Regional brain metabolic responses to a serotonergic challenge in major depression with vs. without comorbid alcohol dependence

Leo Sher, M.D. Our research report, “Positron emission tomography study of regional brain metabolic responses to a serotonergic challenge in major depressive disorder with and without comorbid lifetime alcohol dependence” was published in the September 2007 issue of European Neuropsychopharmacology (1). It was the first study comparing the regional glucose metabolic rate (rCMRglu) responses to […]

Prescription opioid abuse

Sohaib Khaleel Mohammed, M.D., Angeline Prabhu, M.D., Samreen Fathima, M.D., Bilal Abaid, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Introduction Misuse of prescription opioids is a public health issue. In the United States (US), over two million adults annually abuse such drugs (1). By 2008, approximately 14 million people aged 12 years or older used oxycodone in their […]

Would you recognize a Munchausen patient?

Jyothi Chitekela, M.D., Angeline Prabhu, M.D., Bilal Abaid, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D.  “Is my patient really sick?”; you might have asked yourself this question! Such a circumstance may occur while assessing patients who present with Munchausen’s Syndrome. This illness is often a difficult diagnosis and/or a vexing differential. The condition was identified during the 1700s, […]

Lithium levels in the drinking water and suicide risk

Leo Sher, M.D. A research paper, “Lithium levels in the public drinking water supply and risk of suicide: A pilot study” is published in the September, 2017 issue of the Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology (1). We examined a relation between lithium levels in the drinking water and suicide rates in Lithuania. […]

Are mindfulness exercises effective in reducing depression? A review

Ruma Mian, M.D. Introduction  Depression is not only the most common mental illness, it’s also one of the most tenacious. Epidemiologically, 50 percent of the population that experiences one major depressive episode will relapse and 80 percent will relapse after experiencing a second episode (1). Although anti-depressive medications may benefit some, a shocking number find […]

Parkinsonian pain – what we all need to know?

Shivani Naik, M.D., Murali K.Kolikonda, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is well known by its cardinal motor symptoms of tremor, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural or gait instability. Parkinsonism without tremor is frequently misdiagnosed. That PD can also induce a pain syndrome is less widely recognized. Parkinsonian pain is prevalent in 40-85% of PD […]

Naloxone for opioid overdoses

Angeline Prabhu, M.D., Bilal Abaid, M.D., Shivani Naik, M.D., Sohaib Khaleel Mohammed, M.D., Melanie Lippmann, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D. Opioid overdoses are an emerging crisis in the United States. There is a dramatic increase in the number of deaths due to narcotic overdoses recently. Overdoses can induce obtundation, impaired cognition, and difficulty in breathing. Opioids […]

Vitamin D and depression?

Shanti Pittampalli, M.D., Steven Lippmann, M.D.  Affective illness is a devastating cause of suffering, morbidity, disability, and mortality. Even though there are many different interventions available, a significant number of depressed people initially fail to respond well to conventional therapies. Despite much research, the precise mechanism which results in depression remains unknown. There is recent […]

Traumatic brain injury and suicide attempts among veterans

Leo Sher, M.D. A research paper, “Traumatic brain injury and attempted suicide among veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan” has recently been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology (1). The authors examined the associations between deployment-related traumatic brain injury, psychiatric diagnoses, and attempted suicide among 273,591 veterans deployed in support of Operation […]

Cannabis use and suicidal behavior among veterans

Leo Sher, M.D. A research report, “Cannabis use disorder and suicide attempts in Iraq/Afghanistan-era veterans” has recently been published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research (1). VA researchers from North Carolina studied a relation between the use of cannabis (marijuana) and suicidal behavior. The authors examined the association between a lifetime history of cannabis use […]

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