Risks and Benefits of Antidepressant Use in Pregnancy

Antidepressant use in pregnancy

Psychiatry Advisor
Michael O'Leary

In a common enough scenario, a pregnant patient being treated for depression or anxiety reads an article that links maternal antidepressant use during pregnancy with birth defects and wonders whether she should stop taking the medication. (published site)

Treating Comorbid Sleep, Neurological Disorders

Neurology Advisor

Michael O'Leary

The Challenges of Diagnosing and Treating Sleep
Disorders

The range of sleep disorders neurologists treat is wide and includes insomnia, sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome, and narcolepsy.

Primary sleep disorders are caused by endogenous abnormalities in the mechanisms regulating the sleep-wake cycle. Secondary sleep disorders stem from comorbid conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease or Alzheimer's disease, or psychiatric disorders that can cause disruptions in  normal sleep-wake mechanisms.¹ (published site)

Diagnosing and Treating Rapidly Progressive Dementias

Neurology Advisor

Michael O'Leary

November 10, 2014

Dementia may result from as many as 40 different diseases and conditions ranging from dietary deficiencies to inherited diseases, according to the Encyclopedia of Mental Disorders.¹
With that, the definition of dementia has broadened over time from a focus on memory loss to a focus on impairment in one or more cognitive domains — particularly memory, language, frontal executive function, organizing, planning, and multitasking — that is severe enough to interfere with a person's daily function.¹
(published site)

Diagnosing Deep Venous Thrombosis

John Neil, MD,
SMIL radiologist

SMIL Radiology Report
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the precise number of people affected by deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism is unknown, but estimates range from 300,000 to 600,00 people in the United States. 

The disease course of acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) ranges from complete resolution over time to embolization to scarring with varying degrees of obstruction, vein damage and malfunctioning venous valves. (published site) 

Personalized Schizophrenia Treatment Possible with Genomic Testing

Psychiatry Advisor

Michael O'Leary

Personalized Schizophrenia Treatment Possible
with Genomic Testing

Scientists have long known that schizophrenia runs in families. The illness occurs in 1%  of the general population but in 10% of people who have a first-degree relative with the condition, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

People with schizophrenia tend to have higher rates of rare genetic mutations involving hundreds of different genes that may disrupt brain development, researchers have found.

However, known gene variations that contribute to schizophrenia appear to have only a small effect on disease risk. (published site)

Sleep Problems Often Coexist with Psychiatric Disorders

Psychiatry Advisor

Michael O'Leary

Exploring comorbid sleep disorders in psychiatric 

disorders

Sleep disorders and circadian misalignment are present in many psychiatric disorders, including depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.1

There are two types of sleep: non-rapid eye-movement (NREM) sleep and rapid eye-movement (REM) sleep. Over the course of a sleep period, NREM and REM sleep alternate cyclically.2 This basic structural organization is referred to as sleep architecture.

Two major processes – homeostatic drive and circadian rhythm, regulate the sleep-wake system. Homeostatic drive determines how much sleep is needed, and the circadian rhythm optimizes the ability to achieve that sleep at night.1-2

(published site)

Identifying Fast-Acting Treatments for Resistant Depression

Psychiatry Advisor

Michael O'Leary

July 11, 2014

Identifying Fast-Acting Treatments
for Resistant Depression

A NIMH initiative aims to find faster-acting antidepressants in order to treat patients with severe depression that requires urgent treatment.

Current antidepressant medications often take a few weeks to work, creating an urgent need for improved and faster-acting antidepressant treatments for patients with severe, life-threatening forms of depression.

Recognizing this need, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) established the Rapidly-Acting Treatments for Treatment-Resistant Depression (RAPID) research project.
(Published site)

Scottsdale Radiology Report, Winter 2014

SMIL Radiology Report

Scottsdale Medical Imaging's Radiology Report keeps referring physicians informed of imaging techniques and benefits offered by the group. It is a printed publication available online in PDF form on the company's website.

In addition to radiologists providing 24/7 medical image reading coverage at Scottsdale Healthcare hospitals, Scottsdale Medical Imaging operates 14 state-of-the-art outpatient imaging centers including their Interventional Radiology Clinic which provides patients minimally invasive treatments for a broad range of health conditions, often on an outpatient basis. 

Read more ...

Does Gastric Banding Help Overweight People With Type 2 Diabetes?

Posted at 17th April 2014 by Ryan Luce

written by Michael O’Leary

While the evidence showing that weight-loss surgery can halt type 2 diabetes in obese people grows, less is known about whether such a drastic intervention might also benefit people who are overweight, but not obese. (The difference between overweight and obese is a technical one. Obese refers to people with a body mass index of over 30. Overweight refers to people with a body mass index between 25 and 29.9. To calculate your own BMI, visit this link on the NIH website.)

(published site)

Ever wondered if you or someone in your family might be at risk of type 2 diabetes? Take the test March 25.

Posted at 14th March 2014 by Ryan Luce

by Michael O’Leary

As part of its American Diabetes Association Alert Day on March 25, people will be encouraged to take the Diabetes Risk Test. You might be surprised by the results. No need to prep for it, it’s free, takes about two minutes, and only asks a total of eight questions. It’s easy and it could give you something to talk about with your doctor.


(published site)

Talk to the Hand to Control Diabetes

Posted at 28th February 2014 

by Michael O’Leary

In a variation on an old joke, family medicine experts at Tufts University are urging doctors to “talk with the hand,” as an easy-to-remember approach to illustrating treatment goals for patients with type 2 diabetes.

In an editorial in the February issue of American Family Physician, Allen Shaughnessy, PharmD and professor of family medicine, says that a simple use of one’s hand is an effective way to communicate with patients about the treatment priorities for type 2 diabetes.
(published site)

Can Low-Fat Yogurt Help Prevent Diabetes?

Posted Feb. 7 2014 by Ryan Luce

by Michael O’Leary

It is always nice when the foods we like turn out to be good for us. That seems to be the case this week for yogurt. We eat a lot of yogurt in this country, according to the Agricultural Marketing Resource Center, Americans consume about 12 pounds of yogurt a year, which is much less than the 63 pounds per year consumed in Sweden, but still a lot of fermented dairy product.

A British study this week showed that consuming low-fat yogurt reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 28 percent compared to consuming no yogurt. The researchers published their results in Diabetologia (the journal of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes).

Eating More Berries May Cut Type 2 Diabetes Risk

Posted Jan. 29, 2014 

by Michael O’Leary

Consuming lots of berries, vegetables, and of course our favorites, chocolate and wine can protect against type 2 diabetes, a new study shows.

Past studies have shown those foods protect against stroke, heart failure, and cancer. Most of those studies, however looked at the compounds called flavonoids, which form a large family of antioxidant-containing substances.

(published site)

Can Cinnamon Help Prevent Diabetes?

Posted at Jan. 8, 2014 

by Michael O’Leary

If you are among the 1 in 4 Americans considered to have prediabetes, you might want to think about increasing your cinnamon consumption. That’s the conclusion of an analysis of several studies of cinnamon and type 2 diabetes in the Journal of Medicinal Food.

Long considered a therapeutic plant, cinnamon is made from the bark of trees grown in China and throughout Southeast Asia. A number of studies have been conducted over the years looking at a variety of potential health benefits of cinnamon. (published site)