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.

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

Cancer patients require better treatment for depression

Findings from three research studies have shown that around three quarters of cancer patients who suffer from major depression do not receive treatment for their depression and that a newly developed medical programme has proven more effective than standard care at reducing depression in these patients.

28 Aug 2014