Depression News and Research

Latest Depression News and Research

Prenatal antipsychotic exposure linked to reduced neuromotor performance

Infants with prenatal exposure to antipsychotics show significant reductions in neuromotor performance compared with other children, US researchers report.

8 Aug 2012

A third of depression patients convert to bipolar disorder

Around a third of patients initially diagnosed with major depressive disorder have their diagnosis changed to bipolar disorder, Polish researchers report.

8 Aug 2012

About half of adults with type 2 diabetes experience acute and chronic pain

Almost half of adults with type 2 diabetes report acute and chronic pain, and close to one quarter report neuropathy, fatigue, depression, sleep disturbance and physical or emotional disability, according to a study of more than 13,000 adults conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, the University of California, San Francisco and the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, CA. The researchers also found significant rates of shortness of breath, nausea and constipation.

8 Aug 2012

Certain patterns of brain activity may help predict kids at risk of heavy drinking

Heavy drinking is known to affect teenagers' developing brains, but certain patterns of brain activity may also help predict which kids are at risk of becoming problem drinkers, according to a study in the September issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

8 Aug 2012

Depressive symptoms, suicidal thoughts more prevalent among former finasteride users

New research, to be published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, finds that men who developed persistent sexual side effects while on finasteride (Propecia), a drug commonly used for male pattern hair loss, have a high prevalence of depressive symptoms and suicidal thoughts.

8 Aug 2012

Variations in RORA gene can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder

Investigators at Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and Veterans Affairs (VA) Boston Healthcare System have identified a new gene linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

8 Aug 2012

Dental health linked to falls in Japanese elderly

Japanese study results indicate that elderly individuals with 19 or fewer teeth who do not wear dentures are at a greater risk for incident falls than their counterparts with 20 teeth or more.

7 Aug 2012

Borderline personality disorder ‘not linked to psychosis transition’

The presence of borderline personality disorder is not associated with an increased risk for transition to full-blown psychosis in ultra-high risk patients, research shows.

7 Aug 2012

Orexigen Therapeutics reports net loss of $16.7 million for second quarter 2012

Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the treatment of obesity, today announced financial results for the second quarter of 2012.

7 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 7, 2012

Today's headlines include reports that HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain in the U.S., is facing scrutiny about the medical necessity of some of the cardiac procedures done at some of its facilities.

7 Aug 2012

Post-discharge stroke coaching can help patients with their medications or recovery

When a stroke patient is discharged from the hospital, they often must cope with a new disability or lack of function, so changes in their medications or a new dosing prescription can be particularly confusing. This can lead the patient to overmedicate, take the wrong medication or skip medications entirely and can result in being readmitted to the hospital.

7 Aug 2012

Scientists discover biological marker that may help identify patients’ response to antidepressants

Scientists have discovered a biological marker that may help to identify which depressed patients will respond to an experimental, rapid-acting antidepressant. The brain signal, detectable by noninvasive imaging, also holds clues to the agent's underlying mechanism, which are vital for drug development, say National Institutes of Health researchers.

7 Aug 2012

Creatine may fight major depression in women

Women battling stubborn major depression may have a surprising new ally in their fight—the muscle-building dietary supplement creatine.

7 Aug 2012

Exercise partially alleviates depression in heart failure patients

Structured exercise achieves modest reductions in depressive symptoms relative to usual care among patients with heart failure the results of a randomized-controlled trial show.

6 Aug 2012

Exercise improves mood in heart failure patients

Structured exercise achieves modest reductions in depressive symptoms relative to usual care among patients with heart failure, the results of a randomized-controlled trial show.

6 Aug 2012

First generic versions of Singulair receive FDA approval for treatment of asthma, allergies

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic versions of Singulair (montelukast sodium) for use in adults and children to control asthma symptoms and to help relieve symptoms of indoor and outdoor allergies.

6 Aug 2012

Depression in kidney cancer patients associated with survival and inflammatory gene regulation

Research from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has found that symptoms of depression in patients with newly diagnosed metastatic kidney cancer are associated with survival and inflammatory gene regulation may explain this link.

3 Aug 2012

Mild mental health problems increase risk for death

Even mild psychologic distress increases the risk for death, the results of a large meta-analysis show, raising questions about the treatment of subclinical depression and anxiety.

3 Aug 2012

Child abuse has repercussions for menarche

Researchers have found an association between childhood abuse and age at menarche onset, they report in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

3 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Orszag on CAP cost-control proposals; High-tech and health costs

The Center for American Progress proposals thus wisely recognize that there is no single strategy to continue the recent progress in slowing the growth in health-care costs. In contrast, the Republican budget plan put forward by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin seems based on a belief that all that's needed is to shift risks: from Medicare to beneficiaries through a premium-support program, and from the federal government to state governments by turning Medicaid into block grants.

3 Aug 2012