Major Depressive Disorder News and Research

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Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by depressed mood or anhedonia (significant loss of interest or pleasure). The condition affects more than 15.7 million adults and approximately 3 million adolescents (aged 13 to 17 years) in the USA each year.

Study highlights public health significance of depression among U.S. adolescents

A recent study published in the January 2015 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry underscores the important public health significance of depression among U.S. adolescents.

7 Jan 2015

FDA receives Actavis' NDA resubmission for cariprazine

Actavis plc (NYSE: ACT) and Gedeon Richter Plc. today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has acknowledged receipt of Actavis' New Drug Application (NDA) resubmission for its atypical antipsychotic cariprazine, a potent dopamine D3/D2 receptor partial agonist with preferential binding to D3 receptors.

6 Jan 2015

LCS Therapeutics collaborates to commercialize patent on method to treat binge eating disorder

LCS Therapeutics announced today that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Lucerne Biosciences, LLC to commercialize U.S. Patent No. 8,318,813 entitled "Method of Treating Binge Eating Disorder."

26 Dec 2014

Health promotion program reduces cardiovascular risk in obese people with serious mental illness

A health promotion program, called In SHAPE, specifically designed for people with serious mental illness, produced more fit participants and significant weight loss than a control group where participants only received a gym membership.

18 Dec 2014

Going to bed late evenings linked to repetitive negative thoughts

When you go to bed, and how long you sleep at a time, might actually make it difficult for you to stop worrying. So say Jacob Nota and Meredith Coles of Binghamton University in the US, who found that people who sleep for shorter periods of time and go to bed very late at night are often overwhelmed with more negative thoughts than those who keep more regular sleeping hours.

5 Dec 2014

UT Arlington researcher receives grant to educate Hispanic patients about depression, treatment options

A University of Texas at Arlington researcher hopes to dispel myths about depression and its treatment, as well as reduce the stigma associated with receiving mental health care among Hispanics.

27 Nov 2014

Aequus Pharmaceuticals closes $4.2M private placement offering of special warrants

Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the "Company" or "Aequus") is pleased to announce that it has closed a brokered private placement offering (the "Brokered Offering") of special warrants for approximately C$3.7 million.

21 Nov 2014

Pathological guilt in preschool years linked to brain changes, increases risk for recurrent depression

In school-age children previously diagnosed with depression as preschoolers, a key brain region involved in emotion is smaller than in their peers who were not depressed, scientists have shown.

14 Nov 2014

Bipolar mixed episodes increase significantly under DSM-5

Using the most recent diagnostic criteria increases the prevalence of mixed features in patients with bipolar disorder more than threefold, study findings indicate.

13 Nov 2014

Scientists receive NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants for mental health research

The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation today announced the award of NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants valued at $1.5 million to 15 scientists, who are full professors or the equivalent, conducting innovative projects in diverse areas of neurobiological and behavioral research.

13 Nov 2014

Pregnant women with bipolar disorder at greater risk of delivering premature babies

Women who have been previously hospitalized for bipolar disorder are nearly twice as likely to have premature babies compared to women without a history of mental illness, according to a new study by researchers at Women's College Hospital and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences.

4 Nov 2014

Changing placebo response dilutes antipsychotic trial power

Factors including patients’ expectations may underlie an increased placebo response in antipsychotic randomised controlled trials published since 1960, say researchers.

22 Oct 2014

Study reveals that people with stress-related inflammation may suffer from depression

Preexisting differences in the sensitivity of a key part of each individual's immune system to stress confer a greater risk of developing stress-related depression or anxiety, according to a study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published October 20 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

21 Oct 2014

Fatty fish intake appears to increase antidepressant response rates

Up to half of patients who suffer from depression (Major Depressive Disorder, or MDD) do not respond to treatment with SSRIs (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors). Now a group of Dutch researchers have carried out a study which shows that increasing fatty fish intake appears to increase the response rate in patients who do not respond to antidepressants.

21 Oct 2014

New drug naming system to be presented at ECNP conference in Berlin

What's in a name? Doctors have found that the name of the drug you are prescribed significantly influences how the patient sees the treatment.

20 Oct 2014

NeuroSigma, VA partner to evaluate eTNS system for TBI patients in Phase I clinical trial

NeuroSigma, Inc., a California-based life sciences company focused on commercialization of its non-invasive Monarch eTNS System for the treatment of neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, today announced that it has entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the U.S. Veterans Affairs for a clinical trial to evaluate the benefits of non-invasive, external Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation (eTNS) for patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a Phase I clinical trial.

15 Oct 2014

Scientists develop first blood test to diagnose major adult depression

The first blood test to diagnose major depression in adults has been developed by Northwestern Medicine- scientists, a breakthrough approach that provides the first objective, scientific diagnosis for depression.

18 Sep 2014

Cyclothymic temperament linked to suicidality

The presence of a cyclothymic temperament in inpatients with bipolar disorder may indicate a high likelihood of hopelessness and suicidality, report researchers.

17 Sep 2014

FDA approves Contrave extended-release tablets for chronic weight management

Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. and Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc. jointly announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Contrave® extended-release tablets as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in adults with an initial body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or greater (obese), or 27 kg/m2 or greater (overweight) in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition.

11 Sep 2014

Current issue provides critical review of data concerned with antidepressant drugs

A paper in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics by Giovanni Fava, MD (University of Bologna) provides a critical review of the data concerned with antidepressant drugs.

4 Sep 2014