Firearm access, carriage and use in an ethnically diverse sample of young adults in Texas, USA.

Despite the high rates of firearm ownership and firearm-related injuries and mortalities in Southern US states, understandings on the factors contributing to these are lacking. Using wave 10 (2021) data from a longitudinal study, we examined firearm-related experiences among 636 ethnically diverse young adults (mean age=26 years; 62% female) in Texas, USA. Just over half of participants had ready access to firearms, with 22.

Metabolic Issues With Atypical Antipsychotics in Primary Care: Dispelling the Myths.

BACKGROUND: Recently, much attention has been focused on the increased rate of metabolic syndrome componen ts among psychiatric patients, including glucose intolerance, hyperglycemia, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, and weight gain. Various reports have identified cases of newly diagnosed diabetes during treatment with atypical antipsychotic agents. However, the question remains whether there is a relationship between atypical antipsychotic use and the metabolic syndrome or whether there is a higher risk in this population irrespective of medication use.

Mood Disorders in Family Practice: Beyond Unipolarity to Bipolarity.

Primary care physicians increasingly have treated depressive disorders over the last decade. Unrecognized bipolar disorder, sometimes misdiagnosed as unipolar depression, may lead to treatment resistance or nonresponse. We describe differences between unipolar and bipolar disorders, focusing on recognition, diagnosis, and treatment of bipolar spectrum disorders such as bipolar I, bipolar II, antidepressant-induced mania, and cyclothymia.

A Perspective on the Primary Care of Patients With Behavior, Mood, and Thought Disturbances: Clinical Applications of Olanzapine.

Primary care practitioners are in an ideal position to initiate treatment for patients with behavior, mood, and thought disturbances. It is believed that early identification and treatment of these symptomatic features of primary or secondary central nervous system disorders may significantly reduce morbidity and benefit the patient, his/her family, and involved caregivers, including the primary care physician. A broad list of central nervous system-active medications are utilized by family physicians to treat patients who exhibit symptoms of agitation, altered mood, and disordered thought.

The effects of antipsychotic drug treatment on prolactin concentrations in elderly patients.

Objective: To describe the change in serum prolactin concentrations in elderly agitated nursing home patients with dementia who were newly initiated on olanzapine or switched to olanzapine treatment from either conventional antipsychotics or risperidone.

Methods: During an 8-week open-label olanzapine efficacy trial in elderly nursing home patients demonstrating clinically significant behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, serum prolactin concentrations were drawn on four occasions: at time of consent, following a washout period from previous therapy, midway through the study, and at endpoint. To assess post-hoc the effects of prolactin concentrations upon switching to olanzapine treatment, patients were divided into three different groups, based upon status at time of consent: those not taking antipsychotic medication, those taking any conventional antipsychotic, and those taking risperidone.