Psychiatric Associates of Atlanta Mental Health News |
Friday, August 29, 2003
FDA Approves Wellbutrin XL -- New, Once-Daily Antidepressant with Low Risk of Sexual Side Effects and Weight Gain Friday August 29, 7:30 am ET New Medication to Provide Important Treatment Option for Adults with Depression BRIDGEWATER, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 29, 2003-- Biovail Corporation (NYSE:BVF - News; TSX:BVF - News) announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Wellbutrin XL(TM) (bupropion hydrochloride extended-release tablets) for the treatment of major depressive disorder in patients 18 and older. The new once-daily medication will offer patients an effective and convenient option to treat their depression, with a low risk of sexual side effects and weight gain. Sexual function and weight change are important considerations in selecting antidepressant therapy, as they may be a side effect of the medication or a symptom of the depression itself. GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) will market Wellbutrin XL in the United States and it is expected that the product will be available in pharmacies by mid-September. Sunday, August 24, 2003
Plan for homeless a reason for hope The Atlanta-Journal Constitution, OPINION August 24, 2003 If Atlanta police are called today to pick up a homeless, mentally ill man urinating in a downtown doorway, it will cost the city and Fulton County about $1,600 to book the defendant into the county jail and another $45 a day to hold him until his mental capacity for standing trial is evaluated -- usually six weeks. "It would be a much better expenditure of public money -- and cheaper -- to get that person in treatment, housed and off the streets," says Jack Hardin, a no-nonsense attorney who is a member of Mayor Shirley Franklin's Commission on Homelessness. He heads the committee trying to set up a central facility where homeless people can come, or be brought by police or social workers, to get help.
Teen convicted of manslaughter By STEVE VISSER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution A Fulton County judge Friday found a teenager guilty of a reduced charge of manslaughter in the Halloween slaying of 12-year-old boy three years ago. Superior Court Judge Doris Downs ruled that Derrick Byron was mentally unstable when he shot D'Anthony Lowe in a Mechanicsville park."
Homicide suspect's delusions recalled Defense blames killing of Halloween reveler on mental illness By BRENDEN SAGER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Terror gripped 17-year-old Derrick L. Byron at night when he would wake up screaming and crying -- lashing out at shadowy threats that were only in his head, a witness told a Fulton County judge Thursday. Born to a mother suffering from mental illness, Byron spent nearly his entire life in foster homes or jail. On Halloween night 2000, Byron was "on the run," carrying a Glock 9 mm pistol and walking in the twilight hours near an Atlanta park where he had twice been robbed, he said. Saturday, August 02, 2003
A pill to cure compulsive shopping Last Updated Mon, 28 Jul 2003 10:45:24 STANFORD, CALIF. - Anti-depressants can help people stop their compulsive shopping, according to new research. An American team has discovered that citalopram, sold as Cipramil, reduces compulsive shopping tendencies in people who "binge shop."
Anti-depressants may help protect brain, Washington University researchers find By TINA HESMAN Post-Dispatch updated: 08/01/2003 12:01 PM New research by neuroscientists at Washington University suggests that anti-depressant drugs may have additional benefits beyond helping patients feel better now. In a study published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry, Dr. Yvette I. Sheline and her colleagues found that women who had taken drugs to fight depression had less shrinkage in a region of the brain known as the hippocampus than women whose depression was left untreated. The hippocampus is a part of the brain involved in learning and memory. |
