Low Blood Levels Of Vitamin D May Be Associated With Depression In Older Adults

Older adults with low blood levels of vitamin D and high blood levels of a hormone secreted by the parathyroid glands may have a higher risk of depression, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Sudden Death Of A Parent Raises Risk Of Depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder For Surviving Children, Pitt Researchers Find

The children of parents who die suddenly - whether by suicide, accident or natural causes - are three times more likely to develop depression and are at higher risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than children who don't face such a difficult life event, according to a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study published in the current issue of the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Suicide Prevention Group Delivers Much Needed Message To Pennsylvania's Elderly

This month, in recognition of National Mental Health Month and Older Pennsylvanians Month, Feeling Blue Suicide Prevention Council (SPC) will offer an important message to senior citizens through a public service announcement.

Depressed People Have High Rates Of Physical Illness

People with recurrent depression have high rates of many common physical illnesses, such as gastric ulcer, rhinitis/hay fever, osteoarthritis, thyroid disease, hypertension and asthma, a new study has found. Published in the May 2008 issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, the study compared 1546 people with recurrent depression with 884 psychiatrically healthy controls in terms of past treatment for 16 different physical disorders.

Link Between Mothers' Depression And Young Children's Injuries Confirmed By Study

Infants and toddlers whose mothers are severely depressed are almost three times more likely to suffer accidental injuries than other children in the same age group, according to a new study. The study's findings, published in the Advanced Access edition of the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, suggest that proper treatment for depression would improve not only the mothers' health, but the health of young children as well.

Multiple Sclerosis Activity May Be Affected By Prozac

A new study published in the Journal ofNeurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry finds that Prozac, acommonly prescribed antidepressant, may be an agent in slowingdown the disease process of the relapsing remitting form of multiplesclerosis (MS).Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease where the immune systemattacks the central nervous system.

Depression Turns Off The Music In The Mother-Baby Dance

Your newborn is crying. If it's a cry of pain, you're going to respond more strongly than you would to a cry of hunger - that's the normal pattern. But if you suffer from post-partum depression, the difference between your response to the pain cry and the hunger cry is going to be even greater.

Untreated Depressed People Have Fewer Serotonin Opioid Receptors, And Variation Is Linked To Symptoms And Treatment Response

Depressed people may have far fewer of the receptors for some of the brain's "feel good" stress-response chemicals than non-depressed people, new University of Michigan Depression Center research shows.And even among depressed people, the numbers of these receptors can vary greatly.

Deep Brain Stimulation May Offer Hope For Select Patients With Treatment Resistant Major Depression

Researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, Brown University, and Massachusetts General Hospital will present results of a long-term outcome study that builds on previous promising research, which has shown that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a potentially effective treatment option for people with treatment resistant major depression.

Women Depression

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) has released a new brochure, Women and Depression, about the many dimensions of major depression in women. It can be downloaded at http://www.nami.org/womendepression. - 1 in 8 women experiences depression in their lifetime;