Exercise seems to increase the production of naturally occurring brain chemical with antidepressant effects in mice, researchers reported Sunday.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, point to potential new ways to treat depression in people.

Studies have found that exercise can help ease depression symptoms, but the reasons for the benefit have not been clear. For the new study, scientists used a tool called a microarray to examine how exercise changed gene activity in the brains of mice.

They focused on a brain region known as the hippocampus, which has been implicated in mood regulation and in the brain's response to antidepressant medication.

The researchers found that mice that had a week's worth of workouts on a running wheel showed altered activity in a total of 33 genes, the majority of which had never been identified before.

Black and Hispanic adults with depression may not do as well on drug therapy as whites do, a study suggests.

Researchers found that among nearly 2,700 U.S. adults receiving an antidepressant for major depression, African Americans and Latinos had lower success rates than their white counterparts.

Much of the racial gap was related to the fact that the minority groups were, in general, more disadvantaged and in poorer overall health, the researchers report in the journal Medical Care.

"We found that these two groups tended to be more disadvantaged socioeconomically, had more medical problems, less education and higher unemployment rates," lead researcher Dr. Ira M. Lesser explained in a statement.

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The schoolyard bully has gone digital.

As more and more young people have access to computers and cell phones, a new risk to teens is beginning to emerge. Electronic aggression, in the form of threatening text messages and the spread of online rumors on social networking sites, is a growing concern. Researchers estimate that between 9 percent and 34 percent of youth are victims of so-called “cyber-bullies.” And as many as one out of five teens has bullied another youth using digital media, reports a special issue of the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Although the majority of kids who are harassed online aren’t physically bothered in person, the cyber-bully still takes a heavy emotional toll on his or her victims. Kids who are tormented online are more likely to get a detention or be suspended, skip school and experience emotional distress, the medical journal reports. Teens who receive rude or nasty comments via text messages are six times more likely to say they feel unsafe at school.

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I just got back from shopping on Black Friday, the day after Christmas. It's called Black Friday because it's the first day of the year that retailers (potentially) start seeing black ink on the balance sheet instead of red. For almost anyone else, unless you're suffering from the holiday blues, Black Friday is the beginning of the the holiday season, full of gift-giving, parties, lots of yummy food and family togetherness.

For anyone with depression, however, Black Friday might be thought of as the official start of one of the worst times of the year. Not only are there so many more demands on your time, energy and finances (often an issue for anyone with depression), but there's also an increase in potential irritants like holiday music, crowds and commercialism (which is depressing to everyone).

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