MDiTV News: Andrew Holtz Clears Up Some of the Confusion About Antidepressant Ads

MDiTV News: Andrew Holtz Clears Up Some of the Confusion About Antidepressant Ads – In the late 1980s, the FDA first approved many antidepressants commonly used today based on evidence that the drugs helped people with severe or chronic depression. But these days, doctors prescribe antidepressants to people with short-term, or mild to moderate depression. Doctors writing prescriptions don’t have much scientific data about how well the drugs work on the larger population of depressed patients. To further complicate the issue, studies suggesting antidepressants may not work very well are often withheld in medical journals. This is known as publication bias. The pharmaceutical companies who often sponsor the antidepressant research may be making sure positive results dominate medical literature. And they spend a lot of money saturating the media with ad campaigns highlighting the optimistic outcomes.

Emerging Risk Factors ID'd for Postpartum Depression
Emerging risk factors for postpartum depression include the serotonin transporter genotype and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid status, both of which may interact to affect risk, according to a review published in the November issue of The Canadian … Read more on Doctors Lounge

Botox Could Help Your Depression As Well As Your Wrinkles
So, the idea behind Botox as a treatment for depression seems to be that if you prevent frowning and other facial expressions related to feeling sad, you might actually be able to prevent the sadness. TIME reported: The 84 study participants had severe … Read more on BlissTree

Study Confirms Benefit of Adjunct CBT in Med-Resistant Depression
Nicola Wiles, Ph.D., from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom, and colleagues randomized 469 patients aged 18 to 75 years with treatment resistant depression (defined as on antidepressants for at least six weeks; Beck depression inventory … Read more on Doctors Lounge