Happy Moms-to-Be Have Healthier Babies

A recent study conducted at the Kaiser Foundation Research Institute indicates a connection between a woman’s emotional well-being during early pregnancy and the chance she will deliver a child prematurely. These preterm births, occurring before the 37th week of pregnancy, are thought to generate $26 billion in healthcare expenses in the United States each year. Read more

New Face of American Suicide? Middle-aged and White

The number of white, middle-aged American men and women committing suicide increased by 35% from 1999 to 2005, according to the latest issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The rate of suicide in African Americans during that same time period dropped by more than 1% each year and the number of Americans of other ethnicities and age groups remained steady throughout the study period. Read more

Teens With Insomnia at Increased Risk for Depression, Suicide, Substance Abuse

Teenagers who exhibit symptoms of insomnia are more likely than other teens to develop depression or problems with substance abuse or to entertain thoughts of suicide by the time they reach early adulthood, according to a study recently concluded at the University of North Texas. Read more

Driving, Antidepressants Can Be Dangerous Duo

In the past 10 years, the use of antidepressant drugs has tripled in the United States, where one in 10 women takes at least one antidepressant, according to National Center for Health Statistics’ 2004 Health United States report. A new, separate, study by researchers at the University of North Dakota says those antidepressant medications, as well as the bleak moods that underlie their dispensation, can significantly impair one’s driving ability. Read more

Will Depressed Women Take Viagra?

Ask a depressed woman if she’d take Viagra to invigorate a faded libido caused by the antidepressants she’s taking to keep the blues away and she’s likely to say the proposition sounds like a pretty bitter pill to swallow. Others, however, would jump at the chance. If only it worked that way. Read more

Diabetes/Depression Connection May Lead to New Treatment Options

Researchers at Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions have documented such a strong association between diabetes and depression that the research team suggests new treatment options targeting the combined diseases might prove to be more effective than when traditional treatment options for diabetes alone are coupled with traditional treatment options for depression. Read more

The Virginia Tech Massacre Revisited

On April 16, 2007 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho, a student at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, shot to death 32 students and faculty members, wounded many more, and then committed suicide. From an early age Cho was seen to have few thoughts and mutism, a spokesman for Virginia Tech describing him as “a loner.” Several of his professors noted that his writing had violent themes, and encouraged him to seek counseling. A psychiatrist evaluated Cho after he expressed suicidal thoughts to a roommate, a probate judge finding him to be mentally ill and ordering him to seek outpatient treatment. Read more

Antidepressant Relieves IBS Symptoms in Adolescents

Low doses of antidepressants can provide significant relief for adolescents with irritable bowel syndrome, according to a study published in the May issue of Journal of Pediatrics. IBS affects 6 percent of middle school students and 14 percent of high school students in the United States. Read more

The Lowdown on Postpartum Depression

Ten to 15 out of every 100 mothers report feelings of depression during the first year after giving birth. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recently analyzed data taken from PRAMS (the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System) during 2004 and 2005 to assess the prevalence and demographic characteristics associated with postpartum depression (PPD) as reported by the mothers themselves. Read more

Mistreated Children at Risk for Depression, Inflammation, Heart Disease

Neglect and abuse during childhood is associated with a high incidence of depression and inflammation once the child reaches adulthood. When these two chronic conditions occur together, the risk of developing cardiovascular disease rises, too. Read more

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