Wing of Madness Depression Guide
Genetics May Determine Antidepressants' Effectiveness

Genetic variations that predict patient response to the two common antidepressant drugs citalopram (brand name Celexa) and venlafaxine (Effexor) have been identified by German researchers.

The team at the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry in Munich found that 11 variants in the gene for a protective transporter protein called P-gp, which removes drugs and other substances from the brain, compromise the effectiveness of these two drugs.

In the first part of the study, the researchers knocked out genes for P-gp in mice and gave them antidepressants. They found that brain concentrations of citalopram and venlafaxine were regulated by P-gp, indicating that the antidepressants were "substrates" of the transporter protein.

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Post-concussion depression more than emotional

Post-concussion symptoms of depression may stem from an underlying neurological abnormality caused by the concussion, results of a Canadian study suggest.

Depression after a blow to the head may not simply be the individual's emotional or psychological reaction to the injury and their subsequent loss of playing time, as is commonly thought, investigators note in the medical journal, Archives of General Psychiatry.

"It seems there is a cerebral dysfunction caused by the injury," Dr. Alain Ptito, of the Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital at McGill University in Quebec, told Reuters Health. The injury manifests itself as symptoms of depression, he added.

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Antidepressant Studies Unpublished

The makers of antidepressants like Prozac and Paxil never published the results of about a third of the drug trials that they conducted to win government approval, misleading doctors and consumers about the drugs’ true effectiveness, a new analysis has found.

In published trials, about 60 percent of people taking the drugs report significant relief from depression, compared with roughly 40 percent of those on placebo pills. But when the less positive, unpublished trials are included, the advantage shrinks: the drugs outperform placebos, but by a modest margin, concludes the new report, which appears Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Previous research had found a similar bias toward reporting positive results for a variety of medications; and many researchers have questioned the reported effectiveness of antidepressants. But the new analysis, reviewing data from 74 trials involving 12 drugs, is the most thorough to date. And it documents a large difference: while 94 percent of the positive studies found their way into print, just 14 percent of those with disappointing or uncertain results did.

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Jump-Start Your Year with Exercise (Yes, Even if You're Depressed)!

It's 5:30am and it's still dark. For some reason I'm actually awake. Granted, my usual waking time is only half an hour later, but to me, voluntarily getting up early is an idea that just doesn't compute. However, I am deliberately giving up sleep for a good reason. I'm going to do some yoga to help wake myself up and, hopefully, become more flexible and strong. Since I have Multiple Sclerosis, that's very important. I'll also do some walking at lunchtime up a hill on the campus where I work.

If you're suffering from depression, you're probably thinking, "How nice for you." After all, you can't even contemplate exercising when you're depressed. Just getting through the day is an accomplishment. Trust me, I do know how you feel. I went through twenty years of untreated depression. But I also know that some of my best periods during those two decades were the times when I was exercising regularly.

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Do You Lie to Your Therapist?

If you go to a mechanic, you tell the truth about what’s wrong with your car. When you go to the dentist, you’re clear about which tooth hurts.

But truth can be tougher with a therapist, notes psychologist John M. Grohol, in an essay on the PsychCentral Web site. Unlike aches and pains, the information you deliver to a therapist often involves your innermost thoughts and feelings or behavior you may not be proud of. Just as patients sometimes find it tough to disclose embarrassing personal health issues to a physician, patients also worry about confiding with their therapists, he notes.

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