Opicapone for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease "Off" Episodes: Pharmacology and Clinical Considerations.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder. It is also the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disorder and has more than doubled between 1990 and 2016. Parkinson's disease causes significant morbidity and disability from motor dysfunction, sleep disturbances, and cognitive and psychiatric symptoms.

Benzodiazepines: Uses, Dangers, and Clinical Considerations.

Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are among one of the most widely prescribed drug classes in the United States. BZDs are a class of psychoactive drugs known for their depressant effect on the central nervous system (CNS). They quickly diffuse through the blood-brain barrier to affect the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA and exert sedative effects.

Lumateperone tosylate, A Selective and Concurrent Modulator of Serotonin, Dopamine, and Glutamate, in the Treatment of Schizophrenia.

Purpose Of Review: This is a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the use of Lumateperone tosylate for schizophrenia. This review presents the background, evidence, and indications for the use of lumateperone tosylate in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Recent Findings: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health disorder that affects approximately 3.

Zolpidem: Efficacy and Side Effects for Insomnia.

Purpose Of Review: Insomnia is a common type of sleep disorder defined by an ongoing difficulty initiating or maintaining sleep or nonrestorative sleep with subsequent daytime impairment. The sleep disturbances in insomnia usually manifest as difficulty in falling asleep, maintaining the continuity of sleep, or waking up too early in the morning well before the desired time, irrespective of the adequate circumstances to sleep every night. Insomnia can significantly impact daytime functioning resulting in decreased workplace productivity, proneness to errors and accidents, inability to concentrate, frequent daytime naps, and poor quality of life.

Risdiplam for the Use of Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is one of the leading causes of death in infants related to the degeneration of neurons. Currently, there are no curative treatment options for SMA, and many options available may not be feasible. This review presents the background, clinical studies, and indications for the use of Risdiplam in treating SMA.

The Antisense Oligonucleotide Nusinersen for Treatment of Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a rare, autosomal recessive neuromuscular degenerative disease characterized by loss of spinal cord motor neurons leading to progressive muscle wasting. The most common pathology results from a homozygous disruption in the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene on chromosome 5q13 via deletion, conversion, or mutation. SMN2 is a near duplicate of SMN1 that can produce full-length SMN mRNA transcripts, but its overall production capability of these mRNA transcripts is lower than that seen in SMN1.

Full Opioid Agonists and Tramadol: Pharmacological and Clinical Considerations.

Opioids are mu receptor agonists and have been an important part of pain treatment for thousands of years. In order to use these drugs appropriately and successfully in patients, whether to control pain, to treat opiate-induced side effects, or opiate withdrawal syndromes, a solid understanding of the pharmacology of such drugs is crucial. The most recognized full agonist opioids are heroin, morphine, codeine, oxycodone, meperidine, and fentanyl.

Novel Regional Nerve Blocks in Clinical Practice: Evolving Techniques for Pain Management.

This review examines the use of novel US-guided nerve blocks in clinical practice. Erector spinae block is a regional anesthesia technique doing by injecting a local anesthetic among the erector spinae muscle group and transverse processes. The phrenic nerve is a branch of the cervical plexus, arising from the anterior rami of cervical nerves C3, C4, and C5.

Paliperidone 3-Month Injection for Treatment of Schizophrenia: A Narrative Review.

Given the typical age onset of schizophrenia, there are tremendous economic and social impacts that extend beyond the person and their families. One critical determinant of the diseases' impact is the patient's adherence to antipsychotic drug treatment. Approved in 2015 for the treatment of schizophrenia, paliperidone palmitate (Invega Trinza, a 3-month injection, noted as PP3M) is a second-generation long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication.

Brexanolone, a GABA Modulator, in the Treatment of Postpartum Depression in Adults: A Comprehensive Review.

Postpartum depression (PPD) is one of the three major categories on the spectrum of postpartum psychiatric syndromes. Postpartum psychiatric syndromes are classified as either postpartum blues, postpartum depression, or postpartum psychosis. Postpartum depression is important to recognize clinically because of the effect it can have on the mother-child bond.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Clozapine: Clinically Relevant Interactions and Considerations.

The monoamine hypothesis of depression attributes the symptoms of major depressive disorders to imbalances of serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine in the limbic areas of the brain. The preferential targeting of serotonin receptor (SERT) by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) has offered an opportunity to reduce the range of these side effects and improve patient adherence to pharmacotherapy. Clozapine remains an effective drug against treatment-resistant schizophrenia, defined as failing treatment with at least two different antipsychotic medications.

Adjuvant Drugs for Peripheral Nerve Blocks: The Role of Alpha-2 Agonists, Dexamethasone, Midazolam, and Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs.

Adjuvant drugs for peripheral nerve blocks are a promising solution to acute postoperative pain and the transition to chronic pain treatment. Peripheral nerve blocks (PNB) are used in the brachial plexus, lumbar plexus, femoral nerve, sciatic nerve, and many other anatomic locations for site-specific pain relief. However, the duration of action of a PNB is limited without an adjuvant drug.

Adjuvant Drugs for Peripheral Nerve Blocks: The Role of NMDA Antagonists, Neostigmine, Epinephrine, and Sodium Bicarbonate.

The potential for misuse, overdose, and chronic use has led researchers to look for other methods to decrease opioid consumption in patients with acute and chronic pain states. The use of peripheral nerve blocks for surgery has gained increasing popularity as it minimizes peripheral pain signals from the nociceptors of local tissue sustaining trauma and inflammation from surgery. The individualization of peripheral nerve blocks using adjuvant drugs has the potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce chronic pain.

Pharmacological Advances in Opioid Therapy: A Review of the Role of Oliceridine in Pain Management.

Problems with the treatment of acute pain may arise when a patient is opioid-tolerant, such as those on chronic therapy with opioids or opiate replacement therapy, those who misuse opioids, and those who are in recovery. While some of the adverse effects of opioid medications are well known, it is also important to recognize the roles of tolerance and hyperalgesia. Oliceridine can target and modulate a novel μ-receptor pathway.

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors and Adverse Effects: A Narrative Review.

Depression is the most prevalent psychiatric disorder in the world, affecting 4.4% of the global population. Despite an array of treatment modalities, depressive disorders remain difficult to manage due to many factors.

Paliperidone to Treat Psychotic Disorders.

Purpose Of Review: This is a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the use of paliperidone in the treatment of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. It covers the background and presentation of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder, as well as the mechanism of action and drug information for paliperidone. It covers the existing evidence of the use of paliperidone for the treatment of schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

MDMA to Treat PTSD in Adults.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become one of the most common psychiatric diagnosis in the United States specifically within the veteran population. The current treatment options for this debilitating diagnosis include trauma-focused psychotherapies along with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI). MDMA has recently been shown as a novel therapeutic agent with promisingly results in the treatment of PTSD.

Effects of the hangover secret on mitigating hangover symptoms: A pilot study.

Background: Due to the popularity of excessive alcohol consumption, there is an increasing need for hangover symptom remedies. Most commercially available hangover treatment products have not been tested for efficacy through clinical study.

Aims: The purpose of this pilot study was to characterize the activity of a commercially available hangover product, The Hangover Secret (THS).

Aripiprazole Lauroxil, a Novel Injectable Long-Acting Antipsychotic Treatment for Adults with Schizophrenia: A Comprehensive Review.

Purpose Of Review: This is a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the use of Aripiprazole lauroxil for schizophrenia. This review presents the background, evidence, and indications for using aripiprazole lauroxil to treat schizophrenia in the context of current theories on the development of schizophrenia.

Recent Findings: Schizophrenia is a chronic mental health disorder that currently affects approximately 3.

Cenobamate, a Sodium Channel Inhibitor and Positive Allosteric Modulator of GABA Ion Channels, for Partial Onset Seizures in Adults: A Comprehensive Review and Clinical Implications.

Medical management of epilepsy seeks to eliminate or to reduce the frequency of seizures, help patients maintain a normal lifestyle, and maintain psychosocial and occupational activities, while avoiding the negative side effects of long-term treatment. Current FDA approved drugs have been shown to have similar efficacy; however, they all share a commonality of having side effects that have the potential to significantly reduce a patient's quality of life. Cenobamate, a newly-FDA approved drug used to treat partial-onset seizures in adult patients, has demonstrated promise in that it works on two proposed mechanisms that are commonly associated with epilepsy.

Hyperprolactinemia, Clinical Considerations, and Infertility in Women on Antipsychotic Medications.

Infertility, the inability to establish a clinical pregnancy after 12 months of regular unprotected sexual intercourse, is caused by a wide variety of both male and female factors. Infertility is estimated to affect between 8-12% of couples trying to conceive globally. Female factor infertility can be subdivided into the following broad categories: ovulatory dysfunction, fallopian tubal disease, uterine causes, and oocyte quality.

Lamotrigine and Stevens-Johnson Syndrome Prevention.

Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) is a rare life-threatening condition characterized by severe mucocutaneous epidermal necrolysis and detachment of the epidermis. The condition centers around a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction with a complex etiology stemming from a variety of causes. The number one cause is medication-related-common ones including sulfonamides, antiepileptics, allopurinol, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

Brexpiprazole for the Treatment of Schizophrenia and Major Depressive Disorder: A Comprehensive Review of Pharmacological Considerations in Clinical Practice.

Mood and psychotic disorders are a group of illnesses that affect behavior and cognition. Schizophrenia is characterized by positive symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations, as well as negative symptoms. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a mood disorder that affects the patient's emotions, energy, and motivation.

Recent Advances in the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder.

Purpose Of Review: Opioid use disorder (OUD) remains a national epidemic with an immense consequence to the United States' healthcare system. Current therapeutic options are limited by adverse effects and limited efficacy.

Recent Findings: Recent advances in therapeutic options for OUD have shown promise in the fight against this ongoing health crisis.