Biotech Values

[apljack]

RE: Target for PTSD

From the article:, ""Currently, the only medical treatment options for the nearly 8 million American adults with PTSD are anti-depressants and anti-anxiety medications, which show little benefit in improving the mental health of these patients," Neumeister said in a statement.

Spoken like a true drug pusher. There are plenty of effective and high quality treatments for PTSD, and most combine established medications with Exposure Therapy, a type of cogntive-behavioral therapy technique that has repeatedly demonstrated effectiveness for a variety of anxiety and stress related syndromes. Please see:

http://www.apa.org/monitor/jan08/ptsd.aspx

and a short excerpt from this article:

"In perhaps the most important news, in November, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ISTSS), a professional society that promotes knowledge on severe stress and trauma, issued new PTSD practice guidelines. Using a grading system from "A" to "E," the guidelines label several PTSD treatments as "A" treatments based on their high degree of empirical support, says Keane, one of the volume's editors. The guidelines-the first since 2000-update and generally confirm recommendations of other major practice-related bodies, including the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Defense, the American Psychiatric Association, and Great Britain's and Australia's national health-care guidelines, he says.

In other PTSD-treatment advances, researchers are adding medications and virtual-reality simulations to proven treatments to beef up their effectiveness. Clinical investigators are also exploring ways to treat PTSD when other psychological and medical conditions are present, and they are studying specific populations such as those affected by the Sept. 11 attacks.

Though exciting, these breakthroughs are somewhat colored by an October Institute of Medicine (IoM) report that concludes there is still not enough evidence to say which PTSD treatments are effective, except for exposure therapies. Many experts, however, disagree with that conclusion, noting that a number of factors specific to the condition, such as high dropout rates, can lead to what may seem like imperfect study designs (see Sidebar).



Lets be realistic about how to treat PTSD,

Regards,

aj