Jeff Craven

Responders to repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of depression are more likely to engage in light physical activity, compared with those who do not respond to treatment, recent research shows.

“It is remarkable that there is so little evidence on whether treatments for depression among adults have an impact on physical activity and whether changes in physical activity mediate the outcomes of these treatments,” Matthew James Fagan, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and colleagues wrote. “Further research is required in understanding the covariation of [physical activity] with depression treatment response.”

The researchers performed a secondary analysis of 30 individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) who underwent either repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation or intermittent theta burst stimulation for 4-6 weeks. The participants’ 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was measured along with their level of physical activity before and after treatment. Physical activity was classified as either light physical activity (LPA) – defined as any waking activity between 1.5 and 3.0 metabolic equivalents – or moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), which was defined as waking behavior at 3.0 metabolic equivalents or higher.

A total of 16 participants responded to treatment (greater than or equal to 18 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression) and 14 participants were deemed nonresponders. The researchers found no significant differences in LPA or MVPA between groups at baseline, but a significant treatment effect was seen among responders who increased LPA by 55 min/day, compared with nonresponders (P = .009). There was also a nonsignificant treatment effect that increased MVPA favoring responders, according to an analysis of covariance.

“Simply, our findings indicate that patients moved more after r-TMS treatment, and this may reinforce the treatment effect,” Mr. Fagan and colleagues reported.

The researchers noted that, because the study was a secondary analysis, it did not show the long-term effect of treatment on physical activity. “Future work should systematically examine the role of PA before, during, and after depression treatments as important synergistic mechanisms may be at play in the treatment of MDD,” they wrote.

Mr. Fagan reported no relevant financial disclosures. One or more authors reported support from several entities, including Brainsway, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, and reported relationships with ANT Neuro, BrainCheck, Brainsway, Lundbeck, Restorative Brain Clinics, and TMS Neuro Solutions.

SOURCE: Fagan MJ et al. Ment Health Phys Act. 2019 Apr 24. doi: 10.1016/j.mhpa.2019.03.003.

Responders to repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of depression are more likely to engage in light physical activity, compared with those who do not respond to treatment, recent research shows.

“It is remarkable that there is so little evidence on whether treatments for depression among adults have an impact on physical activity and whether changes in physical activity mediate the outcomes of these treatments,” Matthew James Fagan, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and colleagues wrote. “Further research is required in understanding the covariation of [physical activity] with depression treatment response.”

The researchers performed a secondary analysis of 30 individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) who underwent either repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation or intermittent theta burst stimulation for 4-6 weeks. The participants’ 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was measured along with their level of physical activity before and after treatment. Physical activity was classified as either light physical activity (LPA) – defined as any waking activity between 1.5 and 3.0 metabolic equivalents – or moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), which was defined as waking behavior at 3.0 metabolic equivalents or higher.

A total of 16 participants responded to treatment (greater than or equal to 18 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression) and 14 participants were deemed nonresponders. The researchers found no significant differences in LPA or MVPA between groups at baseline, but a significant treatment effect was seen among responders who increased LPA by 55 min/day, compared with nonresponders (P = .009). There was also a nonsignificant treatment effect that increased MVPA favoring responders, according to an analysis of covariance.

“Simply, our findings indicate that patients moved more after r-TMS treatment, and this may reinforce the treatment effect,” Mr. Fagan and colleagues reported.

The researchers noted that, because the study was a secondary analysis, it did not show the long-term effect of treatment on physical activity. “Future work should systematically examine the role of PA before, during, and after depression treatments as important synergistic mechanisms may be at play in the treatment of MDD,” they wrote.

Mr. Fagan reported no relevant financial disclosures. One or more authors reported support from several entities, including Brainsway, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, and reported relationships with ANT Neuro, BrainCheck, Brainsway, Lundbeck, Restorative Brain Clinics, and TMS Neuro Solutions.

SOURCE: Fagan MJ et al. Ment Health Phys Act. 2019 Apr 24. doi: 10.1016/j.mhpa.2019.03.003.

Responders to repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation for treatment of depression are more likely to engage in light physical activity, compared with those who do not respond to treatment, recent research shows.

“It is remarkable that there is so little evidence on whether treatments for depression among adults have an impact on physical activity and whether changes in physical activity mediate the outcomes of these treatments,” Matthew James Fagan, a PhD student at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, and colleagues wrote. “Further research is required in understanding the covariation of [physical activity] with depression treatment response.”

The researchers performed a secondary analysis of 30 individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) who underwent either repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation or intermittent theta burst stimulation for 4-6 weeks. The participants’ 17-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression was measured along with their level of physical activity before and after treatment. Physical activity was classified as either light physical activity (LPA) – defined as any waking activity between 1.5 and 3.0 metabolic equivalents – or moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), which was defined as waking behavior at 3.0 metabolic equivalents or higher.

A total of 16 participants responded to treatment (greater than or equal to 18 on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression) and 14 participants were deemed nonresponders. The researchers found no significant differences in LPA or MVPA between groups at baseline, but a significant treatment effect was seen among responders who increased LPA by 55 min/day, compared with nonresponders (P = .009). There was also a nonsignificant treatment effect that increased MVPA favoring responders, according to an analysis of covariance.

“Simply, our findings indicate that patients moved more after r-TMS treatment, and this may reinforce the treatment effect,” Mr. Fagan and colleagues reported.

The researchers noted that, because the study was a secondary analysis, it did not show the long-term effect of treatment on physical activity. “Future work should systematically examine the role of PA before, during, and after depression treatments as important synergistic mechanisms may be at play in the treatment of MDD,” they wrote.

Mr. Fagan reported no relevant financial disclosures. One or more authors reported support from several entities, including Brainsway, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institutes of Health, and the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, and reported relationships with ANT Neuro, BrainCheck, Brainsway, Lundbeck, Restorative Brain Clinics, and TMS Neuro Solutions.

SOURCE: Fagan MJ et al. Ment Health Phys Act. 2019 Apr 24. doi: 10.1016/j.mhpa.2019.03.003.

Adults with obesity and depression who participated in a program that addressed weight and mood saw improvement in weight loss and depressive symptoms at 12 months, results of a randomized, controlled trial of almost 350 patients show.

“To our knowledge, this study was the first and largest RTC of integrated collaborative care for coexisting obesity and depression,” wrote Jun Ma, MD, PhD, of the Institute of Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues.

Dr. Ma and colleagues enrolled 409 patients in the RAINBOW (Research Aimed at Improving Both Mood and Weight) trial between September 2014 and January 2017 from family and internal medicine departments at four medical centers in California. The RAINBOW intervention combined usual care with a weight loss treatment program used in diabetes prevention, problem-solving therapy, and prescriptions for antidepressants if indicated. About 71% of the trial participants were non-Hispanic white adults, 70% were women, and 69% had a college education.

Half the patients were randomized to receive usual care consisting of seeing personal physicians, receiving information on obesity and depression services at the clinic, and wireless activity-tracking devices. Patients were enrolled in the trial if they scored at least 10 points in the nine-item Patient Health Questionaire (PHQ-9) and had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, or a BMI of 27 or higher in Asian adults. The mean age in the cohort was 51.0 years, the mean BMI was 37.7, and the mean PHQ-9 score was 13.8.

Of the 344 patients (84.1%) who completed follow-up at 12 months, there was a decrease in mean BMI from 36.7 to 35.9 for patients who received the collaborative care intervention, compared with no change in BMI for patients who received usual care alone (between-group mean difference, −0.7; 95% confidence interval, −1.1 to −0.2; P = .01). Depressive symptoms also improved in the intervention group, with mean 20-item Depression Symptom Checklist scores decreasing from 1.5 at baseline to 1.1 at 12 months, compared with a decrease from 1.5 at baseline to 1.4 at 12 months in the usual-care group (between-group mean difference, −0.2; 95% CI, −0.4 to 0; P = .01). Overall, there were 47 adverse events or serious adverse events, with 27 events in the collaborative-care intervention group and 20 events in the usual-care group involving musculoskeletal injuries such as fracture and meniscus tear.

The authors said it is unknown whether the outcomes they observed can be sustained over longer periods of time. In addition, they cited the relative demographic homogeneity of the study sample as one of several limitations.

The study was funded in part by Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. One author, Philip W. Lavori, PhD, reported receiving personal fees from Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute. The other authors reported no relevant financial disclosures.

SOURCE: Ma J et al. JAMA. 2019. doi: 10.1001/jama2019.0557.

Adults with obesity and depression who participated in a program that addressed weight and mood saw improvement in weight loss and depressive symptoms at 12 months, results of a randomized, controlled trial of almost 350 patients show.

“To our knowledge, this study was the first and largest RTC of integrated collaborative care for coexisting obesity and depression,” wrote Jun Ma, MD, PhD, of the Institute of Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues.

Dr. Ma and colleagues enrolled 409 patients in the RAINBOW (Research Aimed at Improving Both Mood and Weight) trial between September 2014 and January 2017 from family and internal medicine departments at four medical centers in California. The RAINBOW intervention combined usual care with a weight loss treatment program used in diabetes prevention, problem-solving therapy, and prescriptions for antidepressants if indicated. About 71% of the trial participants were non-Hispanic white adults, 70% were women, and 69% had a college education.

Half the patients were randomized to receive usual care consisting of seeing personal physicians, receiving information on obesity and depression services at the clinic, and wireless activity-tracking devices. Patients were enrolled in the trial if they scored at least 10 points in the nine-item Patient Health Questionaire (PHQ-9) and had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, or a BMI of 27 or higher in Asian adults. The mean age in the cohort was 51.0 years, the mean BMI was 37.7, and the mean PHQ-9 score was 13.8.

Of the 344 patients (84.1%) who completed follow-up at 12 months, there was a decrease in mean BMI from 36.7 to 35.9 for patients who received the collaborative care intervention, compared with no change in BMI for patients who received usual care alone (between-group mean difference, −0.7; 95% confidence interval, −1.1 to −0.2; P = .01). Depressive symptoms also improved in the intervention group, with mean 20-item Depression Symptom Checklist scores decreasing from 1.5 at baseline to 1.1 at 12 months, compared with a decrease from 1.5 at baseline to 1.4 at 12 months in the usual-care group (between-group mean difference, −0.2; 95% CI, −0.4 to 0; P = .01). Overall, there were 47 adverse events or serious adverse events, with 27 events in the collaborative-care intervention group and 20 events in the usual-care group involving musculoskeletal injuries such as fracture and meniscus tear.

The authors said it is unknown whether the outcomes they observed can be sustained over longer periods of time. In addition, they cited the relative demographic homogeneity of the study sample as one of several limitations.

The study was funded in part by Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. One author, Philip W. Lavori, PhD, reported receiving personal fees from Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute. The other authors reported no relevant financial disclosures.

SOURCE: Ma J et al. JAMA. 2019. doi: 10.1001/jama2019.0557.

Adults with obesity and depression who participated in a program that addressed weight and mood saw improvement in weight loss and depressive symptoms at 12 months, results of a randomized, controlled trial of almost 350 patients show.

“To our knowledge, this study was the first and largest RTC of integrated collaborative care for coexisting obesity and depression,” wrote Jun Ma, MD, PhD, of the Institute of Health Research and Policy at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and colleagues.

Dr. Ma and colleagues enrolled 409 patients in the RAINBOW (Research Aimed at Improving Both Mood and Weight) trial between September 2014 and January 2017 from family and internal medicine departments at four medical centers in California. The RAINBOW intervention combined usual care with a weight loss treatment program used in diabetes prevention, problem-solving therapy, and prescriptions for antidepressants if indicated. About 71% of the trial participants were non-Hispanic white adults, 70% were women, and 69% had a college education.

Half the patients were randomized to receive usual care consisting of seeing personal physicians, receiving information on obesity and depression services at the clinic, and wireless activity-tracking devices. Patients were enrolled in the trial if they scored at least 10 points in the nine-item Patient Health Questionaire (PHQ-9) and had a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, or a BMI of 27 or higher in Asian adults. The mean age in the cohort was 51.0 years, the mean BMI was 37.7, and the mean PHQ-9 score was 13.8.

Of the 344 patients (84.1%) who completed follow-up at 12 months, there was a decrease in mean BMI from 36.7 to 35.9 for patients who received the collaborative care intervention, compared with no change in BMI for patients who received usual care alone (between-group mean difference, −0.7; 95% confidence interval, −1.1 to −0.2; P = .01). Depressive symptoms also improved in the intervention group, with mean 20-item Depression Symptom Checklist scores decreasing from 1.5 at baseline to 1.1 at 12 months, compared with a decrease from 1.5 at baseline to 1.4 at 12 months in the usual-care group (between-group mean difference, −0.2; 95% CI, −0.4 to 0; P = .01). Overall, there were 47 adverse events or serious adverse events, with 27 events in the collaborative-care intervention group and 20 events in the usual-care group involving musculoskeletal injuries such as fracture and meniscus tear.

The authors said it is unknown whether the outcomes they observed can be sustained over longer periods of time. In addition, they cited the relative demographic homogeneity of the study sample as one of several limitations.

The study was funded in part by Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. One author, Philip W. Lavori, PhD, reported receiving personal fees from Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute. The other authors reported no relevant financial disclosures.

SOURCE: Ma J et al. JAMA. 2019. doi: 10.1001/jama2019.0557.

When making prescribing decisions, health care professionals should assume that apps for depression and smoking cessation will share user data with third parties despite claims made in privacy policy statements, recent research shows.

“Mechanisms that potentially enable a small number of dominant online service providers to link information about the use of mental health apps, without either user consent or awareness, appear to be prevalent,” Kit Huckvale, MB ChB, MSc, PhD, of Black Dog Institute at the University of New South Wales Sydney in Randwick, New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues wrote in their study. “Mismatches between declared privacy policies and observed behavior highlight the continuing need for innovation around trust and transparency for health apps.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Dr. Huckvale and colleagues examined the top 36 depression and smoking cessation apps for Android and iOS in the United States accessed in January 2018; Of the apps downloaded, 15 apps were Android-only, 14 apps were iOS-only, and 7 apps were available on both platforms. The apps were assessed over a series of two sessions while network traffic was captured during use, which allowed researchers to determine what personal information was in each data transmission and where the information was going.

There were 25 apps with a privacy policy (69%), 22 of 25 apps (88%) described how that app primarily collected data, and only 16 of 25 apps (64%) provided information on secondary uses of data. Despite 23 of 25 apps (92%) addressing “the possibility of transmission of data to any third party,” 33 of 36 apps overall (92%) transmitted data to third parties. The two most common entities that received third-party data for marketing, advertising, or analytic purposes were Google and Facebook (29 of 36 apps; 81%). However, 12 of 28 apps (43%) that sent data to Google and 6 of 12 apps (50%) that sent data to Facebook disclosed that they would share data with those companies.

The type of data sent to Google and Facebook consisted of a strong identifier to the device or a username (9 of 33 apps; 27%), or a weak identifier in the form of an advertising identifier or a pseudonymous profile that can link users to their behavior on the app and on other products and platforms (26 of 33 apps; 79%).

“As smartphones continue to gain capabilities to collect new forms of personal, biometric, and health information, it is imperative for the health care community to respond with new methods and processes to review apps and ensure they remain safe and protect personal health information,” the researchers concluded.

One of the investigators, Mark E. Larsen, DPhil, reported receiving grants from National Health and Medical Research Council. The other authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Huckvale K et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2019. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.2542.

When making prescribing decisions, health care professionals should assume that apps for depression and smoking cessation will share user data with third parties despite claims made in privacy policy statements, recent research shows.

“Mechanisms that potentially enable a small number of dominant online service providers to link information about the use of mental health apps, without either user consent or awareness, appear to be prevalent,” Kit Huckvale, MB ChB, MSc, PhD, of Black Dog Institute at the University of New South Wales Sydney in Randwick, New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues wrote in their study. “Mismatches between declared privacy policies and observed behavior highlight the continuing need for innovation around trust and transparency for health apps.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Dr. Huckvale and colleagues examined the top 36 depression and smoking cessation apps for Android and iOS in the United States accessed in January 2018; Of the apps downloaded, 15 apps were Android-only, 14 apps were iOS-only, and 7 apps were available on both platforms. The apps were assessed over a series of two sessions while network traffic was captured during use, which allowed researchers to determine what personal information was in each data transmission and where the information was going.

There were 25 apps with a privacy policy (69%), 22 of 25 apps (88%) described how that app primarily collected data, and only 16 of 25 apps (64%) provided information on secondary uses of data. Despite 23 of 25 apps (92%) addressing “the possibility of transmission of data to any third party,” 33 of 36 apps overall (92%) transmitted data to third parties. The two most common entities that received third-party data for marketing, advertising, or analytic purposes were Google and Facebook (29 of 36 apps; 81%). However, 12 of 28 apps (43%) that sent data to Google and 6 of 12 apps (50%) that sent data to Facebook disclosed that they would share data with those companies.

The type of data sent to Google and Facebook consisted of a strong identifier to the device or a username (9 of 33 apps; 27%), or a weak identifier in the form of an advertising identifier or a pseudonymous profile that can link users to their behavior on the app and on other products and platforms (26 of 33 apps; 79%).

“As smartphones continue to gain capabilities to collect new forms of personal, biometric, and health information, it is imperative for the health care community to respond with new methods and processes to review apps and ensure they remain safe and protect personal health information,” the researchers concluded.

One of the investigators, Mark E. Larsen, DPhil, reported receiving grants from National Health and Medical Research Council. The other authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Huckvale K et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2019. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.2542.

When making prescribing decisions, health care professionals should assume that apps for depression and smoking cessation will share user data with third parties despite claims made in privacy policy statements, recent research shows.

“Mechanisms that potentially enable a small number of dominant online service providers to link information about the use of mental health apps, without either user consent or awareness, appear to be prevalent,” Kit Huckvale, MB ChB, MSc, PhD, of Black Dog Institute at the University of New South Wales Sydney in Randwick, New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues wrote in their study. “Mismatches between declared privacy policies and observed behavior highlight the continuing need for innovation around trust and transparency for health apps.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Dr. Huckvale and colleagues examined the top 36 depression and smoking cessation apps for Android and iOS in the United States accessed in January 2018; Of the apps downloaded, 15 apps were Android-only, 14 apps were iOS-only, and 7 apps were available on both platforms. The apps were assessed over a series of two sessions while network traffic was captured during use, which allowed researchers to determine what personal information was in each data transmission and where the information was going.

There were 25 apps with a privacy policy (69%), 22 of 25 apps (88%) described how that app primarily collected data, and only 16 of 25 apps (64%) provided information on secondary uses of data. Despite 23 of 25 apps (92%) addressing “the possibility of transmission of data to any third party,” 33 of 36 apps overall (92%) transmitted data to third parties. The two most common entities that received third-party data for marketing, advertising, or analytic purposes were Google and Facebook (29 of 36 apps; 81%). However, 12 of 28 apps (43%) that sent data to Google and 6 of 12 apps (50%) that sent data to Facebook disclosed that they would share data with those companies.

The type of data sent to Google and Facebook consisted of a strong identifier to the device or a username (9 of 33 apps; 27%), or a weak identifier in the form of an advertising identifier or a pseudonymous profile that can link users to their behavior on the app and on other products and platforms (26 of 33 apps; 79%).

“As smartphones continue to gain capabilities to collect new forms of personal, biometric, and health information, it is imperative for the health care community to respond with new methods and processes to review apps and ensure they remain safe and protect personal health information,” the researchers concluded.

One of the investigators, Mark E. Larsen, DPhil, reported receiving grants from National Health and Medical Research Council. The other authors reported no relevant conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Huckvale K et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2019. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.2542.

Cyclosporine and methotrexate appear to have the lowest risk of serious infection at 6 months for patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) receiving systemic therapy in a real-world setting, according to a recently published population-based study.

Michail_Petrov-96/Thinkstock

When compared with methotrexate, there was a significant reduction in risk of serious infection at 6 months for patients with AD receiving cyclosporine. Prednisone, azathioprine, and mycophenolate carried higher risks of serious infections at 6 months than methotrexate or cyclosporine, researchers said in the study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

“Among non-biologic systemic agents, cyclosporine and methotrexate appear to have better safety profiles than mycophenolate, azathioprine, and systemic prednisone with regard to serious infections,” they concluded. “These findings may help inform clinicians in their selection of medications for patients requiring systemic therapy for atopic dermatitis,” Maria C. Schneeweiss, MD, from the departments of dermatology and medicine and Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and colleagues wrote in their study.

Using population-based claims data, the researchers evaluated rates of serious infection requiring hospitalization in 232,611 patients between January 2003 and January 2017 who received methotrexate, cyclosporine, azathioprine, prednisone or mycophenolate for treatment of AD. Patients first received the same level of corticosteroids before moving to systemic therapy or phototherapy. They also compared results with 23,908 patients in a second cohort who were new users of dupilumab (391 patients) or non-biologic systemic immunomodulators (23,517).

Overall, the rate of serious infections was 7.53 per 1,000 for patients receiving systemic non-biologic therapy at 6 months compared with 7.38 per 1,000 for patients receiving phototherapy, and 2.6 per 1,000 for patients receiving dupilumab.


When matching using propensity scores, the researchers found a significantly reduced risk at 6 months of serious infections from cyclosporine compared with methotrexate (relative risk, 0.87; 95% confidence interval, 0.59-1.28). Compared with methotrexate, there was an increased risk of serious infection at 6 months for azathioprine (RR, 1.78; 95% CI, 0.98-3.25), prednisone (RR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.05-3.42) and mycophenolate (RR, 3.31; 95% CI, 1.94-5.64).

According to preliminary data, when compared with patients who received non-biologic systemic therapy, there was no increased risk for patients receiving dupilumab (RR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.03-3.20). Dupilumab was approved in March 2017, and “with one year of data resulting in one event among 391 patients, this analysis is limited but does not show an obvious signal for increased risk” for dupilumab, they wrote.

Dr. Schneeweiss and colleagues noted some of their analyses had wide confidence intervals, they did not account for dosing schemes or cumulative dose exposure over the study period, and the data on dupilumab showing no increase were preliminary and not conclusive.

“Our findings on systemic non-biologics are highly plausible, given the known risk of systemic immunomodulators in patients treated for other indications, the meaningful effect size, and the methodologically robust approach with a new-user active-comparator design and propensity score matching,” the researchers said.

This study was funded in part by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. One author reported being a consultant for multiple pharmaceutical companies. The other authors report no relevant conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Schneeweiss M, et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2019.05.073.

Cyclosporine and methotrexate appear to have the lowest risk of serious infection at 6 months for patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) receiving systemic therapy in a real-world setting, according to a recently published population-based study.

Michail_Petrov-96/Thinkstock

When compared with methotrexate, there was a significant reduction in risk of serious infection at 6 months for patients with AD receiving cyclosporine. Prednisone, azathioprine, and mycophenolate carried higher risks of serious infections at 6 months than methotrexate or cyclosporine, researchers said in the study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

“Among non-biologic systemic agents, cyclosporine and methotrexate appear to have better safety profiles than mycophenolate, azathioprine, and systemic prednisone with regard to serious infections,” they concluded. “These findings may help inform clinicians in their selection of medications for patients requiring systemic therapy for atopic dermatitis,” Maria C. Schneeweiss, MD, from the departments of dermatology and medicine and Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and colleagues wrote in their study.

Using population-based claims data, the researchers evaluated rates of serious infection requiring hospitalization in 232,611 patients between January 2003 and January 2017 who received methotrexate, cyclosporine, azathioprine, prednisone or mycophenolate for treatment of AD. Patients first received the same level of corticosteroids before moving to systemic therapy or phototherapy. They also compared results with 23,908 patients in a second cohort who were new users of dupilumab (391 patients) or non-biologic systemic immunomodulators (23,517).

Overall, the rate of serious infections was 7.53 per 1,000 for patients receiving systemic non-biologic therapy at 6 months compared with 7.38 per 1,000 for patients receiving phototherapy, and 2.6 per 1,000 for patients receiving dupilumab.


When matching using propensity scores, the researchers found a significantly reduced risk at 6 months of serious infections from cyclosporine compared with methotrexate (relative risk, 0.87; 95% confidence interval, 0.59-1.28). Compared with methotrexate, there was an increased risk of serious infection at 6 months for azathioprine (RR, 1.78; 95% CI, 0.98-3.25), prednisone (RR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.05-3.42) and mycophenolate (RR, 3.31; 95% CI, 1.94-5.64).

According to preliminary data, when compared with patients who received non-biologic systemic therapy, there was no increased risk for patients receiving dupilumab (RR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.03-3.20). Dupilumab was approved in March 2017, and “with one year of data resulting in one event among 391 patients, this analysis is limited but does not show an obvious signal for increased risk” for dupilumab, they wrote.

Dr. Schneeweiss and colleagues noted some of their analyses had wide confidence intervals, they did not account for dosing schemes or cumulative dose exposure over the study period, and the data on dupilumab showing no increase were preliminary and not conclusive.

“Our findings on systemic non-biologics are highly plausible, given the known risk of systemic immunomodulators in patients treated for other indications, the meaningful effect size, and the methodologically robust approach with a new-user active-comparator design and propensity score matching,” the researchers said.

This study was funded in part by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. One author reported being a consultant for multiple pharmaceutical companies. The other authors report no relevant conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Schneeweiss M, et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2019.05.073.

Cyclosporine and methotrexate appear to have the lowest risk of serious infection at 6 months for patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) receiving systemic therapy in a real-world setting, according to a recently published population-based study.

Michail_Petrov-96/Thinkstock

When compared with methotrexate, there was a significant reduction in risk of serious infection at 6 months for patients with AD receiving cyclosporine. Prednisone, azathioprine, and mycophenolate carried higher risks of serious infections at 6 months than methotrexate or cyclosporine, researchers said in the study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

“Among non-biologic systemic agents, cyclosporine and methotrexate appear to have better safety profiles than mycophenolate, azathioprine, and systemic prednisone with regard to serious infections,” they concluded. “These findings may help inform clinicians in their selection of medications for patients requiring systemic therapy for atopic dermatitis,” Maria C. Schneeweiss, MD, from the departments of dermatology and medicine and Division of Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacoeconomics at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, and colleagues wrote in their study.

Using population-based claims data, the researchers evaluated rates of serious infection requiring hospitalization in 232,611 patients between January 2003 and January 2017 who received methotrexate, cyclosporine, azathioprine, prednisone or mycophenolate for treatment of AD. Patients first received the same level of corticosteroids before moving to systemic therapy or phototherapy. They also compared results with 23,908 patients in a second cohort who were new users of dupilumab (391 patients) or non-biologic systemic immunomodulators (23,517).

Overall, the rate of serious infections was 7.53 per 1,000 for patients receiving systemic non-biologic therapy at 6 months compared with 7.38 per 1,000 for patients receiving phototherapy, and 2.6 per 1,000 for patients receiving dupilumab.


When matching using propensity scores, the researchers found a significantly reduced risk at 6 months of serious infections from cyclosporine compared with methotrexate (relative risk, 0.87; 95% confidence interval, 0.59-1.28). Compared with methotrexate, there was an increased risk of serious infection at 6 months for azathioprine (RR, 1.78; 95% CI, 0.98-3.25), prednisone (RR, 1.89; 95% CI, 1.05-3.42) and mycophenolate (RR, 3.31; 95% CI, 1.94-5.64).

According to preliminary data, when compared with patients who received non-biologic systemic therapy, there was no increased risk for patients receiving dupilumab (RR, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.03-3.20). Dupilumab was approved in March 2017, and “with one year of data resulting in one event among 391 patients, this analysis is limited but does not show an obvious signal for increased risk” for dupilumab, they wrote.

Dr. Schneeweiss and colleagues noted some of their analyses had wide confidence intervals, they did not account for dosing schemes or cumulative dose exposure over the study period, and the data on dupilumab showing no increase were preliminary and not conclusive.

“Our findings on systemic non-biologics are highly plausible, given the known risk of systemic immunomodulators in patients treated for other indications, the meaningful effect size, and the methodologically robust approach with a new-user active-comparator design and propensity score matching,” the researchers said.

This study was funded in part by Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. One author reported being a consultant for multiple pharmaceutical companies. The other authors report no relevant conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Schneeweiss M, et al. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2019. doi:10.1016/j.jaad.2019.05.073.

Use of inhaled corticosteroids may lower the risk of lung cancer in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and continued use may also reduce lung cancer risk, recent research from the European Respiratory Journal has shown.

“The appropriate use of [inhaled corticosteroids] ICS in [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] COPD patients is often debated and not all patients might benefit from the use of ICS. The clinical benefits and risk of use in an individual patient must be weighed by the physician,” wrote Adam J.N. Raymakers, MSc, PhD, of the University of British Columbia’s Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), Vancouver, B.C., and colleagues.

“This study, however, indicates that potential benefits may accrue from ICS use in COPD patients in terms of reduced lung cancer risk, and that sustained use may be associated with reduced risk of lung cancer.”

Dr. Raymakers and colleagues did an analysis of 39,676 patients with COPD (mean age, 70.7 years; 53% female) who received ICS between 1997 and 2007 and linked those patients to a registry of cancer patients in British Columbia. The linked databases included the Medical Services Plan (MSP) payment information file, Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), PharmaNet data file, and the British Columbia Cancer Registry (BCCR). The researchers determined a patient had COPD if he or she received three or more prescriptions related to COPD, while ICS exposure was analyzed in the context of a patient’s ICS exposure, cumulative duration, cumulative dose, and weighted cumulative duration and dose.

The analysis revealed 372,075 prescriptions for ICS were dispensed and 71.2% of the patients were “distinct users” of ICS, with patients filling a median of eight prescriptions at mean 5.2 years of follow-up. Fluticasone propionate was the most common ICS prescribed at a dose of 0.64 mg per day, and patients had median 60 days of ICS supplied per person.

Overall, there were 994 cases of lung cancer (2.5%), and exposure to ICS was linked to a 30% reduction in lung cancer risk (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.61-0.80), while recency-weighted duration of ICS exposure was linked to a 26% reduction in lung cancer risk (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.66-0.87). There was a 43% reduced risk of lung cancer per gram of ICS when the data were measured by recency-weighted cumulative dosage.

In a multivariate analysis, ICS use was associated with a 30% reduction in risk of non–small cell lung cancer (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.60-0.82), which the researchers said suggests ICS provides a protective effect for patients against lung cancer. “These results highlight the importance of properly identifying which patients might be at the highest risk of lung cancer, to enhance the therapeutic benefits of ICS in these COPD patients,” they wrote.

This study received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Raymakers A, et al. Eur Respir J. 2019. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01257-2018.

Use of inhaled corticosteroids may lower the risk of lung cancer in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and continued use may also reduce lung cancer risk, recent research from the European Respiratory Journal has shown.

“The appropriate use of [inhaled corticosteroids] ICS in [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] COPD patients is often debated and not all patients might benefit from the use of ICS. The clinical benefits and risk of use in an individual patient must be weighed by the physician,” wrote Adam J.N. Raymakers, MSc, PhD, of the University of British Columbia’s Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), Vancouver, B.C., and colleagues.

“This study, however, indicates that potential benefits may accrue from ICS use in COPD patients in terms of reduced lung cancer risk, and that sustained use may be associated with reduced risk of lung cancer.”

Dr. Raymakers and colleagues did an analysis of 39,676 patients with COPD (mean age, 70.7 years; 53% female) who received ICS between 1997 and 2007 and linked those patients to a registry of cancer patients in British Columbia. The linked databases included the Medical Services Plan (MSP) payment information file, Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), PharmaNet data file, and the British Columbia Cancer Registry (BCCR). The researchers determined a patient had COPD if he or she received three or more prescriptions related to COPD, while ICS exposure was analyzed in the context of a patient’s ICS exposure, cumulative duration, cumulative dose, and weighted cumulative duration and dose.

The analysis revealed 372,075 prescriptions for ICS were dispensed and 71.2% of the patients were “distinct users” of ICS, with patients filling a median of eight prescriptions at mean 5.2 years of follow-up. Fluticasone propionate was the most common ICS prescribed at a dose of 0.64 mg per day, and patients had median 60 days of ICS supplied per person.

Overall, there were 994 cases of lung cancer (2.5%), and exposure to ICS was linked to a 30% reduction in lung cancer risk (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.61-0.80), while recency-weighted duration of ICS exposure was linked to a 26% reduction in lung cancer risk (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.66-0.87). There was a 43% reduced risk of lung cancer per gram of ICS when the data were measured by recency-weighted cumulative dosage.

In a multivariate analysis, ICS use was associated with a 30% reduction in risk of non–small cell lung cancer (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.60-0.82), which the researchers said suggests ICS provides a protective effect for patients against lung cancer. “These results highlight the importance of properly identifying which patients might be at the highest risk of lung cancer, to enhance the therapeutic benefits of ICS in these COPD patients,” they wrote.

This study received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Raymakers A, et al. Eur Respir J. 2019. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01257-2018.

Use of inhaled corticosteroids may lower the risk of lung cancer in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and continued use may also reduce lung cancer risk, recent research from the European Respiratory Journal has shown.

“The appropriate use of [inhaled corticosteroids] ICS in [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] COPD patients is often debated and not all patients might benefit from the use of ICS. The clinical benefits and risk of use in an individual patient must be weighed by the physician,” wrote Adam J.N. Raymakers, MSc, PhD, of the University of British Columbia’s Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE), Vancouver, B.C., and colleagues.

“This study, however, indicates that potential benefits may accrue from ICS use in COPD patients in terms of reduced lung cancer risk, and that sustained use may be associated with reduced risk of lung cancer.”

Dr. Raymakers and colleagues did an analysis of 39,676 patients with COPD (mean age, 70.7 years; 53% female) who received ICS between 1997 and 2007 and linked those patients to a registry of cancer patients in British Columbia. The linked databases included the Medical Services Plan (MSP) payment information file, Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), PharmaNet data file, and the British Columbia Cancer Registry (BCCR). The researchers determined a patient had COPD if he or she received three or more prescriptions related to COPD, while ICS exposure was analyzed in the context of a patient’s ICS exposure, cumulative duration, cumulative dose, and weighted cumulative duration and dose.

The analysis revealed 372,075 prescriptions for ICS were dispensed and 71.2% of the patients were “distinct users” of ICS, with patients filling a median of eight prescriptions at mean 5.2 years of follow-up. Fluticasone propionate was the most common ICS prescribed at a dose of 0.64 mg per day, and patients had median 60 days of ICS supplied per person.

Overall, there were 994 cases of lung cancer (2.5%), and exposure to ICS was linked to a 30% reduction in lung cancer risk (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval, 0.61-0.80), while recency-weighted duration of ICS exposure was linked to a 26% reduction in lung cancer risk (HR, 0.74; 95% CI, 0.66-0.87). There was a 43% reduced risk of lung cancer per gram of ICS when the data were measured by recency-weighted cumulative dosage.

In a multivariate analysis, ICS use was associated with a 30% reduction in risk of non–small cell lung cancer (HR, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.60-0.82), which the researchers said suggests ICS provides a protective effect for patients against lung cancer. “These results highlight the importance of properly identifying which patients might be at the highest risk of lung cancer, to enhance the therapeutic benefits of ICS in these COPD patients,” they wrote.

This study received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The authors report no conflicts of interest.

SOURCE: Raymakers A, et al. Eur Respir J. 2019. doi: 10.1183/13993003.01257-2018.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Borderline personality disorder has a genetic and neurobiological component, but researchers remain unable to discern exactly why specific genetic markers are attributed to the disease, Emil F. Coccaro, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

“The neurobiology at this point gives us clues that what’s going on with borderline personality disorder isn’t simply developmental or environmental. That’s all that it tells us,” said Dr. Coccaro, director of the Clinical Neuroscience & Psychopharmacology Research Unit at the University of Chicago.

Similarly, studies in twins that show heritability of borderline personal disorder at rates between 31% and 49% “only show there’s something in the DNA,” he added. Dr. Coccaro called the evidence for the neurobiology of borderline personality disorder “hazy.” “The neurobiology of [borderline personality disorder] points to widespread brain network dysfunction affecting emotional processing and social cognition,” said Dr. Coccaro, also chairman of the university’s department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience.

That is true of a lot of disorders, he said, so only the details explain why patients with borderline personality disorder look different from those who might have “similar types of circuitry abnormalities,” he said.

For example, genomewide association studies have found links between borderline personality disorder and the genes DPYD and PKP4, indicating problems with pyrimidine metabolism and myelin production. The study also found a strong association between borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia (Transl Psychiatry. 2017 Jun. doi: 10.1038/tp.2017.115). DPYD has been associated with schizophrenia, but the relationship between DPYD and borderline personality disorder is unknown, Dr. Coccaro said.

“These [associations] are suggestive of what’s going on genetically, but it hardly makes a story that’s coherent enough to sink your teeth into,” he said.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Borderline personality disorder has a genetic and neurobiological component, but researchers remain unable to discern exactly why specific genetic markers are attributed to the disease, Emil F. Coccaro, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

“The neurobiology at this point gives us clues that what’s going on with borderline personality disorder isn’t simply developmental or environmental. That’s all that it tells us,” said Dr. Coccaro, director of the Clinical Neuroscience & Psychopharmacology Research Unit at the University of Chicago.

Similarly, studies in twins that show heritability of borderline personal disorder at rates between 31% and 49% “only show there’s something in the DNA,” he added. Dr. Coccaro called the evidence for the neurobiology of borderline personality disorder “hazy.” “The neurobiology of [borderline personality disorder] points to widespread brain network dysfunction affecting emotional processing and social cognition,” said Dr. Coccaro, also chairman of the university’s department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience.

That is true of a lot of disorders, he said, so only the details explain why patients with borderline personality disorder look different from those who might have “similar types of circuitry abnormalities,” he said.

For example, genomewide association studies have found links between borderline personality disorder and the genes DPYD and PKP4, indicating problems with pyrimidine metabolism and myelin production. The study also found a strong association between borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia (Transl Psychiatry. 2017 Jun. doi: 10.1038/tp.2017.115). DPYD has been associated with schizophrenia, but the relationship between DPYD and borderline personality disorder is unknown, Dr. Coccaro said.

“These [associations] are suggestive of what’s going on genetically, but it hardly makes a story that’s coherent enough to sink your teeth into,” he said.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Borderline personality disorder has a genetic and neurobiological component, but researchers remain unable to discern exactly why specific genetic markers are attributed to the disease, Emil F. Coccaro, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

“The neurobiology at this point gives us clues that what’s going on with borderline personality disorder isn’t simply developmental or environmental. That’s all that it tells us,” said Dr. Coccaro, director of the Clinical Neuroscience & Psychopharmacology Research Unit at the University of Chicago.

Similarly, studies in twins that show heritability of borderline personal disorder at rates between 31% and 49% “only show there’s something in the DNA,” he added. Dr. Coccaro called the evidence for the neurobiology of borderline personality disorder “hazy.” “The neurobiology of [borderline personality disorder] points to widespread brain network dysfunction affecting emotional processing and social cognition,” said Dr. Coccaro, also chairman of the university’s department of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience.

That is true of a lot of disorders, he said, so only the details explain why patients with borderline personality disorder look different from those who might have “similar types of circuitry abnormalities,” he said.

For example, genomewide association studies have found links between borderline personality disorder and the genes DPYD and PKP4, indicating problems with pyrimidine metabolism and myelin production. The study also found a strong association between borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia (Transl Psychiatry. 2017 Jun. doi: 10.1038/tp.2017.115). DPYD has been associated with schizophrenia, but the relationship between DPYD and borderline personality disorder is unknown, Dr. Coccaro said.

“These [associations] are suggestive of what’s going on genetically, but it hardly makes a story that’s coherent enough to sink your teeth into,” he said.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Be aware of the potential iatrogenic properties of medications prescribed when patients present with new psychiatric symptoms, Henry A. Nasrallah, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Drugs that can cause iatrogenic psychiatric symptoms include stimulants, anabolic steroids, ACE inhibitors, anticholinergics, tricyclic antidepressants, antiepileptics, benzodiazepines, beta-adrenergic blockers, dopamine receptor agonists, among many others. A diverse class of medications can cause depression, anxiety, mania, and psychotic symptoms, and some medications cause multiple iatrogenic effects.

“Iatrogenic psychopathology can occur with a wide array of medications that are used in general medical practice,” said Dr. Nasrallah, editor in chief of Current Psychiatry and professor and chairman of the department of neurology and psychiatry at Saint Louis University. For example, the drug reserpine can cause depression in about 10% of cases, and corticosteroids can cause mood disorders such as depression or mania in about 6% of cases.

In other situations, use of alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogens, opioids, and other recreational drugs can cause psychiatric symptoms, and withdrawal from alcohol and sedatives can induce psychosis.

The DSM-5 defines a psychiatric disorder as a disorder that is not caused by a general medical condition and is not attributable to recreational or prescription drugs. However, a direct causal connection is sometimes difficult to establish, said Dr. Nasrallah, because psychiatric symptoms that manifest during treatment with prescription medications also could be tied to an underlying medical illness, psychosocial factors, withdrawal from a different prescription medication, or an unrecognized psychopathology. To confirm the drug is causing the disorder, clinicians should also rechallenge the patient.

“We have to maintain an index of suspicion whenever we have a potential prescription drug,” he said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education. “First-episode psychiatric disorder is always suspect. Iatrogenesis can occur for the first time in a patient who never had that symptom before, so you suspect it might be iatrogenic.”

Some drugs might induce psychiatric symptoms at higher but not lower doses, he added.

Other risk factors for iatrogenesis include simultaneous use of prescription medications, administration method, narrow therapeutic index, and rapid titration. Patients with slow metabolisms or hepatic insufficiency are at risk for iatrogenesis, as are those who are very young or very old, in stressful settings, or in a postpartum period.

Evaluate when psychiatric symptoms occurred, whether symptoms worsened and when, the dates of medication use, rechallenge and dechallenge dates, and any previous history of psychiatric disorders, said Dr. Nasrallah, who holds the Sydney W. Souers Endowed Chair at the university. If a patient is using more than one medication at a time, record the dates of each drug and their discontinuations.

Determine when the iatrogenesis occurred with psychiatric drugs, Dr. Nasrallah noted. “Iatrogenesis can complicate the course and outcome of the main medical or psychiatric illness being treated. Sometimes psychiatric medication can cause iatrogenic medical conditions; it’s not just a one-way street.”

Dr. Nasrallah reported receiving research grants from Forest, Forum, and Otsuka. In addition, he is a consultant for Acadia, Alkermes, Boehringer Ingelheim, Forum, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Otsuka, Sunovion, and Teva, and he serves on the speaker’s bureau for Acadia, Alkermes, Janssen, Otsuka, and Sunovion.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Be aware of the potential iatrogenic properties of medications prescribed when patients present with new psychiatric symptoms, Henry A. Nasrallah, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Drugs that can cause iatrogenic psychiatric symptoms include stimulants, anabolic steroids, ACE inhibitors, anticholinergics, tricyclic antidepressants, antiepileptics, benzodiazepines, beta-adrenergic blockers, dopamine receptor agonists, among many others. A diverse class of medications can cause depression, anxiety, mania, and psychotic symptoms, and some medications cause multiple iatrogenic effects.

“Iatrogenic psychopathology can occur with a wide array of medications that are used in general medical practice,” said Dr. Nasrallah, editor in chief of Current Psychiatry and professor and chairman of the department of neurology and psychiatry at Saint Louis University. For example, the drug reserpine can cause depression in about 10% of cases, and corticosteroids can cause mood disorders such as depression or mania in about 6% of cases.

In other situations, use of alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogens, opioids, and other recreational drugs can cause psychiatric symptoms, and withdrawal from alcohol and sedatives can induce psychosis.

The DSM-5 defines a psychiatric disorder as a disorder that is not caused by a general medical condition and is not attributable to recreational or prescription drugs. However, a direct causal connection is sometimes difficult to establish, said Dr. Nasrallah, because psychiatric symptoms that manifest during treatment with prescription medications also could be tied to an underlying medical illness, psychosocial factors, withdrawal from a different prescription medication, or an unrecognized psychopathology. To confirm the drug is causing the disorder, clinicians should also rechallenge the patient.

“We have to maintain an index of suspicion whenever we have a potential prescription drug,” he said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education. “First-episode psychiatric disorder is always suspect. Iatrogenesis can occur for the first time in a patient who never had that symptom before, so you suspect it might be iatrogenic.”

Some drugs might induce psychiatric symptoms at higher but not lower doses, he added.

Other risk factors for iatrogenesis include simultaneous use of prescription medications, administration method, narrow therapeutic index, and rapid titration. Patients with slow metabolisms or hepatic insufficiency are at risk for iatrogenesis, as are those who are very young or very old, in stressful settings, or in a postpartum period.

Evaluate when psychiatric symptoms occurred, whether symptoms worsened and when, the dates of medication use, rechallenge and dechallenge dates, and any previous history of psychiatric disorders, said Dr. Nasrallah, who holds the Sydney W. Souers Endowed Chair at the university. If a patient is using more than one medication at a time, record the dates of each drug and their discontinuations.

Determine when the iatrogenesis occurred with psychiatric drugs, Dr. Nasrallah noted. “Iatrogenesis can complicate the course and outcome of the main medical or psychiatric illness being treated. Sometimes psychiatric medication can cause iatrogenic medical conditions; it’s not just a one-way street.”

Dr. Nasrallah reported receiving research grants from Forest, Forum, and Otsuka. In addition, he is a consultant for Acadia, Alkermes, Boehringer Ingelheim, Forum, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Otsuka, Sunovion, and Teva, and he serves on the speaker’s bureau for Acadia, Alkermes, Janssen, Otsuka, and Sunovion.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Be aware of the potential iatrogenic properties of medications prescribed when patients present with new psychiatric symptoms, Henry A. Nasrallah, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Drugs that can cause iatrogenic psychiatric symptoms include stimulants, anabolic steroids, ACE inhibitors, anticholinergics, tricyclic antidepressants, antiepileptics, benzodiazepines, beta-adrenergic blockers, dopamine receptor agonists, among many others. A diverse class of medications can cause depression, anxiety, mania, and psychotic symptoms, and some medications cause multiple iatrogenic effects.

“Iatrogenic psychopathology can occur with a wide array of medications that are used in general medical practice,” said Dr. Nasrallah, editor in chief of Current Psychiatry and professor and chairman of the department of neurology and psychiatry at Saint Louis University. For example, the drug reserpine can cause depression in about 10% of cases, and corticosteroids can cause mood disorders such as depression or mania in about 6% of cases.

In other situations, use of alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogens, opioids, and other recreational drugs can cause psychiatric symptoms, and withdrawal from alcohol and sedatives can induce psychosis.

The DSM-5 defines a psychiatric disorder as a disorder that is not caused by a general medical condition and is not attributable to recreational or prescription drugs. However, a direct causal connection is sometimes difficult to establish, said Dr. Nasrallah, because psychiatric symptoms that manifest during treatment with prescription medications also could be tied to an underlying medical illness, psychosocial factors, withdrawal from a different prescription medication, or an unrecognized psychopathology. To confirm the drug is causing the disorder, clinicians should also rechallenge the patient.

“We have to maintain an index of suspicion whenever we have a potential prescription drug,” he said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education. “First-episode psychiatric disorder is always suspect. Iatrogenesis can occur for the first time in a patient who never had that symptom before, so you suspect it might be iatrogenic.”

Some drugs might induce psychiatric symptoms at higher but not lower doses, he added.

Other risk factors for iatrogenesis include simultaneous use of prescription medications, administration method, narrow therapeutic index, and rapid titration. Patients with slow metabolisms or hepatic insufficiency are at risk for iatrogenesis, as are those who are very young or very old, in stressful settings, or in a postpartum period.

Evaluate when psychiatric symptoms occurred, whether symptoms worsened and when, the dates of medication use, rechallenge and dechallenge dates, and any previous history of psychiatric disorders, said Dr. Nasrallah, who holds the Sydney W. Souers Endowed Chair at the university. If a patient is using more than one medication at a time, record the dates of each drug and their discontinuations.

Determine when the iatrogenesis occurred with psychiatric drugs, Dr. Nasrallah noted. “Iatrogenesis can complicate the course and outcome of the main medical or psychiatric illness being treated. Sometimes psychiatric medication can cause iatrogenic medical conditions; it’s not just a one-way street.”

Dr. Nasrallah reported receiving research grants from Forest, Forum, and Otsuka. In addition, he is a consultant for Acadia, Alkermes, Boehringer Ingelheim, Forum, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Otsuka, Sunovion, and Teva, and he serves on the speaker’s bureau for Acadia, Alkermes, Janssen, Otsuka, and Sunovion.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Insomnia is a neuropsychiatric disorder of hyperarousal that should be evaluated as a disorder and treated with any associated comorbid conditions, Karl Doghramji, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Karen Winton/iStockphoto

“When I was a resident, I used to say insomnia is never a disorder. It’s always a symptom; you’ve got to find the primary disorder to know what the insomnia is caused by,” said Dr. Doghramji, medical director of the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. “We no longer believe that. Throw that out the window.”

According to the new definition under the DSM-5, insomnia is characterized by dissatisfaction with sleep quality or quantity in the presence of adequate opportunity for sleep that causes significant distress or impairment for more than 3 nights per week over a period of 3 months. A survey of almost 7,500 U.S. health plan subscribers conducted a few years ago found that the prevalence of insomnia was estimated at 23.2% (Sleep. 2011 Sep 1;34[9]:1161-71).

Insomnia is also not well identified in clinical practice: In results published from his own group, Dr. Doghramji and colleagues evaluated 97 patients who were administered the Insomnia Severity Index; of those patients, 79.4% met the criteria for insomnia, but there was no mention of insomnia in the discharge notes for those patients (J Nerv Ment Dis. 2018 Oct;206[10]:765-9).

Many cognitive impairments can occur as a result of insomnia, which affects performance at work; decreases enjoyment of social activities; can lead to motor vehicle accidents or falls; and can affect health in the form of diabetes, hypertension, and increased mortality. Insomnia also can predict the risk of future depression and is a risk factor for suicide, Dr. Doghramji said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

Adults can have insomnia for many reasons, including genetics, stress, negative conditioning, intrapsychic conflict, and bad habits, as well as medical and psychiatric conditions. While knowledge surrounding insomnia has advanced under a hyperarousal model, “It is really a hyperarousal disturbance which defies psychological understanding,” said Dr. Doghramji, who is also professor of psychiatry, neurology, and medicine at the university.

Evaluating the type of insomnia a patient is experiencing should be the first step in managing the disorder, followed by determining whether the insomnia is contributing to daytime impairment or decreased quality of life for the patient. From there, the insomnia can be treated with behavioral or pharmacotherapy. However, if insomnia is associated with another comorbid condition, the condition should be treated alongside the insomnia.

Sleep is highly comorbid with psychiatric and medical conditions (Sleep Med Clin. 2019 Jun;14[2]:167-75). Initial insomnia is more likely to be associated with delayed sleep phase disorder and restless legs syndrome, while middle insomnia is associated with sleep apnea and depression. Patients who wake early and are unable to go back to sleep (terminal insomnia) are likely to have depression, shift work disorder, or advanced sleep phase disorder.

“Once you identify [insomnia], there are all sorts of wonderful ways to manage it, including behavioral and pharmacological therapy,” said Dr. Doghramji. The comorbid condition also should be considered when deciding how to treat insomnia. For example, a patient with gastroesophageal reflux disease and insomnia would be more suited to cognitive-behavioral therapy than pharmacologic agents to help with sleep, because being able to wake up during the night from acid building in the esophagus is the body’s defense mechanism for the disease, Dr. Doghramji said.

Dr. Doghramji reported serving as a consultant for Eisai, Merck, and Pfizer. He also receives research funding from and owns stock in Merck.

Global Academy for Medical Education, Current Psychiatry, and this news organization are owned by the same company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Insomnia is a neuropsychiatric disorder of hyperarousal that should be evaluated as a disorder and treated with any associated comorbid conditions, Karl Doghramji, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Karen Winton/iStockphoto

“When I was a resident, I used to say insomnia is never a disorder. It’s always a symptom; you’ve got to find the primary disorder to know what the insomnia is caused by,” said Dr. Doghramji, medical director of the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. “We no longer believe that. Throw that out the window.”

According to the new definition under the DSM-5, insomnia is characterized by dissatisfaction with sleep quality or quantity in the presence of adequate opportunity for sleep that causes significant distress or impairment for more than 3 nights per week over a period of 3 months. A survey of almost 7,500 U.S. health plan subscribers conducted a few years ago found that the prevalence of insomnia was estimated at 23.2% (Sleep. 2011 Sep 1;34[9]:1161-71).

Insomnia is also not well identified in clinical practice: In results published from his own group, Dr. Doghramji and colleagues evaluated 97 patients who were administered the Insomnia Severity Index; of those patients, 79.4% met the criteria for insomnia, but there was no mention of insomnia in the discharge notes for those patients (J Nerv Ment Dis. 2018 Oct;206[10]:765-9).

Many cognitive impairments can occur as a result of insomnia, which affects performance at work; decreases enjoyment of social activities; can lead to motor vehicle accidents or falls; and can affect health in the form of diabetes, hypertension, and increased mortality. Insomnia also can predict the risk of future depression and is a risk factor for suicide, Dr. Doghramji said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

Adults can have insomnia for many reasons, including genetics, stress, negative conditioning, intrapsychic conflict, and bad habits, as well as medical and psychiatric conditions. While knowledge surrounding insomnia has advanced under a hyperarousal model, “It is really a hyperarousal disturbance which defies psychological understanding,” said Dr. Doghramji, who is also professor of psychiatry, neurology, and medicine at the university.

Evaluating the type of insomnia a patient is experiencing should be the first step in managing the disorder, followed by determining whether the insomnia is contributing to daytime impairment or decreased quality of life for the patient. From there, the insomnia can be treated with behavioral or pharmacotherapy. However, if insomnia is associated with another comorbid condition, the condition should be treated alongside the insomnia.

Sleep is highly comorbid with psychiatric and medical conditions (Sleep Med Clin. 2019 Jun;14[2]:167-75). Initial insomnia is more likely to be associated with delayed sleep phase disorder and restless legs syndrome, while middle insomnia is associated with sleep apnea and depression. Patients who wake early and are unable to go back to sleep (terminal insomnia) are likely to have depression, shift work disorder, or advanced sleep phase disorder.

“Once you identify [insomnia], there are all sorts of wonderful ways to manage it, including behavioral and pharmacological therapy,” said Dr. Doghramji. The comorbid condition also should be considered when deciding how to treat insomnia. For example, a patient with gastroesophageal reflux disease and insomnia would be more suited to cognitive-behavioral therapy than pharmacologic agents to help with sleep, because being able to wake up during the night from acid building in the esophagus is the body’s defense mechanism for the disease, Dr. Doghramji said.

Dr. Doghramji reported serving as a consultant for Eisai, Merck, and Pfizer. He also receives research funding from and owns stock in Merck.

Global Academy for Medical Education, Current Psychiatry, and this news organization are owned by the same company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Insomnia is a neuropsychiatric disorder of hyperarousal that should be evaluated as a disorder and treated with any associated comorbid conditions, Karl Doghramji, MD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

Karen Winton/iStockphoto

“When I was a resident, I used to say insomnia is never a disorder. It’s always a symptom; you’ve got to find the primary disorder to know what the insomnia is caused by,” said Dr. Doghramji, medical director of the Jefferson Sleep Disorders Center at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. “We no longer believe that. Throw that out the window.”

According to the new definition under the DSM-5, insomnia is characterized by dissatisfaction with sleep quality or quantity in the presence of adequate opportunity for sleep that causes significant distress or impairment for more than 3 nights per week over a period of 3 months. A survey of almost 7,500 U.S. health plan subscribers conducted a few years ago found that the prevalence of insomnia was estimated at 23.2% (Sleep. 2011 Sep 1;34[9]:1161-71).

Insomnia is also not well identified in clinical practice: In results published from his own group, Dr. Doghramji and colleagues evaluated 97 patients who were administered the Insomnia Severity Index; of those patients, 79.4% met the criteria for insomnia, but there was no mention of insomnia in the discharge notes for those patients (J Nerv Ment Dis. 2018 Oct;206[10]:765-9).

Many cognitive impairments can occur as a result of insomnia, which affects performance at work; decreases enjoyment of social activities; can lead to motor vehicle accidents or falls; and can affect health in the form of diabetes, hypertension, and increased mortality. Insomnia also can predict the risk of future depression and is a risk factor for suicide, Dr. Doghramji said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

Adults can have insomnia for many reasons, including genetics, stress, negative conditioning, intrapsychic conflict, and bad habits, as well as medical and psychiatric conditions. While knowledge surrounding insomnia has advanced under a hyperarousal model, “It is really a hyperarousal disturbance which defies psychological understanding,” said Dr. Doghramji, who is also professor of psychiatry, neurology, and medicine at the university.

Evaluating the type of insomnia a patient is experiencing should be the first step in managing the disorder, followed by determining whether the insomnia is contributing to daytime impairment or decreased quality of life for the patient. From there, the insomnia can be treated with behavioral or pharmacotherapy. However, if insomnia is associated with another comorbid condition, the condition should be treated alongside the insomnia.

Sleep is highly comorbid with psychiatric and medical conditions (Sleep Med Clin. 2019 Jun;14[2]:167-75). Initial insomnia is more likely to be associated with delayed sleep phase disorder and restless legs syndrome, while middle insomnia is associated with sleep apnea and depression. Patients who wake early and are unable to go back to sleep (terminal insomnia) are likely to have depression, shift work disorder, or advanced sleep phase disorder.

“Once you identify [insomnia], there are all sorts of wonderful ways to manage it, including behavioral and pharmacological therapy,” said Dr. Doghramji. The comorbid condition also should be considered when deciding how to treat insomnia. For example, a patient with gastroesophageal reflux disease and insomnia would be more suited to cognitive-behavioral therapy than pharmacologic agents to help with sleep, because being able to wake up during the night from acid building in the esophagus is the body’s defense mechanism for the disease, Dr. Doghramji said.

Dr. Doghramji reported serving as a consultant for Eisai, Merck, and Pfizer. He also receives research funding from and owns stock in Merck.

Global Academy for Medical Education, Current Psychiatry, and this news organization are owned by the same company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Individuals with mood disorders might have an altered microbiome, but more information is needed to understand how the microorganisms that make up the microbiome affect patients’ health, an expert said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

“An increased understanding of the neurobiology of the microbiome is required so that the benefit that these microorganisms serve to human health can be fully harnessed,” said Emily G. Severance, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at John Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Diseases that involve the microbiome include those with a single identifiable infectious agent that produces persistent inflammation, central nervous system diseases with mucosal surface involvement, and diseases with “variable response to antibiotic and anti-inflammatory agents.”

“It’s becoming clear that [the microbiome is] integral for the modulation of the central nervous system,” which occurs through neurotransmitter production, Dr. Severance said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

“We have an extensive enteric nervous system that has the very same receptors that the brain does,” she said. “If you have those receptors activated in the gut or [are] having the neurotransmitters produced in the gut, and if there’s a way for those neurotransmitters to reach the brain, that’s a very powerful mechanism to illustrate the gut-brain axis.”

In addition to neuropsychiatric diseases, the microbiome also can be involved in inflammatory gastrointestinal, systemic rheumatoid and autoimmune, chronic inflammatory lung, and periodontal diseases, as well as immune-mediated skin disorders. Mood disorders in particular have evidence for dysbiosis in low-level inflammation and leaky gut pathology, which is present in patients with depression, Dr. Severance said. “All these data suggest that there’s a viable rationale to try to harness the functional significance of the microbial community. We can do that because gut bacteria are easily accessed and can be altered through probiotics, prebiotics, diet, and fecal transplant, and in patients, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium combinations may improve mood, reduce anxiety, and enhance cognitive function.”

In addition, epidemiological studies show that antibiotic exposure can be a risk factor for developing mood disorders. One recent study found that anti-infective agents, particularly antibiotics, increased the risk of schizophrenia (hazard rate ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.77-2.38) and affective disorders (HRR, 2.59; 95% CI, 2.31-2.89), which the researchers attributed to brain inflammation, the microbiome, and environmental factors (Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2016 Nov 21. doi: 10.1111/acps.12671). In mice, other researchers found that those that received a fecal transplant with a “depression microbiota” showed symptoms of major depressive disorder, compared with mice that received a “healthy microbiota.” Those results suggest that change in microbiota can induce mood disorders (Mol Psychiatry. 2016 Apr 12. doi: 10.1038/mp.2016.44).


The evidence for probiotics is mixed, primarily because the study population in trials are so heterogeneous, but there is evidence for its efficacy in patients with mood disorders, Dr. Severance said. Probiotics have been shown to prevent rehospitalization for patients in mania. For example, one study showed reduced rehospitalization in patients with mania (8 of 33 patients) who received probiotics, compared with placebo (24 of 33 patients). Also, probiotic use was associated with fewer days of rehospitalization (Bipolar Disord. 2018 Apr 25. doi: 10. 1111/bdi.12652).

Meanwhile, a pilot study analyzing patients with irritable bowel syndrome and mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression found use of B. longum in this population reduced depression scores, but not anxiety or irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, compared with placebo (Gastroenterology. 2017 May 5. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2017.05.003).

Probiotic efficacy can be variable for patients with mood disorders, but the intervention is a “relatively low-risk, potentially high reward” option for these patients, Dr. Severance said. “Clinicians should inquire about patient GI conditions and overall GI health. Dietary interventions and the use of probiotics and their limitations should be discussed as supplemental therapeutic options.”

Dr. Severance reported no relevant financial disclosures.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Individuals with mood disorders might have an altered microbiome, but more information is needed to understand how the microorganisms that make up the microbiome affect patients’ health, an expert said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

“An increased understanding of the neurobiology of the microbiome is required so that the benefit that these microorganisms serve to human health can be fully harnessed,” said Emily G. Severance, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at John Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Diseases that involve the microbiome include those with a single identifiable infectious agent that produces persistent inflammation, central nervous system diseases with mucosal surface involvement, and diseases with “variable response to antibiotic and anti-inflammatory agents.”

“It’s becoming clear that [the microbiome is] integral for the modulation of the central nervous system,” which occurs through neurotransmitter production, Dr. Severance said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

“We have an extensive enteric nervous system that has the very same receptors that the brain does,” she said. “If you have those receptors activated in the gut or [are] having the neurotransmitters produced in the gut, and if there’s a way for those neurotransmitters to reach the brain, that’s a very powerful mechanism to illustrate the gut-brain axis.”

In addition to neuropsychiatric diseases, the microbiome also can be involved in inflammatory gastrointestinal, systemic rheumatoid and autoimmune, chronic inflammatory lung, and periodontal diseases, as well as immune-mediated skin disorders. Mood disorders in particular have evidence for dysbiosis in low-level inflammation and leaky gut pathology, which is present in patients with depression, Dr. Severance said. “All these data suggest that there’s a viable rationale to try to harness the functional significance of the microbial community. We can do that because gut bacteria are easily accessed and can be altered through probiotics, prebiotics, diet, and fecal transplant, and in patients, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium combinations may improve mood, reduce anxiety, and enhance cognitive function.”

In addition, epidemiological studies show that antibiotic exposure can be a risk factor for developing mood disorders. One recent study found that anti-infective agents, particularly antibiotics, increased the risk of schizophrenia (hazard rate ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.77-2.38) and affective disorders (HRR, 2.59; 95% CI, 2.31-2.89), which the researchers attributed to brain inflammation, the microbiome, and environmental factors (Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2016 Nov 21. doi: 10.1111/acps.12671). In mice, other researchers found that those that received a fecal transplant with a “depression microbiota” showed symptoms of major depressive disorder, compared with mice that received a “healthy microbiota.” Those results suggest that change in microbiota can induce mood disorders (Mol Psychiatry. 2016 Apr 12. doi: 10.1038/mp.2016.44).


The evidence for probiotics is mixed, primarily because the study population in trials are so heterogeneous, but there is evidence for its efficacy in patients with mood disorders, Dr. Severance said. Probiotics have been shown to prevent rehospitalization for patients in mania. For example, one study showed reduced rehospitalization in patients with mania (8 of 33 patients) who received probiotics, compared with placebo (24 of 33 patients). Also, probiotic use was associated with fewer days of rehospitalization (Bipolar Disord. 2018 Apr 25. doi: 10. 1111/bdi.12652).

Meanwhile, a pilot study analyzing patients with irritable bowel syndrome and mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression found use of B. longum in this population reduced depression scores, but not anxiety or irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, compared with placebo (Gastroenterology. 2017 May 5. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2017.05.003).

Probiotic efficacy can be variable for patients with mood disorders, but the intervention is a “relatively low-risk, potentially high reward” option for these patients, Dr. Severance said. “Clinicians should inquire about patient GI conditions and overall GI health. Dietary interventions and the use of probiotics and their limitations should be discussed as supplemental therapeutic options.”

Dr. Severance reported no relevant financial disclosures.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – Individuals with mood disorders might have an altered microbiome, but more information is needed to understand how the microorganisms that make up the microbiome affect patients’ health, an expert said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

“An increased understanding of the neurobiology of the microbiome is required so that the benefit that these microorganisms serve to human health can be fully harnessed,” said Emily G. Severance, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics at John Hopkins University, Baltimore.

Diseases that involve the microbiome include those with a single identifiable infectious agent that produces persistent inflammation, central nervous system diseases with mucosal surface involvement, and diseases with “variable response to antibiotic and anti-inflammatory agents.”

“It’s becoming clear that [the microbiome is] integral for the modulation of the central nervous system,” which occurs through neurotransmitter production, Dr. Severance said at the meeting presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

“We have an extensive enteric nervous system that has the very same receptors that the brain does,” she said. “If you have those receptors activated in the gut or [are] having the neurotransmitters produced in the gut, and if there’s a way for those neurotransmitters to reach the brain, that’s a very powerful mechanism to illustrate the gut-brain axis.”

In addition to neuropsychiatric diseases, the microbiome also can be involved in inflammatory gastrointestinal, systemic rheumatoid and autoimmune, chronic inflammatory lung, and periodontal diseases, as well as immune-mediated skin disorders. Mood disorders in particular have evidence for dysbiosis in low-level inflammation and leaky gut pathology, which is present in patients with depression, Dr. Severance said. “All these data suggest that there’s a viable rationale to try to harness the functional significance of the microbial community. We can do that because gut bacteria are easily accessed and can be altered through probiotics, prebiotics, diet, and fecal transplant, and in patients, Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium combinations may improve mood, reduce anxiety, and enhance cognitive function.”

In addition, epidemiological studies show that antibiotic exposure can be a risk factor for developing mood disorders. One recent study found that anti-infective agents, particularly antibiotics, increased the risk of schizophrenia (hazard rate ratio, 2.05; 95% confidence interval, 1.77-2.38) and affective disorders (HRR, 2.59; 95% CI, 2.31-2.89), which the researchers attributed to brain inflammation, the microbiome, and environmental factors (Acta Psychiatr Scand. 2016 Nov 21. doi: 10.1111/acps.12671). In mice, other researchers found that those that received a fecal transplant with a “depression microbiota” showed symptoms of major depressive disorder, compared with mice that received a “healthy microbiota.” Those results suggest that change in microbiota can induce mood disorders (Mol Psychiatry. 2016 Apr 12. doi: 10.1038/mp.2016.44).


The evidence for probiotics is mixed, primarily because the study population in trials are so heterogeneous, but there is evidence for its efficacy in patients with mood disorders, Dr. Severance said. Probiotics have been shown to prevent rehospitalization for patients in mania. For example, one study showed reduced rehospitalization in patients with mania (8 of 33 patients) who received probiotics, compared with placebo (24 of 33 patients). Also, probiotic use was associated with fewer days of rehospitalization (Bipolar Disord. 2018 Apr 25. doi: 10. 1111/bdi.12652).

Meanwhile, a pilot study analyzing patients with irritable bowel syndrome and mild to moderate anxiety and/or depression found use of B. longum in this population reduced depression scores, but not anxiety or irritable bowel syndrome symptoms, compared with placebo (Gastroenterology. 2017 May 5. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2017.05.003).

Probiotic efficacy can be variable for patients with mood disorders, but the intervention is a “relatively low-risk, potentially high reward” option for these patients, Dr. Severance said. “Clinicians should inquire about patient GI conditions and overall GI health. Dietary interventions and the use of probiotics and their limitations should be discussed as supplemental therapeutic options.”

Dr. Severance reported no relevant financial disclosures.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – As technology advances and the population becomes older, clinicians should understand how modest age-related declines in cognition affect older adults’ ability to learn new technological skills, Philip D. Harvey, PhD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

©AlexRaths/thinkstockphotos.com

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of adults in the United States above age 65 is slated to increase over the next several decades, and by 2030, one in five adults in the United States will be at retirement age. By 2050, “a significant number of people” in the United States are expected to be age 90, Dr. Harvey said at the meeting, presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

“What we need to do is to understand what are the normal things that happen to people as they become 90 years of age,” said Dr. Harvey, of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami.

Within the technology industry, significant advancements were made over the last 40 years with the advent of the personal computer in the 1980s, mobile phones in the 1990s, and wireless Internet, smartphones, and wireless devices in the 2000s. Many interactions that used to be person-to-person are now performed online, and it is feasible for a 90-year-old living today to never have encountered this technology during their careers. “Utilizing technology is a central requirement for independent living today,” Dr. Harvey said.

Most people passively adapt to these new changes in technology. However, Dr. Harvey noted that adults in their 80s and 90s who are retired can have difficulty using or learning about new technology as they age. “Human-technology interaction involves information processing, and places demands on memory and other cognitive abilities,” he said. “Age is associated with declines specifically in the kind of abilities that are required to master new technology.”

Learning about and using technology requires different elements of cognition that include different types of memory, such as working, episodic, declarative, procedural, semantic, long-term factual, and emotional. A decline in any of those kinds of memory could result in failures in forgetting, learning or recalling material, and learning new motor skills, among other problems. Crystallized intelligence is more likely to be retained over time, but fluid cognition in the form of processing speed, working and episodic memory, and the ability to solve abstract problems tend to decline over time as people age, Dr. Harvey said.

Base cognitive abilities do play a role in how crystallized and fluid cognition decline over time. For example, while vocabulary might increase as one ages, a person’s working memory, processing speed, and episodic memory decline over time. Evidence also suggests that speed training and exercise appear to improve cognition. In the ACTIVE trial, 2,832 adults with a baseline age of 73.6 years who underwent 10 cognitive training sessions to improve memory showed better cognitive scores that remained at 10-year follow-up (J Am Geriatr Soc. 13 Jan 2014. doi: 10.1111/jgs.12607).

Cyrus Raji, MD, PhD, and colleagues also explored the relationship between caloric expenditure and gray matter volume in the Cardiovascular Health Study, and found that exercise of various types improved gray matter volume and reduced the risk of dementia in people aged 65 or older. Furthermore, Dr. Raji and colleagues found, caloric expenditures, rather than intensity of exercise, may alone predict increases in gray matter volume (J Alzheimers Dis. 2016. doi: 10.3233/JAD-160057).

“If you want to improve your memory, grow your hippocampus,” Dr. Harvey said at the meeting.

Dr. Harvey reported serving as a consultant for Alkermes, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Lundbeck, Otsuka Digital Health, Sanofi, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Takeda, and Teva. He also reported receiving a grant from Takeda, and is the founder and CSO of i-Function.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – As technology advances and the population becomes older, clinicians should understand how modest age-related declines in cognition affect older adults’ ability to learn new technological skills, Philip D. Harvey, PhD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

©AlexRaths/thinkstockphotos.com

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of adults in the United States above age 65 is slated to increase over the next several decades, and by 2030, one in five adults in the United States will be at retirement age. By 2050, “a significant number of people” in the United States are expected to be age 90, Dr. Harvey said at the meeting, presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

“What we need to do is to understand what are the normal things that happen to people as they become 90 years of age,” said Dr. Harvey, of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami.

Within the technology industry, significant advancements were made over the last 40 years with the advent of the personal computer in the 1980s, mobile phones in the 1990s, and wireless Internet, smartphones, and wireless devices in the 2000s. Many interactions that used to be person-to-person are now performed online, and it is feasible for a 90-year-old living today to never have encountered this technology during their careers. “Utilizing technology is a central requirement for independent living today,” Dr. Harvey said.

Most people passively adapt to these new changes in technology. However, Dr. Harvey noted that adults in their 80s and 90s who are retired can have difficulty using or learning about new technology as they age. “Human-technology interaction involves information processing, and places demands on memory and other cognitive abilities,” he said. “Age is associated with declines specifically in the kind of abilities that are required to master new technology.”

Learning about and using technology requires different elements of cognition that include different types of memory, such as working, episodic, declarative, procedural, semantic, long-term factual, and emotional. A decline in any of those kinds of memory could result in failures in forgetting, learning or recalling material, and learning new motor skills, among other problems. Crystallized intelligence is more likely to be retained over time, but fluid cognition in the form of processing speed, working and episodic memory, and the ability to solve abstract problems tend to decline over time as people age, Dr. Harvey said.

Base cognitive abilities do play a role in how crystallized and fluid cognition decline over time. For example, while vocabulary might increase as one ages, a person’s working memory, processing speed, and episodic memory decline over time. Evidence also suggests that speed training and exercise appear to improve cognition. In the ACTIVE trial, 2,832 adults with a baseline age of 73.6 years who underwent 10 cognitive training sessions to improve memory showed better cognitive scores that remained at 10-year follow-up (J Am Geriatr Soc. 13 Jan 2014. doi: 10.1111/jgs.12607).

Cyrus Raji, MD, PhD, and colleagues also explored the relationship between caloric expenditure and gray matter volume in the Cardiovascular Health Study, and found that exercise of various types improved gray matter volume and reduced the risk of dementia in people aged 65 or older. Furthermore, Dr. Raji and colleagues found, caloric expenditures, rather than intensity of exercise, may alone predict increases in gray matter volume (J Alzheimers Dis. 2016. doi: 10.3233/JAD-160057).

“If you want to improve your memory, grow your hippocampus,” Dr. Harvey said at the meeting.

Dr. Harvey reported serving as a consultant for Alkermes, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Lundbeck, Otsuka Digital Health, Sanofi, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Takeda, and Teva. He also reported receiving a grant from Takeda, and is the founder and CSO of i-Function.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.

CRYSTAL CITY, VA. – As technology advances and the population becomes older, clinicians should understand how modest age-related declines in cognition affect older adults’ ability to learn new technological skills, Philip D. Harvey, PhD, said at Focus on Neuropsychiatry presented by Current Psychiatry and the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.

©AlexRaths/thinkstockphotos.com

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of adults in the United States above age 65 is slated to increase over the next several decades, and by 2030, one in five adults in the United States will be at retirement age. By 2050, “a significant number of people” in the United States are expected to be age 90, Dr. Harvey said at the meeting, presented by Global Academy for Medical Education.

“What we need to do is to understand what are the normal things that happen to people as they become 90 years of age,” said Dr. Harvey, of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami.

Within the technology industry, significant advancements were made over the last 40 years with the advent of the personal computer in the 1980s, mobile phones in the 1990s, and wireless Internet, smartphones, and wireless devices in the 2000s. Many interactions that used to be person-to-person are now performed online, and it is feasible for a 90-year-old living today to never have encountered this technology during their careers. “Utilizing technology is a central requirement for independent living today,” Dr. Harvey said.

Most people passively adapt to these new changes in technology. However, Dr. Harvey noted that adults in their 80s and 90s who are retired can have difficulty using or learning about new technology as they age. “Human-technology interaction involves information processing, and places demands on memory and other cognitive abilities,” he said. “Age is associated with declines specifically in the kind of abilities that are required to master new technology.”

Learning about and using technology requires different elements of cognition that include different types of memory, such as working, episodic, declarative, procedural, semantic, long-term factual, and emotional. A decline in any of those kinds of memory could result in failures in forgetting, learning or recalling material, and learning new motor skills, among other problems. Crystallized intelligence is more likely to be retained over time, but fluid cognition in the form of processing speed, working and episodic memory, and the ability to solve abstract problems tend to decline over time as people age, Dr. Harvey said.

Base cognitive abilities do play a role in how crystallized and fluid cognition decline over time. For example, while vocabulary might increase as one ages, a person’s working memory, processing speed, and episodic memory decline over time. Evidence also suggests that speed training and exercise appear to improve cognition. In the ACTIVE trial, 2,832 adults with a baseline age of 73.6 years who underwent 10 cognitive training sessions to improve memory showed better cognitive scores that remained at 10-year follow-up (J Am Geriatr Soc. 13 Jan 2014. doi: 10.1111/jgs.12607).

Cyrus Raji, MD, PhD, and colleagues also explored the relationship between caloric expenditure and gray matter volume in the Cardiovascular Health Study, and found that exercise of various types improved gray matter volume and reduced the risk of dementia in people aged 65 or older. Furthermore, Dr. Raji and colleagues found, caloric expenditures, rather than intensity of exercise, may alone predict increases in gray matter volume (J Alzheimers Dis. 2016. doi: 10.3233/JAD-160057).

“If you want to improve your memory, grow your hippocampus,” Dr. Harvey said at the meeting.

Dr. Harvey reported serving as a consultant for Alkermes, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Lundbeck, Otsuka Digital Health, Sanofi, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, Takeda, and Teva. He also reported receiving a grant from Takeda, and is the founder and CSO of i-Function.

Global Academy and this news organization are owned by the same parent company.