Most Antidepressants Miss Key Target of Clinical Depression, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Dec. 9, 2009) — A key brain protein called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) — is highly elevated during clinical depression yet is unaffected by treatment with commonly used antidepressants, according to an important study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The study has important [...]
Archive for the ‘antidepressants’ Category
9 Dec
Most Antidepressants Miss Key Target
8 Dec
Antidepressant May Change Personality
Antidepressant May Change Personality While Relieving Symptoms
ScienceDaily (Dec. 7, 2009) — Individuals taking a medication to treat depression may experience changes in their personality separate from the alleviation of depressive symptoms, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Two personality traits, neuroticism and extraversion, have [...]
7 Dec
News coverage of antidepressants for kids uneven
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Dec 07, 2009 – Media coverage of the warnings on antidepressants and children’s risk of suicidal behavior often failed to give the public the whole story, according to a study published Monday.
The study, by researchers at the Yale University School of Public Health, concludes that many print and TV news [...]
1 Dec
Fears and Facts About Antidepressants
Along with counseling, antidepressants are a common part of treatment for depression. And they are usually effective. Six out of 10 people treated with antidepressants feel better with the first one they try. If the first antidepressant medication doesn’t help, the second or third often will. Most people eventually find one that works for them. [...]
29 Nov
DEPRESSION: Common Causes
Health experts’ understanding of depression has come a long way in the last few decades. In many cases, depression doesn’t have only one cause. It often results from a mix of biology, psychology, and stressful or traumatic events.
Reasons for depression include:
Biology. Researchers still have a lot to learn about exactly why people become depressed. But [...]
26 Nov
Some Meds Related to Falls Among Elderly
Sedatives, Mood-Altering Drugs Related to Falls Among Elderly: UBC Study
ScienceDaily (Nov. 24, 2009) — Falls among elderly people are significantly associated with several classes of drugs, including sedatives often prescribed as sleep aids and medications used to treat mood disorders, according to a study led by a University of British Columbia expert in pharmaceutical outcomes [...]
20 Nov
Bipolar Disorder: Depression Symptoms
The dramatic mood swings of bipolar disorder do not follow a set pattern. Depression does not always follow mania. A person may experience the same mood state several times — for weeks, months, even years at a time before experiencing a change in mood. Also, the severity of mood phases can differ from person to person.
The [...]
19 Nov
DISSOCIATIVE DISORDERS
Dissociative disorders are so-called because they are marked by a dissociation from or interruption of a person’s fundamental aspects of waking consciousness (such as one’s personal identity, one’s personal history, etc.). Dissociative disorders come in many forms, the most famous of which is dissociative identity disorder (formerly known as multiple personality disorder). All of the [...]
17 Nov
Failed anti-depressant drug could be ‘women’s Viagra’
WASHINGTON (AFP) – November 17, 2009 – A drug that failed to fight the blues could be the female answer to the little blue pill Viagra, the lead North American investigator analysing tests of the drug said Tuesday.
Women who took the drug flibanserin when it was being tested as an anti-depressant said it didn’t help [...]
11 Nov
Women, Depression & Stroke
Women More Likely Than Men To Suffer Depression After Stroke
ScienceDaily (Nov. 11, 2009) — Depression occurs in as many as one-third of patients after a stroke, and women are at somewhat higher risk, according to a large new review of studies. Post-stroke depression is associated with greater disability, reduced quality of life and an increased [...]
8 Nov
Hunting For The Prozac Gene
ScienceDaily (Nov. 7, 2009) — Prozac works wonders for some depressed people, but not for others. In some cases, patients derive little benefit and at worst, it can lead to bizarre hallucinations and fits of rage. Researchers and doctors remain puzzled as to what causes the wide range of reaction to Prozac and similar antidepressants.
The [...]
24 Oct
Increase In Long-term Antidepressant Drug Use, UK Study Reveals
ScienceDaily (Oct. 23, 2009) — A dramatic rise in antidepressant prescriptions issued by GPs has been caused by a year on year increase in the number of people taking antidepressant drugs on a long-term basis, according to researchers from the University of Southampton.
In a paper, published in the printed edition of British Medical Journal (BMJ), [...]
24 Oct
SWEET AUDREY
I met Audrey in 1998, as an inpatient during one of my countless hospital stays. Both of us were living and breathing pitch black depression. We grew very close, seated in the lounge daily, forever sipping diet Coke. Both of us were struggling though, both feeling as if we were being swallowed up by quicksand. Everyday [...]
16 Oct
Antidepressant; Suicidal Thoughts in Men
Popular Antidepressant Associated With A Dramatic Increase In Suicidal Thoughts Amongst Men, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Oct. 15, 2009) — Nortriptyline has been found to cause a ten-fold increase in suicidal thoughts in men when compared to its competitor escitalopram. These findings are published in the open access journal BMC Medicine.
The research was carried out by Dr. [...]
15 Oct
Offer Of Hope For Treatment Resistant Depression
New Brain Stimulation Treatment May Offer Hope For Those With Treatment Resistant Depression
ScienceDaily (Oct. 14, 2009) — A new neurosurgical procedure may prove helpful for patients with treatment-resistant depression. Bilateral epidural prefrontal cortical stimulation (EpCS) was found generally safe and provided significant improvement of depressive symptoms in a small group of patients, according to lead [...]
27 Sep
Antidepressants in pregnancy up heart defect risk
By Anthony J. Brown, MD
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – September 25, 2009 – If you take antidepressants such as fluoxetine (marketed as Prozac) early in your pregnancy, you may be doubling the risk that your newborn will be born with a heart defect, according to a new study.
However, the vast majority of children born to [...]
14 Sep
Ketamine Reduces Suicidality In Depressed Patients
ScienceDaily (Sep. 13, 2009) — Drug treatment options for depression can take weeks for the beneficial effects to emerge, which is clearly inadequate for those at immediate risk of suicide. However, intravenous (IV) ketamine, a drug previously used as an anesthetic, has shown rapid antidepressant effects in early trials.
Researchers have now explored ketamine’s effects on [...]
10 Sep
Severe, Lasting Depression Tied to Heart Patient Deaths
MONDAY, Sept. 7 (HealthDay News) — Certain depressed patients who suffer from heart disease have nearly double the risk of dying over a seven-year period compared with other depressed patients, researchers say.
The patients most at risk are those who suffer from the most severe depression within a few weeks of being hospitalized for a cardiac [...]
18 Jun
FDA Warnings & Depression Diagnosis
FDA Warnings Led To Unintended Changes In Depression Diagnosis, New Report Finds
ScienceDaily (June 16, 2009) — Government warnings about suicidality among children taking antidepressants appear to be associated with unintended and persistent changes in the diagnosis and treatment of depression in children and adults, according to a new report.
“In October 2003 the Food and Drug [...]
9 Jun
Adult type 1 diabetics have higher depression rates
NEW ORLEANS (Reuters Health) – June 08, 2009 – Adults with type 1 diabetes report more symptoms of depression and more often use anti-depressant medication than adults without type 1 diabetes, according to data released here at the 69th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA).
Different from type 2 diabetes, type 1 diabetes is [...]
6 Jun
Cancer & Mental Impairment
Antidepressant curbs cancer-related mental ills
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – June 04, 2009 – People with cancer often suffer mental impairment, but it seems this can be alleviated by treatment with Paxil, an SSRI-type antidepressant, according to results of a National Cancer Institute-supported study.
The findings were reported this week at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s [...]
3 Jun
Some Antidepressants May Thwart Tamoxifen’s Effect on Breast Cancer
Women should seek alternatives to SSRIs for hot flashes, studies suggest
June 1, 2009 - (HealthDay News) — Common antidepressants that many breast cancer survivors use to dampen the hot flashes caused by taking tamoxifen may actually boost the odds of the disease’s return, new research warns.
The finding was presented this weekend at the American Society of [...]
22 May
Depression Hits 1 in 13 American Adults
And a third never get treatment, new government study finds
TUESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) — Over the past year, 16.5 million Americans age 18 or older — 1 in 13 adults — experienced at least one bout of major depression, according to a new government survey.
Less than two-thirds (64.5 percent) of those individuals got [...]
13 May
Most Depressed Teens Don’t Get Treatment
WEDNESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) — Nearly one in 10 American adolescents have experienced at least one bout of major depression in the past year, but only about 39 percent of those cases received treatment, a new government report released Wednesday shows.
Conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the report found [...]
5 May
More Americans taking drugs for mental illness
By Julie Steenhuysen
CHICAGO (Reuters) – May 5, 2009 – Many more Americans have been using prescription drugs to treat mental illness since 1996, in part because of expanded insurance coverage and greater familiarity with the drugs among primary care doctors, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
They said 73 percent more adults and 50 percent more children [...]
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