Depressed Jane

Autopsies usually point to a cause of death but now a study of brain tissue collected during these procedures, may explain an underlying cause of major depression and suicide. The international research group, led by Dr. Michael O. Poulter of Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario and Dr.

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Recent media coverage has questioned the prescription and safety of a class of antidepressants called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) in children and adolescents. “General practitioners are a critical part of the mental health care system in Australia and are often the first point of contact in the health system for people with mental health concerns.

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Senate Democrats on Monday failed to advance legislation (S 3297) that combined 34 bills that Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) has blocked, CQ Today reports. The package included disease specific research measures, environmental protection legislation and measures aimed at bolstering foreign economies. Language from a measure (

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In a first, scientists from Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University Medical Center have described the specifics of how brain cells process antidepressant drugs, cocaine and amphetamines. These novel findings could prove useful in the development of more targeted medication therapies for a host of psychiatric diseases, most notably in the area of addiction.

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Virginia Commonwealth University is part of an international research team that received a Wellcome Trust Foundation grant totaling more than $2.8 million to identify the genetic variants that have an impact on the risk for recurrent major depression.

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In a new twist on the Confucian ideal of filial piety, a study finds that the assistance of daughters-in-law – but not their own children – helps mitigate depression among older people in China. This is particularly true in rural areas, where elders may rely more heavily on family to be support providers.

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Prescriptions filled for antidepressant drugs increased from 154 million in 2002 to 170 million in 2005, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Among the prescriptions (not including refills) which were written after patients talked with doctors in-person or over the phone.

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Targacept, Inc. (NASDAQ: TRGT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of drugs known as NNR Therapeutics™, today announced that it has initiated a Phase 2b clinical trial of TC-5214 as an augmentation therapy in subjects with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). TC-5214 is a broad spectrum neuronal nicotinic receptor (NNR) antagonist and represents a promising new mechanism in development for the treatment of MDD.

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A team of Scottish researchers have shown that cancer patients offered a depression care intervention – delivered by specially trained oncology nurses with no previous psychiatric experience – showed improvements in symptoms of depression compared to patients offered usual care. The beneficial effects of the “Depression Care for People with Cancer” package (DCPC) were found to be sustained at 12 months follow-up, to the surprise of the investigators.

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Hoping to answer a question raised by the Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have designed the Combining Medication to Enhance Outcomes of Depression (CO-MED) trial to test multiple-medication treatment of depression. “We are trying two active, Food and Drug Administration-marketed antidepressant medicines available by prescription from your local drugstore,” said Dr.

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