Depression is quite common. In fact, depressed mood is the fourth most common symptom that patients complain of when they see their primary care physician. About 10% to 25% of women will have have major depression at some point during their lifetime and they will be especially vulnerable during their reproductive years. Mood disorders like depression worsen the morbidity and mortality rates of other medical disorders. In addition,
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A government-appointed panel is urging all doctors to routinely screen their teen patients for depression.
According to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, which sets guidelines for doctors on a wide variety of health issues, nearly 2 million teens suffer from depression, but most go undiagnosed.
Because depression leads to lingering sadness, social isolation, school problems and even suicide, screening and early treatment
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People with a high family risk for depression had less brain matter on the right side, similar to that seen with Alzheimer’s disease, according to U.S. researchers.
The researchers found with brain scans that there was a 28% thinning in the right cortex (the outer layer of the brain) in those with a family history of depression.
The findings were based on imaging studies of 131 people aged 6 to 54 with a family history
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Eli Lilly has received FDA approval for a combo pill called Symbyax to be used for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression.
Symbyax, which combines the ingredients of the antipsychotic Zyprexa (olanzapine) with the antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine), is approved for patients with major depression who have not responded to two separate trials of different antidepressants.
It was originally approved by the FDA in
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If you find yourself falling into a slump during the winter months, but feel much better when spring arrives, you may have what is known as seasonal affective disorder.
Seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, is a mood disorder, characterized by symptoms like increased sleep and appetite, weight gain, irritability, sensitivity to rejection and heaviness in the limbs, which occurs when the circadian rhythms of the body are disrupted.
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Forest Laboratories, maker of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitorLexapro (escitalopram oxalate), announced on March 20, 2009 that the FDA had approved the drug for the acute and maintenance treatment of major depression in adolescents 12-17 years of age.
The Associated Press reported last month that the Justice Department had filed a complaint against Forest Laboratories alleging that they had been promoting the off-label use
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Pregnant women with untreated major depression, as well as those taking certain antidepressants, had rates of premature birth greater than 20%, according to a new study published in the March 2009 issue of American Journal of Psychiatry.
The researchers followed 238 women with no, partial and continuous exposure to either depression or an SSRI antidepressant and then compared the outcomes. They found that women who were
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A history of major depression increases the risk of heart disease over and above any genetic risks common to depression and heart disease, according to research presented by Washington University School of Medicine and the VA last week at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Chicago.
The researchers analyzed data from more than 1,200 pairs of male twins who served in the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.
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Have you been through numerous drug trials without getting relief from your depression? Do antidepressants only work for a short while before “pooping out”? Treatment-resistant depression (TRD) can be very discouraging for those who have it, but there are options that may be able to help you.
One option is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). While ECT doesn’t come without side-effects, it does bring rapid relief for about 80 percent
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A new study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry has found that there is a clear link between alcohol abuse and risk of major depression.
Researcher David Ferguson of the University of Otago and his colleagues studied a group of 1,055 children who were monitored and interviewed at various times over a period of 25 years.
“Individuals who fulfilled the criteria for alcohol abuse or dependency were
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