:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/732297
An article on IMS Health Reports:
http://www.imshealth.com/portal/site/imshealth/......
To Listen To Schumann, Bring a Couch
Dec/03/10 17:39 Filed in: Music | Psychiatry
The CATIE Study: Please take a look with more attention!
The Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) Study, funded by the NIH’s National Institute of Mental Health, is a nationwide public health focused clinical trial comparing the effectiveness of older (first available in the 1950s) and newer (available since the 1990s) antipsychotic medications used to treat schizophrenia.
Many studies have tested new antipsychotic medications in schizophrenia. Most of these were conducted by pharmaceutical companies, to obtain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market a new drug. These studies were usually short-term (4 to 8 weeks), focused on limited outcomes, enrolled a narrow range of patients, and studied only one or two medications at a time. By contrast, CATIE compared four of the newer medications to one another, and to an older medication. Participants in CATIE were followed for 18 months so that investigators could evaluate longer-term patient outcomes. The more than 1400 participants in the study included those with physical or other mental health problems in addition to schizophrenia. CATIE was conducted at many different treatment sites, broadly representative of the real life settings where patients receive their care.
This study provides the largest, longest, and most comprehensive independent trial ever conducted to study existing therapies for this disease. It will provide valuable information to help physicians and patients choose the most appropriate medication for them.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/trials/practical/catie/index.shtml
Many studies have tested new antipsychotic medications in schizophrenia. Most of these were conducted by pharmaceutical companies, to obtain Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to market a new drug. These studies were usually short-term (4 to 8 weeks), focused on limited outcomes, enrolled a narrow range of patients, and studied only one or two medications at a time. By contrast, CATIE compared four of the newer medications to one another, and to an older medication. Participants in CATIE were followed for 18 months so that investigators could evaluate longer-term patient outcomes. The more than 1400 participants in the study included those with physical or other mental health problems in addition to schizophrenia. CATIE was conducted at many different treatment sites, broadly representative of the real life settings where patients receive their care.
This study provides the largest, longest, and most comprehensive independent trial ever conducted to study existing therapies for this disease. It will provide valuable information to help physicians and patients choose the most appropriate medication for them.
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/trials/practical/catie/index.shtml
Rapid Antidepressant Action of Common Medication Confirmed by Repeat Trial
Dec/01/10 23:04 Filed in: Pharmacology | Drugs
A recent clinical trial confirmed results from earlier research, and showed that scopolamine could alleviate symptoms of depression within days. The study was small and additional studies will need to be done, but the findings suggest that a different class of medication has the potential to provide rapid treatment of depression.
“Antidepressant efficacy of the antimuscarinic drug scopolamine: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial” on Archives of General Psychiatry
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2010/rapid-antidepressant-action-of-common-medication-confirmed-by-repeat-trial.shtml
“Antidepressant efficacy of the antimuscarinic drug scopolamine: a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial” on Archives of General Psychiatry
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2010/rapid-antidepressant-action-of-common-medication-confirmed-by-repeat-trial.shtml
Melatonin Agonists in Psychiatry
There are two melatonin agonists on the market today ramelteon (developed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company and approved in the United States 2005) and agomelatine (Valdoxan®, Melitor®, Thymanax® ), the only one approved in Europe in 2009 and developed by the pharmaceutical company Servier. Tasimelteon and TIK-301 are two melatonin agonists that have received orphan drug designation and are going through clinical trials in the United States. Tasimelteon is being developed by Vanda Pharmaceuticals and completed the phase III trial in 2010. Originally TIK-301 was developed by Eli Lilly and Company and called LY-156,735, it wasn´t until July 2007 that Tikvah Pharmaceuticals took over the development and named it TIK-301 (It is now in phase II trials and has been since 2002).
Pandi-Perumal, S. R., Trakht, I., Srinivasan, V., Spence, D. W., Maestroni, G. J. M., Zisapel, N., Cardinali, D. P. (2008). "Physiological effects of melatonin: Role of melatonin receptors and signal transduction pathways". Progress in Neurobiology 85 (3): 335–353. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2008.04.001. PMID 18571301.
Pandi-Perumal, S. R., Trakht, I., Srinivasan, V., Spence, D. W., Maestroni, G. J. M., Zisapel, N., Cardinali, D. P. (2008). "Physiological effects of melatonin: Role of melatonin receptors and signal transduction pathways". Progress in Neurobiology 85 (3): 335–353. doi:10.1016/j.pneurobio.2008.04.001. PMID 18571301.
