Archives for October 2009

Prescriptions of the controversial drugs have increased rapidly with pills for attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder up by one third in two years and antidepressant use in children under 16 rising by six per cent, according to data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

The figures show there were 420,000 prescriptions issued for ADHD medication to children under the age of 16 in 2007, meaning around 35,000 children were on the drugs in England. This is up by one third since 2005. It is thought one in five school age children in England have the condition.

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Today National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) are publishing new guidelines for treating adults with depression. 

They are recommending talking therapies, in particular cognitive behavioural therapy, over antidepressants.

Mental health statistics There's a 1 in 6 chance of developing depression at some point  generally sufferers will experience a mixture of depression and anxiety  1 in 4 people in the UK suffer from mental health problems Talk it through.

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A new Adelaide study will investigate whether taking fish oil capsules can reduce the symptoms of depression in people with heart disease.
 
As scientists around the world continue to discover more health benefits of fish oil, this latest study hopes to provide a simple, natural remedy for the depression commonly experienced by heart disease patients.

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A new study at the University of Michigan Depression Center has shown that some people suffering from depression have fewer receptors for some of the brain’s ‘feel good’ stress-response chemicals, which could explain why some patients don’t respond as well to treatment than others. Researchers said that even among depressed people, the numbers of these receptors could vary greatly.

“There’s a substantial amount of biological difference even among people who have major depression, which is just as important as the biological differences between people with depression and people without,” said lead U-M researcher, Jon-Kar Zubieta, M. D., Ph. D.

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This Holiday season is a traditional time of celebrating family and friends. However, the season can be hard to enjoy if you have suffered a personal loss of a loved one or are emotionally strained as a result of economic or medical circumstances.

Please join us and our panel of experts as we discuss essential tools which may help you manage your personal loss.  Learn about skills and resources to help you restore your joy in the season. Lunch will be provided and seating is limited.

Far too often, primary-care doctors miss classic signs of depression when screening patients for other conditions. This week, a study makes note that one particularly vulnerable group is elderly cancer patients, and that a comprehensive program including depression care can significantly improve the quality of life for many such patients.

To examine the issue of depression management in this population, researchers looked at the results of a "collaborative care" program, known as Improving Mood-Promoting Access to Collaborative Treatment (IMPACT), which included not only standard cancer treatment, but also medication and other depression help supervised by the PCP and a psychiatrist.

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Giving omega-3 fatty acids along with sertraline to patients with depression and coronary heart disease (CHD) did not augment the effect of the antidepressant, according to a study in the Oct. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Robert M. Carney, Ph.D., of the Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, and colleagues randomized 122 patients with major depression and CHD to a regimen of 50 mg/d of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor sertraline and either 2 g/d of omega-3 acid ethyl esters (930 mg of eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA] and 759 mg of docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]) or placebo for a period of 10 weeks. The main outcome measures were scores on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) or the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II).

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Diverse models of depression have been proposed and debated. Much of the confusion that exists in this area is because of disputes about the nature of mental illness.

The confusion is compounded by the fact that core depressive symptoms, such as sadness and feelings of hopelessness and helplessness, are also found in medical diseases, as reactions to stress and as part of normal mood.

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Everyone is aware of the tremendous value an electrocardiogram conveys by giving a snapshot of cardiac activity. What if a similar tool could be used to assess brain function and allow quick detection of mental and neurological illness?

According to a Monash University biomedical engineer, a device to detect and compare the brain’s normal electrical activity against the distinct electrical patterns found in depression, schizophrenia and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders is right around the corner.

Brian Lithgow has developed electrovestibulography which is something akin to an ‘ECG for the mind.’ Patterns of electrical activity in the brain’s vestibular (or balance) system are measured against distinct response patterns found in mental disorders.

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The Food and Drug Administration recently proposed new warnings about increased risk of suicidal behavior amongst college students. Young adults from 18 to 24 who take selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors are susceptible to this side effect within the first one to two months of treatment and when withdrawing from the drug after an extensive period of usage, according to the FDA.

When withdrawing from any antidepressant after an extensive period of use, the brain tries to compensate for the blockage of the serotonin that SSRI's cause by growing additional receptors for these neurotransmitters. Serotonin is a chemical messenger in the brain that transmits nerve signals between nerve cells and that causes blood vessels to narrow.

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