Bipolar I and II disorder residual symptoms: oxcarbazepine and carbamazepine as add-on treatment to lithium in a double-blind, randomized trial.

Bipolar affective disorders often require adjunctive therapy to treat persistent symptoms. In order to evaluate bipolar symptoms inadequately responsive to lithium, we have compared the effects of two structurally related compounds carbamazepine (CBZ) and oxcarbazepine (OXC). We evaluated the efficacy and safety of CBZ and OXC administration in residual symptoms as an adjunctive therapy in Bipolar I (BP I) and Bipolar II (BP II) patients while on lithium maintenance treatment.

Postnatal depression in Southern Brazil: prevalence and its demographic and socioeconomic determinants.

Background: Studies investigating the prevalence of postnatal depression (PND) show rates ranging from 5% to 36.7%. The investigation of age, race, educational levels, religion and income as risk factors for PND has yielded conflicting results.

The relevance of continuity of care: a solution for the chaos in the emergency services.

Background: In Brazil, there continues to be an excessive use of emergency services by patients with elective medical problems. Those patients who report having a primary care physician are less likely to utilize the emergency department for non-urgent consultations.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare patients who have a primary care physician with those who do not in relation to severity of their chief complaint at presentation in the emergency department.

Mirtazapine versus fluoxetine in the treatment of panic disorder.

Mirtazapine is an antidepressant whose side effect profile differs from that of first-line agents (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) used in the treatment of panic disorder. The present study compared the effect of mirtazapine and fluoxetine in the treatment of panic disorder in a double-blind, randomized, flexible-dose trial conducted with outpatients. After a 1-week single-blind placebo run-in, 27 patients entered an 8-week double-blind phase in which they were randomly assigned to treatment with either mirtazapine or fluoxetine.