Depression News and Research

Latest Depression News and Research

Giving up smoking before surgery decreases complications

More than a third of patients who took part in an eight-week smoking cessation programme before and after planned surgery were able to give up and most of them were still smoke free after a year, according to research in the March issue of Anaesthesia.

12 Mar 2009

Research shed new light on anergia

With the help of a non-invasive method of monitoring human activity, doctors and researchers at Columbia University Medical Center are shedding new light on a syndrome affecting nearly 40 percent of older adults with heart failure: anergia.

11 Mar 2009

Salt could be 'nature's antidepressant' according to new research

Most people consume far too much salt, and a University of Iowa researcher has discovered one potential reason we crave it: it might put us in a better mood.

11 Mar 2009

A nanotech coating for brain implants

Biomedical and materials engineers at the University of Michigan have developed a nanotech coating for brain implants that helps the devices operate longer and could improve treatment for deafness, paralysis, blindness, epilepsy and Parkinson's disease.

11 Mar 2009

Identifying and treating depression plus exercise in African-Americans may reduce heart disease

Identifying and treating depression, including increasing physical activity, may improve quality of life and reduce cardiovascular disease and death in African Americans, according to reports presented at the American Heart Association's 2009 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism.

11 Mar 2009

Can brain training games help prevent Alzheimer's?

Loss of thinking power is a fear shared by many aging baby boomers.

11 Mar 2009

Insomnia often a persistent condition

About three-fourths of individuals with insomnia report experiencing the condition for at least one year and almost half experience it for three years, according to a report in the March 9 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

10 Mar 2009

Relationship between depressive symptoms and cardiac events

New data published in the March 17, 2009, issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology suggest that relatively healthy women with severe depression are at increased risk of cardiac events, including sudden cardiac death (SCD) and fatal coronary heart disease (CHD).

10 Mar 2009

Children seriously affected when a parent suffers from depression

Life is hard for the children of a parent suffering from depression.

8 Mar 2009

High levels of mental distress in Southern Sudan long after end of conflict

The first study of mental health in post-conflict Southern Sudan has found high levels of mental distress, and revealed evidence of continued exposure to traumatic events.

5 Mar 2009

New database provides valuable new resource for improving dialysis outcomes

A nationwide database called the Comprehensive Dialysis Study (CDS) includes detailed information on a wide range of health factors in US dialysis patients and provides a valuable new resource for improving dialysis outcomes, according to a report in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

4 Mar 2009

Off-label drug uses wasting millions, raising health risks

A recent study in Oregon suggests that drugs designed for treating the most severe mental illnesses are often prescribed at inappropriately low doses and at considerable expense, for use in conditions where their benefit has not been established.

4 Mar 2009

Folic acid, B vitamins in Animi-3 may prevent vision loss

A new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School has found that combining essential B vitamins, including B6, B12, and folic acid, lower risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the leading causes of vision loss among older Americans.

4 Mar 2009

History of major depression increases risk for heart disease more than genetics or environment

A history of major depression increases the risk of heart disease over and above any genetic risks common to depression and heart disease, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the VA.

4 Mar 2009

Parasitic worms may lead to treatment for multiple sclerosis

Scientists from The University of Nottingham will study the potential health benefits of parasitic worms as part of a study investigating treatments for people with the autoimmune condition multiple sclerosis (MS).

3 Mar 2009

Recent drug use masks cocaine abusers' cognitive impairment

Recent cocaine use may hide some of the cognitive deficits commonly experienced by individuals addicted to cocaine, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory report in a study published in the April 2009 issue of Neuropsychopharmacology - a special issue dedicated to cocaine research.

3 Mar 2009

Young adults with PTSD may be more likely to attempt suicide

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) - but not exposure to traumatic events without the development of PTSD - may be associated with subsequent attempted suicide in young adults, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

2 Mar 2009

Untreated psychiatric disorders common in single mothers on welfare

Urban single mothers nearing the end of their welfare eligibility appear more likely to have substance use and psychiatric disorders than women in the general population, and often do not receive treatment, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

2 Mar 2009

Experts still recommend no television under the age of 2

A longitudinal study of infants from birth to age 3 showed TV viewing before the age of 2 does not improve a child's language and visual motor skills, according to research conducted at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School.

2 Mar 2009