Mental Illness Common in Returning Soldiers

High rates of mental health disorders are being diagnosed among US military personnel soon after being released from duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to investigators in San Francisco. They estimate that out of 103,788 returning veterans, 25 percent had a mental health diagnosis, and more than half of these patients had two or more distinct conditions....  Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Heart Disease, Diabetes, Depression a Deadly Mix

Heart disease, diabetes and depression can be a lethal triple-play -- boosting a patient's death risk by 20 percent to 30 percent, new research shows. "We do not know what this increased risk is due to, but it could either be that depression influences crucial aspects of self-care behaviors needed to manage diabetes or that a more severe disease process is reflected in more depressive symptoms," said lead researcher Anastasia Georgiades, a research associate in the department of psychiatry and behavioral science at Duke University in Durham, N.C... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article 

Depression Hits U.S. Blacks Harder Than Whites

Black Americans are more likely than whites to suffer severe, untreated and disabling depression, U.S. research shows. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health analyzed data on 6,082 people who took part in a national survey conducted between 2001 and 2003. They found that 17.9 percent of white Americans had depression at some point in their lives, compared with 10.4 percent of blacks of African descent and 12.9 percent of blacks of West Indian or Caribbean descent... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Heart Healthy Flax Seed May Also be Beneficial in Promoting a Better Mood

A recent scientific finding suggests that flax seeds can help with mood and depression and Greatplainsflax.com adds flax seed starter packages to its selection of golden omega flax seed products. At the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Budapest, Hungary Dr. Sarah M. Conklin, a postdoctoral scholar in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine reported that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, found in salmon and flax seed may affect parts of the brain related to emotion... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Men on Antidepressants Drink Less Often

Antidepressant medication may help depressed men cut down on their drinking, but the same may not be true of women, a new study suggests. In a survey of more than 14,000 adults, Canadian researchers found that respondents with major depression tended to drink more than non-depressed men and women. However, this was not the case for depressed men who were on antidepressant medication. Among women, on the other hand, those with depression drank more regardless of whether they were taking an antidepressant... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Corcept Therapeutics Announces Phase 3 Study Evaluating CORLUX(R) for Psychotic Major Depression Misses Primary Endpoint

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ: CORT) today announced that Study 06, the last of three Phase 3 trials evaluating CORLUX for treating the psychotic features of Psychotic Major Depression (PMD), did not achieve statistical significance with respect to its primary endpoint. However, there was a statistically significant correlation between plasma levels and clinical outcome achieved during treatment. Further, the company reported that the incidence of serious adverse events did not differ between placebo and any of the three CORLUX dose groups... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Social Stress May Kill Off New Brain Cells

Research in rats shows that a single, socially stressful situation may contribute to depression by killing new nerve cells in the hippocampus, the area of the brain that processes learning, memory and emotion. In young rats, the stress of encountering older, aggressive rats didn't stop the creation of new brain nerve cells, the first step in a process called neurogenesis. However, this form of stress did prevent many new nerve cells from surviving, which left the young rats with fewer neurons for processing feelings and emotions... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Alcohol: How much is bad for you?

I am often asked if a glass of wine is ok if you are on medications. My standard answer--you shouldn't do it--isn't rigorous, and a better answer might be that alcohol's effects are magnified. Part of the problem is that a "drink" isn't the same to everyone. Different countries have different "standard drinks" ranging, usually, from 10g to 14g per drink. As a reference point, there are about 14g in a 12 oz beer (5% alcohol by volume) and 77g in a bottle of wine (13% alcohol by volume.) So there are about six "drinks" in a bottle of wine... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

CeNeRx BioPharma Announces Positive Phase I Results in First Human Trial of Third Generation RIMA Antidepressant

CeNeRx BioPharma, Inc., a clinical stage company developing and commercializing innovative treatments for diseases of the central nervous system, today announced top-line results from a Phase I clinical trial of Tyrima(TM), its lead candidate for the treatment of depression and anxiety. In this study, Tyrima was safe and well tolerated. Tyrima is a member of a novel class of drugs known as reversible inhibitors of monoamine oxidase A, or RIMAs... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Pain Complicates Depression Treatment in Elderly

By interfering with normal activities, chronic pain can impede recovery from depression in older adults, according to findings reported in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Dr. Shahrzad Mavandadi, of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and colleagues examined the effects of pain on the response to depression treatment in 524 men, 60 years of age or older, who were seen at a VA medical center... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Adolescent Depression and High Receptivity to Tobacco Ads May Lead to Teen Smoking

A NIDA-funded study by researchers at the Georgetown University School of Medicine and the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine reports that adolescent depression, combined with high receptivity to tobacco advertising, plays a powerful role in whether a teen smokes cigarettes. While research has demonstrated the effects of a number of factors on adolescent smoking behavior (including exposure to smoking by family and friends, high receptivity to tobacco advertising, and positive attitudes and beliefs about smoking), this is one of the first studies to examine how depression combines with these factors to influence the likelihood of smoking... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Depression Worsens Outcomes for Heart Failure Patients

Depression is a major factor in poor medical outcomes for heart failure patients, says a new U.S. study. The study, conducted by researchers at Duke University Medical Center and the University of North Carolina, included 204 heart failure patients who were followed for an average of three years. Tests showed that 46 percent of the patients had significant symptoms of depression. During the study period, 26 percent of the patients died, and 48 percent were hospitalized at least once for their heart condition... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Canadians and Americans Urged to Demand That Physicians Use Guidelines to Treat Patients with Depression

Canadians and Americans must "raise their voice and demand basic standards of care for those suffering depression and other common mental disorders." Bill Wilkerson, Co-Founder and CEO of the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addiction and Mental Health, says "below standard medical care is the standard for mental illnesses." In a speech to be delivered on Wednesday morning (March 7th) to the "Bottom Line" Mental Health conference, Wilkerson says that in both the United States and Canada, fewer than half and closer to one-quarter of those treated for depression receive guideline-level care... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article

Treating Depression Improves Diabetes Control

A study of type 2 diabetics with depression confirms that depression has a negative impact on glycemic (blood sugar) control, researchers report, and "affirms the importance of depression management in diabetic patients in its potential to improve glycemic control." Researchers from Missouri treated 93 patients with type 2 diabetes and depression with the antidepressant bupropion (Wellbutrin). "We selected bupropion because it is capable of reducing depression and weight simultaneously and hypothesized that these effects would be accompanied by improved glycemic control in diabetic patients with major depressive disorder," the team explains in the journal Diabetes Care... Read More   |   Discuss   |   Suggest An Article