depression Tag
21 Oct Psychiatric Subtypes Identified by AI-Enhanced EEGs
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_55709" align="alignleft" width="125"]
Dr. Etkin[/caption]
Amit Etkin, MD, PhD
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute, Stanford Universitu
Stanford, CA
MedicalResearch.com: What is the mission of Cohen Veterans Bioscience - CVB?
Response: Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) research biotech dedicated to fast-tracking the development of diagnostic tests and personalized therapeutics for the millions of Veterans and civilians who suffer the devastating effects of trauma-related and other brain disorders.
MedicalResearch.com: How can patients with PTSD or MDD benefit from this information?
Response: With the discovery of this new brain imaging biomarker, patients who suffer from PTSD or MDD may be guided towards the most effective treatment without waiting months and months to find a treatment that may work for them.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This study, which was supported with a grant from Cohen Veterans Bioscience, grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH and other supporters, derives from our work over the past few years which has pointed to the critical importance of understanding how patients with a variety of psychiatric disorders differ biologically. The shortcomings of our current diagnostic system have become very clear over the past 1-2 decades, but the availability of tools for transcending these limitations on the back of objective biological tests has not kept pace with the need for those tools.
In prior work, we have used a variety of methods, including different types of brain imaging, to identify brain signals that underpin key biological differences within and across traditional psychiatric diagnoses. We have also developed specialized AI tools for decoding complex patterns of brain activity in order to understand and quantify biological heterogeneity in individual patients. These developments have then, in turn, converged with the completion of a number of large brain imaging-coupled clinical trials, which have provided a scale of these types of data not previously available in the field.
15 Jul Concussion Expert Discusses Recent Study of Repeated Brain Injury and Risks of Depression, Cognitive Issues
Posted at 11:33h
in Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Cognitive Issues, Depression, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_54866" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Erickson[/caption]
Dr. Steve Erickson, MD
Concussion Expert at Banner
University Medicine Neuroscience Institute
Dr. Erikson discusses the recent Neurology publication associating repetitive head impacts with depression.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The study compared depression and cognitive function of adults (middle aged and older) who have had repetitive head impacts (RHI) and/or TBI to adults without a history of these.
28 Feb Antipsychotic Medication Linked to Brain Cortex Thinning in People in Remission from Psychotic Depression
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53338" align="alignleft" width="190"] Dr. Voineskos[/caption]
Dr. Aristotle Voineskos MD, PhD, FRCPC
Director, Slaight Family Centre for Youth in Transition and Head,
Kimel Family Translational Imaging-Genetics Laboratory
Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute
CAMH
University of Toronto
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Uncontrolled studies in humans have shown conflicting results regarding effects of antipsychotic medications on brain structure. Recent studies in animals (e.g. rats and non-human primates) show that these medications may be associated with brain volume loss. To date, our knowledge of the effects of antipsychotic medications on brain structure in humans have been limited by the lack of a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with brain imaging. Ours is the first such study. It is considered unethical to do such a study in people with schizophrenia, because of the life-saving benefits of these medications in this illness. However, in people with depression also experiencing psychosis, it was possible to do such a study once people experienced remission from their illness.
11 Feb Two Common Drugs May Reduce Risk of Heart Attack During Grief
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53123" align="alignleft" width="125"] Prof. Tofler[/caption]
Prof. Geoffrey Tofler MBBS MB FRACP FACC
Professor of Preventative Cardiology, University of Sydney
Senior Staff Cardiologist, Royal North Shore Hospital
New South Wales, Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Bereavement due to the death of a loved one is one of the most stressful experiences to which almost every human is exposed. Grief is an unavoidable and natural reaction to the loss. While in most people the grief reaction gradually diminishes, an increased risk of heart attack or has been described in the early weeks and months following bereavement. Although this increase in heart attacks is well recognised, until now there have not been any previous studies to provide guidance on how to safely reduce the risk.
08 Jan Overlapping Genetic Loci Between BMI and Mental Health Disorders
Posted at 21:33h
in Author Interviews, Bipolar Disorder, Depression, JAMA, Schizophrenia, Weight Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_52731" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Bahrami[/caption]
Shahram Bahrami, PhD
NORMENT Centre, Institute of Clinical Medicine
Division of Mental Health and Addiction
Oslo University Hospital
Oslo, Norway
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We know that patients with severe mental disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression have shorter life span than the rest of the population, largely due to comorbid cardiovascular diseases. The increased risk seems related to lifestyle including diet and physical activity and medicines, while the mechanisms are not fully understood. Different studies have shown increased weight (high body mass index) in many people with mental disorders. Yet very little is known about genetic variants jointly in influencing major psychiatric disorders and body mass index. Thus, we investigated if there are overlapping genetic risk variants between body mass index and the mental disorders schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and major depression.
18 Dec Do We Really Need to Avoid Blue Light at Night?
Posted at 17:08h
in Author Interviews
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr Timothy Brown BSc, MRes, PhD
Senior Lecturer
University of Manchester
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Over the past 20+ years multiple lines of scientific evidence have indicated that short wavelength light is especially effective at re-setting the body clock and driving associated physiological responses in humans and other mammals. This reflects the involvement of a specialised light sensing protein in the retina, melanopsin, which more efficiently detects photons in the short wavelength region of the visible spectrum and has therefore commonly been reported as indicating a major role for ‘blue’ light.
If fact, however, melanopsin does not detect colour. Instead, our perception of colour comes from comparing signals detected by the different types of cone cells in the retina. Importantly then, except under very specific circumstances, there is no correlation between perceived colour and the brightness signals detected by the melanopsin system.
30 Nov Association Between Physician Depression and Medical Errors
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_52326" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Pereira-Lima[/caption]
Karina Pereira-Lima, PhD
Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor
Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Questions regarding the magnitude and direction of the associations between physician depressive symptoms and medical errors remain open in recent literature.
By pooling data from 11 studies involving 21,517 physicians, we were able to verify that depressive symptoms among physicians were associated with increased risk of reporting medical errors (RR, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.63 – 2.33).
25 Sep Younger Children in Same School Year More Likely To Be Diagnosed with Depression, ADHD and Intellectual Disability
Posted at 11:27h
in ADHD, Author Interviews, Depression, Education, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_51452" align="alignleft" width="200"] Jeremy Brown[/caption]
Jeremy Brown BA MSc
RESEARCH DEGREE STUDENT IN PHARMACOEPIDEMIOLOGY
London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Given the way schools typically work, children in the same year as each other can be almost a whole year apart in terms of age. We’ve known for a while that children who are young in their year at school are also more likely to be diagnosed as having hyperactivity disorders and tend to do less well academically than the older children in the year. They also seem to be at increased risk of suicide. This is thankfully an extremely rare occurrence in children, but there is little evidence about whether younger children are more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
We used electronic health records for just over a million children in the UK to see if there was any association between how old the children were in their year and whether they got diagnosed with ADHD, intellectual disability and depression.
08 Aug Depression Major Factor Behind Drug Use During Pregnancy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_50618" align="alignleft" width="128"] Dr. Seabrook[/caption]
Jamie A. Seabrook, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences
Brescia University College at Western University
Adjunct Research Professor, Dept of Paediatrics, Western University
Adjunct Associate Professor, Dept of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Western University
Scientist, Children's Health Research Institute
Scientist, Lawson Health Research Institute
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Alcohol, tobacco, and cannabis are the most commonly used substances during pregnancy. High alcohol consumption has been linked with preterm birth, and tobacco and/or cannabis use is associated with low birth weight. Much of what we know about predictors of drug use during pregnancy comes from the United States and Australia, with limited studies in Canada.
The objective of our study was therefore to assess the relative effects of socioeconomic, demographic, and mental health risk factors associated with drug use during pregnancy.
Our retrospective cohort study consisted of 25,734 pregnant women from Southwestern Ontario. We found that maternal depression was the top risk factor associated with all three substances. Compared to women who were not depressed during their pregnancy, women who were depressed were 2.2 times more likely to use alcohol (95% CI: 1.6, 2.9), 1.7 times more likely to smoke tobacco (95% CI: 1.5, 2.0), and 2.6 times more likely to use cannabis (95% CI: 2.0, 3.4).
19 Jun Study Finds Antidepressants Blunt Empathy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_49850" align="alignleft" width="128"] Dr. Ruetgen[/caption]
Dr. Markus Rütgen PhD
Post-doctoral researcher
Social, Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit
Faculty of Psychology
University of Vienna
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Previous research has reported empathy deficits in patients with major depressive disorder. However, a high percentage of patients taking part in these studies were taking antidepressants, which are known to influence emotion processing. In our study, we wanted to overcome this important limitation. We were interested in whether the previously reported empathic deficits were attributable to the acute state of depression, or to the antidepressant treatment.
To this end, we performed a longitudinal neuroimaging study, in which we measured brain activity and self-reported empathy in response to short video clips showing people in pain. We measured acutely depressed patients twice. First, before they started their treatment, second, after three months of treatment with a state-of-the-art antidepressant (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors).
19 Apr DNA Copy Number Variants Linked to Increased Risk of Depression
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_48629" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Kendall[/caption]
Dr Kimberley Kendall MBBCh
Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Fellow
[caption id="attachment_48630" align="alignleft" width="150"] Prof. Walters[/caption]
Professor James Walters
MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics
Professor, Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences
Cardiff University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Copy number variants (CNVs) are the deletion or duplication of large sections of DNA. Large, rare CNVs have been shown to increase the risk of neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD), intellectual disability (ID), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia. However, the impact of these CNVs on risk of depression was unclear from the existing literature.
10 Apr Parkinson’s Disease: Mindfulness Yoga and Stretching To Reduce Anxiety and Depression
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dr. Jojo Kwok R.N., BN(Hons), MPH, Ph.D. School of Nursing, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine The University of Hong Kong MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Before the study, we knew that mind-body exercises such as yoga and stretching improves the physical health of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), however the benefits to their mental health was not known. This study concludes that mindfulness yoga alleviates psychological distress, improves spiritual well-being and quality of life, not to mention motor symptoms and mobility. When it comes to managing the stress and symptoms of Parkinson Disease, what is exciting, is that yoga has now been proven to be a better strategy than just stretching. Yoga draws together body, mind and spirit through mindful practice of 1) yoga posture, 2) breathing and 3) meditation. These form the three core components of our Mindfulness Yoga Program. Mindfulness is non-judgemental awareness of the present moment - of one’s physical sensations and thoughts, be they positive or negative. By adopting a mind-body approach, patients are much better positioned to reframe their illness journey than through physical training alone. By learning to relate non-judgmentally to their physical symptoms and emotions, they develop new coping skills that cultivate openness, acceptance and resilience to these symptoms. They feel better.
24 Mar Adult Atopic Dermatitis Linked to Anxiety and Depression, Often Undiagnosed
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_24142" align="alignleft" width="128"] Dr. Jonathan Silverberg[/caption]
Dr. Jonathan L. Silverberg MD PhD MPH
Assistant Professor in Dermatology
Medical Social Sciences and Preventive Medicine
Northwestern, Chicago, Illinois
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Atopic Dermatitis is characterized by chronic and often severe and debilitating itch, skin pain, sleep disturbances, skin lesions and multiple comorbid health conditions. The signs, symptoms and comorbidities of atopic dermatitis can lead to significant psychosocial distress and mental health burden
We performed a cross-sectional, population-based study of 2893 US adults. We found that adults with atopic dermatitis had more severe symptoms scores for anxiety and depression (Hospital Anxiety and Depression anxiety). Adults with atopic dermatitis also had higher prevalences of anxiety and depression. Mean symptom scores and prevalences of anxiety and depression were even higher in adults with moderate and severe atopic dermatitis compared to those with mild atopic dermatitis. All respondents with severe PO-SCORAD, POEM and PO-SCORAD-itch scores had elevated anxiety and depression scores.
Many adults with atopic dermatitis that had elevated anxiety and depression scores reported no diagnosis of anxiety or depression.
08 Mar Supplements Did Not Prevent Depression in Study of Obese Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47759" align="alignleft" width="89"] Dr. Visser[/caption]
Prof. Marjolein Visser PhD
Professor of Healthy Aging
Head section Nutrition and Health
Department of Health Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Amsterdam Public Health research institute
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: More than 40 million Europeans experience a major depressive disorder. One in ten men, and one in five women suffer from clinical depression at least once during their lifetime. Depression is one of the most prevalent and disabling disorders in the EU.
Given the increasing prevalence of depression, more people are actively searching for ways to decrease their risk through lifestyle modification, but are often overwhelmed by confusing and contradictory information.
The MooDFOOD prevention trial is the largest randomized clinical trial to study the effects of nutritional strategies on the prevention of major depressive disorder. Over 1000 overweight or obese participants identified as being at elevated risk for depression but who were not currently depressed, from four European countries -the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain, took part in the study. Participants were randomized to either take nutritional supplements containing folic acid, vitamin D, zinc, selenium or to a pill placebo, and half of participants also received a behavioral lifestyle intervention intended to change dietary behaviors and patterns.
05 Mar Obesity and Depression Can Be Treated With Collaborative Care
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47752" align="alignleft" width="150"] Dr. Jun Ma[/caption]
Jun Ma, MD, PhD, FAHA, FABMR
Professor and Associate Head of Research
Department of Medicine
Director, Center for Health Behavior Research
The University of Illinois at Chicago
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Obesity and depression are major public health problems. Obesity affects 40% of United States (US) adults. About 20% in US women and 13% in men experience major depressive disorder at some point in their lifetime and, additionally, many adults have elevated depressive symptoms that do not meet clinical diagnostic criteria but can nevertheless negatively affect their health and quality of life. Obesity and depression share common risk factors, such as poor diet and lack of exercise, and cause other health problems, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. People with obesity are at increased risk of being depressed and, likewise, people with depression are at increased risk of being obese. Consequently, obesity and depression often co-occur. To date, there has been no integrated therapy to effectively treat patients affected by both conditions at the same time.
The RAINBOW randomized clinical trial addressed this gap.
The main finding from the trial is that, among adult patients with obesity and depression, a collaborative care intervention integrating behavioral weight loss treatment, problem-solving therapy, and as-needed antidepressant medications significantly improve weight loss and depressive symptoms over one year compared with usual care, which patients received through their primary care physicians.
21 Feb USPSTF Recommends Interventions to Prevent Perinatal Depression
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47579" align="alignleft" width="134"] Dr. Davidson[/caption]
Dr. Karina Davidson, PhD
Professor of Behavioral Medicine (in Medicine and Psychiatry)
Executive Director, Center for Behavioral Cardiovascular Health
Columbia University Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Perinatal depression, which includes depression that develops during pregnancy or after childbirth, is one of the most common complications of pregnancy and the postpartum period, affecting as many as 1 in 7 pregnant women. The Task Force found that counseling can help those who are at increased risk of developing perinatal depression, and clinicians should provide or refer pregnant and postpartum individuals who are at increased risk to counseling. Clinicians can determine who might be at increased risk of perinatal depression by looking at someone’s history of depression, current depressive symptoms, socioeconomic risk factors, recent intimate partner violence, and other mental-health related factors.
04 Feb Emergency C-Section Raises Depression Risk For New Moms
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47285" align="alignleft" width="195"]
Dr. Tonei[/caption]
Valentina Tonei, PhD
British Academy Research Associate
Department of Economics and Related Studies
University of York, UK
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: There has been a growing utilisation of Caesarean sections in the past decades. To put it in a perspective, in the United Kingdom, the caesarean section rate was about 26% in 2015, while in 1990s it was about 12-15%. A similar increase has been observed in other countries, for example in the USA. So, while this study focuses on the United Kingdom, I believe that the evidence from this research can apply also to other countries.
I study the health consequences for mothers who give birth through an emergency caesarean. Thanks to previous studies, we are well-aware of the implications for mothers’ physical health; instead, this research sheds light on the impact on new mothers’ mental health. I find that new mothers who have an emergency caesarean delivery are at higher risk of developing postnatal depression in the first 9 months after the delivery.
21 Jan Depression May Be a Driver of Alopecia Areata
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_47053" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Vallerand[/caption]
Isabelle Vallerand, PhD
Epidemiologist, MD Student
Department of Community Health Sciences
Cumming School of Medicine
University of Calgary
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: It is well known that patients with alopecia areata, a form of autoimmune hair loss, are at a higher risk of suffering from depression than the general population. But in practice, we often hear patients tell us that they believe their hair loss developed as a result of stress or problems with mental health – certainly the phrase “so stressed your hair is falling out” is something most people have heard of. Despite this, there has actually been very little research investigating the role that mental health may have on development of alopecia areata.
Interestingly, depression has recently been associated with increased systemic inflammatory markers, so there is biologic plausibility that depression could increase the risk of alopecia areata. Our group was interested in addressing this question, and used a large population-level health records database with up to 26 years of follow-up to study it. We ultimately found that not only does depression increase one’s risk of alopecia areata, but that it increases their risk by nearly 90% compared to people who have never had depression. We also found that using antidepressants can significantly decrease the risk of developing alopecia areata in patients with depression. So there appears to be an important link between mental health and development of hair loss from alopecia areata.
14 Jan Midurethral Sling Complications May Be Associated with Psychological Stress, esp in Young Women
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46921" align="alignleft" width="114"] Dr. Welk[/caption]
Blayne Welk MD, MSc, FRCSC
Associate Professor of Surgery
St. Joseph's Hospital
Western University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: I found that when I was referred women with midurethral sling complications, they were often quite emotional and described a significant period of time when they struggled with the complications before they were referred to someone to assess them.
The study looked at the rate of depression and self-harm behavior of women who had surgery for midurethral sling complications compared to women who did not have midurethral sling complications.
I found that there was an increased risk of both of these outcomes among women who had surgery for complications, however this risk was primarily present in younger women.
09 Jan Parental Drinking Linked to Anxiety and Depression in Children
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46863" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Ingunn Olea Lund[/caption]
Dr. Ingunn Olea Lund, PhD
The Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Oslo, Norway
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There are significant amounts of research on children of parents with alcohol use disorders – where the children are shown to be at risk of several adverse outcomes, including mental disorders, substance use disorders, suicide, impaired school performance, and employment problems. There is very little previous research on how other, more normal levels of parental drinking may influence child outcomes, such as mental health. This is a grave oversight, as there are vastly more parents with normal drinking patterns than there are parents who suffer from an alcohol use disorder. This means that there are potentially a lot more cases of adverse effect for children, and the number of children at risk may be higher than previously assumed.
In addition to parents' alcohol use, several other risk factors in the family that may affect child mental health outcomes, such as parents' mental health and socio-economic status. Researchers have tended to look at these risk factors separately, but as these risks tend to co-occur, it may be more informative to consider them together.
To our knowledge, this is the first study that examines possible harm from normal levels of parental drinking, alone or in combination with other parental risk factors, on children’s anxiety and depression.
The sample consists of more than 8700 triads: children and both their parents. We combined information from three health registries with survey data where both adolescents and their parents provided information about health and social conditions. The health registers include information about the children 's actual contact with the health care system; we used information about whether children received diagnoses and/or treatment for anxiety and/or depression.
08 Jan Depression Rates Climb with Hearing Loss
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46841" align="alignleft" width="147"] Dr. Golub[/caption]
Justin S. Golub, MD, MS
Assistant Professor
Otology, Neurotology, and Skull Base Surgery
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Age-related hearing loss is extremely common, yet few people do anything about it. We studied a population of over 5,000 individuals and found that hearing loss was related to feelings of depression. The worse the hearing loss, the worse the symptoms of depression. Even people with just mild hearing loss had nearly two times the odds of depressive symptoms compared to normal hearing people. Among people with moderate hearing loss, the odds of depressive symptoms were four times as high. These statistics take into account various factors that can cause both hearing loss and depression, such as age and demographic background.
06 Dec Fluoxetine (Prozac) Did Not Reduce Risk of Depression After Stroke, But Did Raise Risk of Fractures
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46429" align="alignleft" width="100"] Prof. Mead[/caption]
Prof. Gillian Mead
Chair of Stroke and Elderly Care Medicine
[caption id="attachment_46430" align="alignleft" width="100"]
Prof. Dennis[/caption]
Prof. Martin Dennis
Chair of Stroke Medicine
Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences
The University of Edinburgh
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: We are both practicing stroke physicians as well as clinical trialists. Therefore our interest in this area was triggered by the exciting results of the FLAME trial in 2011. This appeared to indicate that fluoxetine might boost the recovery of stroke patients. Potentially this was very important given the increasing numbers of people having disability due to stroke, and the fact that fluoxetine is inexpensive and could be introduced very easily into clinical practice. We were further encouraged by the large numbers of small RCTs we identified when we carried out a Cochrane systematic review on the topic. These trials provided more evidence of potential benefit but there was evidence that trials of greater quality showed less benefit, and benefits were greater in patients who were depressed. We felt there was a need for more evidence derived from much larger numbers of patients.
16 Nov Testosterone Treatment May Reduce Depression in Men
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_45941" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Walther[/caption]
Dr. Andreas Walther PhD
Department of Biological Psychology, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Germany
Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, University of Zurich,
Zurich, Switzerland
Task Force on Men’s Mental Health of the World Federation of the Societies of Biological Psychiatry
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The study situation with regard to endogenous testosterone level and depressive symptoms in men is currently very mixed. There are studies that show no association, but other studies show that low testosterone levels are associated with increased depressive symptoms. That is why several studies have tried to administer testosterone in men to treat depressive symptomatology among other conditions (e.g. erectile dysfunction, cognitive decline).
However, no clear conclusions could be drawn from the studies to date, as some studies reported positive results, while others did not show any effects. Likewise, some studies showed better results in certain subgroups of men such as dysthymic men, treatment resistant, men with low testosterone, which raised the question of relevant moderators.
07 Nov More Postnatal Depression with Baby Boys?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr Sarah Myers PhD
Honorary Research Associate
UCL Department of Anthropology
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Postnatal or postpartum depression is unfortunately common after giving birth; a figure often quoted is 15%, but some studies have found much higher numbers. Postnatal depression is associated with a range of poorer outcomes for mothers and their infants, and the financial costs of treating maternal mental ill health put health services under considerable strain. Studies have found that providing additional emotional support to at risk mothers, for instance via peer support programmes or regular phone calls with health visitors, can reduce the likelihood of them developing the condition. Therefore, it is really important that we understand the full range of risk factors that put women at greater risk of becoming depressed after giving birth.
There is increasing evidence for a link between inflammation and depression, with factors that trigger an inflammatory immune response also increasing the likelihood of depressive symptoms. The opens up the possibility of finding new risk factors for postnatal depression based on known associations with inflammation.
13 Sep Depression May Increase Risk of Developing an Autoimmune Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_44404" align="alignleft" width="183"]
Dr. Roberts[/caption]
Andrea L. Roberts, MPH, PhD
Research Associate, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There is some evidence that depression may increase risk of autoimmune diseases. For example, among people with autoimmune diseases, more people have depression than in the general population. Also, people who have autoimmune diseases who also have depression have more severe disease symptoms.
15 Jul Young Pregnant Women More Likely To Be Depressed Than Their Mothers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_43130" align="alignleft" width="175"] Dr. Pearson[/caption]
Rebecca Pearson, PhD
Lecturer in Psychiatric Epidemiology
Centre for Academic Mental Health
School of Social & Community Medicine
University of Bristol
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We know depression and anxiety are common in young women and during pregnancy when there are also implications for the developing child.
It is therefore important to investigate whether symptoms are rising given the pressures of modern life.
We found that compared to their mothers generation in the 1990s young pregnancy women today are more likely to be depressed. This was driven largely by symptoms of anxiety and feeling overwhelmed rather than feeling down.
22 May Reduced Heart Rate Variability May Be Biomarker of Depression Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_41942" align="alignleft" width="150"]
Dr. Vaccarino[/caption]
Viola Vaccarino, MD, PhD
Department of Epidemiology and Division of Cardiology
Professor, Department of Medicine
Emory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Previous studies have shown that people with depression tend to have lower heart rate variability (HRV), an index of autonomic nervous system dysregulation derived by monitoring the electrocardiogram over time, usually for 24 hours. Other literature, however, has pointed out that autonomic dysregulation (as indexed by reduced HRV) may also cause depression. Thus, the direction of the association between reduced HRV and depression still remains unclear. In addition, these two characteristics could share common pathophysiology, making shared familial background and genetic factors potential determinants of this association.
14 May Thyroid Inflammation Linked to Depression and Anxiety
Posted at 14:16h
in Author Interviews, Depression, Endocrinology, JAMA, Mental Health Research, Thyroid Disease
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Teja Grömer PD Dr. med. Habil
Facharzt für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie
Lehrbefugter der Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg im Fach Psychiatrie
Bamberg
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
1) I had seen hundreds of clinical cases with combined depression and anxiety and noted end of 2015 that most (far more than 50%) from the subjective clinical impression were associated with autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT)
2) Autoimmune thyroiditis on the mental side leads to specific symptoms, exhaustion, tachycardia, restlessness.
3) I thus decided to do a systematic review and meta-analysis.
13 May Resistance Exercise Training May Alleviate Some Depressive Symptoms
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Mr. Brett R. Gordon, M.Sc.
Postgraduate researcher
Physical Education and Sport Sciences Department
University of Limerick, Ireland.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Depression is prevalent, burdensome, and often comorbid mood disorder that is associated with other poor health outcomes. Exercise training interventions have demonstrated comparable efficacy for depressive symptoms to frontline treatments, such as antidepressant medications and behavioral therapies.
However, the evidence to date has primarily focused on findings from studies of aerobic exercise training like jogging, running, and cycling. Our work is the first quantitative summary of the effects of resistance exercise training (RET), or weight lifting and strength training, on depressive symptoms, and the influence of variables like participant characteristics, features of the RET, and the methods that were used in studies on the antidepressant effects of RET.
The main finding was that resistance exercise training significantly reduced depressive symptoms among adults regardless of their health status, the total prescribed volume of RET (e.g., how much the participants were supposed to exercise), or whether or not strength was significantly improved by the RET intervention.