Dr. Jibson, there have been several meta-analyses comparing atypical antipsychotics published over the last few years. They are all long, complicated papers, and the conclusions are often controversial. Can you help us understand this literature?
Most psychiatrists rely on the Folstein Mini Mental State Exam for a rapid, office-based neuropsychological assessment. But the MMSE has some serious limitations. A hot new test, called the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) appears to work much better.
Psychiatric conditions are easy to fake, because there are no truly objective tests for their diagnoses. The prevalence of malingered PTSD symptoms is hard to assess. The actual prevalence of ADHD malingering has never been formally studied, but the high rate of stimulant diversion on college campuses implies that the problem is significant.
Tamoxifen, an estrogen blocker that is approved for the treatment of breast cancer, successfully treated patients with mania in a placebo-controlled trial.
A few studies have shown that orally disintegrating Zyprexa Zydis appears to cause less weight gain than standard Zyprexa, but they have been short term studies.