Major Depressive Disorder News and Research

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Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by depressed mood or anhedonia (significant loss of interest or pleasure). The condition affects more than 15.7 million adults and approximately 3 million adolescents (aged 13 to 17 years) in the USA each year.

Study: Countries with lower gun ownership are safer than those with higher gun ownership

A new study reports that countries with lower gun ownership are safer than those with higher gun ownership, debunking the widely quoted hypothesis that guns make a nation safer.

19 Sep 2013

Smokers with a history of major depressive disorder (MDD) taking varenicline have significantly higher likelihood of quitting smoking than placebo

Results of a Pfizer-commissioned study published this month in Annals of Internal Medicine reveal that smokers with a past or present diagnosis of major depressive disorder (MDD)* taking varenicline had a significantly higher likelihood of quitting smoking (after 12 weeks and at 52 weeks) than those who were given a placebo.

18 Sep 2013

Varenicline drug helps people with depression quit smoking, say researchers

About half of smokers seeking treatment for smoking cessation have a history of depression. Compared with smokers who are not depressed, those who suffer from a major depressive disorder have greater difficulty quitting.

17 Sep 2013

Improved pediatric bipolar screen unveiled

Researchers have developed a screening instrument for detecting bipolar disorder in children and adolescents from the general population.

30 Aug 2013

Heritability of severe mental illness may be underestimated

Around one in three children of parents with a severe mental illness – schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or major depressive disorder – will develop such a disorder themselves by early adulthood, a meta-analysis has found.

29 Aug 2013

Personality may be key to genetics of bipolar disorder

People with bipolar disorder vary significantly from their unaffected relatives, and from healthy controls, on several measures of personality, a study shows.

28 Aug 2013

Identifying bipolarity through MRI's proves successful in initial results

What are some of the most troubling numbers in mental health? Six to 10 -- the number of years it can take to properly diagnose a mental health condition. Dr. Elizabeth Osuch, a Researcher at Lawson Health Research Institute and a Psychiatrist at London Health Sciences Centre and the Department of Psychiatry at Western University, is helping to end misdiagnosis by looking for a 'biomarker' in the brain that will help diagnose and treat two commonly misdiagnosed disorders.

16 Aug 2013

Few physicians receive adequate training to help patients with chronic pain

Pain is the most common reason a patient sees a physician but few physicians have received adequate training to help their patients, according to a Henry Ford Hospital article published in the Journal of American Osteopathic Association.

13 Aug 2013

Study: Mental health services should be included into disaster response plans

Mental health services should be integrated into disaster response as part of emergency services planning, according to a new study by UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatrists who completed an exhaustive review of articles on the aftereffects of disasters on mental health.

8 Aug 2013

Targacept reports net loss of $12.4 million for Q2 2013

Targacept, Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel NNR Therapeutics, today reported its financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2013.

6 Aug 2013

Employees who work long hours with high job demands are more likely to develop depression

Employees who work long hours with high job demands are more likely to develop depression, suggests a study in the August Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

3 Aug 2013

Naurex receives new U.S. patent for its lead compound, GLYX-13

Naurex Inc., a clinical-stage company developing innovative treatments to address unmet needs in psychiatry and neurology, today announced issuance of a new U.S. patent for its lead compound, GLYX-13.

31 Jul 2013

Forest Laboratories, Pierre Fabre Laboratories announce that FETZIMA gets FDA approval for MDD

Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Pierre Fabre Laboratories announced today that FETZIMA (levomilnacipran extended-release capsules), a once-daily serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, discovered by Pierre Fabre Laboratories and co-developed by Forest Laboratories, Inc. was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in adults.

26 Jul 2013

Metabolomics tools predict who can benefit from treatment with certain antidepressants

Duke Medicine researchers have identified biochemical changes in people taking antidepressants - but only in those whose depression improves. These changes occur in a neurotransmitter pathway that is connected to the pineal gland, the part of the endocrine system that controls the sleep cycle, suggesting an added link between sleep, depression and treatment outcomes.

19 Jul 2013

Depressive disorder patients exhibit negative bias brain imaging changes and cognitive dysfunction

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19 Jul 2013

Assurex Health announces release of new psychiatric pharmacogenomic test panel

Assurex Health today announced the release of GeneSight Psychotropic 2.0, its lead psychiatric pharmacogenomic test panel. This latest GeneSight Psychotropic version has been updated to include four additional medications that now cover a total of 36 of the most commonly prescribed psychotropic medications in the US.

15 Jul 2013

Multimodal neuroimaging approach helps study structural and functional abnormalities in brain

Major depressive disorder is associated with a dysregulation of brain regions including the prefrontal cortex and limbic system. The relationship between structural and functional abnormalities in these brain regions in depressed patients is far from clear. However, both types of changes are assumed to underlie the symptoms of this disorder.

9 Jul 2013

Brisdelle receives FDA approval to treat hot flashes associated with menopause

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Brisdelle (paroxetine) to treat moderate to severe hot flashes (vasomotor symptoms) associated with menopause. Brisdelle, which contains the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor paroxetine mesylate, is currently the only non-hormonal treatment for hot flashes approved by the FDA.

29 Jun 2013

NeuroSigma's Monarch eTNS System to make Canadian debut at 30th International Epilepsy Congress

NeuroSigma, Inc., a Los Angeles based medical device company, today announced that its Monarch eTNS System for the adjunctive treatment of epilepsy and depression will make its Canadian debut at the 30th International Epilepsy Congress, taking place in Montreal, Canada from June 23 to June 27, 2013.

21 Jun 2013

NeuroSigma announces launch of new website for Monarch eTNSTM System

NeuroSigma, Inc., a California-based medical device company, today announced the launch of www.monarch-etns.com, its dedicated website for the Monarch™ eTNSTM System.

6 Jun 2013