Monday, June 06, 2005

Atypical Antipsychotics May Offer Benefits for AD Medscape Medical News story - "In a federally funded trial of atypical antipsychotic drugs to treat psychosis, agitation, and aggressiveness in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), researchers have found three leading drugs were associated with greater effectiveness, reduced burden for the caregiver, and improved neuropsychiatric symptoms compared with placebo, according to findings presented here at the 2005 American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting. However, at preliminary analysis of the first of three phases of the trial, researchers were not able to find dramatic differences between the drugs — olanzapine (Zyprexa), risperidone (Risperdal), and quetiapine (Seroquel). Still, each drug had a somewhat different adverse effect..."  
  

Mental Illness Exacts Heavy Toll, Beginning in Youth  National Institute of Health press release - "Researchers supported by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have found that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, and that despite effective treatments, there are long delays — sometimes decades — between first onset of symptoms and when people seek and receive treatment. The study also reveals that an untreated mental disorder can lead to a more severe, more difficult to treat illness, and to the development of co-occurring mental illnesses. The landmark study is described in four papers that document the prevalence and severity of specific mental disorders. The papers provide significant new data on the impairment — such as days lost from work — caused by specific disorders, including mood, anxiety, and substance abuse disorders. These measures will allow researchers to determine the degree of disability and the economic burden caused by mental illness, as well as trends over time."