Thursday, October 14, 2004

A new culprit in depression?
University of Michigan Health System press release - "The brains of people with severe depression have lower levels of several related molecules that are key to the development, organization, growth and repair of the brain than the brains of people without the disease, or those with the bipolar form of depression, a new study finds. The discovery, which surprised researchers in the multi-university consortium that made it, suggests a whole new direction for understanding depression and developing new depression treatments. It may even help scientists understand how some antidepressant medications work in the brain to ease symptoms, and why there is wide variation in how depressed people respond to different antidepressants. The finding was made in two specific areas of the brain known to be important to depression. The study relied on microarray analysis of 32 post-mortem brain samples -- the microarray method can simultaneously measure the level of activity of tens of thousands of genes that are functional in a given tissue."  
  

Emotion coaching can help children overcome impacts of family violence
University of Washington press release at EurekAlert - "When women engage in a technique called emotion coaching, even in families where there is domestic violence, their children are less aggressive, depressed and withdrawn, researchers have found. The new study also suggests that women who are victims of low levels of battering are just as likely as non-battered women to coach their children about their emotions, protecting youngsters from some of the behavior problems associated with being exposed to family violence. The role of fathers was less clear, although the study indicates that when fathers do emotion coaching their children are less withdrawn, according to Lynn Fansilber Katz, lead author of the study and a University of Washington research associate professor of psychology."  
  

Scientists find new clues underlying mood disorders
University of California, Davis - Medical Center press release at EurekAlert - "Researchers have found altered gene activity in people who suffer from major depression, a discovery that may one day help doctors better diagnose and treat the condition. The research, conducted by a consortium of four universities, appears this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS). Scientists found that the fibroblast growth factor system, which is a family of proteins involved in the growth, development and maintenance of nerve cells, had an overall decrease in levels in patients who had major depressive disorder. Proteins are the products of gene expression..."  
  

Intramuscular Aripiprazole May Be Effective Against Acute Agitation in Psychosis
Medscape Medical News story - "The atypical antipsychotic aripiprazole (Abilify) is as effective as haloperidol and significantly more effective than placebo at treating acute agitation in psychotic patients, according to an international team of investigators who presented their findings here at the 17th congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].