The Journal of clinical psychiatry
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A 6-month, double-blind, maintenance trial of lithium monotherapy versus the combination of lithium and divalproex for rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and Co-occurring substance abuse or dependence.
To assess whether combination treatment with lithium and divalproex is more effective than lithium monotherapy in prolonging the time to mood episode recurrence in patients with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder and comorbid substance abuse and/or dependence. ⋯ A small subgroup of patients in this study stabilized after 6 months of treatment with lithium plus divalproex. Of those who did, the addition of divalproex to lithium conferred no additional prophylactic benefit over lithium alone. Although depression is regarded as the hallmark of rapid-cycling bipolar disorder in general, these data suggest that recurrent episodes of mania tend to be more common in presentations accompanied by comorbid substance use.
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Despite the multitude of agents approved for the treatment of major depressive disorder, approximately 50% of patients experience no response to treatment with a first-line antidepressant. Clinicians have 4 broad pharmacologic strategies to choose from for treating antidepressant nonresponders: increasing the dose of the antidepressant, switching to a different antidepressant, augmenting the treatment regimen with a nonantidepressant agent, and combining the original antidepressant with a second antidepressant. To date, the most comprehensively studied treatment strategy for nonresponse or partial response to antidepressants is augmentation with atypical antipsychotic agents, including aripiprazole, olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone. ⋯ Clinicians should carefully reevaluate patients with major depressive disorder who are nonresponders to treatment, particularly those who have had several adequate trials. When choosing the best treatment strategy for antidepressant nonresponders, clinicians should take into account the efficacy and tolerability of treatment as well as patient preference and treatment history. Finally, the risk of potential loss of partial therapeutic benefit from the first-line antidepressant, as well as the risk of withdrawal symptoms, should be taken into account when considering switching antidepressants, while the risk of drug interactions and poor adherence should be taken into account when considering combination and augmentation treatments.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study
Adjunctive aripiprazole in major depressive disorder: analysis of efficacy and safety in patients with anxious and atypical features.
To evaluate the efficacy of adjunctive aripiprazole to standard antidepressant therapy (ADT) for patients with DSM-IV major depressive disorder with anxious/atypical features at baseline. ⋯ Adjunctive aripiprazole is an effective treatment for patients with major depression presenting with either anxious or atypical features.
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study
Long-term antipsychotic monotherapy for schizophrenia: disease burden and comparative outcomes for patients treated with olanzapine, quetiapine, risperidone, or haloperidol monotherapy in a pan-continental observational study.
Noninterventional, naturalistic studies facilitate examination of current clinical practices and provide an understanding of the impact of the biopsychosocial aspects of schizophrenia. This article describes disease burden and patient outcomes, with an emphasis on the comparative effectiveness and tolerability of antipsychotic monotherapy. ⋯ These naturalistic data from less-studied outpatient communities highlight the variability in clinical and functional outcomes associated with long-term antipsychotic treatment.
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Fibromyalgia is a common musculoskeletal pain condition associated with chronic widespread pain, tenderness at various points on the body, fatigue, sleep abnormalities, and common comorbidity with psychiatric and medical disorders. Research into pharmacologic remedies for fibromyalgia has demonstrated efficacy for a variety of agents, but pharmacology is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to successful management of fibromyalgia. Sensitive and appropriate methods of diagnosis and an integrated treatment plan including proper patient education, aerobic exercise, and cognitive-behavioral therapy have been shown effective in alleviating fibromyalgic symptoms. The development of a comprehensive, multidisciplinary disease management strategy is a difficult but essential challenge facing clinicians treating patients with fibromyalgia.