Latest Conference Articles

Steven D. Hickman, PsyD, associate clinical professor at the University of California, San Diego, invited a roomful of conference attendees to put down the notes, close their eyes, set an intention, and breathe, gaining an "awareness of the breath." His session, "Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for Patients with Chronic or Life-Threatening Illness," highlighted techniques based on 2000-year-old Eastern philosophy that can help patients learn to respond to pain, not react to it.

Evidence of who gets post-traumatic stress disorder, how genetics plays a role, and how to treat it is growing, but much work remains to help the estimated 3.5% of the population who suffer its effects in any given year, according to Murray B. Stein, MD, MPH, professor of Psychiatry and Family and Preventive Medicine, and vice chair for Clinical Research in Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego.

For more than 70 years, standard care for those addicted to alcohol or drugs has called for the afflicted person to abstain from the substance completely, and to become immersed in a community of fellow sufferers for support. This is particularly true in the early months, when the "phenomenon of craving" remains acute.

Building trust, or a "therapeutic alliance," between the therapist and patient with personality disorder is needed to help the patient work through core beliefs of worthlessness and unlovability that affect behavior, according to Judith S. Beck, PhD, who was the featured speaker Saturday at the US Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress, being held in Orlando, Florida.

If psychiatrists and other mental health professionals don't actively measure their effectiveness, they typically don't know things have gone awry until it's too late, said Mark Zimmerman, MD, director of Outpatient Psychiatry and the Partial Hospital Program at Rhode Island Hospital.

The National Bone Health Alliance working group expanded criteria for the clinical diagnosis of osteoporosis to include T-score < 2.5 at the spine or hip; low-trauma hip fracture; low-trauma vertebral, proximal humerus, pelvis or some distal forearm fractures in the setting of osteopenia; or FRAX score in a patient with osteopenia meeting or exceeding the National Osteoporosis Foundation Guidelines.

Osteogenesis imperfecta, a skeletal disorder caused by mutations in type I collagen, exhibits structural and functional differences on a genotypic level that contribute to diverse phenotypes.

Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) attempt to ensure that patients with potentially osteoporosis-associated fractures are followed appropriately with screening and intervention. In the United States, industry, non-profits, and governmental steering committees support FLS.

Autophagy functions in numerous critical ways, including in quality control, cell remodeling, and energy production. Understanding the molecular pathways of autophagy can result in understanding and treating neurodegenerative disorders, metabolic disorders, and physiologic changes associated with aging.

Cilia appear in a wide variety of cell types, including osteoclasts and osteoblasts, where they function as physiologic and biochemical sensors.

By studying dense connective tissue, scientists are discovering ways that the cell nucleus adapts and changes in response to the administration of force, time, and differentiation.

Paul Wicks, PhD, vice president of innovation at PatientsLikeMe, discussed the benefits of using technology in multiple sclerosis research by patients, providers, researchers, and other decision-makers.

Despite the benefit of having more choices than ever before to treat patients with multiple sclerosis, the abundance of options has led to more complexity, according to speakers at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Joint Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Current novel therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of bone loss in patients with inflammatory joint disease target cytokines and other inflammatory mediators. Mesenchymal stem cell therapy is a compelling new treatment currently being studied in clinical trials.

Bone erosion, a common side-effect of rheumatoid arthritis, can be prevented by using a combination of close patient monitoring and individualized therapeutic regimens that include agents to block cytokines, block osteoclasts, or target abnormal cellular reactions.

As a medium, the Internet neither helps nor harms in multiple sclerosis care - what matters is how clinicians and patients engage in that medium, according to Paul Wicks, PhD, vice president of innovation at PatientsLikeMe.

Inflammatory bone loss is caused by a complex pathway that begins with inflammatory cell production of cytokines, progresses to abnormal bone absorption, and culminates in the destruction of joints, bone fractures, and patient debility.

At this year's ECTRIMS conference in Boston, Alasdair Coles, MD, University of Cambridge, discussed alemtuzumab and its effectiveness in treating multiple sclerosis.

The second year of the extension study of Lemtrada (alemtuzumab) for multiple sclerosis reported positive interim results with 70% of patients not requiring a third course of treatment.

Although there have been significant advances in multiple sclerosis management, patient preferences need to be taken into account before choosing treatment, according to speakers at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Joint Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Patients with multiple sclerosis want to be actively engaged in their treatment decisions, which will help their long-term health and medication adherence, according to speakers at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Joint Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

The treatment landscape for multiple sclerosis continues to get more complex month to month, which makes biomarker discovery increasingly important for treating the disease, said Suhayl Dhib-Jalbut, MD, professor at the Rutgers University Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, during his session at the 2014 Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Although the survival rate of natalizumab-associated progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) is better than PML in HIV patients, long-term they may need some assistance and care, Ralf Gold, Ruhr University Bochum in Germany, said at the 2014 Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Advanced imaging techniques are becoming necessary to further understanding of the progression of multiple sclerosis, according to presenters at the 2014 Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts, from September 10-13.

When choosing treatment for a patient, whether he or she has a clinically isolated syndrome or clinically definite multiple sclerosis, providers need to establish a collaborative relationship, according to speakers at the 2014 Joint ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Terri Bernacchi, strategic consultant, audit and risk assessment, CIS, identified value-based contracting (VBC) as a forward-thinking approach for pricing and market needs. She discussed how VBC can improve formulary access, how it can impact the healthcare insurance exchanges, and how it can influence provider/payer reimbursement models.

What is value and how do we define it? In a panel discussion led by moderator Jean-Paul Gagnon, former senior director, Sanofi-Aventis, participants were asked to analyze the ways in which healthcare can shift from a fee-for-service model to one that focuses on value.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) granted millions of uninsured Americans access to healthcare plans on the federal and state exchanges. Utilizing consumer research, Pamela Morris, director, Syndicated Research, Zitter Health Insights, described how both consumers and healthcare professionals are navigating these innovative insurance marketplaces.

There is increasing evidence that improving patient outcomes and cultivating value in the healthcare environment will require health economics and outcomes research (HEOR). Nicole Hengst, research director, Health Strategies Group, provided a unique perspective into some of the ways that payers can utilize HEOR to guide their decision-making practices.

Jeffrey Albright, director national accounts, Jazz Pharmaceuticals, said that many patients' access to specialty pharmaceutical products can be limited as health plans struggle to control costs. He provided important insight into pharmaceutical manufacturers' strategies, which aim to optimize appropriate patient access to the medications and products they need through various services that can provide reimbursement support.