All Articles by Jennifer Gibson, PharmD
Dr. Gibson, PharmD, is a practicing clinical pharmacist and medical writer/editor with experience in researching and preparing scientific publications, developing public relations materials, creating educational resources and presentations, and editing technical manuscripts. She is the owner of Excalibur Scientific, LLC.
Antipsychotics May Decrease the Risk of Suicide
Suicide is an all-too familiar consequence of depression. Up to 15% of patients with untreated or undertreated depression commit suicide. The goal of treatment for depressive disorders is to alleviate the symptoms of depression, which may include an inability to experience pleasure, a pessimistic attitude, and generalized anxiety. Patients with psychotic symptoms of depression -- up to 10% of depressed patients -- may also experience delusions, hallucinations, and a desire to harm themselves or others. Standard treatment approaches to depression include a balance of drug therapies, counseling, and behavior modification.
Laughter is the Best – and Possibly Oldest – Medicine
We have all heard the old adage before: laughter is the best medicine. But, it might just be among the oldest medicine. In a report published by the University of Wolverhampton, and commissioned by the British television channel Dave, the world’s oldest joke can be traced back to 1900 BC. Not surprisingly, the list of the world’s top 10 oldest jokes includes the ever-popular bathroom humor and much sexual innuendo.Empirical medical research confirms that people who smile and laugh are generally happy, and people who do not, are not. The benefits of humor and laughter as complementary medicine, as well as just a healthy life practice, are unequivocal.
New Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease?
In July 2008, results from several clinical trials of novel Alzheimer’s Disease treatments were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference on Alzheimer’s Disease (ICAD 2008) in Chicago. Among these results was an 84-week phase II trial of TauRx’s Rember. Almost immediately, the mainstream media was reporting the most critical breakthrough in the history of Alzheimer’s Disease. This enthusiasm may be premature, however, and more research is needed on this new treatment option.
Can Drug Therapy Prevent Parkinson’s Disease?
A recent issue of the journal Neurology published two separate case-controlled studies that showed a decreased risk for Parkinson’s disease associated with both cholesterol-lowering medication and blood pressure-lowering medication.A common class of cholesterol-lowering medications, HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (also collectively called “statins”), includes the well-known and often-prescribed atorvastatin (Lipitor), simvastatin (Zocor), lovastatin (Altocor, Mevacor), and pravastatin (Pravachol). In the current study, each of these drugs, except pravastatin, was associated with a 60 to 70% decreased risk of Parkinson’s disease.
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