Antidepressants potentially misused in treating adolescents, Stanford study finds
STANFORD, Calif. - When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared in 2004 that certain antidepressants are linked to an increased risk of suicide in adolescents, there was surprisingly little data about how depression was being treated in young patients. Now new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine provides critical documentation of the potential misuse of these medications in the years leading up to the FDA's decision to issue the so-called "black-box" warnings.
The researchers found that, despite clinical guidelines calling for depressed adolescents to be treated with a combination of psychotherapy and medication, antidepressants began supplanting - rather than complementing - the role of mental health counseling between 1995 and 2002. And although only one antidepressant has been sanctioned for use in children, the study found that doctors were prescribing a variety of mood-altering medications for young patients.
The researchers hope their findings provide a benchmark for assessing how the 2004 decision affects depression treatment in children, while reinforcing that antidepressants can be a valuable treatment tool if used appropriately.
Caution: New Medicare drug plan may cause headaches
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- If many seniors are scratching their heads about the new Medicare prescription drug plan, so are the experts.
"A prescription for confusion" is how Richard L. Kaplan, a professor of law at the University of Illinois, characterizes the new drug benefit, whose enrollment period begins today for Americans aged 65 years and older.
Kaplan describes the plan as "fashioned like no other pharmaceutical coverage in the world."
For starters, the program, known as Medicare Part D, will be administered by private insurance companies rather than the Social Security Administration, which handles hospitalization and doctor's bills under current Medicare coverage, known as Parts A and B.
This shift means that seniors must choose between drug plans with widely differing premiums, deductibles, co-payments and covered drugs. In Kansas, for example, Medicare beneficiaries have to shop for insurance among 40 plans from insurers such as Aetna, Humana and UnitedHealth Group, which charge premiums from $9.48 a month to $67.88 a month.
Comic books shadow how we react to threats
In times of social danger and economic turmoil, many psychologists believe that people become more aggressive, more conventional, and less interested in feelings and emotions. A new study published in the latest issue of Political Psychology finds that comic book characters do these things as well. In times of higher threat, i.e. the events of 1979 which included the Iran hostage crisis, comic books contained more aggressive imagery, focused on male characters, and were less introspective. The authors reviewed comic books published between 1978 -1992 frame by frame to judge the amount of violence and conventionalism drawn, the number of women and minorities in speaking or subordinate roles, portrayal of wrongdoing by the authorities, and the amount of reflection (thought in balloons rather than dialogue). In general, the authors found that women spoke less and a significantly greater number of panels were devoted to aggression during high threat periods.
The authors reviewed eight Marvel comic books that are still published today. These titles included four titles that featured more conventional heroes that represent American virtues like U.S. patriotism (Captain America) and the everyman (Spider-Man). The other four heroes were less conventional with themes such as persecution by society (X-men) and a vigilante who lives in an "amoral urban hell" (Daredevil). When compared against their own sales, the unconventional titles sold more copies during the low-threat times compared to the high-threat times; whereas the conventional hero sales remained flat. "As an aspect of popular culture, comic books have always reflected the historical time period in which they were produced," author Bill Peterson explains.
Treatment has demonstrated improvement in physical function and kept joint damage from progressing
Enbrel plus Methotrexate: First treatment to demonstrate ability to inhibit radiographic progression of joint damage for three consecutive years
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. and COLLEGEVILLE, Pa., November 13, 2005 – Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) and Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, a division of Wyeth (NYSE: WYE), today announced data from a long-term blinded study of anti-TNF agent in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) demonstrated that more than three quarters of patients treated with Enbrel® (etanercept) plus methotrexate combination therapy experienced no progression of joint damage at three years. These new results from the TEMPO (Trial of Etanercept and Methotrexate with Radiographic Patient Outcomes) study will be presented at the American College of Rheumatology's (ACR) Annual Scientific Meeting in San Diego, California.
http://tinyurl.com/cvsa8
Kidney failure, hypertension in children, topics of findings from nephrologists at Texas Children's Hospital
Two studies just released by physicians at Texas Children's Hospital are addressing new findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure, and on the growing prevalence of high blood pressure in children. The findings of both studies were released during a press conference at Renal Week 2005, the 38th annual conference of the American Society of Nephrology.
Dr. Stuart L. Goldstein, medical director of the Renal Dialysis Unit at Texas Children's Hospital, and associate professor of pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, and Dr. Daniel I. Feig, chief of the Pediatric Hypertension Clinic's at Texas Children's and Ben Taub General Hospital, and assistant professor of pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, were two of only five physicians nationwide to have their pediatric projects selected for the conference's pediatric briefing.
Dr. Goldstein's study "Mild Renal Insufficiency is Associated with Poor Outcome in Children with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure: Evidence for a Pediatric Syndrome" stems from a collaboration between the Renal and Cardiology departments. While adults frequently develop acute renal failure (ARF) during episodes of acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF), data has lacked for children. The research done by Dr. Goldstein and his colleagues aimed to determine the incidence and severity of ARF in children with ADHF, and to see if ARF development affects patient outcome.
http://tinyurl.com/8uo5m
Study shows success — and less risk — in treating kids with heart rhythm problems
3-D computer mapping lowers radiation dose in ablation procedure
DALLAS -- A University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center team today is reporting high levels of success, and lowered risk and radiation dose, from a new approach to treating children with rapid heartbeats and other heart rhythm conditions.
In a presentation at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions meeting, members of the Michigan Congenital Heart Center will present new data from a study of a treatment called RF catheter ablation in children using a three-dimensional computer assisted navigation system.
They show that by adding the 3-D navigation system to a conventional X-ray based method to visualize electrophysiological catheters inside the heart, they were able to successfully treat 99.1 percent of 113 patients included in the study.
While the procedural success rate was very high, the most significant finding was that the patients who were treated using the 3-D computer navigation system were spared almost half the radiation dose received by 108 comparable patients treated immediately before the new system was available.
New results show the RTS,S malaria vaccine candidate protects children for at least 18 months
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Biologicals, the Hospital Clínic of the University of Barcelona, the Manhiça Health Research Centre (CISM), and the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) today released new data on the duration of efficacy of GSK Biologicals' malaria vaccine candidate, RTS,S/AS02A, in children. A follow-up to the landmark six-month efficacy study results published by The Lancet in 2004, today's findings show that RTS,S/AS02A remained efficacious over an 18-month observation period.
The findings are published in the November 15, 2005 on-line edition of The Lancet and are presented at the Multilateral Initiative on Malaria's Pan-African Malaria Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon.
CISM conducted the study in partnership with Mozambique's Ministry of Health. Fourteen hundred forty-two children who had received a three-dose regimen of the vaccine in 2003 were followed for continued assessment of safety, immunogenicity, and efficacy. No further malaria vaccinations were given. For the 18-month period of follow-up, RTS,S/AS02A was shown to reduce clinical malaria episodes by 35 percent and severe malaria episodes by 49 percent.
Wheezing prevalence patterns established by age 6
American Thoracic Society journal news tips for November 2005 (second issue)
Among children who exhibit asthma-like symptoms during preschool years, researchers have found that patterns of wheezing prevalence and levels of lung function are established by age 6 and do not significantly change for at least 10 years.
Their findings were reported in the second issue of the November 2005 American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society.
Fernando D. Martinez, M.D., of the Arizona Respiratory Center, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, along with eight associates, studied 826 children based on the occurrence of "wheezing lower respiratory illnesses" before age 3 and active wheeze at age 6. Among this group, there were 425 "never wheezers," 164 "transient early wheezers," 113 "persistent wheezers," and 124 "late-onset wheezers."
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