Depressed Jane

Researchers in the Laboratory of Structural Sciences at Van Andel Institute (VAI) have determined how the hormone corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) precisely binds to its receptor. This detailed structural information can help drug developers design new drugs for anxiety, depression, and related disorders.

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Northstar Neuroscience, Inc. (NASDAQ: NSTR) today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted conditional approval of a second clinical study of its Renova™ Cortical Stimulation System for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD). With this approval, the Company expects to begin enrolling patients into its PROSPECT II study this quarter, with preliminary results anticipated during the second half of 2009.

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Youths in their late teens who live in poor neighbourhoods are four times more likely to attempt suicide than peers who live in more affluent neighbourhoods, according to a new study from Canada’s Université de Montréal and Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, as well as Tufts University in the U.S. The researchers also found Youths from poor neighbourhoods are twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts.

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“Ethnic Differences in the Treatment of Depression in Patients With Ischemic Heart Disease,” American Heart Journal: The study examines the differences in depressive symptoms and antidepressant treatment among blacks and whites undergoing a coronary angiography to diagnose heart disease.

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Youth in their late teens who live in poor neighbourhoods are four times more likely to attempt suicide than peers who live in more affluent neighbourhoods, according to a new study from Canada’s Université de Montréal and Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Center, as well as Tufts University in the U.S. The researchers also found youth from poor neighbourhoods are twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts.

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Auspex Pharmaceuticals, a developer of next-generation medicines with improved safety and performance through the targeted deuteration of clinically validated drugs, today announced positive results from its Phase 1 clinical trial evaluating SD-254, a Selective Serotinin-Norepinephrine Reuptake Inhibitor (SNRI). Auspex is developing SD-254, a deuterium-substituted version of venlafaxine, for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder.

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Those who worship a higher power often do so in different ways. Whether they are active in their religious community, or prefer to simply pray or meditate, new research out of Temple University suggests that a person’s religiousness – also called religiosity – can offer insight into their risk for depression. Lead researcher Joanna Maselko, Sc.D.

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Are genes destiny? Alternatively, are we simply the products of our environment? There is a growing sense that neither of these two possibilities fully captures the essence of the risk for psychiatric disorders. New light is being shed on the complex interaction of genetic and environmental factors as the result of growth in the field of epigenetics.

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It is well known that patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) frequently suffer from depression and anxiety, but according to new research, depression and anxiety may actually cause increased hospitalizations and exacerbations.

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Depressed pregnant women have twice the risk of preterm delivery than pregnant women with no symptoms of depression, according to a new study by the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research. The study is published online in the Oxford University Press’s journal Human Reproduction on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology.

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