Understanding the neurobiology of depression involves more than just knowing about serotonin, we need to know how state and trait brain function in depression is different from brain functioning in those who have never had a major depression. State and trait are key concepts in understanding psychiatric conditions: state refers to those alterations in functioning that occur when someone is …
A single infusion of ketamine reduces suicidal thoughts in depressed patients in one day, with benefits lasting for up to one week, according to a meta-analysis reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Further, ketamine did not seem to be just treating depression, it seemed to have an effect on suicidal thinking that was greater than its effect on depression “This suggests that …
Gateway Psychiatric is happy to make medication home delivery available to its patients in the Bay Area through a partnership with Alto Pharmacy. Alto Pharmacy is dedicated to improving the pharmacy experience for doctors and patients. Alto takes all major insurance and guarantees the lowest price. In addition, Alto will automatically apply any manufacturer coupons available to reduce out of …
The news that bipolar depression light therapy may be effective is good news and follows a series of studies this past year highlighting the importance of treatments that affect circadian rhythms by manipulating light and dark in treating mood disorders. Bipolar depression is one of the hardest conditions to treat effectively. Antidepressant medications may have significant side effects, including inducing mania, …
One of my patients asked me what the long term effects of ketamine are. She was particularly interested in long-term adverse effects. The last time I did a review of the literature I noted that there seem to be very little information available. This is not surprising with the psychiatric literature since ketamine and its use for chronic depression are …
Why a post about how to supercharge your circadian rhythms? The fact is that for a lot of us our bodies and our brains have a hard time adapting to modern life and the result is poor quality sleep, daytime fatigue, and, for some, depression. What Are Circadian Rhythms? Circadian rhythms are what allow your body to go from vigorous …
Last year the New York Times reviewed two websites that offered significant medication cost savings, for those without adequate insurance and, even for those with good insurance who are getting expensive medications. Since then we have had a lot more experience working with patients to help reduce medication costs and we can definitely say that these sites can help reduce …
Transmission of Distress Across Generations Based on Epigenetic Changes Researchers looking at victims of severe trauma, such as concentration camp survivors, have long known that the effects of these events are transmitted in some fashion to the children and even the children’s children. The mechanism of this transmission has usually been assumed to be based on changes in parenting behavior …
Nutrition and Diet Update We recently updated the overall guidelines in our healthy diet page to incorporate information from the largest study today looking at diet and its effect on overall mortality. It’s worth summarizing both the strengths and weaknesses of this study which was published in two articles in the Lancet. It is the largest study to date. Nearly 140,000 …
Blue blocking glasses may be a useful adjunct to medications for mania. Bright light is one of the most rapidly effective treatments for depression and may be helpful for depression even in people without a clear seasonal pattern (winter depression). A recent study suggests that the opposite may be true, that avoiding light may treat mania. The portion of the …
