Published: April 20, 2012
A new blood test diagnoses major depression in teens—an approach that offers an objective diagnosis by measuring a specific set of genetic markers.
The current method of diagnosing depression is subjective. It relies on the patient’s ability to recount his or her symptoms and the physician’s ability and training to interpret them.
Diagnosing teens is an urgent concern because they are highly vulnerable to depression and difficult to accurately diagnose due to normal mood changes during this age period.
The test also is the first to identify subtypes of depression. It distinguished between teens with major depression and those with major depression combined with anxiety disorder. This is the first evidence that it’s possible to diagnose subtypes of depression from blood, raising the hope for tailoring care to the different types.
“Right now depression is treated with a blunt instrument,” says Eva Redei, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and lead investigator of the study, published in Translational Psychiatry.
“It’s like treating type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes exactly the same way. We need to do better for these kids.
“This is the first significant step for us to understand which treatment will be most effective for an individual patient,” adds Redei. “Without an objective diagnosis, it’s very difficult to make that assessment. The early diagnosis and specific classification of early major depression could lead to a larger repertoire of more effective treatments and enhanced individualized care.” [continue reading…]
Published: April 19, 2012
A five year study conducted with thousands of local teenagers by University of Montreal researchers reveals that those who used speed (meth/ampthetamine) or ecstasy (MDMA) at fifteen or sixteen years of age were significantly more likely to suffer elevated depressive symptoms the following year. “Our findings are consistent with other human and animal studies that suggest long-term negative influences of synthetic drug use,” said co-author Frédéric N. Brière of the School Environment Research Group at the University of Montreal. “Our results reveal that recreational MDMA and meth/amphetamine use places typically developing secondary school students at greater risk of experiencing depressive symptoms.” Ecstasy and speed-using grade ten students were respectively 1.7 and 1.6 times more likely to be depressed by the time they reached grade eleven. [continue reading…]
Published: April 18, 2012
This morning a posted a wonderful short film of Lord Philip Gould sharing his thoughts about his approaching death during the final weeks of his life.
I participate in Google+ where I have been excited and stimulated by things that are shared, the great conversations and connections I make.
My post on Philip Gould encouraged +Chris Holly to point me in the direction of a film called Griefwalker.
This documentary introduces us to Stephen Jenkinson, the leader of a palliative care counselling team at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital. Through his daytime job, he has been at the deathbed of well over 1,000 people. What he sees over and over, he says, is “a wretched anxiety and an existential terror” even when there is no pain. Indicting the practice of palliative care itself, he has made it his life’s mission to change the way we die – to turn the act of dying from denial and resistance into an essential part of life.
This is a thought provoking documentary on a charismatic spiritual man. It will take several viewings to fully absorb the nuances of the film. There is the powerful recounting of Stephens encounter with parents whose daughter is dying, and how he helped guide them to accept and experience her death in a non-clinical and real way. It was very moving.
Take the time to watch this film I think you’ll find it worth it.
ᔥNFB
↬ +Chris Holly
Published: April 18, 2012
Phew! I can breathe a sigh of relief, (I talk to myself— quite a bit too)!
“One advantage of talking to yourself is that you know at least somebody’s listening.” – Franklin P. Jones
Most people talk to themselves at least every few days, and many report talking to themselves on an hourly basis. What purpose is served by this seemingly irrational behavior? Previous research has suggested that such self-directed speech in children can help guide their behavior. For example, children often talk themselves step-by-step through tying their shoelaces, as if reminding themselves to focus on the job in hand.
Can talking to oneself also help adults?
In a recent study published in Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, psychologists Gary Lupyan (University of Wisconsin-Madison) and Daniel Swingley (University of Pennsylvania) conducted a series of experiments to discover whether talking to oneself can help when searching for particular objects. The studies were inspired by observations that people often audibly mutter to themselves when trying to find, for example, a jar of Peanut Butter on a supermarket shelf, or the stick of butter in their fridge. [continue reading…]
