Wholistic News Reviews: Traditional, Complementary, Alternative, and Psycho-Social Modalities of Treatment

by Larry Lachman, PsyD

Download PDF

Return to Master Table of Contents

Melatonin Treatment for Schizophrenics with Tardive Dyskinesia 

Researchers studied 22 patients with schizophrenia who had tardive dyskinesia (a movement disorder of facial and other muscles due to tranquilizer use over many years) in a placebo-controlled double-blind study and found that those who were given both antidopmainergic drugs and melatonin ³showed significantly more improvement on the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale score than the placebo group.² The authors noted that this was the first clinical evidence of melatonin being helpful in the treatment of tardive dyskinesa. Archives of General Psychiatry 2001, 58, 1049-1052

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ginkgo biloba Combined With Haloperidol in Treatment-Resistant Patients With Schizophrenia

Researcher X.Y. Zhang and colleagues examined the use of Ginkgo biloba (Egb), a free-radical scavenger, as an adjunctive treatment in 109 patients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia. They randomly assigned the patients to either receive haloperidol with Egb or haloperidol with placebo for a 12-week period. The authors found a significant improvement for both groups, but the scores were significantly improved for the Egb group after the 12-week study. The researchers concluded that Egb might be an effective adjunctive treatment with antipsychotic medications for the treatment of schizophrenia.

Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 2002, 62, 878-883

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Abnormal Stress And Night Eating Syndrome

 
Researcher Dr. Grethe S. Birketvedt of Norway studied patients suffering from night eating syndrome and found that, ³night eaters have a different pattern of hormonal release to stress than normal eaters," and found that the night eaters' hormone secretion in response to induced stress was significantly weaker than their normal eating peers. Dr. Birketvedt concludes that these findings indicate that those with night eating syndrome demonstrate a ³relationship between the adrenal gland, hypothalamus, and pituitary (that) is out of control. ³

American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism 2002, 282, E366-E369

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Evidence-Based Psychological Interventions and Clinical Psychotherapy Practice 

Dr. William C. Sanderson of Rutgers University says that although psychotherapeutic methods such as exposure and response prevention and cognitive therapy for panic disorders have been shown to be ³evidence-based treatments (EBTs),² it appears that three primary mental health professional groups (psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers) do not typically use them.

For example, Sanderson cites the fact that the National Institute of Health fully endorses behavioral (exposure) treatment as an effective therapy for panic and phobic disorders. However, ³only a small percentage of patients with panic and phobic disorders (estimated between 15% and 38%) actually receive an evidence-based psychological intervention, such as exposure therapy and cognitive restructuring.² Sanderson lists several factors as to why clinicians are not utilizing evidence-based treatments (EBTs) to a greater degree:

Psychotherapy training that psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers receive as part of their graduate (or medical) education does not require that they receive comprehensive training in EBTs.

Continuing-education programs do not require training in EBTs; therefore, there is no way to insure the transfer of these treatments from research settings to clinical practice.

Many clinicians in the field are negatively biased toward evidence-based treatments and, presumably, are not likely to seek continuing-education training and adopt for use in practice.

Sanderson concludes by saying that all psychotherapists should be concerned with this issue, as it is paramount to the survival of psychotherapy as a viable treatment.

Medscape Mental Health 2002, 7, 1

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Startle Response and Salt Sensitivity

Researcher Dr. Hans Christian Deter and his colleagues at the Freie Universitat in Berlin, found that people who are salt-sensitive have an ³enhanced central nervous system responsivness,² as evidenced by a increased affective startle reaction.

The researchers examined reactivity to mental stress and startle modulation in 14 salt-sensitive healthy male subjects and 14 matched salt-resistant controls. They found that salt-sensitive patients had significantly enhanced startle amplitudes under negative stimuli and diminished startle amplitudes under positive stimuli than salt-resistant subjects, and the difference was significant (p < 0.05).

Dr. Deter concludes, ³The increased startle modulation of salt-sensitive subjects suggests an enhanced activity of the central nucleus of the amygdala," and ³This enhanced central nervous responsiveness may contribute to higher sympathetic pressor reactivity and, thus, to the later development of hypertension in salt-sensitive individuals.²   ension 2001, 38, 1325-1329 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Media, Oncology, Cancer Patients and The Internet 

Researchers Dr. Xueyu Chen and Dr. Lillian L. Siu found that among 191 ambulatory cancer patients and 410 Canadian oncologists:

86% of the patients ³wanted as much information as possible about their illness;²

83% of patients cited physicians as their primary information source of information about their illness; and  

54% of the patients reported they received insufficient information from the Internet or media, and.

The oncologists surveyed believed that it is difficult for patients to interpret medical information in the media and on the Internet accurately. Both patients and oncologists agreed that information seeking does not affect the patient-physician relationship.

The researchers conclude, ³ŠThe media and the Internet are powerful means of medical information dissemination. Strategic efforts are needed to improve the quality of medical news reporting by the media, and to provide guidance for patients to understand their disease and interpret such information better.²

Journal of Clinical Oncology (2001,19: 23, 4291-4297

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Contact:
Larry Lachman, Psy.D. is a Registered Psychologist and Animal Behavior Consultant specializing in psychosocial oncology, also in dog, cat and pet bird behavior..
P.O. Box 22151
Carmel, CA 93922
(831) 643-2635
http://www.thepathofcouragecentral.com/
http://www.familyanimal.com/
Dociam2@msn.com

Return to Master Table of Contents