Parkinson Disease and Depression: CBT Helps
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Cognitive-behavioral therapy tailored specifically to PD patients is beneficial, even for those on antidepressants.
Depression Leads to Inflammation in Cardiac Patients
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Poor health behaviors seem to underlie the association between depression and elevations in two inflammatory markers.
By Joel Yager, MD
August 1, 2011
Covering:
Duivis HE et al., Am J Psychiatry 2011 Jul 1
A Familial Risk Factor for Combat-Related PTSD
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and their twins have elevated dorsal anterior cingulate activation on a behavioral interference task.
By Joel Yager, MD
August 1, 2011
Covering:
Shin LM et al., Am J Psychiatry 2011 Jul 1
SSRIs, Early Pregnancy, and Congenital Malformations
Women's Health Summary and Comment
A nationwide Finnish report shows excess risk for fetal cardiovascular malformations with SSRI exposure.
Neurophysiology of Urban Living and Social Stress
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Free
Urban versus rural living in childhood or adulthood is associated with activity of the amygdala and perigenual anterior cingulate in stressful situations.
By Barbara Geller, MD
July 25, 2011
Covering:
Lederbogen F et al., Nature 2011 Jun 23; 474:498
Family Psychoeducation Reduces Relapse in Major Depression
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Free
Patients whose families received information and problem-solving education to reduce stressful family interactions had lower relapse rates at 9 months.
By Peter Roy-Byrne, MD
July 18, 2011
Covering:
Shimazu K et al., Br J Psychiatry 2011 May; 198:385
First-Trimester SSRI Exposure and Congenital Anomalies
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Specific antidepressants are associated with risk for cardiovascular or neural-tube defects in a population-based study.
By Deborah Cowley, MD
July 18, 2011
Covering:
Malm H et al., Obstet Gynecol 2011 Jul; 118:111
Pathways to New, Fast-Acting, Nonmonoaminergic Antidepressants
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Animal research on the mechanism of action of NMDA receptor antagonists may lead to new treatment approaches.
Online Messaging Helps in Delivering Care Management to Patients with Depression
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Depressed patients who had three online messaging contacts with a trained psychiatric nurse showed improvement in antidepressant adherence after 3 months and depression outcomes at 5 months.
By Peter Roy-Byrne, MD
July 18, 2011
Covering:
Simon GE et al., J Gen Intern Med 2011 Jul; 26:698
Dark as a Dungeon in Depression
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
In an animal study, darkness disrupts circadian rhythms, leading to elevated cytokine activity and inhibited hippocampal neurogenesis.
By Steven Dubovsky, MD
July 18, 2011
Covering:
Monje FJ et al., J Neurosci 2011 Jun 22; 31:9075
Blast-Related Traumatic Brain Injury in U.S. Soldiers
Neurology Summary and Comment
Free
Military personnel with mild TBI after exposure to explosions often had cerebral axonal injury, according to diffusion tensor imaging.
By Robert L. Ruff, MD, PhD
July 12, 2011
Covering:
Mac Donald CL et al., N Engl J Med 2011 Jun 2; 364:2091
A "Thrifty Gene" Link Between Hoarding and Obesity
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
A genetic polymorphism is associated with hoarding and obesity in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
By Joel Yager, MD
July 11, 2011
Covering:
Timpano KR et al., J Abnorm Psychol 2011 Jun 13
Delusions and Dermatologists: Long-Term Treatment Needed for Delusional Parasitosis
Dermatology Summary and Comment
Convincing patients to take psychoactive drugs can be helpful.
By Mark V. Dahl, MD
July 1, 2011
Covering:
Wong S and Bewley A., Br J Dermatol 2011 May 23
Antidepressants Are Promising for Depressed Patients with Comorbid Neurological Disorders
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Free
A meta-analysis finds few relevant studies, but they indicate some efficacy.
By Jonathan Silver, MD
June 27, 2011
Covering:
Price A et al., J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2011 May 10
Family Pediatrics: Don't Forget About Parents of Depressed and Anxious Children
Simultaneous screening for psychopathology in parents and children is feasible.
By Martin T. Stein, MD
June 22, 2011
Covering:
Vidair HB et al., J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2011 May; 50:441
Antidepressants Decrease Suicide Risk in the Long Term
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Free
Twenty-seven years of follow-up data from a typical patient population show that antidepressants reduce risk for suicide attempts and deaths.
By Peter Roy-Byrne, MD
June 20, 2011
Covering:
Leon AC et al., J Clin Psychiatry 2011 May; 72:580
Visualizing Similarities and Differences in Generalized Anxiety and Major Depressive Disorders
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
An imaging study suggests that GAD and MDD share underlying deficits in emotional regulation, but patients with only MDD seem to compensate for these.
By Joel Yager, MD
June 20, 2011
Covering:
Etkin A and Schatzberg AF., Am J Psychiatry 2011 Jun 1
Functional Dyspepsia Linked to Disordered Sleep
Gastroenterology Summary and Comment
But, the nature of the association remains unclear.
Developmental Pathway to Depression in Children of Mothers with Postpartum Depression
Insecure attachment in infancy and low ego resilience predict adolescent depression.
By Martin T. Stein, MD
June 15, 2011
Covering:
Murray L et al., J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2011 May; 50:460
Impact of Early Childhood Adversity on the Brain
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Free
A study of telomere length in Romanian orphans and another of a polymorphism in individuals with histories of childhood adversity show the relationship between genetics and experience.
By Barbara Geller, MD
June 13, 2011
Covering:
Drury SS et al., Mol Psychiatry 2011 May 17
Gerritsen L et al., Mol Psychiatry 2011 May 17
Is OCD an Anxiety Disorder?
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
This analysis of family study data both indicates that the answer is affirmative and highlights common comorbidities.
Medically Unexplained Symptoms in Patients with Psychogenic Nonepileptic Seizures
Neurology Summary and Comment
These symptoms sometimes developed after PNES diagnosis but were not associated with cessation of PNES.
By Jaime Toro, MD
June 7, 2011
Covering:
McKenzie PS et al., J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2011 Mar 18
Addicted to Compulsions
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
An imaging study pinpoints differences in response speed and brain activations in reaction to reward stimuli in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
By Steven Dubovsky, MD
June 6, 2011
Covering:
Figee M et al., Biol Psychiatry 2011 May 1; 69:867
Does Your Neighborhood Get You Depressed?
Psychiatry Summary and Comment
Free
For older individuals, neighborhood characteristics may increase risk for depression, but the effect is modest.
By Joel Yager, MD
May 27, 2011
Covering:
Ahern J and Galea S., Am J Epidemiol 2011 Apr 28
Environmental Exposure to Parental Depression Is Linked with Childhood Depression
Significant associations between parent and child symptoms of depression were found in both genetically unrelated and genetically related parent–child pairs.
By Martin T. Stein, MD
May 25, 2011
Covering:
Lewis G et al., J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 2011 May; 50:451.e1
