Depression, also known as depressive disorders or unipolar depression, is a mental illness characterized by a profound and persistent feeling of sadness or despair and/or a loss of interest in things that once were pleasurable. Disturbance in sleep, appetite, and mental processes are a common accompaniment.
Feeling down and out could break your heart, literally. Research links depression to cardiac death in women without known heart disease. – Relatively healthy women with severe depression are at increased risk of cardiac events, including sudden cardiac death (SCD) and fatal coronary heart disease (CHD).
Heart hazards of woeful wives. Depression ties marital strain to cardiovascular risks in women, not men. – Women in strained marriages are more likely to feel depressed and suffer high blood pressure, obesity and other signs of “metabolic syndrome,” a group of risk factors for heart disease, stroke and diabetes, University of Utah psychologists found.
Alcohol abuse may lead to depression risk, rather than vice versa – A statistical modeling study suggests that problems with alcohol abuse may lead to an increased risk of depression, as opposed to the reverse model in which individuals with depression self-medicate with alcohol, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Researchers revealed that first time mothers who give birth after the age of 35 are more than twice as likely as younger mums to suffer postpartum psychosis. – A study of risk factors associated with psychotic illness after childbirth, published this week in the open-access journal PLoS Medicine, shows that first-time mothers are at the greatest risk of developing psychosis in the month following the birth of their child ? even if they have never been treated in hospital for mental illness in the past.
Hormone level during pregnancy may identify women at risk for postpartum depression. – Women who have higher levels of a hormone produced by the placenta midway through pregnancy appear more likely to develop postpartum depression, a study authored by a UC Irvine researcher finds.
Anxious older adults sufferring from an anxiety disorders may benefit from antidepressants – Many older adults worry – a lot. Almost one in 10 Americans over age 60 suffer from an anxiety disorder that causes them to worry excessively about normal things – like health, finances, disability and family.
Clinical effectiveness of health visitor training in psychologically informed approaches for depression in postnatal women: pragmatic cluster randomised trial in primary care. – Health visitors can be trained to identify women with postnatal depression and offer effective treatment, while telephone peer support (mother to mother) may halve the risk of developing postnatal depression, suggests research published on bmj.com.
AstraZeneca Receives FDA Complete Response Letter on Seroquel XR for Major Depressive Disorder – AstraZeneca announced the company has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking for additional information for the supplemental New Drug Application for SEROQUEL XR (quetiapine fumarate) Extended Release Tablets for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) in adult patients.
High-dose vitamin B supplementation for patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease did not slow the rate of cognitive decline. – A clinical trial led by Paul S. Aisen, M.D., professor of neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, showed that high-dose vitamin B supplements did not slow the rate of cognitive decline in patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer disease.
New research provides support for the use of St. John’s wort extracts in treating major depression. A Cochrane Systematic Review backs up previous research that showed the plant extract is effective in treating mild to moderate depressive disorders. – The herbal medicine St. John’s wort appears to work just as well as some prescribed antidepressants for treating patients with major depression, a new review finds. However, patients in German-speaking countries might experience the best benefits.
American Heart Association Scientific Statement: Heart Patients Should Be Screened, Treated for Depression – Heart patients should be screened for depression — a common condition that can profoundly affect both prognosis and quality of life — according to the American Heart Association’s first scientific statement on depression and coronary heart disease.
Antidepressants may impair driving ability, new research finds. Depressed drivers on meds performed worst in driving simulation. – People taking prescription antidepressants appear to drive worse than people who aren’t taking such drugs, and depressed people on antidepressants have even more trouble concentrating and reacting behind the wheel.
