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Details below of:
Chromium picolinate - antidepressant
Abilify (aripiprazole) - antipsychotic
Tracleer (bosentan) - pulmonary hypertyension
------------------------- New Data
Show Chromium Picolinate Exerts a Selective Anti-Depressant Effect in
People with Atypical Depression
Clinical Trial Linking Anti-Depressant Response To Carbohydrate Cravings
Reported to International Experts at CINP Congress
A new double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in
113 patients diagnosed with atypical depression found that daily supplementation
with chromium picolinate had significant anti-depressant effects
in a patient sub-group with high levels of carbohydrate cravings.
Subjects with the highest levels of
carbohydrate cravings at baseline experienced
the most significant clinical response to the chromium picolinate.
The results of the 8-week, multi-center study were presented at
the 24th International Neuropsycho-pharmacology Congress (CINP) in Paris
(www.cinp2004.com).
Carbohydrate cravings, weight gain and unexplained fatigue are hallmark
symptoms of atypical depression, a common,
but frequently undiagnosed, depressive
disorder estimated to affect as many as one-third of depressed patients.
According to a 1990 World Health Organization study, depression is
ranked as the fourth most deadly disease
worldwide and is expected to be second
only to heart disease by 2020.
The new study also found that nutritional supplementation with chromium
in the form of chromium picolinate
significantly improved carbohydrate cravings,
in addition to other distinct symptoms of atypical depression. There
is currently no recognised treatment for carbohydrate cravings.
Commercially available Chromax(r) Chromium Picolinate, which has been
affirmed as safe for use in foods in the US
(GRAS), was used in the study. The
safety of Chromax Chromium Picolinate was further confirmed in a recent
review published in the June 2004 issue of
Food and Chemical Toxicology.
-------------------------------
ABILIFY
(aripiprazole)
Antipsychotic
Two in every three patients rated
ABILIFY as much better eight weeks after switching from a previous
antipsychotic treatment, according to
results of BETA (Broad Effectiveness
Trial with Aripiprazole), a
naturalistic study involving 1,500 patients.
BETA was conducted in a 'real world' setting, where physicians
prescribed ABILIFY or another
antipsychotic (in a four to one ratio) to
patients who needed to switch
treatment because of lack of effect or
intolerable side effects.
ABILIFY delivers short and long-term efficacy, controls the
symptoms of schizophrenia, and is
enhanced by a comprehensive safety and
tolerability profile. ABILIFY is the
first dopamine system stabiliser used to
treat schizophrenia and it is
suggested that it works in a different way to
all other antipsychotics. Due to its
unique mechanism of action, ABILIFY
works by decreasing dopamine activity
where D2 receptors are over stimulated
and increasing dopamine activity
where they are under stimulated, thus
creating dopamine stabilisation in
certain areas of the brain.[2]
ABIILFY
has also been shown to be less likely to cause
metabolic syndrome, which may put
patients with schizophrenia at risk for
heart attack and diabetes. Metabolic
syndrome occurred half as often in
patients taking ABILIFY compared with
patients taking olanzapine,[4]
according to a new study presented at
CINP. Metabolic syndrome, defined as >5
percent increase in weight, worsening
of lipid levels, hypertension and
increased glucose, occurred in 10
percent of patients taking ABIILFY,
compared with 20 percent of patients
taking olanzapine during the one-year
study (relative risk=2.1; 95% CI:
1.3-3.1; p=0.0016).
ABILIFY is now available to patients in the EU and many other
European countries. In
Europe
, ABILIFY is manufactured in 5 mg, 10 mg, 15
mg
and 30 mg tablets. The recommended
starting dose is 15 mg. It is taken
once-daily with or without food, with
no need for titration.
In a 26-week, placebo-controlled trial
in stabilised patients
with chronic schizophrenia, ABILIFY
had significantly greater reduction in
relapse rate, 34% in the ABILIFY
treatment group and 57% in the placebo
group.
Uncommon cases of seizures were reported during treatment with
aripiprazole. Therefore, aripiprazole
should be used with caution in patients
who have a history of seizure
disorder or have conditions associated with
seizures.
References
[1] Jody D, Tandon R, Stock E et al. A naturalistic study of
aripiprazole
treatment in a general psychiatric
setting. Poster presented at CINP (Paris,
June 2004)
[2] Jordan S, Chen R, Johnson J. Guanosine'-O-(3-[35S]THIO)-triphosphate
binding assays can be insensitive in
detecting D2 partial agonist drug
activity. Poster presented at CINP
(Paris, June 2004)
[3] Baca E , Roca M, Varela C, on behalf of the ACE Study Investigators
group. Most frequent adverse events
among schizophrenic outpatients in
Spain
.
Poster presented at CINP (Paris, June
2004)
[4] Casey D, L'Italien GJ, Cislo P. Incidence of metabolic syndrome in
olanzapine and aripiprazole patients.
Poster presented at APA (Baltimore,
Maryland
,
USA
in February 2004)
------------------------------------
New
Guidelines Include Tracleer (bosentan) as a Recommended Treatment of
Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH)
The
Taskforce of the 3rd World Symposium on Pulmonary Arterial
Hypertension
today published new evidence-based guidance for the
classification,
diagnosis and treatment of patients with Pulmonary Arterial
Hypertension (PAH). The guidelines, published in the Journal of the American
College
of
Cardiology
(1), graded
Tracleer(R) (bosentan), the first oral dual
ERA,
with the highest "level of evidence", (grade A; see editors
notes), for
the
treatment of patients with IPAH (idiopathic pulmonary arterial
hypertension)
class III and PAH related to connective tissue disease.
Around 100,000 people in
Europe
and the
US
currently
suffer from
pulmonary
arterial hypertension, which includes IPAH and PAH related to other
diseases
such as scleroderma(2). Early detection and diagnosis is extremely
important
in order to provide appropriate treatment that may significantly
improve
patients' lives. Unfortunately, diagnosis can often be delayed
because
initial symptoms are unspecific (i.e. breathlessness) and therefore
go
undetected or are attributed to other diseases.
About Tracleer(R)
Tracleer(R), the first oral dual endothelin receptor antagonist, has
demonstrated
its efficacy in two pivotal, placebo-controlled studies(3,4).
Tracleer(R)
has shown statistically significant improvements in the primary
efficacy
endpoint of exercise capacity with patients achieving a
significantly
greater, and clinically meaningful increase in walking distance
compared
to placebo.
Clinical trials have also demonstrated Tracleer(R)'s efficacy in
significantly
decreasing dyspnea (shortness of breath), one of the most
debilitating
symptoms for people with PAH. Additionally, treatment with
Tracleer(R)
is also associated with a significant delay in disease
progression
(the time to clinical worsening)(4). Clinical worsening is
defined as combined endpoint of death, hospitalization or
discontinuation
due to worsening PAH.
References:
(1). Galiè N and Rubin L. Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
Epidemiology,
Pathobiology,
Assessment and Therapy. JACC 2004;43:12(supplement S)
(2). Zaret BL et al.
Yale
University
School
of
Medicine Heart Book. New
York
: Hearst
Books, 1992. p.178.
(3). Channick R et al. Effects of the dual endothelin-receptor
antagonist bosentan in patients with pulmonary hypertension: a
randomised
placebo controlled study. Lancet 2001; 358:1119-23
(4).
5 Rubin LJ, Badesch DB, Barst RJ, Galie N, et al. Bosentan therapy
for pulmonary arterial hypertension. N Engl J Med 2002:346:896-903
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