The Anxiety Report

CBS News and PTSD

Not two acronyms you would expect to find next to one another, but this morning on the CBS website was posted an FYI: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Learn About Symptoms, Treatments, Warning Signs And Where Those At Risk Can Get Help and a good article it is. The article provides a surprising amount of information about the condition, as well as signs to watch for, especially for soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. A series of questions are answered about the condition. A link is also provided to United States Department of Veteran Affairs, National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. More and more of our soldiers are returning from war, having faced things that have changed their lives forever. You don’t have to lose an arm or a leg to be traumatized. Just seeing your friend loose an arm is enough to mark you.

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Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Luvox CR

A press release from Jazz Pharmaceuticals

announced today that Once-A-Day LUVOX(R) CR (fluvoxamine maleate) Extended-Release Capsules is now available at pharmacies throughout the United States. LUVOX CR was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of social anxiety disorder (SAD) and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) in adult patients. SAD and OCD are two difficult-to-treat, under diagnosed and under treated anxiety disorders.

Now when I did some internet research each page started out with a list of warnings. But don’t be alarmed because all antidepressant and almost all psychiatric medications carry some type of risk. We do not live in a risk free world, and that includes or medications. I do think it is unfair of some sites to post the WARNINGS first before anyone can read what the medication is, and what it does.

However, further research turned up a couple of worrisome things. First was this one from The Carlat Psychiatry Blog.

It has very little going for it. Its half-life is about 15 hours, and it causes more drug-drug interactions than any other SSRI. Before, Luvox was a pretty useless drug; come next year, we’ll have a pretty useless drug that lasts even longer than the original.

That is not encouraging as the writer is a psychiatrist. And this less than encouraging opening page. But, go to this page, it is a research page, and read the conclusion. Lastly, make your own decision based on MedMaster Patient Drug Information

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Brain Cells Inc.

Apparently this Phase II study for BCI-540, is ready to start. A few things you might want to read: From Medical News Today , and from The Scientist.com.

It seems to me that if someone comes out with something new, then someone else is going to oppose it for some reason. Also, this is listed as a clinical trial, and I tend to trust their view more than others, but this study is still recruiting people.

Tags: Research, articles //