:: June 2009

Welcome to our Monthly Online Newsletter!

View all Treatment articles in our Treatment Report . The most recent articles are listed on top (not in alphabetical order). Click on the Topic on our home page and then the subtopic - Treatment Report. Stay updated on drugs and their side effects, and various other treatments, including exercise, nutrition, and supplements.

Major Depression Is a Risk Factor for Low Bone Mineral Density: A Meta-Analysis. (Biol Psychiatry. 2009) “CONCLUSIONS: The present findings portray depression as a significant risk factor for low BMD. Premenopausal women who are psychiatrically diagnosed with major depression are particularly at high-risk for depression-associated low BMD. Hence, periodic BMD measurements and antiosteoporotic prophylactic and curative measures are strongly advocated for these patients.”

NGC - Depression. (2005)

NGC - Major depression in adults in primary care. (2007)

NGC - Management of adults with major depression. (2004)

NGC - Screening for depression in primary care: recommendation statement from the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care. (2005)

NICE - Depression in children and young people (2005)

NICE guidelines for the management of depression

Featured site

NIH - Depression

FDA - Antidepressant Use in Children, Adolescents, and Adults

NCI - Depression

NIH - Depression

NIH - Depression Resources

NIH - Depression Tutorial

NIH - Medical Encyclopedia Depression

NIH - NIMH Depression

NIH - NIMH Depression

NIH - Postpartum Depression

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Borderline personality disorder characteristics in young adults with recurrent mood disorders: a comparison of bipolar and unipolar depression. (J Affect Disord. 2005) "BACKGROUND: In young adults it can be difficult to differentiate between an early bipolar illness and borderline personality disorder. There are considerable areas of clinical overlap between cyclothymic temperament, bipolar-spectrum disorders and borderline characteristics. The aim of this study was to measure borderline characteristics in young adults during an index depressive episode and to compare three diagnostic groups: DSM-IV bipolar affective disorder (BPAD); bipolar spectrum disorder (BSD); and DSM-IV recurrent major depressive disorder (MDD). Ä CONCLUSIONS: Young adults with bipolar depression exhibit significantly higher levels of borderline personality pathology than those with unipolar depression. Those borderline screening questions that reflect cyclothymic characteristics or depressive mixed states may be of practical use to clinicians in helping to differentiate between bipolar depression and unipolar depression in young adults."

Bipolar Disorder

Is Your Depressed Patient Bipolar? (The Journal of the American Board of Family Practice 2005) "Accurate diagnosis of mood disorders is critical for treatment to be effective. Distinguishing between major depression and bipolar disorders, especially the depressed phase of a bipolar disorder, is essential, because they differ substantially in their genetics, clinical course, outcomes, prognosis, and treatment. In current practice, bipolar disorders, especially bipolar II disorder, are underdiagnosed. Ä Bipolar illness is also characterized by a more pronounced seasonal pattern than is observed in major depression, with winter depressions being the most common. There is a greater likelihood of mood disturbance occurring during the postpartum period; as many as half of all women with bipolar spectrum disorder experience an episode of depression, mania, or mixed states after the birth of a child. In fact, for many women, the first presentation of a bipolar disorder is a postpartum episode. Any woman without a prior psychiatric history who develops postpartum depression should be closely followed and monitored, as the risk for developing a bipolar disorder may be especially high."