Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the May-June issue of Innovations in Clinical Innovations. In this issue of the journal, we start with two articles on adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). First, in the review article by Agarwal et al, “The Quality of Life of Adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Systematic Review,” the authors examine the measurement of quality of life in 36 adult ADHD studies. The authors found that there are multiple, unique measures of quality of life that vary from study to study, making it difficult to compare the impact ADHD has on quality of life among those adult individuals who are diagnosed with it to those who are not. These varied measures of quality of life also limit the ability to directly compare the different classes of medication treatments for ADHD.

Second, Mattingly et al evaluate the efficacy of lisdexamfetamine dimesylate in adults with ADHD subtypes who exhibit predominantly inattention, hyperactivity/ impulsivity, or combined symptom clusters in their study, “Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Subtypes and Symptom Response in Adults Treated With Lisdexamfetamine Dimesylate.” The authors found that lisdexamfetamine dimesylate was effective in participants with predominantly inattention, hyperactivity/ impulsivity, and combined ADHD symptom clusters, and groups exhibiting specific predominant subtype symptoms did not differ in clinical response to lisdexamfetamine dimesylate.

Next, we present two articles on antidepressant treatment. First, we start with a commentary entitled, “Are Antidepressants Effective in the Acute and Long-term Treatment of Depression? Sic et Non,” by Ronald Pies. Pies provides his insight on the efficacy of antidepressant treatment on major depression, a matter of some controversy in the field of neuroscience. He examines the literature and discusses both studies that support and studies that show a lack of support of the effectiveness of antidepressants on the acutely ill, depressed patient and the less severely depressed patient, maintenance antidepressant treatment, and the placebo effect often seen in clinical trials.

And following this, we present Sansone and Sansone’s The Interface column entitled, “Antidepressant Adherence: Are Patients Taking Their Medications?” In this article, the authors examine the literature regarding patient adherence to antidepressants and found that, according to contemporary data (i.e., over the past 10 years), approximately 50 percent of psychiatric patients and 50 percent of primary care patients prematurely discontinue antidepressant therapy when assessed at six-months after the initiation of treatment. The authors discuss the different reasons for this nonadherence.

We wrap the issue up with an article by Edmund Howe for our Update on Alzheimer’s Disease column entitled, “Informed Consent, Participation in Research, and the Alzheimer’s Patient.” In this article, Howe discusses core ethical issues surrounding the participation of patients with Alzheimer’s disease in research on the disease.

We hope you enjoy the issue and your summer. As always, please feel free to send your comments and submissions to us. We’d love to hear from you.

Sincerely,
Amir Kalali, MD
Editor,  Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience