Depression
Study ties sleep apnea to depression
|
|
Sleep-related breathing disorder has a robust association with depression, according to results of a long-term study funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Based on their findings, the investigators suggest that medical treatment with CPAP, for example, or behavioral modification of sleep-related breathing disorder, with weight loss, for example, “may help mitigate or prevent depressive symptoms” in these patients.
The findings are from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, which began recruitment in 1988 of subjects between 30 and 60 years old. The subjects were scheduled to undergo overnight sleep studies in a laboratory every 4 years. The study cohort was comprised of 1408 participants with 3202 sleep studies.
Some can’t quit antidepressants
|
|
When Gina O’Brien decided she no longer needed drugs to quell her anxiety and panic attacks, she followed doctor’s orders by slowly tapering her dose of the antidepressant Paxil.
The gradual withdrawal was supposed to prevent unpleasant symptoms that can result from stopping antidepressants cold turkey. But it didn’t work.
“I felt so sick that I couldn’t get off my couch,” O’Brien said. “I couldn’t stop crying.”
Depression common in young women after heart attack
|
|
Compared with men and older patients, women under the age of 60 who have had a heart attack have an increased risk of developing depression, according to a new report in this week’s issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
In the community setting, depression is known to be especially prevalent among younger women - it is also known that symptoms of depression often occur after a heart attack. However, it was unclear if younger women who are hospitalized for a heart attack have higher risk of depression.
To investigate, Dr. Susmita Mallik, from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and colleagues analyzed information for a total of 2,498 heart attack patients who were treated at 1 of 19 centers in the United States between January 2003 and June 2004. Depression, which was assessed during hospitalization, was defined as a score of at least 10 on the Primary Care Evaluation of Mental Disorders Brief Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ).
Exercise can help reduce depression after stroke
|
|
Stroke patients who partake in a therapeutic exercise program may experience a reduction in depressive symptoms, according to the results of a study published the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Along with physical disability, depression is common in stroke patients, Dr. Sue-Min Lai, of the University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, and colleagues point out. Previous studies have found that physical exercise can reduce symptoms in depressed patients, but the effect of exercise on stroke patients is unknown.
To further investigate, Lai and her associates assessed the effect of physical exercise on depressive symptoms in 100 stroke survivors who had completed rehabilitation. The patients were randomly assigned to participate in an exercise program or to receive the usual care.
Study questions ecstasy link to depression
|
|
Ecstasy, the illegal recreational drug blamed by doctors for depression and anxiety, may often only enhance these symptoms rather than cause them, according to a study published on Friday.
Dutch researchers found that children who suffered from depression were more likely to go on to use the drug when they grew up to make them feel better.
The appearance later in life of emotional problems in these people might not therefore be primarily due to their use of ecstasy, but could reflect pre-existing conditions.
Levitra has mental health benefits, study suggests
|
|
The impotence drug Levitra (also known as vardenafil) improves erectile function and depression in men with both disorders, research shows.
Although depression is common among men with erectile dysfunction (ED), previous studies have not investigated the potential mental health benefits of Levitra in men with ED, investigators point out in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Dr. Raymond Rosen from UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Piscataway, New Jersey and colleagues evaluated the efficacy of Levitra in the treatment of 280 men with ED and untreated depression. The men were assigned to Levitra or placebo for 12 weeks.
Depressed mice recover with molecular therapy
|
|
Depressed loner mice get more sociable when researchers delete a memory molecule from their brains, a finding that might help treat human ills like social phobia and post-traumatic stress, scientists said on Thursday.
This molecular therapy worked about as well as giving mice the antidepressants Prozac or Tofranil, the researchers reported in the current issue of the journal Science.
Magnetic therapy may help control major depression
|
|
Repetitive magnetic stimulation of the brain may be an effective and safe long-term maintenance therapy for some patients with major depressive disorder, results of a small study suggest.
“There is growing evidence to support the short-term antidepressant effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), but few published data pertain to the maintenance treatment of patients with DSM-IV diagnosed major depressive disorder,” write Dr. John P. O’Reardon and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
Widespread Depression in Elderly Is Under-Reported
|
|
New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene this week announced that depression in senior citizens is “a serious and under diagnosed condition.”
An innovative, year-old program at Montefiore Medical Center may offer a model for identifying and treating the homebound elderly with depression. The program trains all of its home care agency staff—nurses, social workers and therapists—to identify patients with depression and refer them to a Montefiore psychiatrist who provides treatment in the patient’s home.
Income may influence antidepressant response
|
|
Pooled data from published studies suggest that adults from low-income neighborhoods are less likely to respond to antidepressant medication and more likely to be suicidal than those living in higher income neighborhoods.
“This is a small, preliminary study, but it does suggest that the social worlds in which people live influence the effectiveness of antidepressant treatments even in the context of clinical trials in which all participants receive the same high quality care,” Dr. Alex Cohen said in an interview with Reuters Health.
It may take time for antidepressants to work
|
|
In a large, “real world” study of the antidepressant Celexa (citalopram), approximately half of depressed patients responded to treatment, investigators report. In many cases, however, at least 8 weeks of treatment was required for a response, even with periodic increases in the dose of the drug.
“These results highlight the need for longer treatment duration and more vigorous medication dosing than is current practice in order to achieve optimal remission rates,” lead investigator Dr. A. John Rush from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas and colleagues conclude in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Reduced Brain Volume May Predict Dementia in Healthy Elderly People
|
|
Reduced volume, or atrophy, in parts of the brain known as the amygdala and hippocampus may predict which cognitively healthy elderly people will develop dementia over a six-year period, according to a study in the January issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
New strategies may be able to prevent or delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), the most common cause of dementia among older adults, according to background information in the article. Accurate methods of identifying which people are at high risk for dementia in old age would help physicians determine who could benefit from these interventions. There is evidence that adults with AD and mild cognitive impairment, a less severe condition that is considered a risk factor for AD, have reduced hippocampal and amygdalar volumes. However, previous research has not addressed whether measuring atrophy using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can predict the onset of AD at an earlier stage, before cognitive symptoms appear.
Experts unsurprised by level of alcohol abuse
|
|
In response to figures on alcohol abuse released this week, Dr Peter Rice, a leading consultant psychiatrist with the NHS Tayside Alcohol Problem Service, said he is not surprised as alcohol-related problems were having a detrimental effect on the lives of too many people across Tayside and Scotland.
According to the newly released figures by the Information Statistics Division of the NHS in Scotland, alcohol related conditions accounted for more than 2000 hospital discharges in Tayside in 2004/05.
Depression and Anxiety Improve After Epilepsy Surgery
|
|
Depression and anxiety are common problems for people whose epilepsy cannot be controlled by medication. A new study found that depression and anxiety improve significantly after epilepsy surgery.
The study, which is published in the December 13, 2005, issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology, found that the rate of depression and anxiety disorders decreased by more than 50 percent up to two years after the surgery. People who no longer experienced any seizures after surgery were even more likely to be free of depression and anxiety.
Poor Health, Poverty, Minority Status Major Factors in Depression
|
|
Preliminary results from the STAR-D project, one of the nation’s largest studies of depression, show that chronic depressive episodes are common and are associated with poorer physical health, lower quality of life, socioeconomic disadvantage and minority status.
Findings of this study highlight the common occurrence of chronic episodes of major depression and the range of factors that contribute to them in both psychiatric and primary care settings.
