Depression
UK docs told to hold antidepressants for teens
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Antidepressants should not be used as first-line treatment in patients younger than 18 years old—even for moderate-to-severe or psychotic Depression—Britain’s health economics watchdog, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, said on Wednesday.
In children (5-11 years old) and young people (12-18) with Depression, psychological therapy such as group cognitive behaviour therapy should be the first-line treatment, backed up by advice on exercise, diet, controlling anxiety and methods of improving sleep.
“Dignity” therapy aids dying patients: study
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Helping dying patients to relive and record important memories and thoughts may ease the distress many feel at the end of life, according to a new study.
Researchers found that this “dignity” therapy that they used in a study of 100 Canadian and Australian patients increased most patients’ sense of purpose and meaning in life, and eased some of their suffering and depression.
Patients who choose depression treatment do better
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Allowing depressed patients to select their own treatment—drug therapy, counseling or a combination of both—may improve outcomes, researchers in Seattle report.
The findings are based on a study of 335 adult with a clinical diagnosis of depression. The subjects were surveyed regarding their preferred therapy and this was compared with the actual treatment received.
Treating sleep-breathing problem may ease blues
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New research suggests that symptoms of depression are fairly common among people suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, an ailment in which their airways become blocked and they frequently stop breathing for brief periods while they sleep.
However, treatment with continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which delivers pressurized air via a facemask to keep airways open while they sleep, may improve these depressive symptoms.
MRI scan shows promise in treating bipolar disorder
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A study published in the Jan. 1, 2004 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry had a surprising start.
As Michael Rohan, imaging physicist in McLean Hospital’s Brain Imaging Center, explains, “We were using MRI to investigate the effectiveness of certain medications in bipolar patients and noticed that many came out of the MRI feeling much better than when they went in. We decided to investigate further.” Researchers theorized that one type of magnetic pulse they were using was having the positive effect. “This was purely accidental.
Treating postpartum depression involves much more than taking a pill
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Q: My daughter is suffering from Postpartum Depression. Antidepressants prescribed by her obstetrician have done nothing. Is there anywhere else to turn?
A: As you know, Postpartum Depression has been in the news recently, sometimes with tragic results. Your daughter is very lucky to have you watching out for her.
It’s a problem that the medical community has only begun to take seriously, says Kathleen Fields, a nurse-midwife affiliated with Warren Hospital. She also teaches in the maternal/child unit of the nursing department at Cedar Crest College.
Provigil may perk up sleepy shift workers
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Provigil, a drug used to treat Narcolepsy and excessive sleepiness resulting from sleep apnea, may also reduce sleepiness due to shift-work sleep disorder—that is, excessive sleepiness during night work and Insomnia when trying to sleep during the day.
In a 3-month study, Dr. Charles A. Czeisler from Harvard Medical School in Boston and colleagues randomly assigned 209 shift-workers with chronic sleep disorder to take Provigil (known generically as modafinil) or an inactive “placebo” before the start of each shift. One hundred fifty-three participants completed the study.
Antidepressant efficacy may be overblown
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Antidepressants, for the most part, do not provide meaningful benefit, two investigators in the UK argue in a report in the British Medical Journal this week, having reviewed published medical evidence on antidepressant efficacy.
Most people with depression are often initially prescribed an antidepressant by their doctor. Prescriptions for these medications have risen dramatically in the last decade.
In an interview with Reuters Health, Dr. Joanna Moncrieff, an author of the report, said, “I do not think there is such a thing as a drug that will specifically relieve depression.
