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Mental Health News for
July
2008
Depression News, Polls and Quotes
As part of the
main
Information Centre,
this section of the website is intended to provide month-by-month news
about depression, anxiety and other related health concerns.
Archives from
previous months are available, and all polls from previous months remain
active if you should wish to vote.
If you would
like to help us to produce
next month's news, polls and quotes, please click on the links by each
applicable section and fill out the accompanying form.
Quotes and Philosophical Thoughts for July 2008:
>
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away
from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." - Mark Twain
>
"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us
tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden
over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our
windows today." - Dale Carnegie
>
"The universe never says no to your thought about yourself. It only grows
it." - Neale Donald Walsch
>
"If we did all the things we are capable of doing, we would literally
astound ourselves." - Thomas Edison
>
"Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken
belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain.
What you have not done is feel all you are beyond that pain." - Kahlil
Gibran
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"After all these years, I am still involved in the process of
self-discovery. It's better to explore life and make mistakes than to play
it safe. Mistakes are part of the dues one pays for a full life." - Sophia
Loren
Suggest A Quote
A new treatment programme for cancer patients with clinical depression
can significantly boost their quality of life according to new research
published in the Lancet. Cancer Research UK scientists devised the treatment
programme which offers patients one-to-one sessions with specially trained
cancer nurses to help them manage their depression more effectively.
A single antidepressant tablet makes a depressed person see the world in
a more positive light just four hours after swallowing it, a new study has
shown. Dr Philip Cowen, professor of pharmacology at the Department of
Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, told delegates at the Royal College
of Psychiatrists' Annual Meeting in London that antidepressant medication
starts to work far faster than most clinicians assume.
A significant number of adults with unresolved depression, anxiety or
addiction may actually have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD),
a condition that has been widely considered to resolve in late adolescence.
People who suffer depression that does not respond to medication could be
treated successfully if a simple genetic blood test was made more widely
available in the UK. Four out of 10 people with depression have a genetic
abnormality that prevents them responding to anti-depressant medication,
according to research presented at the Royal College of Psychiatrists'
Annual Meeting in London this week.
An article published in The Lancet finds that cancer patients who
received a care package called "Depression Care for People with Cancer" (DCPC)
had lower levels of depression than those who received the usual care
(antidepressants and mental health services recommended by the cancer team).
People who suffer from severe depression following a heart attack might
be more likely to experience cardiac complications while hospitalized,
according to a new study. "There is good evidence that if a person has
depression after a heart attack, they are more likely to die from cardiac
causes in the following months and years," said lead author Jeff Huffman,
M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) announced the first patient implants in
a clinical study that is investigating whether deep brain stimulation (DBS)
therapy will help people who suffer from major depressive disorder, a severe
form of depression. The patients, a 59-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man,
were implanted at Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Chicago,
with the St. Jude Medical Libra® Deep Brain Stimulation System, an
investigational device.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) causes limitation of airflow
in the lungs that cannot be fully reversed, leading to symptoms of
breathlessness, cough, wheeze and sputum production. The disease, although
chronic, is interspersed with periods of acute symptomatic and functional
deterioration known as exacerbations. Exacerbations have important
consequences for patients and their healthcare providers.
ST. PAUL, Minn. - June 26, 2008 - St. Jude Medical, Inc. (NYSE:STJ) today
announced the first patient implants in a clinical study that is
investigating whether deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy will help people
who suffer from major depressive disorder, a severe form of depression. The
patients, a 59-year-old woman and a 42-year-old man, were implanted at
Alexian Brothers Behavioral Health Hospital in Chicago, with the St.
Many people use "alternative" or complementary products because they see
them as a more gentle form of medicine. The German Institute for Quality and
Efficiency in Health Care has now analysed the latest research on several
products and released the results along with a guide for consumers. St
John's wort (hypericum), for example, could help ease mild depression, but
it does not help with severe depression.
A study suggests that a "smoldering" central nervous system (CNS)
infection may play a role in conditions that plague millions of Americans.
Kazuhiro Kondo, MD, PhD, of the Jikei University Medical School in Tokyo
identified a novel human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) protein present in Chronic
Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) patients but not healthy controls that may contribute
to psychological symptoms often associated with that and other disorders.
New figures released by the Japanese authorities this week show that the
country's suicide rate is still climbing despite government efforts to
dramatically reduce the figure by 2016, and the fastest rise appears to be
among elderly Japanese, a growing sector of the population that is also
experiencing rising poverty.
Researchers have long known that type-2 diabetes and depression often go
hand in hand. However, it's been unclear which condition develops first in
patients who end up with both. Now, a new study led by Johns Hopkins doctors
suggests that this chicken-and-egg problem has a dual answer: Patients with
depression have an increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes, and
patients with type-2 diabetes have an increased risk of developing
depression.
A new study in JAMA finds that people who are treated for type 2 diabetes
have higher incidence rates of elevated depressive symptoms. In the same
article, researchers report a modest association between the risk of
diabetes and persons with depression. It is known that compared to the
general population, people with diabetes are more likely to have elevated
depressive symptoms and higher rates of clinical depression.
While there is a correlation between individuals with depression and the
development of Alzheimer's disease, it appears that the symptoms of
depression do not increase in the years before an Alzheimer's diagnosis,
according to a report released on April 7, 2008 in the JAMA/Archives journal
Archives of General Psychiatry.
By doing tests on mice fed on a calorie restricted diet, US researchers
have discovered that ghrelin, a hormone that increases when people don't
eat, may defend against symptoms of depression or anxiety brought on by
stress. The research is the work of scientists led by senior author Dr
Jeffrey Zigman, assistant professor of internal medicine and psychiatry at
the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.
Primary care has the lead role in easing the burden of common mental
disorders in Australia, according to an editorial in the supplement to the
latest issue of the Medical Journal of Australia. The MJA's 48-page
supplement, funded by a grant from beyondblue: the national depression
initiative, adds to the evidence base needed to achieve it.
Employees who work overtime are at increased risk of anxiety and
depression, suggests a study in the June Journal of Occupational and
Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of
Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM). Elisabeth Kleppa and
colleagues of the University of Bergen, Norway, analyzed data on work hours
from a larger study of Norwegian men and women.
BioMedEcon, a leading provider of health economics and outcomes research,
presented findings from a landmark nine-year retrospective claims analysis
that compared the median per-patient health care costs for patients with
obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) versus depression. This study, supported
by Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc., was presented at the International Society
for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) annual meeting on May
3-7, in Toronto.
UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatry researchers have taken what
they learned from their groundbreaking research on treating depression and
are applying it to real-world clinical settings. The Sequenced Treatment
Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study was the largest ever on
the treatment of major depressive disorder and is considered a benchmark in
the field of depression research.
Samaritans is releasing a rap song entitled '1 in 10 (talk to someone)'
to challenge the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage young people
to speak about problems before they escalate. '1 in 10 (talk to someone)' is
inspired by the story of Shirley Smith, a mother who lost her 19-year-old
son Daniel to suicide in March 2005.
Health minister Ivan Lewis announced the 32 sites who will begin to roll
out talking therapies around the country. Each of the 32 Primary Care Trusts
(PCTs) will receive a share of the £33 million first instalment of new
money announced for the purpose by Health Secretary Alan Johnson on World
Mental Health Day last year (10 October).
Mayo Clinic research suggests unmarried women living in rural areas have
lower self-rated health status than their married counterparts. This lower
health status often includes greater instances of self-assessed feelings of
depression. The results of the study were recently published in the Journal
of Evaluation in Clinical Practice. They suggest that primary care
physicians should take a proactive role in addressing health concerns of
single women.
AstraZeneca announced that the company has submitted applications in the
European Union (EU) for once-daily SEROQUEL XR™ (quetiapine fumarate)
Extended-Release Tablets (quetiapine XR), seeking approval for the treatment
of major depressive disorder (MDD) including maintenance therapy in adult
patients using Mutual Recognition Procedure (MRP). This follows an sNDA
submission for SEROQUEL XR in MDD in the U.S. in February this year.
The Medical Defence Union, the UK's largest medical defence organisation,
has revealed it paid out nearly £3m in compensation on behalf of GP members
to settle 30 claims arising from the treatment of patients with depression
during a recent ten-year-period.
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