Wednesday, July 02, 2003

Disadvantaged Women Benefit From Antidepressants, Counseling
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Despite concerns that a course of antidepressants and counseling might not benefit low-income minority women with depression, new research released Tuesday shows that these proven therapies are effective in such patients. Either 6 months of treatment with an antidepressant or at least 8 weeks of counseling helped reduce depressive symptoms in low-income mothers, according to the report published in the July 2nd issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association." See also the detailed abstract and ordering information at JAMA.  
  

UCLA-Led Study Challenges Bipolar Depression Treatment Guidelines
AScribe Newswire item reprinted at PsycPORT - "A study led by a UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute researcher challenges standard treatment guidelines for bipolar depression that recommend discontinuing antidepressants within the first six months after symptoms ease. Study participants treated under the guidelines relapsed at nearly twice the rate of those who continued taking antidepressants in conjunction with their mood stabilizer medication during the first year after remission of acute bipolar depression. The researchers found no increased risk of manic relapse in those who continued the medication for one year. The findings appear in the July 2003 edition of the American Journal of Psychiatry." An abstract is available online and full text can be ordered from the same page. See also the journal's index of recent articles on bipolar disorder, again with free abstracts fee-based full text available.