The American journal of psychiatry
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Pregabalin in generalized anxiety disorder: a placebo-controlled trial.
Current drug therapies for generalized anxiety disorder have limitations. In a controlled trial, the novel agent pregabalin was studied for the treatment of patients with generalized anxiety disorder. ⋯ These results indicate that pregabalin is an effective, rapidly acting, and safe treatment for generalized anxiety disorder. In short-term treatment, pregabalin does not appear to have the withdrawal symptoms associated with the benzodiazepines.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Reduction of nightmares and other PTSD symptoms in combat veterans by prazosin: a placebo-controlled study.
Prazosin is a centrally active alpha(1) adrenergic antagonist. The authors' goal was to evaluate prazosin efficacy for nightmares, sleep disturbance, and overall posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in combat veterans. ⋯ These data support the efficacy of prazosin for nightmares, sleep disturbance, and other PTSD symptoms.
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Comparative Study
Progressive decrease of left superior temporal gyrus gray matter volume in patients with first-episode schizophrenia.
Smaller temporal lobe cortical gray matter volumes, including the left superior temporal gyrus, have been reported in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies of patients with chronic schizophrenia and, more recently, in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. However, it remains unknown whether there are progressive decreases in temporal lobe cortical gray matter volumes in patients with first-episode schizophrenia and whether similarly progressive volume decreases are present in patients with affective psychosis. ⋯ These findings demonstrate a progressive volume reduction of the left posterior superior temporal gyrus gray matter in patients with first-episode schizophrenia but not in patients with first-episode affective psychosis.
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The author provides an overview of the current status of privacy in psychiatric treatment, with particular attention to the effects of new federal regulations authorized by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). ⋯ The new regulatory environment is less friendly to medical privacy but still leaves a great deal of discretion in physicians' hands. A commitment to protecting privacy as an ethical norm can be advanced by psychiatrists' requesting patients' consent even when it is not required, by ensuring that patients are aware of the limits on confidentiality, and by avoiding unnecessary breaches of privacy in the course of providing psychiatric care.