This Is Your Brain On Drugs Psychiatry Podcast

Today I will continue with weight loss medications, and we will focus on two of the newer options. First the phentermine/topiramate ER combination pill known as Qsymia. Then I will talk about the naltrexone/bupropion combination pill known as Contrave. You may be thinking to yourself, why even bother with these now that GLP1 medications are so effective and everyone is using them? Well, these medications definitely have their place and they are not as straightforward as you may think they are. There is a lot of nuance that you can use in prescribing them, and there are a number of things that you want to be careful about as well. These can be great for those where GLP1s are not an option, for those that have comorbid conditions in which these medications also treat, and also they are often needed prior to GLP1s if you are trying to get insurance to cover the GLP1, so definitely do not miss this one!

Today we will finish up the medications for ADHD with the remaining non-stimulant medications. There are actually quite a few non-stimulants with more than half being used off label. I will talk about the alpha 2 agonist medications guanfacine and clonidine, which are the FDA approved medications. Then, I will talk about off label options like TCAs and bupropion. Lastly, I will discuss two new medications on the horizon likely to be approved soon, solriamfetol and centanafadine. I will finish with saffron, which is one of the few herbal options which shows some promise.

We have finally finished going over lifestyle factors for obesity and mental health and will start talking about medications. Today I start with medications that you should be considering first line, including phentermine and several others that you are probably less familiar with like diethylpropion, phendimetrazine, and benzphetamine. I will talk about the amphetamines that have been used for weight loss as well as ones like Vyvanse that are currently used. I will also talk about fenfluramine and its connection to phentermine and also sibutrimine which was taken off the market. A lot of interesting history and pharmacology in here as well as details on how to use some of the most important medications for obesity!

Today we will be moving from the stimulant medications to the so called non-stimulants. Stimulants include methylphenidate and amphetamine as well as modafinil. There are actually quite a few non-stimulants with more than half being used off label. I will introduce the non-stimulants today and then talk in depth about two of them, atomoxetine, brand name Strattera, and one of the newest psychiatrist medications, viloxazine, brand name Qelbree.

We have finally finished going over lifestyle factors for obesity and mental health, and now if that was not enough to help the patient for weight loss and metabolic factors, we will need to consider using medications, but before we start medications, we need to do a medical assessment. Actually you would do this assessment before lifestyle factors, but I think this is a good time to talk about it right before we talk about obesity medications in the next podcast, so it may not be as exciting of a topic, but we have to screen patients for other causes of obesity as well as factors that will help us know what medication to select because there are contraindications to all medications as well as times when we can kill two birds with one stone, so you definitely should not breeze over this topic!

Today I will be wrapping up the lifestyle factors that contribute to health problems like mental health and obesity. I will briefly discuss getting adequate sleep, avoiding toxins like alcohol, tobacco, and drugs, healthy relationships, lifelong learning, and spending time outdoors. I think many of these are overlooked when trying to lose weight or fix mental health problems. Diet and exercise are all over the internet now, but I think these factors are neglected and ignored and doing so may just be the reason why things are getting better, so in that regard, these could actually be the most important factors. In fact having healthy relationships and socialization is probably the most important lifestyle factor to good health!

Today I will wrap up the last episode on adverse effects of stimulant medications used to treat ADHD. I will be discussing the black box warning regarding abuse, misuse, and addiction. This risk is very much overstated, and it leads to providers withholding potentially life changing medication from a lot of patients, so today I will be going over the scientific research on how risky these medications are, when to worry about it, and what to do when actual concern exists, so you won't want to miss this one!

So we had two episodes on the efficacy of antidepressants and I think I may have been a little hard on them, so I decided to make a part 3 where I instill some hope in these medications. They work great for so many people, yet so many people hate them as well. How can that be? And why do their effectiveness numbers look so abysmal? Find out on this episode!

I bet a lot of you have heard of psychogenomic testing or at least seen one. Maybe you are a patient and you got one or are thinking about getting one. Are these things worse the time and money? Listen to this episode to learn about them and get my 2 cents on the topic!

On the last episode on antidepressant efficacy we discussed effect size and placebo. On today's episode I will cover a topic called psychodynamic prescribing. I'll be giving you tips on how to become a prescriber that gets max effect from medications. There's a lot of things that you can to maximize the effect, so tune in to find out what they are.

OK, so we've learned about the antidepressants, how to pick one, and how to dose. Well, how well do they work? I'll be discussing the efficacy of antidepressants on this episode, and I will be exploring the idea of placebo as it relates to these medications. It's more than what you would like, so tune in to find out all about it!

So we've finally gone through the massive topic of nutrition, and today I'll just have this one episode on physical fitness. That's not because it isn't as important, but I think it's just a lot easier. With nutrition there's so much false information out there, but with physical fitness, it's basically just make sure you are moving around and not sedentary, so I will go over the research that ties physical fitness to improved mental health outcomes, I'll go over how much physical fitness you should strive for, and I'll give some tips on things you can do to get you started and how to break through the barriers that are stopping you from maintaining your fitness level, so there's a lot packed in to this one episode. Enjoy!

It's been a few months since my last update episode, and I have several updates in the world of psychiatry. A couple studies of the ketogenic diet for depression and anxiety, a newly approved device for depression, a blood test for Alzheimers, ibogaine in Colorado, pregnancy risk with benzodiazepines and sleep medications like Ambien, a new study on the non-link between Tylenol and autism, and many more. I hope you enjoy these updates of real time information that has come out since November!

Today I will continue talking about potential adverse effects of stimulant medications. Last time I discussed several adverse effects, but today I will mostly be focusing on cardiac (heart) effects because those have gotten a lot of press, especially with a previous black box warning for this. I will also talk about use in pregnancy in this episode. Next time I will discuss substance abuse issues which will round out all of our potential adverse effects.

So today I wanted to do an episode about deception in health information. How do these deceptions work and how to detect them. We don't all have the knowledge or time to go through the literature with a fine toothed comb, and even those like me that do have more knowledge and more time can still be misled, and we are often misled by well intentioned folks that think they have correctly interpreted the data and are revealing some kind of new controversial truth to us. I mean governments and businesses have an incentive to mislead us and have in the past, so it isn't surprising to think that they are doing it again. However, we can also be misled by those that are making these accusations against governments and businesses. How confusing! Today I will talk about this and I will also make some corrections of things that I have said during this series on nutrition and some of them are big ones!

Today I do a deep, deep dive on Adderall, aka Mixed Amphetamine Salts, and I attempt to answer my own questions, "Why are there 4 different salts in Adderall?" I mean I get that there is a mixture of levo and dextro, but why the sulfate, aspartate monohydrate, etc.? Well, for those of you that are wondering this is well, I think I have the answer. This is not stated anywhere that I could find, it is my best guess hypothesis. It's interesting because as far as I am aware, other than Xywav, there is no other medication that is a mixture of salts of the same active drug, and in the case of Xywav, the purpose is to minimize sodium intake. For Adderall, there is no sodium, so the explanation is completely different and actually pretty fascinating. Have a listen!

So, we've talked about every stimulant medication for ADHD under the sun and we understand them pretty well. Next, I will be discussing the adverse or side effects of these medications. What are the most common ones? Which should we take more seriously? And what can we do about them when they happen? I'll be discussing how to mitigate these adverse effects so that patients can take their stimulant medication that works for them, while not having to suffer from the side effects at the same time. I will go over most of the major ones today, but I will discuss cardiovascular effects and abuse potential on subsequent episodes.

Well, we've gone through all of the information about nutrition. What's healthy. What't not. How to eat better. As well as the scientific evidence for improved nutrition and mental health. Today on the last episode in the series I will be discussing all the stuff that gets in peoples' way when it comes to eating the way that they want to in order to live a healthier life. I have several factors that I will discuss, and I will give strategies for how to address these barriers so that when you face them, you will know what to do about them so that you can implement the healthy nutrition plan that will make you fit and happy.

Today I will finish talking about the methylphenidate formulation medications. This will be part 3 of 3 of the truckload of methylphenidate medications. I'll discuss the now no longer available Adhansia XR, the dexmethylphenidate products, Focalin and Focalin XR, the newest serdexmethylphenidate + methylphenidate product, Azstarys, and the off-label stimulants, modafinil and armodafinil. Once again I'll talk about how these different from each other and when you should choose one over the other. What are the advantages and disadvantages to each? Well, you've come to the right place. Have a listen!

Well, I've finally made it to the end of my nutrition talks and to round that discussion out, I will be going over the scientific data and evidence for improving your mood through improving your diet. There's actually a fair amount of studies out there, and they are growing. We will go over all that evidence today, so if you've been wondering why I've been talking about nutrition on a psychiatric medication podcast, then this episode will answer that question because diet works better than medications, and I'm going to talk about that evidence today.

It's almost January and I'm releasing Part 2 of my November Updates. Today I'll be discussing several topics. Seltorexant, Ketogenic Diet, and Fecal Transplants for Depression. Consta is generic. Uzedy and Lumateperone have new indications. New drugs that may get approved for ADHD and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. Hyperemesis gravidarum associated with depression. A case of menstrual psychosis. And more.  Lots of good stuff today. Enjoy!

Today I will continue talking about all the methylphenidate formulation medications. This will be part 2 of 3 of the truckload of methylphenidate medications. I'll discuss the patch Daytrana, the long-acting liquid Quillavant XR, the long-acting chewable Quillachew XR, the extra long-acting Aptensio XR, the oral disintegrating tablet Cotempla ODT-XR, and the much delayed release Jornay PM. You may be wondering how are these different from each other and when should I choose one over the other. What are the advantages and disadvantages to each? Well, you've come to the right place. Have a listen!

Today I will be rounding off my information on macro and micronutrients and diet advice, so it's a bit of a hodgepodge. I'll cover cholesterol and protein, and then I'll talk about healthy foods for your brain. These are foods I've been talking about during this whole nutrition section, but I think this gives a good summary of the foods that we have some research on to suggest it is good for mental health.

I'm finally putting out part 1 of my November updates episode. I recorded it a while back but its hard to put out 2 episodes in a week! Today I'll be discussing several topics. New information for you and me on mechanisms of action of vortioxetine, great new data on pramipexole for depression, a new drug on the horizon for schizophrenia? Dangers of Tramadol by itself and in combination with antidepressants, Doxycycline may decrease risk of developing schizophrenia, potential mental health consequences of use of finasteride, the hair loss and enlarged prostate medication, and finally a case series of guanfacine used for catatonia in lieu of ECT availability. Lots of good stuff today. Enjoy!

Today I will start talking about the methylphenidate products. I'll start with the oldest ones, brand names Ritalin, Methylin, Metadate, and Concerta. This includes capsules, tablets, liquids, and the special osmotic capsules used by Concerta. I will mention short acting and long acting versions of Ritalin. I'll compare all these and let you know when I think it might be best to use each one. This will be the first of three episodes covering methylphenidate, as there are quite of few of these to go over. They are basically all the same drug, but the formulations are very different, and they all of their place for when they are best used.

Today I will be talking about another macronutrient, fats or fatty acids. I did an overview of fats in our omega-3 fatty acid episode, but I didn't really go into detail about the other fats, and there is a lot of controversy surrounding the fats, most particularly saturated fats and seed oils which contain the dreaded omega-6 fatty acids. A lot of people hate saturated fats but are ok with omega-6 and vice versa, so what's the real story? I'm not sure if we fully understand the full truth and I think tensions are too high on either side of this debate. I will do my best to explain what these are and present my evidence for why I don't particularly have a problem with either one of them.

Today I will finish the amphetamine medications that we talked about on the last episode. I will be discussing lisdexamfetamine or Vyvanse(r) and the amphetamine base medications, Evekeo(r), Evekeo ODT(r), Dyanavel XR(r), Adzenys XR-ODT(r), and Adzyenys ER(r). You may be less familiar with those other than Vyvanse, so I will go over my usual stuff where I tell you how each of these differs and is unique from other medications, if at all, and let you know what situations that I would consider using each one. Enjoy!

Today I will be continuing with ultra-processed foods and the sugar, fructose. What is it? Where does it come from? What does it do in the body? And why is it a problem? I mean this stuff comes from fruit and fruit is good, right? So, how have we messed this stuff up in modern society? After fructose, I will be talking all about artificial sweeteners. What are the most common types? What are their commercial names? Are they bad for us? If so, how bad and why? I think you'll learn a thing or two today, so please have a listen.

Today I will start discussing the stimulant medications used for ADHD. I will be starting with the amphetamine medications. First, I'll talk briefly about methamphetamine, which is actually a prescribable option, but then I will cover all of the dextroamphetamine and mixed amphetamine salt medications. These include medications you have heard of such as Dexedrine, Procentra, Zenzedi, Xelstrym, Adderall, and Mydayis. I'll go through all the details on what distinguishes each of these medications to help you decide when you might want to use each of them. I mostly stick with only a few of the stimulants, but I will describe some situations where you may want to consider each one of these. This is what I love best. There are so many medications that are so similar, so I think it is important to know the differences between them so that we pick the right med for the right patient.

I've been waiting a long time to do this episode. It seems like ultra-processed foods are being talked about a lot this day, but what exactly are they, and what's bad about them? Which ones should we avoid and which ones should we not worry about so much? You may think you know the answer to these questions, but my guess is that there's a lot you don't know, and that's because there's a lot that isn't known, so please have a listen. I think you may rethink a lot of the foods you may have been considering healthy or not. I'm hoping there are some surprises in here for you that makes you reconsider some of your beliefs.

On today's episode from my ADHD season I will be introducing the stimulant medications. I'll do an overview of all of the stimulants that we will be discussing on the following several episodes. I'll discuss what symptoms you can expect to respond well versus not so well, the different durations of actions, the history behind these medications, and the mechanism by which they work, specifically the difference between amphetamine and methylphenidate as these are our two stimulant classes. I hope you enjoy this introduction to these medications and feel prepared to finally get into talking about the individual medications over the next several episodes in our ADHD series!

Today I will be covering a very controversial topic, the ketogenic diet. I thought it appropriate to discuss it now while I was going over nutritional aspects of mental health. So, first I'll talk about carbohydrates; what they are, what they do, do we need them. Then, I'll talk about what the ketogenic diet is, how to do it, and what conditions there is some evidence that it may be useful for. At the end I'll talk about how to do it safely if you want to try it on your patients; what conditions are contraindicated with the ketogenic diet and what labs you will need to monitor for safety. I'll give you my unbiased opinion on the subject, but I'm sure people will disagree with me on both sides; some will think I'm too harsh on the diet, and some will say that I'm too much in favor of it, but I walk the gray line as best I can as with everything. I see the good and I see the bad, and this is my perspective.

On today's episode from my ADHD season I will be talking about the aspects to consider when deciding which medication to choose. I'll talk about why you might consider amphetamines versus methylphenidate. Next, I'll discuss aspects to consider when getting a patient to the correct dose of the medication. Also, these medications have a wide range of how long they work for, so there's a lot to consider when deciding which one to pick. Finally, there a whole host of other things to consider: ability to swallow pills, adverse effects, coexisting disorders, what time of day its most important for the medication to work, cost and availability, and more! This episode will introduce you to all of the aspects you need to consider when selecting the right medication for the patient in front of you. Next, we will begin discussing the medications, and I will be talking about all of the concepts in today's episode as I discuss each med, so I think this will be a really helpful overview for you. Enjoy!

Today I will be continuing with the lifestyle medicine series, and I will be continuing to talk about nutrition. I will discuss the general way of eating that I advocate for most people, which is a plant-based diet. This doesn't mean no meat products. It means a diet of at least 90% plants. And I acknowledge that it isn't for everyone, but on the whole this is the diet that will lead to a healthier body and mind. I will discuss the principles of this diet, and I will give examples of the types of foods that are in it. I'll talk about fermented foods, fats, omega-3s, proteins, fiber, nutrients, and healthy snacks. I'll give you an idea of the kinds of foods that I think you should eat more of. There's no need for supplements for most people; just whole healthy foods. And we aren't done with this episode. I will be discussing more healthy foods in future episodes, the ketogenic diet, and also the unhealthy foods and what good replacements for them would be. I hope this inspires you that eating healthy can be affordable, fun, easy, delicious, and improve both body and mind. Remember food really is medicine, and if you eat better, you may not need to take any! Have a listen!

On today's episode from my ADHD season I will be discussing non-pharmacological treatments of ADHD, so basically everything that isn't medication. I'll start off going through the treatment algorithm from stage 0 to stage 5. Today's episode will be stage 0, the first line treatment. It's better to not use a medication if we don't have to, so let's learn what those options are. I'll talk about lifestyle modifications with some details on diet where I'll talk about artificial colors and preservatives as well as melatonin, magnesium, zinc, omega-3 fatty acids, as well as a well-rounded whole foods diet. I'll also talk about some supplements that have been looked at but there really isn't any evidence for. I'll also talk about caffeine. We will go over some coaching strategies of behavioral and social changes to help manage ADHD symptoms. Lastly, I'll talk about eTNS (external trigeminal nerve stimulator) and some digital therapies like Endeavor. I think you will learn a lot and if medication is not an option or not preferred, then these are the things that we have evidence for, so please have a listen!

This is the episode that I've been waiting a year to do. I'll be talking about Lifestyle Medicine as a treatment for obesity, mental health, and overall health and chronic illnesses. These are techniques that will benefit everyone and are fairly easy and cheap to do. They are also fairly simple. A lot of folks want to make this stuff more complicated that it is so that they can make money off of you selling their programs and supplements, but here at This is Your Brain on Drugs, we don't play that game. We give you free information to make this important information available to everyone. Today I'll start with the introduction. I'll talk about Integrative Psychiatry, Lifestyle Psychiatry, Nutritional Psychiatry, and let you know the nuances between these overlapping concepts. Then I'll get into the nutrition piece of Lifestyle Medicine, and we will have several follow on nutrition episodes from here. If you think you know everything about what to eat and what's good for your body and mind, I think you will definitely find more information in this series. I've made this as science-based as it possible with this subject, so please have a listen!

Welcome back to part two of my September edition of my psychiatry quick takes episode series. It's been a busy couple months in the news, so I have several more tidbits for September. Today I'm going to talk about a new study on long-term medication treatment of ADHD, psychosis caused by bromide poisoning after consulting ChatGPT, more information about kanna, another study showing that gabapentin just doesn't work that well, a new formulation of lecanemab for Alzheimer's which is easier to take, the latest trial results on the next likely GLP-1, oral orforglipron for weight loss, a fascinating case of a woman who had a fecal microbiota transplant and ceased to have symptoms of bipolar disorder, a new wearable lithium sensor to be hitting the market, and a new synthetic opioid that's 50 times stronger than kratom to be on the look out for. Please have a listen!

Today we switch back to ADHD and I will be talking about adult ADHD. I'm an adult psychiatrist and I practiced in the military so this was one of the largest issues that I treated as many of my patients were younger folks, many of which struggled in school prior to joining the military. There isn't a lot of formal education on this topic and yet we see tons of online information of folks talking about how they have adult ADHD and that if you answer these few questions this way then you have adult ADHD, so there's a lot of misinformation out there on this topic. It's a topic that wasn't really discussed at all until the last few decades and many still deny its existence at all. I'm going to talk about it in depth on this episode and I think you will find it very interesting and hopefully different than what you may have heard before. We will dive much deeper than the DSM definition which is mostly designed for children, and I will talk about how someone's life with adult ADHD looks so that you can pick up on the subtleties and make the best diagnosis in order to treat patients with the best care possible. So please have a listen!

Welcome back to my second episode covering several snippets of breaking news on psychiatric medications. In these episodes I don't deep dive like normal, but instead cover several important breaking news items that affect psychopharmacology and give my quick take on the news. Some of this will be trial results, FDA updates, interesting papers that were recently published, and anything else I can come up with. I have a ton of updates since the last episode. So much that I had to break it up into two episodes. The next one will be out next week. Today I'm going to talk about new approvals of old medications from new ketamines, KETARx and Nrx100, to Tonmya(r) (cyclobenzaprine) for fibromyalgia. Then, I'll also talk about some combination products containing atomoxetine (Strattera(r)) for obstructive sleep apnea. Lastly, I'll then go into a couple medications with new Phase II trial data for depression. First is a unique vasopressin 1b antagonist and the second is a selective orexin receptor antagonist. I do a bit more discussion on these topics than in the previous update episode because honestly I'm not happy about a lot of this and I want to use these new approvals to talk about the deeper issue of how these drug companies manipulate to make money. Please have a listen!

Today I will be presenting my second episode on obesity medicine. I will go over how obesity reeks havoc on every system in the body, what medical conditions are increased by being obese, the increased risk of psychiatric disorders from obesity, and the long list of cancers that are at increased risk from obesity. I think you all will be surprised just how much obesity impacts health. Many of you may not be aware of how linked obesity is with psychiatric illness. Also I think you will be surprised just how many types of cancer are affected and how strongly. After that I will talk about how to do a thorough assessment, basically the history and physical, for a patient with obesity. We need to rule out other causes, assess motivation for treatment, and assess common comorbidities. This is great foundational information that I think you will find super helpful!

Flipping back to ADHD today, I continue with the background information. I'll go over how to diagnose. I'll go over the criteria but of course I'll be giving you the subtleties of how to flush that out. I'll also talk about both mental health and medical disorders that often go along with ADHD, and I'll talk about the long list of other diagnoses that may look like ADHD with a special focus on bipolar disorder.

Today I will start a new season of This Is Your Brain On Drugs Psychiatry Podcast. I mentioned the dual season of ADHD with Obesity Medicine and Lifestyle Psychiatry on the previous episode. Last week I started with ADHD and today I will start the series on Obesity Medicine. I'll do an introduction where I talk about measuring obesity, rates of obesity, trends over time, and etiologies of obesity. I think you will find the discussion on etiology to be especially interesting. I decided to include my lectures on lifestyle and nutritional psychiatry into this series as well as these treatments can treat obesity but also are very useful in treating depression, anxiety, and other psychiatric conditions. So, there will be a lot on those topics before I start talking about the medications to treat obesity. I'm really excited to do this season. It's the one that I've been waiting to do for a year, so I hope you enjoy!

Today I start a new season of This Is Your Brain On Drugs Psychiatry Podcast. I will do a dual season where I will go back and forth each week between a season on ADHD and a season on Obesity Medicine and Lifestyle Psychiatry. Today I will start with ADHD. I will do a background on ADHD and discuss its possible causes. I think you will enjoy this introduction and discussion on the background of ADHD. I'll do the usual where I discuss what the science says and give my opinions and clinical insights. Have a listen!

I had an after thought after finishing the depression season, and that is what happens when someone has depressive symptoms that looks like a depressive disorder but it isn't? We will cover all of these diagnoses and their treatments in the future but I think it is prudent to have a discussion on how depressive symptoms look different in different illnesses and how that can affect the medication that you select. And most importantly we want to consider bipolar disorder, so I do a deep dive on bipolar disorder and talk about the old diagnosis of manic depressive illness from DSM-II days where these illnesses were one in the same and both would be treated with a mood stabilizer. There have actually been several different types of depression or manic depressive illness suggested, so have a listen to learn more.

Today I will finish up on psychiatric procedures for depression. I will discuss bright light therapy, vagal nerve stimulation, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and cranial electrotherapy stimulators. Some of these are really cheap, others expensive; some are really invasive, some not at all. So there is a range of accessibility. Most of these are quite effective and adverse effects are generally pretty low. You're probably familiar with some of them and not with others, so take a listen and learn about how these work, how you can give to your patients, and what the evidence is for effectiveness.

Today I talk about Electroconvulsive Therapy or ECT. This is the most effective treatment in psychiatry with effect sizes off the charts and comparable to treatments for other medical disorders. It's used a lot more than you probably think but not used enough. I'm no expert in ECT. I've done it under supervision, but I'm not certified in it. But that doesn't mean that I can't tell you all about its virtues. In this podcast that's what I'll do. I'll tell you about its effectiveness, how its done, what it can treat, and how to do a thorough medical review to make sure that a patient is safe to have it done. What I'll leave for the expert to explain is exactly how to perform it, but I think even if you practice ECT that you will learn a lot from this episode, so please have a listen!

Hey All, I'm starting up a new series that will contain several snippets of updates in the psychopharm world. Every month or two I will plan to release an episode where I don't deep dive like normal, but instead cover several important breaking news items that affect psychopharmacology and give my quick take on the news. Some of this will be trial results, FDA updates, interesting papers that were recently published, and anything else I can come up with. Today I have a ton of stuff to tell you about. FDA discussion on BBW on SSRIs for pregnancy, clozapine REMS ends, clozapine semaglutide trial, online ADHD prescription assessment, new psychedelic trial results for treatment resistant depression, change in alcohol intake recommendations, new warning on stimulants, new Alzheimers drug donanemab approved for label change indicating improved safety over competitors, new study on vaping for tobacco cessation, BBW removal for HRT?, FDA decision on brexpiprazole combo for PTSD, and study results on the effects of gabapentin on long-term cognition. I really packed a lot in to this shorter episode. Please have a listen!

Today I will be finishing up the complementary treatments for depression. I'll briefly cover three more treatments that have some evidence and no risk for effect: n-acetylcysteine, creatinine, and aromatherapy. Then I'll mention a number of treatments that as far as I can tell have no evidence that they work better than placebo, some of which could be harmful. Then I'll do a wrap-up of complementary treatments and discuss how these can be useful for your practice and why you shouldn't just write them off as nonsense or less effective. It went a little longer than I was hoping for but I think you will enjoy this finish to our complementary and alternative medicine series.

Continuing with complementary medicine for depression, I'm moving on to omega-3 fatty acids. I'll give you the full run down of fatty acids and where omega-3s fit in, what differentiates all the types of fatty acids, why omega-3s are so good for you, what foods you will find them in, the three different kinds and how they are different, and most importantly, what they can do for mental health. I'll briefly cover a few journal articles that point to evidence for omega-3s benefit for mental health, and I'll make my final recommendation and verdict on omega-3s for use in mental health, so you'll definitely want to hear about this because I'm sure most of your patients are taking it, have taken it, or are thinking about it. You will want to know how to advise them on the best way to do so, and what they can expect!

On today's show I will continue the discussion on minerals with zinc. Like magnesium, zinc is also critical for cell functioning, and neurons are certainly no exception. I'll talk about what zinc does, how you can be deficient, what foods contain it, what research there is to support the use of zinc in mental health, and I'll discuss how to supplement. This is another mineral to pay attention to and is the second of two that I am discussing, so I'm sure you will enjoy.