Feeding the Soul via Creation of a Suborganization to Promote a Sense of Community.

Pharmacy faculty commonly report feeling stressed, overwhelmed, exhausted, and burnt out. Women may be disproportionally impacted by personal and professional demands. The purpose of this commentary is to describe one mechanism for creating a suborganization (Circle) that establishes a supportive community to combat burnout and promote professional fulfillment. This commentary is a description of one American Academy of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Women Faculty Special Interest Group (SIG) Circle. The authors describe how one Circle sought to enhance the well-being of its members through the various domains of the Stanford Model of Professional Fulfillment, including personal resilience, workplace efficiency, and creating a culture of well-being. Circles and similar frameworks may be effective tools for combatting burnout, improving fulfillment, and promoting wellness and well-being among women and other groups of faculty.

Informed Consent: A Policy Prescription for Communicating Benefit and Risk in State Medical Marijuana Programs.

In creating medical marijuana laws, state governments signal to the public that marijuana can safely and effectively treat a wide range of diseases. In many cases, these state approvals overestimate the benefits of marijuana and understate the risks. After a comprehensive review of the medical literature, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine identified six medical benefits from marijuana that were supported with at least a moderate level of medical evidence and 14 potential health hazards. In contrast, the average state medical marijuana program lists 18 medical benefits, and 24 state medical marijuana program websites say nothing about possible risks. Medication approval processes through the federal government traditionally require independent analysis of data from well-designed clinical trials that measure the effectiveness and capture the risks of adverse effects from specific doses of the medicine. These considerations are generally missing from state approvals of medical marijuana. The power to declare something to be a legitimate medicine comes with the responsibility to provide information that people need to use the medicine wisely. The authors recommend that states that declare marijuana to be a medicine should inform the public about the quality of medical evidence behind each approved use and publicize all scientifically credible risks.

Prevalence and Predictors of Benzodiazepine Monotherapy in Patients With Depression: A National Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE: Depression guidelines discourage benzodiazepine monotherapy and limit use to short-term adjunctive therapy with antidepressants; however, patients with depression continue to receive benzodiazepine monotherapy. The prevalence and predictors of this prescribing pattern have not been described previously and are warranted to assist clinicians in identifying patients at highest risk of receiving benzodiazepine monotherapy. METHODS: A national, cross-sectional analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2012 to 2015 was performed for adults treated for depression. Depression was identified using a survey item specifically assessing the presence of depression. Office visits involving patients with bipolar disorder, schizoaffective disorder, or pregnancy were identified by ICD-9 code or specific survey item and were excluded. The primary endpoint was benzodiazepine monotherapy prescribing rate defined as initiation or continuation of a benzodiazepine in the absence of any antidepressant agent. A multivariate logistic regression model was created to identify variables associated with benzodiazepine monotherapy. RESULTS: In total, 9,426 unweighted visits were eligible for inclusion. Benzodiazepine monotherapy was identified in 9.3% of patients treated for depression (95% CI, 8.2%-10.6%). Predictors of benzodiazepine monotherapy included age of 45-64 years (OR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.01-1.91), epilepsy-related office visit (OR = 5.34; 95% CI, 1.39-20.44), anxiety-related office visit (OR = 1.67; 95% CI, 1.23-2.27), underlying pulmonary disease (OR = 1.43; 95% CI, 1.09-1.87), and concomitant opiate prescribing (OR = 2.86; 95% CI, 2.01-4.06). Psychiatrists were less likely to prescribe benzodiazepine monotherapy than were other providers (OR = 0.42; 95% CI, 0.29-0.61). CONCLUSIONS: Benzodiazepine monotherapy is utilized in nearly 1 in 10 patients treated for depression. Adults aged 45 to 65 years, patients prescribed opioids, patients seen by primary care providers, and those with underlying anxiety, epilepsy, or pulmonary disorders are at highest risk.

Disease Burden Among Individuals with Severe Mental Illness in a Community Setting.

This study examines the prevalence of comorbid physical health conditions within a community sample of individuals with severe mental illness (SMI), compares them to a matched national sample without SMI, and identifies which comorbidities create the greatest disease burden for those with SMI. Self-reported health status, co-morbid medical conditions and perceived disease burden were collected from 203 adults with SMI. Prevalence of chronic health conditions was compared to a propensity-matched sample without SMI from the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication (NCS-R). Compared to NCS-R sample without SMI, our sample with SMI had a higher prevalence of seven out of nine categories of chronic health conditions. Chronic pain and headaches, as well as the number of chronic conditions, were associated with increased disease burden for individuals with SMI. Further investigation of possible interventions, including effective pain management, is needed to improve the health status of this population.

Varenicline: a first-line treatment option for smoking cessation.

BACKGROUND: Varenicline acts as a partial agonist/antagonist with affinity and selectivity for alpha(4) beta(2) nicotinic acetylcholine receptors. This activity at the nicotine-receptor level may help patients achieve smoking cessation by reducing cravings/withdrawal symptoms and smoking satisfaction. OBJECTIVE: This article reviews the literature on the pharmacologic properties, therapeutic efficacy, and tolerability of varenicline for smoking cessation. METHODS: Pertinent controlled clinical trials, meta-analyses, meeting abstracts, case reports, and review articles published in English between 1966 and May 2008 were identified through searches of MEDLINE and OVID using the terms varenicline, smoking, tobacco cessation, and CP 526555. RESULTS: Eight clinical trials were identified that compared

Duloxetine: a dual reuptake inhibitor.

OBJECTIVE: To review the pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, clinical efficacy, and safety profile of duloxetine for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). DATA SOURCES: Searches using MEDLINE and PsycINFO were conducted (1966 to November 2003). STUDY SELECTION AND DATA EXTRACTION: All duloxetine MDD information gathered was considered. Articles containing comprehensive information regarding duloxetine use for MDD were evaluated. DATA SYNTHESIS: Duloxetine is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor being considered for treatment of MDD and stress urinary incontinence. While approved dosing ranges have not yet been determined, studies support the efficacy and safety of 40-60 mg twice daily for the treatment of acute MDD. Adverse effects have been of mild to moderate severity and are considered to be transient. Cardiovascular effects (increased heart rate or blood pressure), while present, do not appear to be clinically significant. Overall, duloxetine appears to be well tolerated. CONCLUSIONS: Duloxetine is a safe and effective antidepressant. Approval of this agent provides another treatment option for the management of MDD.