Archives for February 2009

Experts believe that treatment of depression in very young children can help avoid serious problems later, such as drug abuse.Mary Lu O'Halloran of the Geneva Coalition for Youth says that's why she is facilitating a forum on depression in children in various stages of development, including those in kindergarten.

"Empowered Parents, Empowered Children: Working Together to Overcome Depression" will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday in the gym of Williamsburg Elementary School, 1812 Williamsburg Ave., Geneva. The forum is for parents and educators of children in kindergarten through high school and is not limited to Geneva residents.

"We know so much more about depression today," O'Halloran said. "We have the tools now to help (children with depression) develop in a healthy way and avoid negative patterns, like the use of drugs or early sexual experience."

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Pregnant women and new mothers with diabetes had nearly double the risk of developing postpartum depression as women without diabetes, a new study reports, revealing a potential risk factor for a serious psychological disorder that affects more than 1 in 10 new mothers.

Researchers, led by Katy Backes Kozhimannil of Harvard Medical School and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, analyzed health records of more than 11,000 low-income women enrolled in New Jersey's Medicaid program.

They found that 15.2 percent of the women who had diabetes were depressed during pregnancy or in the first year after childbirth, compared with 8.5 percent of women who did not have diabetes. Those differences remained after adjusting the data for factors such as the age and race of the mothers.

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The use of natural and organic methods in the physical treatment of depression are thought of as the best way to actually cure it by more and more healthcare professionals. They argue that while medications such as antidepressants only alleviate the symptoms, they do not actually deal with the root of the illness. Natural methods, however, are designed to heal the illness itself.
Dietary and Herbal Treatments

So… how to cure depression by natural foods? Is that even a question that makes sense? A growing number of health professionals think so. It is widely known that eating food full of refined sugars and carbohydrates are the source of many problems.

Foods that contain these ingredients, which are man made and not natural, are addictive and the cause of bad health both physically and mentally. A poor diet is seen as a major contributing factor of depression.

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Anybody can suffer from depression whether you are a child, men or women. But a recent research shows that when comparing to men with women, it is found that there are lesser cases of men who are suffering from depression.

So the main question arise that whether men are less prone to depression? But it is not true fact. It may be possible that men who are suffering from depression may not go for help.

Men are competitive by nature and they generally not show their weaknesses. Most men also prefer to keep their emotions to themselves and this thing can move them towards drugs and alcohol.

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The University of Washington has come up with a research that says anti-social behaviour among girls and anxiety among both sexes act as pointers to depression in early adolescence.

According to James Mazza, the lead author of the new study and a UW professor of educational psychology "Anti-social behaviour has typically been viewed as a big problem among boys, so it tends to be ignored among girls".

"Boys with early anti-social behaviour typically go on to show more anti-social behaviour while girls may turn inward with symptoms, morphing into other mental health problems such as depression eating disorders, anxiety and suicidal behaviour during adolescence"

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Medtronic Inc. (MDT) has finally launched a study aimed at gathering evidence to try and win U.S. regulatory approval to use its brain-stimulation technology to treat patients with severe depression.The company said in 2006 that it planned a "major clinical trial" in this area, and Chief Executive William A. Hawkins added in an interview a year ago that the study would start enrolling patients "sooner rather than later." It wasn't until Thursday, however that Medtronic announced the first enrollment.

The company has been working "to design the right trial" in an area where creating a randomized study can be tricky, Paul Stypulkowski, senior director of research at Medtronic, said in an interview. History in this area indicates that strong evidence will be needed to win over both regulators and insurers.

It will take several years for Medtronic's "deep brain-stimulation" system to potentially win depression approval - the trial is seen running for more than four years before final data are collected - but depression represents a huge potential opportunity. There are an estimated 4 million Americans with depression that doesn't respond to drugs, and the devices cost around $20,000 to $30,000 each.

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The more teens watch TV the higher the danger to develop depression in their life, report an American study. The results of the research were made public in a medical magazine published in Munich.

The study found a dose response effect. The more TV viewing the teens in the study had, the more the likelihood of the development of depression as a young adult. This is due to the fact that they are left with very little time to spend on sports and social life.

Furthermore, TV programmes can also increase fear and aggressiveness in people who have been watching for many hours TV and sleep a few hours. This has also a negative effect on their mental and emotional state.Pittsburgh University researchers recorded the number of hours 4,140 people watched TV after participating in a research conducted in 1995.

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Don't take passive smoking lightly or you could end up with impared thinking, sleeplessness, depression and clouded consciousness, according to the latest research.This is the first large-scale study to conclude that exposure to passive smoking could also lead to dementia and other neurological problems in adults.

The research was led by David Llewellyn of University of Cambridge and his associates, which used saliva samples from nearly 5,000 non-smoking adults aged over 50 years.

By measuring levels of cotinine (a by-product of nicotine) in their saliva and taking a detailed smoking history, the researchers were able to assess levels of exposure to passive smoke.

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As if being a teenager isn't complicated enough, a new study out this month puts the spot light on teen TV viewing and an association with later development of depression.Published in this month's Archives of General Psychiatry, the study found a dose response effect.

The more tv viewing the teens in the study had, the more the likelihood of the development of depression as a young adult. Approximately 4100 teens were followed over 7 years with boys being affected more than girls. None of the teens had depression when the study began and 7% had symptoms of depression when the study concluded.

The big unanswered question that still remains is why. Factors that will need to be evaluated further include the impact of show content and theme, and the social viewing issues of watching shows alone vs. with others.So, what does this mean for our teens? In light of past studies warning us about the harmful effects on kids in general of too much TV, this study does warrant a moment of pause.

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A new study conducted by researchers at Loyola University Health System in Maywood has explained how depression dramatically increases the risk of Depression increases heart risks cardiovascular disease and death after a heart attack.

The researchers have found that depressed patients have higher levels of inflammatory substances in their blood.Inflammation is the process by which the body responds to infections, injuries or stress.

The researchers found that the increased inflammation is caused by the nervous system’s reaction to the daily stress of daily life and the stress caused by illnesses such as depression, which sets off a series of physiological and biochemical changes in the body that can over time damage the cardiovascular system.

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