Tuesday, July 01, 2003

American Psychiatric Association 156th Annual Meeting
This page at Medscape: Psychiatry serves as an index to a wide variety of articles, news and resources drawn from presentations at the APA's annual meeting in May. There are "topic overviews" (which are available for CME credit) on anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, ADHD and special topics, which includes material drawn from two presentations on substance abuse. A series of Medscape Medical News articles related to the meeting are also included - see, especially, Antipsychotics Prescribed More Often for Depression Plus PTSD, Bipolar Disorder at the APA Meeting: A Newsmaker Interview With Charles Bowden, MD and Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry: An Expert Interview With Donald Hilty, MD. Finally, there are two "international perspectives" by Canadians Martin A. Katzman (Anxiety Disorders at the APA) and Michael Rosenbluth (A Review of Depression From The American Psychiatric Association 156th Annual Meeting). [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Physical Complications of Substance Abuse: What the Psychiatrist Needs to Know
Literature review in Current Opinion in Psychiatry at Medscape - "There is an essential, ongoing and background updating of our knowledge of the social determinants and public health issues related to substance abuse. It is also vital that psychiatrists remain aware of the medical and surgical problems that patients with substance use disorders may develop. The present review examines the recent literature on physical complications of substance abuse." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

New Report Identifies "Active Ingredients" of Alcohol Treatment: Several Not Widely Found in Clinical Practice
Press release from Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems - "Ensuring Solutions to Alcohol Problems (ESAP), a research-based project at George Washington University Medical Center, has identified 13 active ingredients of effective alcohol treatment. The findings are included in its latest educational primer, released today. The nation’s system for treating alcohol problems continues to fall short of the comprehensive model envisioned more than 10 years ago by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). While several of the active ingredients identified by ESAP have long been prescribed for treating alcohol-dependent individuals, many, including the use of prescribed medications to support clinically-proven psychosocial therapies, are not widely found in clinical practice."  
  

Mental Health: Sticking With Antidepressants
New York Times article - "Antidepressants have always been prescribed cautiously for patients with bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression, for fear that they will flip the patient from one extreme to the other and set off a manic episode. But a study released today challenges guidelines based on that assumption. The study, led by Dr. Lori Altshuler of U.C.L.A., found that the practice of quickly weaning bipolar patients from antidepressants significantly raised their chances of relapsing into depression without offering greater protection from mania." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].