GLG News by Physicians who Treat Depression (US)

1. Controlled release preparations are often better tolerated with fewer side effects than immediate release preparations 2. OCD and SAD are severe, highly prevalent and chronically disabling conditions 3. Despite presence of SSRIs and other treatment, e.g, cognitive behavioral therapy, up to 1/3 of...

1. Despite common use of multiple psychotropic medications for bipolar disorder in youth, there are few FDA-approved treatments 2. Abilify is one of the safest and best tolerated of the atypical antipsychotics with fewer side effects than some of the other atypical antipsychotic medications 3. This...

Triple-reuptake inhibitors (TRIs) represent an emerging class of antidepressant drugs in development with potential application for other disorders including ADHD and obesity.   By potentiating all three of the main monoamine neurotransmitters implicated in depression  - serotonin, norepinephrine,...

The use of a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAO-B) inhibitor for smoking cessation represents a novel strategy for this indication that may ultimately compliment most existing strategies (e.g. nicotine gums, patches).  However, proving the utility of treating tobacco dependence by inhibiting the...

Fluovoxamine is perhaps the last participant in the SSRI explosion of the 1980's.  It is also the least used and hence, least profitable entry in the SSRI horse race, primarily because of timing rather than any particular pharmacological deficiency.  To believe that this attempt to rejuvenate...

Fluvoxamine, the least known of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors in the US, will now have an FDA approved controlled release version - Luvox CR - for the treatment of OCD and Social Anxiety Disorder.   The collaboration between Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Solvay will have only an uphill...

Deep brain stimulation (DBS), an FDA approved device treatment for Parkinson’s Disease and essential tremor, has demonstrated quite remarkable findings in several very small pilot studies for treatment resistant depression.   There is great hope among the device makers – namely Medtronics...

Smoking cigarettes is a serious health problem throughout the world and smoking cessation is an important clinical problem.  Stopping smoking is tremendously difficult for some because of the highly addictive nature of nicotine, but also because of the predominant use of smoking as a form of self-medication...

I believe publications such as these are probably useful reactions to over-prescribing antidepressants for anything that ails you (which is what has been occuring until the recent suicide scare in adolescents).  Nevertheless, such generalizations have significant influence even though they are...

The announcement of this small biomarker study for MEM 3454, an alpha-7 neuronal nicotinic receptor (NNR) partial agonist in joint development by Memory Pharmaceuticals and Roche for the treatment of cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS), seems like a step in the right direction...