Markham's Behavioral Health

12% of United States troops in Iraq and 17% of troops in Afghanistan are on anti-depressants

On June 5, 2008, Time Magazine ran a story entitled, "America's Medicated Army". Here is a snippet from the article:

The medicines are intended not only to help troops keep their cool but also to enable the already strapped Army to preserve its most precious resource: soldiers on the front lines. Data contained in the Army's fifth Mental Health Advisory Team report indicate that, according to an anonymous survey of U.S. troops taken last fall, about 12% of combat troops in Iraq and 17% of those in Afghanistan are taking prescription antidepressants or sleeping pills to help them cope. Escalating violence in Afghanistan and the more isolated mission have driven troops to rely more on medication there than in Iraq, military officials say.

It seems that fighting pre-emptive and immoral wars is not good for one's mental health. I wonder when we as a nation will realize the error of our ways and demand that our government do something about it?

I don't know of any other occupation that has this high a rate of mental illness. Would you want your loved one to enter such a career?

Prozac: The Military's Secret Weapon, MSNBC with Joe Scarborough. Video lasts 3:25

This is article #4 on militarism.

Pediatric drug samples unsafe practice

Free drug samples pose risk to children's health according to a study in the October, 2008 issue of the journal, Pediatrics, as reported by Reuter's HealthDay on October 6, 2008. Here is a snippet from the Reuters HealthDay article:

 Free prescription drug samples distributed to pediatric patients may be unsafe, research suggests.

The study, published in the October 2008 issue of Pediatrics, examined data on 10,295 children and adolescents from the 2004 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.

The researchers found that one in 20 American children received free drug samples in 2004. And among those who took at least one prescription drug that year, nearly one in 10 received free samples.

This in concerning, since the researchers also found that some of the most frequently distributed samples may be unsafe.

Four of the 15 most frequently distributed samples in 2004 were identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as having significant new safety concerns, including new black box warnings or significant revisions to existing warnings.

The top 15 samples included (among others) Strattera (atomoxetine) and Adderall (amphetamine/dextroamphetamine), drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Both of those medications are Schedule II controlled substances, meaning they are controlled and monitored by the Drug Enforcement Agency due to high potential for abuse.

Some physicians welcome the use of free sample medications as a way to get medications to needy patients. But this study's findings showed that few free samples actually go to the children who most need them.

Only 16 percent of the children who received free samples were uninsured for all or part of 2004, and less than one-third had low family incomes, defined as less than $38,000 for a family of four.

This is article #2 in a series on medications.

Antidepressant Scripts Up 16 Million Over 3-Year Period and most not prescribed by mental health professionals

Reuters HealthDay reported on July 24, 2008 on a report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality which found that the prescription of antidepressant drugs has increased significantly over a 3 year period from 2002 - 2005 and less than a third of the antidepressant prescriptions are prescribed by psychiatrists with the great majority prescribed by primary care physicians.

It is interesting that most of the antidepressant medications are not precribed by mental health professionals which leads to the assumption that most depression is being treated without psychotherapy. Most outcome research seems to indicate that depression is better treated by psychotherapy or a combination of psychotherapy and antidepressant medication.

Here is a snippet from the HealthDay article:

Between 2002 and 2005, the number of prescriptions filled for antidepressant drugs increased from 154 million to 170 million, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. government.

The analysis, by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, of antidepressant prescriptions (not including refills) written after doctors talked with patients in-person or over the phone found that in 2005:

• 29 percent of prescriptions were written by psychiatrists -- medical doctors who specialize in the treatment of mental disorders.
• 23 percent came from general practitioners -- physicians who provide primary care but are specialty-trained.
• 21 percent came from family practitioners -- primary care physicians who complete a residency in family medicine.
• 10 percent came from internal medicine specialists -- physicians who complete a residency in internal medicine and who focus on the diagnosis and non-surgical treatment of adults with illnesses that are difficult to diagnose or manage.

The data used in the summary are from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey of health services used by Americans.

 

MedlinePlus: Antidepressant Scripts Up 16 Million Over 3-Year Period.

It's not against the law to falsify the news - Capitalism out of control

FOX News told reporter: "We'll tell you what the news is. The news is what we say it is."

Reporters Steve Wilson and Jane Akre were first asked by FOX News and later bribed, to downplay a story they had on a cancer-causing growth hormone called Posilac which is growth hormone for dairy cows which is absorbed by humans through milk. The reporters decided to blow the whistle on FOX News and filed a law suit. After the ordeal was over, it was discovered in the appeals court that it's actually not against the law to falsify the "News."

Video takes 10 minutes and is well worth watching.

 

 

Statins Associated with Less Cognitive Decline

I take my simvastatin every night before I go to bed and my mind is like a steel trap and I'm 62. Is it the simvastatin or am I just a sharp guy? I have a little CRS (can't remember shit) though. My colleague and friend, Garry, says its "nominal aphasia". While I can't remember the person's name I always remember what my problem is called.

The study appeared in the July 28,2008 issue of the journal, Neurology, and the summary appears on Physician First Watch on July 28, 2008. Here is what the Physician Watch article says:

Elderly people on statins showed a lower rate of cognitive decline than those not taking them, according to a prospective observational study in Neurology.

Researchers followed a population-based cohort over 5 years, examining the participants' medicine cabinets for prescription drug use and measuring their cognitive status annually. The cohort comprised nearly 1700 Mexican American subjects, all over age 60, roughly a quarter of whom took statins at some time during the study.

By the end of the study, those who'd taken statins were about half as likely to have developed either dementia or cognitive impairment without dementia as others in the cohort.

The authors point out that there have been no primary prevention trials of statins for dementia. Writing in Journal Watch Cardiology, Joel M. Gore says that such studies are needed "before statins are routinely deployed

I wonder if John McCain takes Statins? Watching him speak has left me with the impression that he has come cognitive difficulties.

Statins Associated with Less Cognitive Decline - Physician's First Watch.

Pharmaceutical companies disease monger to detriment of society

Catherine Arnst had an interesting article published in the May 8, 2006 issue of Business Week entitled "Hey, You Don't Look So Good: As Diagnoses Of Once-Rare Illnesses Soar, Doctors Say Drugmakers Are 'Disease Mongering' To Boost Sales".

Here is a snippet from the article:

Click on article to enlage for easier reading.

 

What do Republicans and Effexor have in common?

According to John Stewart what the Republicans and Effexor have in common is the same slogan - The change you deserve." Video lasts about 2:37 minutes.

Annuale- a new pill for women who only want to have a period once per year

NIH Research Suggests Stimulant Treatment for ADHD Does Not Contribute to Substance Abuse Later in Life

According to a April 1, 2008, press release by the National Institutes of Health, NIH, recent studies indicate that the use of stimulate medication to minimize symptoms of ADHD in youth does not contribute to substance abuse. Here is a brief snippet of the release:

Treating children as early as age six or seven with stimulants for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is not likely to increase risk of substance abuse as adults, according to two studies funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). However, the studies also showed treatment with stimulants did not prevent substance abuse later in adulthood. The studies, conducted by researchers at New York University School of Medicine (NYU) and the Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School (Mass General) are being published in this month’s American Journal of Psychiatry.

Link: NIH Research Suggests Stimulant Treatment for ADHD Does Not Contribute to Substance Abuse Later in Life, April 1, 2008 News Release - National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Feeling like your real self.

I remember reading a story that Peter Kramer tells in his book, Listening To Prozac, when Dr. Kramer said he prescribed Prozac to a young woman who didn't meet the criteria for the diagnosis of depression. When she returned for a follow-up six weeks later, she told Dr. Kramer that Prozac had changed her life. He asked what she meant and she said, "For the first time in my life, I feel like my real self." Dr. Kramer said he pondered her statement for some time. What does it mean to feel like your real self?

We are all expected to play certain roles, to behave in certain ways, to pretend to feel certain ways to please others. After awhile we loose touch with what is genuine, true, real, deep down. Does it take a drug to help us get back in touch with our soul?

It is very difficult to find our real self, the truth, after we have lost our way. I believe that psychotherapy is a better way to do this than by taking drugs but then who am I to judge?

Socrates said that an unexamined life is not worth living. How many  people do you know who are living examined lives? The two places in our society that I have met them are in my psychotherapy office and in twelve step rooms like Alcoholics Anonymous. Once in a while I might meet them at Church or at the University, but that is rare. If we are blessed, we have this opportunity to come to realize our true selves in our marriages, families, or very close friendships.

One of the most important challenges in life is to become aware of and facilitate the development of our true selves.