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Depression & Mental Health FAQs
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated 40 million Americans living today will suffer from major depressive illness during their lives. Seasonal affective disorder is major depression that appears in the fall or winter and goes away in spring, thought to be caused by lack of sunlight.
Postpartum depression occurs within four weeks of a women giving childbirth. Most new mothers suffer from some form of the �baby blues.� Postpartum depression, by contrast, is major depression, thought to be triggered by changes in hormonal flows associated with childbirth. Catatonic depression is a rare form of major depression characterized by (at least two): Stupor, excessive motor activity, extreme negativism, peculiarities in voluntary movement, and repetition of other people's words or actions. - mcmanweb.com
Psychotic depression is a rare form of depression characterized by delusions or hallucinations, such as believing you are someone you are not and hearing voices.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, approximately 18.8 million American adults, or about 9.5 percent of the US population age 18 and older in a given year, have a depressive disorder. Depression is a chronic illness that exacts a significant toll on
America's health and productivity. It affects more than 21 million
American children and adults annually and is the leading cause of
disability in the United States for individuals ages 15 to 44.
Lost productive time among U.S. workers due to depression is estimated
to be in excess of $31 billion per year. Depression frequently
co-occurs with a variety of medical illnesses such as heart disease,
cancer, and chronic pain and is associated with poorer health status
and prognosis. It is also the principal cause of the 30,000 suicides
in the U.S. each year. In 2004, suicide was the 11 th leading cause of death in the United States, third among individuals 15-24.
According to the World Health Organization, depression is presently on track to becoming the world's second-most disabling disease (after heart disease) by the year 2020. Depression is responsible for some $87 billion a year in lost productivity in the US (a conservative estimate), and according to Bank One, is responsible for most lost work days in its employees after pregnancy and childbirth. Additionally, one million people worldwide die by their own hand, most as a result of a mood disorder. Finally, the linkage between depression and a host of physical illnesses makes it arguably the world's greatest killer.
Research presented at the 56th Annual Conference of the Canadian
Psychiatric Association shows a marked link between bipolar disorder
and migraines. The odds of migraine in persons with bipolar disorder were 40% higher than the general population. Data
obtained from 36,984 people aged 15 and over, who screened positive for
manic or depressive episodes with migraine, were compared against those
who screened positive for mania but who didn�t suffer from migraines. Amongst
males, 14.9% of those with manic episodes were also diagnosed with
migraines compared with 5.8% of the general population. Amongst
females, 34.7% had both migraines and bipolar disorder compared with
14.7% who only had migraines.unquote.gif While the research was
skewed towards persons who were already diagnosed with bipolar
disorders, what does it mean for people who suffer from migraines but
who may have an undiagnosed bipolar disorder?
Migraines and headaches aren�t fully understood but the manifestations are very real and debilitating for their sufferers: Throbbing pain Nausea Heightened sensitivity to light or sound Seeing dots, wavy lines, flashing lights, or blind spots Difficulty with speech, sensation, or movement
An estimated 2.1 million
American adolescents have experienced major depression within the last
year, according to a new comprehensive government study. Researchers
surveyed more than 67,000 young people ages 12 to 17 and found that one
in 12 had suffered from serious depression in the previous year.Nearly
13 percent of girls had struggled with depression, compared to less
than 5 percent of boys. Odds of depression increased with age -- just 4
percent of 12-year-olds experienced depression but that climbed to 11
percent for older teens.
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Gene helps predict whether antidepressant will work
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by Julie Steenhuysen
Scientists have found a second gene that helps predict whether people with depression will respond to a commonly prescribed antidepressant, U.S. researchers said on Tuesday.
On its own, the gene variation plays only a small role in predicting a patient's response to Forest Laboratories Inc.'s Celexa, known generically as citalopram.
But when a patient also had a variation of another gene, they were 23 percent more likely to benefit, according to the study which appears in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
The finding may one day give doctors a better shot at choosing the right antidepressant for the right patient, helping to eliminate the trial-and-error process many people undergo before they find an effective treatment.
"This is definitely a step ahead," said Dr. Gonzalo Laje, a researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health, in a telephone interview.
He said depression will be the second-leading cause of disability by the year 2020.
"It's huge. It costs the U.S. over billion every year in terms of direct and indirect medical costs."
"If we can identify markers that would predict who gets better with which treatment, we can maybe decrease this burden and make the disease easier to treat," Laje said.
He said researchers will need to identify more markers before the research will be of use, but it helps scientists better understand the disease and gives a clearer picture of who might benefit.
Ideally, Laje would like to be able to find enough gene variants to predict when a patient is 95 percent more likely to benefit.
Celexa is in a class of drugs called SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Researchers studied DNA samples collected in the million, seven-year Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relative Depression, or STAR*D, a study paid for by the National Institute of Mental Health.
Earlier findings from this study found Celexa sent 37 percent of patients who took it into remission.
In the latest study, researchers examined genetic material from 1,816 patients, comparing data from those who responded to Celexa and those who didn't.
They found people with a variation in the GRIK4 gene were more likely to respond to the drug, especially when they also had a variation of the HTR2A gene.
Prior studies have shown variations in the HTR2A gene -- which makes a protein related to the chemical messenger serotonin -- play a role in a patient's response to Celexa.
The GRIK4 gene makes a protein that is involved with the glutamate system, which also has been linked with depression.
Researchers said the findings are building a better picture of the biological mechanisms that underlie depression, a disease that affects about 121 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.
In the United States, an estimated 21 million adults, or 9.5 percent of the population, have depression at some point. It is the leading cause of suicide.
Copyright © 2007 Reuters Limited. Source: Yahoo News
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Depression & Mental Health FAQs 2
What is Clinical Depression? Clinical
depression can affect your body, mood, thoughts, and behavior. It can
change your eating habits, how you feel and think about things, your
ability to work and study, and how you interact with people. Clinical
depression is not a passing mood, a sign of personal weakness or a
condition that can be willed away. Clinically depressed people cannot
"pull themselves together" and get better. Depression can be
successfully treated by a mental health professional or certain health
care providers. With the right treatment, 80 percent of those who seek
help get better. And many people begin to feel better in just a few
weeks.
Depression a Big Factor in Poor Health World Health Organization Finds Depression Often Goes Untreated By Salynn Boyles WebMD Medical News Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD Sept.
6, 2007 -- Depression has a greater impact on overall health than
arthritis, diabetes, angina, and asthma, but it all too often goes
unrecognized and untreated, a report from the World Health Organization
(WHO) suggests. more... Depression a Big Factor in Poor Health
For Additional Information About Depression Write To: The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)6001 Executive Boulevard, Room 8184, MSC 9663 Bethesda, MD 20892-9663
For free brochures on depression and its treatment call: 1-800-421-4211. or visit: http://www.nimh.nih.gov
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