Depression

Treatment is updated with the most recent articles listed on top.
To view only the last month's articles for the other sub-topics, go to our Monthly Online Newsletters page

If you have any questions regarding our Search Reports, please contact us at info@infomedsearch.com.

Depression

NIH - Medical Encyclopedia Depression

"Depression may be described as feeling sad, blue, unhappy, miserable, or down in the dumps. Most of us feel this way at one time or another for short periods. But true clinical depression is a mood disorder in which feelings of sadness, loss, anger, or frustration interfere with everyday life for an extended time. … The main types of depression include: Major depression -- five or more symptoms listed above must be present for at least 2 weeks, but major depression tends to continue for at least 6 months. (Depression is classified as minor depression if less than five depressive symptoms are present for at least 2 weeks.) and Dysthymia -- a chronic, generally milder form of depression but lasts longer -- usually as long as two years. Depression also includes atypical depression, postpartum depression, Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), and Seasonal affective disorder (SAD). … If you are depressed for 2 weeks or longer, you should contact your doctor, who can offer treatment options. … Call 911, a suicide hotline, or get safely to a nearby emergency room if you have thoughts of suicide, a suicidal plan, or thoughts of harming yourself or others."

Highlighted Article

Regular exercise, anxiety, depression and personality: A population-based study. (Prev Med. 2006)

"This study corroborates and extends previous findings: regular exercise is cross-sectionally associated with lower neuroticism, anxiety and depression and higher extraversion and sensation seeking in the population."

CONTINUE YOUR INFOMEDSEARCH RESEARCH with our previous InfoMedLinks. Start with InfoMedLinks 2007.

Custom Search

Depression

General Information

NEWS:

Depression Affects More Than 1 in 20 Americans: CDC “A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Center for Health Statistics shows that in any 2-week period, 5.4%,of Americans aged 12 years or older, or more than 1 in 20, are depressed. Hardest hit are women, non-Hispanic blacks, and those in middle age, between 40 and 59 years of age, where rates were higher than among other demographic groups. Americans living below the poverty level were more likely to be depressed than those with higher incomes; rates in this population were 1 in 7. “

Depression, anxiety tied to unhealthy habits “Results showed that adults with current depression or a previous diagnosis of depression were 60 percent more likely to be obese and twice as likely to smoke as their non-depressed peers. Those with an anxiety disorder were 30 percent more likely to be obese and twice as likely to smoke as their non-anxious counterparts. Those with depression and anxiety were also more likely to follow an inactive lifestyle, and to be binge or heavy drinkers. “

Media Perpetuates Unsubstantiated Chemical Imbalance Theory Of Depression, Study Shows “The theory that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance is often presented in the media as fact even though there is little scientific evidence to support it, according to a new study co-authored by a Florida State University visiting lecturer. … The Society article builds on the pair's 2005 study, which focused on pharmaceutical advertisements that claim depression is caused by an imbalance of serotonin -- an imbalance the drug companies say can be corrected by a class of antidepressants called Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs). "The chemical imbalance theory, which was formulated in the 1960s, was based on the observation that mood could be artificially altered with drugs, rather than direct observation of any chemical imbalances," Leo said. "Since then there has been no direct evidence to confirm the theory and a significant number of findings cast doubt on the theory." The researchers said the popularity of the theory is in large part based on the presumed efficacy of the SSRIs, but they say that several large studies now cast doubt on this efficacy. … "Patients might make different choices about the use of medications and possibly use alternative approaches to their distress if they were fully informed," Lacasse said. "We believe the media can play a positive role by ensuring that their mental health reporting is congruent with scientific literature."”

Middle age is truly depressing, study finds “Previous studies have shown that psychological well-being remained flat throughout life but the new findings to be published in the journal Social Science & Medicine suggest we are in for a topsy-turvy emotional ride.”

Obesity And Depression May Be Linked “A major review reveals that research indicates people who are obese may be more likely to become depressed, and people who are depressed may be more likely to become obese.”

Smokers Have A 41 Percent Higher Risk Of Suffering Depression

ARTICLES:

JOURNAL ARTICLES:

Association between obesity and depression in middle-aged women. (Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 2008) “CONCLUSIONS: Among middle-aged women, depression is strongly and consistently associated with obesity, lower physical activity and (among the obese) higher caloric intake. Public health approaches to reducing the burden of obesity or depression must consider the strong association between these two common conditions.”

Depression Is Associated With Decreased 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Increased Parathyroid Hormone Levels in Older Adults (Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008) “Conclusion The results of this large population-based study show an association of depression status and severity with decreased serum 25(OH)D levels and increased serum PTH levels in older individuals.”

Depression Predicts Mortality in the Young Old, but Not in the Oldest Old: Results From the Berlin Aging Study (Am J Geriatr Psychiatry 2008)

Depressive Symptoms and Risk of Stroke: The Rotterdam Study. (J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2008) “CONCLUSIONS: Presence of depressive symptoms is a strong risk factor for stroke in men but not in women.”

Population-Based Study of First Onset and Chronicity in Major Depressive Disorder (Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008) “Conclusions Major depressive disorder is unremitting in 15% of cases and recurrent in 35%. About half of those with a first-onset episode recover and have no furtherepisodes. “

Relationship between blood pressure and depression in the elderly. The Three-City Study. (Journal of Hypertension 2008) “Conclusion: In a large sample of elderly individuals from the general population, depressive individuals had lower blood pressure values than nondepressive ones, independent of medications and of history of cardiovascular events.”

Stressful life events and major depressive disorders. (Psychiatry Res. 2008)

Study Finds Older Women More Likely to Become and Remain Depressed “A prospective 6-year study of a community-dwelling older population (average baseline age, 78 years) found that older women were more prone to depression and more likely to remain depressed than older men.”

The phenomenology of recurrent brief depression with and without hypomanic features. (J Affect Disord. 2008)

Go to the top