Archive for November, 2005
« Previous Entries Next Entries »Antidepressants potentially misused in treating adolescents, Stanford study finds
Saturday, November 19th, 2005When the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared in 2004 that certain antidepressants are linked to an increased risk of suicide in adolescents, there was surprisingly little data about how depression was being treated in young patients. Now new research from the Stanford University School of Medicine provides critical documentation of the potential misuse of these medications in the years leading up to the FDA’s decision to issue the so-called “black-box” warnings… click link for more info.
Parental discipline, life events, and peers affect teens’ risk of depression
Thursday, November 17th, 2005How parents treat their adolescent children, including the way they discipline them, as well as the kind of life events and social interactions teenagers experience, can affect an adolescent’s risk of depression, regardless of any genetic predisposition towards the mental illness. These findings from researchers at King’s College in London, published in the November/December issue of the journal Child Development, suggest that the environment in which teenagers find themselves has an impact on their risk of depression independent of their genetic background, which is already known to be a strong predictor of depression… click link for more info.
Parental discipline, life events, and peers affect teens’ risk of depression
Thursday, November 17th, 2005How parents treat their adolescent children, including the way they discipline them, as well as the kind of life events and social interactions teenagers experience, can affect an adolescent’s risk of depression, regardless of any genetic predisposition towards the mental illness. These findings from researchers at King’s College in London, published in the November/December issue of the journal Child Development, suggest that the environment in which teenagers find themselves has an impact on their risk of depression independent of their genetic background, which is already known to be a strong predictor of depression… click link for more info.
Bupropion re-kindles interest in dopamine strategy for major depression
Sunday, November 13th, 2005Dopamine is one of the brain’s ‘feel good’ chemicals. Alcohol boosts levels of dopamine, hence the popularity of social drinking. No surprise then, that for the treatment of depression, interest is growing in dopamine as a therapeutic target - at least according to presentations at ‘Beyond Serotonin - The Science of Neurotransmitters’ a workshop held at the recent European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP) congress held in Amsterdam… click link for more info.
Ads for SSRI antidepressants are misleading, say researchers
Saturday, November 12th, 2005Consumer ads for a class of antidepressants called SSRIs often claim that depression is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, and that SSRIs correct this imbalance, but these claims are not supported by scientific evidence, say researchers in PLoS Medicine. Although scientists in the 1960s suggested that depression may be linked to low brain levels of the chemical serotonin (the so-called “serotonin hypothesis”), contemporary research has failed to confirm the hypothesis, they say… click link for more info.
Ads for SSRI antidepressants are misleading, say researchers
Saturday, November 12th, 2005Consumer ads for a class of antidepressants called SSRIs often claim that depression is due to a chemical imbalance in the brain, and that SSRIs correct this imbalance, but these claims are not supported by scientific evidence, say researchers in PLoS Medicine. Although scientists in the 1960s suggested that depression may be linked to low brain levels of the chemical serotonin (the so-called “serotonin hypothesis”), contemporary research has failed to confirm the hypothesis, they say… click link for more info.
SAD patients who take antidepressants in autumn can prevent winter depression
Thursday, November 10th, 2005For patients with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), starting treatment with an antidepressant medication during the fall can reduce the risk of developing depression throughout the fall and winter months, reports a study in the Oct. 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry, official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, a world-leading scientific and medical publisher… click link for more info.
Aetna To Increase Payments to Physicians Participating in Depression Management Program, USA
Saturday, November 5th, 2005Aetna CEO John Rowe on Wednesday is expected to announce a plan under which the insurer will increase payments to physicians who participate in a depression management program focusing on screening and follow-up consultations, the http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/business/02depress.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1130941462-ICJokjM8EQxQCYRwvFulagNew York Times reports… click link for more info.
Aetna To Increase Payments to Physicians Participating in Depression Management Program, USA
Saturday, November 5th, 2005Aetna CEO John Rowe on Wednesday is expected to announce a plan under which the insurer will increase payments to physicians who participate in a depression management program focusing on screening and follow-up consultations, the http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/business/02depress.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1130941462-ICJokjM8EQxQCYRwvFulagNew York Times reports… click link for more info.
Forum to address controversies over antidepressants
Friday, November 4th, 2005Choices and Challenges at Virginia Tech will hold a public forum entitled “On Prozac: Debating the New Technologies of Mind,” a day-long series of panels and discussions to be held on Nov. 10 in the Graduate Life Center at Donaldson Brown. This forum is open to the public at no charge. In 1987, a new class of antidepressant medications, the Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) appeared on the market, promising a cleaner, more effective treatment for depression, with greatly reduced side-effects… click link for more info.
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