Aripiprazole in the acute and maintenance phase of bipolar I disorder.

Bipolar affective disorder is a disabling illness with substantial morbidity and many management challenges. Traditional mood stabilizers such as lithium, valproate, and carbamazepine are often inadequate in controlling symptoms both during the acute and maintenance phase of treatment. Aripiprazole is a second-generation antipsychotic with a unique mechanism of action.

Dementia with lewy bodies: diagnosis and management for primary care providers.

Objective: The purpose of this review is to aid primary care providers in distinguishing dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) from Alzheimer's disease and from Parkinson's disease with dementia. Differentiating these entities has important treatment implications.

Data Sources: A PubMed search was undertaken using the keywords Lewy body dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies, and Lewy body disease.

Practice-based learning and systems-based practice: detection and treatment monitoring of generalized anxiety and depression in primary care.

Objectives: Quality assurance/quality improvement projects are an important part of professional development in graduate medical education. The purpose of our quality improvement study was to evaluate whether (1) the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale questionnaire increases detection of anxiety and (2) the Quick Inventory for Depressive Symptomatology Self Report (QIDS-SR) increases detection of depression in a primary care setting. We also aimed to determine whether monitoring patients with depression or generalized anxiety using the QIDS-SR and GAD-7 scales influences treatment changes in the primary care setting.

Leptin as a neuroactive agent.

Objective: To review the literature regarding the role of leptin in psychiatric disorders.

Methods: A PubMed search was undertaken using the following keywords: leptin, psychosis, affective disorders, alcohol, psychiatry, depression, dementia, and eating disorders. The articles were restricted to the English language.

Role of atypical antipsychotics in rapid cycling bipolar disorder: a review of the literature.

Background: The role of atypical antipsychotics in the management of bipolar disorder continues to expand. This review summarizes the literature on use of atypicals in rapid cycling bipolar disorder in clinical practice and highlights areas for future study.

Methods: A PubMed search was done using keywords rapid cycling, atypical antipsychotics, refractory bipolar, aripiprazole, clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone, quetiapine, and ziprasidone.

Effect of methylphenidate on fatigue in women with recurrent gynecologic cancer.

Objective: Fatigue is the most common and often the most bothersome complaint of individuals who are treated for cancer. One intervention now commonly suggested to treat fatigue is the use of psychostimulant medication. Early studies indicate some success in individuals with a mixed cancer diagnoses.

Acute psychological stress as a precipitant of acute coronary syndromes in patients with undiagnosed ischemic heart disease: a case report and literature review.

Objectives: Acute psychological stress causes a number of physiologic responses that can trigger acute coronary syndromes in individuals with silent coronary artery disease. The mechanisms behind this phenomena have been the subject of much speculation. The following is a case report and brief review of the literature.

Migratory polyarthritis as a paraneoplastic syndrome.

Carcinomatous polyarthritis (CP) is a rare paraneoplastic disorder that has been associated with a variety of solid tumors. It presents in a similar manner to other polyarticular disorders and often precedes detection of the underlying malignancy, making recognition critical. CP responds to the treatment of the neoplastic process.

Gemcitabine-associated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura.

Gemcitabine-associated thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) is a rare complication of gemcitabine treatment with a incidence ranging from 0.015% to 1.4%.