Prozac reorganizes brain plasticity

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) such as Prozac are regularly used to treat severe anxiety and depression. They work by immediately increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain and by causing long term changes in brain function. However it can take weeks of treatment before a patient feels any effect and both beneficial effects and side effects can persist after treatment is stopped. New research published by BioMed Central’s open access journal Molecular Brain investigates physiological changes within the brain that may be caused by SSRI treatment.

Read more

Brain pacemakers: A long-lasting solution in the fight against depression

Contact: Volker A. Coenen
volker.coenen@ukb.uni-bonn.de
49-228-287-16503
University of Bonn Read more

Resurrecting the so-called ‘depression gene’

University of Michigan research finds new evidence that our genes play a role in our response to adversity

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — University of Michigan Health System researchers have found new evidence that our genes help determine our susceptibility to depression.

Read more

Study supports gluten-free diet in potential celiac disease patients

Findings from a new study of 141 adults add to an ongoing medical debate over which patients with symptoms of celiac disease should go on a gluten-free diet. Published in ACS’ Journal of Proteome Research, the study concludes that people currently diagnosed as “potential” celiac disease patients and not advised to follow a gluten-free diet may not be “potential” patients at all. Rather, the scientists found that these patients have the same distinctive metabolic fingerprint as patients with full-blown disease who do benefit from gluten-free diets.

Read more

Neurological protein may hold the key to new treatments for depression

For Immediate Release – November 29, 2010 (Toronto) – Neuroscientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) have developed a protein peptide that may be a novel type of highly targeted treatment for depression with a low side-effect profile. Depression affects one in ten Canadians at some time in their lives and is a leading cause of disability worldwide.

Read more

Having severe acne may increase suicide risk

Research: Association of suicide attempts with acne and treatment with isotretinoin: Retrospective Swedish cohort study

Individuals who suffer from severe acne are at an increased risk of attempting suicide, according to a paper published on bmj.com today.

Read more

Gene therapy may be powerful new treatment for major depression

NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell paper reports that restoring a crucial gene in a tiny area of the brain reverses depression-like behavior in mice; human data back up the promise of such therapy

Read more

New theory links depression to chronic brain inflammation

Chronic depression is an adaptive, reparative neurobiological process gone wrong, say two University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers, positing in a new theory that the debilitating mental state originates from more ancient mechanisms used by the body to deal with physical injury, such as pain, tissue repair and convalescent behavior.

Read more

Yale University researchers find key genetic trigger of depression

Yale University researchers have found a gene that seems to be a key contributor to the onset of depression and is a promising target for a new class of antidepressants, they report Oct. 17 in the journal Nature Medicine.

Read more

Baby boomers raise midlife suicide rate

Unmarried, non-college graduates at particular risk

Baby boomers appear to be driving a dramatic rise in suicide rates among middle-aged people, a new study finds.

The suicide rate for middle-aged people – a group considered relatively protected from suicide and with historically stable suicide rates – took an upward jump between 1999 and 2005, according to research by sociologists Ellen Idler of Emory University and Julie Phillips of Rutgers University.

Read more

« Previous Page — Next Page »