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XYou may have noticed, we have just launched our new website. We will be adding more features over the upcoming weeks that you will like, so there may be a few hiccups along the way. If this is your first time visiting since our relaunch, please reset your password so you can still access our journals and CME activities that we have been providing for over 80 years. If you have any questions or comments please contact us at webadmin@psychiatrist.com.
Electroconvulsive therapy is a rapid and effective treatment option that can be an appropriate intervention in some women during pregnancy. This report presents an overview of electroconvulsive therapy in pregnancy and the case of a 28-year-old pregnant woman with bipolar mania who responded well to the intervention.
Prescriptions of antidepressants, benzodiazepines, and sedative-hypnotics have increased in older adults, even among patients with no mental health diagnosis. Read this journal CME article comparing trends in psychiatry versus primary care.
ECT is effective in patients with schizophrenia who do not respond to clozapine or cannot take it due to adverse effects. This study, conducted in a large sample using modern pharmacotherapy and ECT techniques, looked at factors associated with response as well as cognitive effects.
For some treatment-resistant patients with OCD, deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a viable option when pharmacotherapy doesn' t help. The case study of Mr A explains how electroconvulsive therapy was used in conjunction with DBS to treat his recurrent OCD.
Baclofen, a French Exception, Seriously Harms Alcohol Use Disorder Patients Without Benefit
To the Editor: Dr Andrade’s analysis of the Bacloville trial in a recent Clinical and Practical Psychopharmacology column, in which he concluded that “individualized treatment with high-dose baclofen (30-300 mg/d) may be a useful second-line approach in heavy drinkers” and that “baclofen may be particularly useful in patients with liver disease,” deserves comment.1
First, Andrade failed to recall that the first pivotal trial of baclofen, ALPADIR (NCT01738282; 320 patients, as with Bacloville), was negative (see Braillon et al2).
Second, Dr Andrade should have warned readers that Bacloville’s results are most questionable, lacking robustness. Although he cited us,3 he overlooked the evidence we provided indicating that the Bacloville article4 was published without acknowledging major changes to the initial protocol, affecting the primary outcome. Coincidentally (although as skeptics, we do not believe in coincidence), the initial statistical team was changed when data were sold to the French pharmaceutical company applying for the marketing authorization in France. As Ronald H. Coase warned, “If you torture the data long enough, it will confess.”