Sunday, January 27, 2019

Clinical Trial Involves Vasculature in Alzheimer's Disease Prevention


As a psychiatrist, Charlotte Murphy, MD, provides mental health treatment in collaboration with professionals from other specialties. Charlotte Murphy, MD, draws on particular expertise in the care of patients with neurodegenerative disorders, the most common of which is Alzheimer's disease.

In the past, potential treatments for Alzheimer's disease have focused on the tau and beta-amyloid proteins that cause the disease's characteristic brain plaques and tangles. Now, however, a group of researchers at the University of Rhode Island have received approval to begin a groundbreaking clinical trial. The trial will test the effectiveness of a drug known as dabigatran against a particular kind of inflammation thought to contribute to Alzheimer's disease development.

Preliminary research has revealed that when blood vessels in the brain suffer damage, that damage can start a process of inflammation that can result in the cell death or damage characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. Scientists hope that the use of dabigatran, already used to reduce stroke and embolism risk for patients with arrhythmia, will help to halt this process. 

According to the chief science officer of the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, the trial is an important step in incorporating the role of the vascular system in Alzheimer's disease.

Friday, January 4, 2019

A Primer on Opiate Addiction and Treatment


Based in New Platz, New York, Charlotte Murphy MD is a physician specializing in psychiatry. Among her core responsibilities, Charlotte Murphy MD provides psychiatric treatment, care, and evaluation for those suffering from opiate addiction. 

Understanding opiate addiction begins with understanding opiates: drugs commonly used to treat acute pain. Doctors prescribe some opiates, such as oxycodone, codeine, and fentanyl. Others, such as heroin, are illegal substances. In part because opiates can create a sense of euphoria in patients, they are highly addictive. Opiates are the leading cause of drug overdoses in the U.S., and the U.S. has experienced what has commonly described as the Opioid Epidemic, or Crisis, since the 1990s.

Doctors use several treatments for opiate addiction. Medications such as methadone and buprenorphine are often prescribed. Behavioral therapies and counseling also may be used. Some doctors advocate for a combination of treatments in what is called medication-assisted therapy (MAT), or a "whole patient" approach to treatment.