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Many people use "alternative" or complementary products because they see them as a more gentle form of medicine. The German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care has now analysed the latest research on several products and released the results along with a guide for consumers.
St John’s wort (hypericum), for example, could help ease mild depression, (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 (more…)

New findings from research supported by NARSAD, the world’s leading charity dedicated to mental health research, and conducted by scientists at Washington University’s School of Medicine (WUSM) now point to new options for treating preschool-aged children with significant clinical depression as well as those severely depressed adults who don’t respond to standard treatments, such as antidepressants (more…)

Symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among caregivers of deceased lung transplant patients are four-to-five times more prevalent than in the average population, according to researchers who analyzed the stress levels of caregivers, as well as their perceptions of the transplant recipients’ quality of dying and death. Their findings were presented at the American Thoracic Society’s (more…)

”We as policy makers working in the area of suicide prevention need to foster a culture where people in distress, at whatever stage in their lives, won’t hesitate to seek help,” - Devins
Dr Jimmy Devins TD, Minister for Disability and Mental Health, yesterday addressed the National Office for Suicide Prevention’s third (more…)

Even after the age of 70, people prone to feelings of anxiety, worry, distress and insecurity face a risk for a first lifetime episode of clinically significant depression, according to a unique study led by a University of Rochester Medical Center researcher.
"We assume that because depression has not developed for people with these personality traits by the (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 (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 (more…)

UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatry researchers have taken what they learned from their groundbreaking research on treating depression and are applying it to real-world clinical settings.
The Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study was the largest ever on the treatment of major depressive disorder and is considered a benchmark in the field of depression research. (more…)

Forest Laboratories, Inc.
(NYSE: FRX) announced that study results show Lexapro (escitalopram
oxalate) significantly improved symptoms of depression as compared to
placebo treatment and was well tolerated in adolescents, aged 12-17, with
major depressive disorder (MDD), according to phase III data presented at
the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. These
results suggest that Lexapro has potential as a useful treatment (more…)

Researchers have long known that type-2 diabetes and depression often go hand in hand. However, it’s been unclear which condition develops first in patients who end up with both. Now, a new study led by Johns Hopkins doctors suggests (more…)

St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) announced pilot study results from the first multi-center study investigating deep brain stimulation (DBS) of Brodmann Area 25 for major depressive disorder.
Results of the study, which were presented at the American Psychiatric Association (APA) meeting in Washington, D.C., found that (more…)

Congresswoman Grace F. Napolitano (D-Norwalk) addressed a plenary session of the 12th Annual Conference of the National Hispanic Medical Association’s (NHMA) today. She spoke at a session titled "Recognition and Management of Depression and Co-Morbidities in the Hispanic Population." The session will be held from 11 am - 3 pm in Room HC-7 of the U.S. Capitol. (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.
Buy diflucan without prescription The MJA’s 48-page supplement, funded by a grant from beyondblue: the national depression initiative, adds to the evidence (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 (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, (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 studies have found higher (more…)

The Journal of Environmental and Occupational Medicine (JOEM) has published a series of new studies that suggest depression in the workplace may be a much bigger problem - with more serious social and economic impacts - than employers realize.
The peer-reviewed journal has devoted an entire special-edition, titled "Depression in the Workplace," to the topic, with 15 papers prepared by experts on depression (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 (more…)

A new study in JAMA finds that people who are
treated for type 2 diabetes have higher incidence rates of elevated
depressive symptoms. In the same article, researchers report a modest
association between the risk of diabetes and persons with depression.
It is known that compared to the general population, people with
diabetes are more likely to have elevated depressive symptoms and
higher rates of clinical (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 (more…)

Infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), is an epidemic of global concern. According to the most recent estimates, released in November 2007, by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) and the World Health Organization (WHO), an estimated 33.2 million worldwide are living with HIV infection currently. (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 (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, (more…)

AstraZeneca announced that the company has submitted applications in the European Union (EU) for once-daily SEROQUEL XR™ (quetiapine fumarate) Extended-Release Tablets (quetiapine XR), seeking approval for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) including maintenance therapy in adult patients using Mutual Recognition Procedure (MRP). This follows an sNDA submission for SEROQUEL XR in MDD in the U.S. in February this year.
Each (more…)