St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) announced it has been awarded a patent from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for treating depression using neurostimulation therapy in an area of the brain known as Brodmann Area 25.
Brodmann Area 25 is a structure within the subcollosal gyrus region of the brain. It is the focus of the St. Jude Medical BROADEN(TM) (BROdmann Area 25 DEep brain Neuromodulation) study, which is Read more…
Chinese investigators from Hefei and Dutch researchers in Amsterdam have collaborated using for the first time a combination of new elegant methodology in Depression research. They used postmortem human brain tissue that was donated to the Netherlands Brain Bank for research purposes and investigated a region in the basal part of the brain, the hypothalamus, that is known to be of crucial importance for the development of symptoms of depression. This Read more…
Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Brown University, and Massachusetts General Hospital will present results of a long-term outcome study that builds on previous promising research, which has shown that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a potentially effective treatment option for people with treatment resistant major depression.
The World Health Organization rates major depression as the top cause of disability worldwide. Read more…
BioMedEcon Health Economics and Outcomes Research has just delivered an oral presentation summarizing the results of a pioneering study that compares healthcare costs of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to those of patients with depression. This presentation was delivered at Read more…
A new study led by Emory University School of Medicine researcher Charles L. Raison, MD, is the first to show that depression and anxiety are more prevalent in Tibetan refugees than they are in ethnic Tibetans born and raised in the comparative stability of exile communities in Northern India and Nepal. The study findings were reported in the April 2008, on-line version of the journal Social Psychiatry and Read more…
People with recurrent depression have high rates of many common physical illnesses, such as gastric ulcer, rhinitis/hay fever, osteoarthritis, thyroid disease, hypertension and asthma, a new study has found.
Published in the May 2008 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, the study compared 1546 people with recurrent depression with 884 psychiatrically healthy controls Read more…
University of Iowa researchers have shown for the first time that an anti-depressant and a form of talk therapy each can prevent or delay the onset of depression in people who have had acute stroke.
The findings will appear in the May 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Previous studies on this type of prevention had not shown positive results; however, this new study, in contrast, Read more…
A new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center supports the idea that depression is truly a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease rather than a subtle early sign of its underlying pathology. The study, published in the April issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, found no evidence of an increase in depressive symptoms during the prodromal phase before the clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Numerous observational Read more…
A major review in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice reveals that research indicates people who are obese may be more likely to become depressed, and people who are depressed may be more likely to become obese.
To understand the potential links between obesity and depression, researchers led by Sarah M. Markowitz, M.S., examined the correlational data that suggest a connection between the conditions and found evidence Read more…
Depression is prevalent among people living with chronic diseases, such as multiple sclerosis (MS). Although most people with MS live normal lives, they must manage symptoms and treatments that cause increased emotional and psychological stress on a daily basis. Now, researchers from two universities have found that people with MS who increase positive experiences decrease their symptoms of depression and improve Read more…
Nearly 20 percent of military service members who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan — 300,000 in all — report symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder or major depression, yet only slight more than half have sought treatment, according to a new RAND Corporation study.
In addition, researchers found about 19 percent of returning service members report that they experienced a possible traumatic brain injury while deployed, with 7 percent reporting Read more…
Depressed people may have far fewer of the receptors for some of the brain’s "feel good" stress-response chemicals than non-depressed people, new University of Michigan Depression Center research shows.
And even among depressed people, the numbers of these receptors can vary greatly. What’s more, the number of receptors a depressed person has appears to be linked with the severity of their symptoms - and the chances that they’ll feel Read more…
A history of abuse of neglect in childhood could be associated with
depression and inflammation when reaching adulthood. According to a
report in the April 2008 issue of the Archives of General
Psychiatry, a JAMA/Archives journal, not only is this
association possible but this could also increase cardiovascular risk.
Major depression can affect many parts of the body, according to the
authors: "Major depression Read more…
Buy viagra without prescription Biovail Corporation (NYSE: BVF) (TSX: BVF) announced that it has received Approval from the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its New Drug Application (NDA) for Aplenzin™ (formerly known as BVF-033), a once-daily formulation of bupropion hydrobromide developed by Biovail for the treatment of depression in adults. Read more…
The modern workplace is often blamed for increased rates of depression and stress. New research published in the journal Occupational Medicine, shows that resuming work can actually aid recovery and help depressed employees. However, the Society of Occupational Medicine warned that employers need to be sensitive and consider a range of interventions including changing an employees tasks and reducing hours to help people when they return to work. Read more…
Primary care has the lead role in easing the burden of common mental disorders in Australia, according to an editorial in the supplement to the latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
The MJA’s 48-page supplement, funded by a grant from beyondblue: the national depression initiative, adds to the evidence base needed to achieve it.
Professor Harvey Whiteford, from the Queensland Read more…
The post-university years can start out tough. The good news: it gets better.
A new University of Alberta study of almost 600 of its graduates (ages 20-29 years old) tracked mental health symptoms in participants for seven years post-graduation and looked at how key events like leaving home and becoming a parent were related to depression and anger. Graduates showed a significant decrease in depressive symptoms over the seven Read more…
A new revision of clinical guidelines to help doctors manage patients with depression has challenged the rationale behind the UK government’s policy of rolling out of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for milder depression.
According to a comprehensive review of treatments for depression, there is a lack of evidence for CBT being more helpful than other forms of psychological support in mild depression Read more…
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has released a new brochure, Women and Depression, about the many dimensions of major depression in women. It can be downloaded at
- 1 in 8 women experiences depression in their lifetime; twice the rate as men, regardless of race or ethnic background.
- Middle-aged Hispanic women have the highest rate of symptoms, followed by middle-aged Read more…
Poor sleep quality and insomnia are significantly associated with suicidal symptoms among college undergraduates, according to a research abstract presented on Monday at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).
The study, authored by Rebecca A. Bernert, of Florida State University, focused on 322 college undergraduates between 19-24 years of age. Buy Read more…
Nearly one in five, or about 300,000, soldiers who has served in Iraq or Afghanistan has post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression — illnesses that could cost the U.S. as much as $6.2 billion over two years in care, lost productivity and lost lives through suicide, according to a RAND report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports (Scott Tyson, Washington Post, 4/18). The study was based on telephone interviews conducted from August Read more…
A new study published in the Journal of
Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry finds that Prozac, a
commonly prescribed antidepressant, may be an agent in slowing
down the disease process of the relapsing remitting form of multiple
sclerosis (MS).
Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease where the immune system
attacks the central nervous system. In the relapsing remitting form,
new symptoms occur in discrete attacks.
A team of researchers Read more…
The Buyers Health Care Action Group, a health care purchasing coalition in Minnesota for large employers, on Wednesday announced a pay-for-performance pilot program that will reward physicians who effectively treat depressed patients, the St. Buy acomplia pills Paul Pioneer Press reports. The program will start in 2009 (Forster, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 5/28). The program is modeled after similar pay-for-performance Read more…
Personal stigma associated with depression is higher among men and the less well educated, according to research published in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry. The findings by the Australian team highlight the importance of developing programs to tackle the stigma associated with depression.
Researchers from the Australian National University examined both personal stigma, which is the negative attitude a person has towards depression, and perceived stigma, Read more…
Researchers in Norway found symptoms of depression and anxiety to be significantly higher among people with MS compared with those without MS. This study provides important data on the occurrence of emotional changes in people with MS, and the necessity to increase treatment of these symptoms. Antonie G. Beiske, MD (University Hospital, Akershus, NO) and colleagues report their findings in the European Journal of Neurology (2008 Mar;15(3):239-45). Read more…