#78 Obesity Medicine: Lifestyle Medicine: Physical Fitness

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!

Quick Take #8: February Updates!: New Ketogenic Diet Studies for Mental Health Disorders, ProlivRX for Depression, New Blood Test for Alzheimers, and MORE!!!

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!

#77 ADHD: Stimulants: Adverse (Side) Effects Part 2: Cardiac and Pregnancy

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.

#76 Obesity Medicine: How Deception Works, How I've Been Deceived, and Corrections I'm Making

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!

Quick Take #7: Why Is Adderall a Mixture of Different Amphetamine Salts? 

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!

#75 ADHD: Stimulants: Adverse (Side) Effects

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.

#74 Obesity Medicine: Lifestyle Medicine: Barriers to Healthy Eating

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.

#73 ADHD: Stimulants: Methylphenidate: Adhansia XR, Focalin, Azstarys, Modafinil (Provigil), and Armodafinil (Nuvigil)

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!

#72 Obesity Medicine: Lifestyle Medicine: Scientific Evidence for Diet Improving Mood

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.

Quick Take #6: November Updates! Part 2: Seltorexant, Fecal Transplant, and Ketogenic Diet for Depression? LSD for Anxiety? Vomiting in Pregnancy Associated with Depression? And More!!! 

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!