Dementia linked to low childhood intelligence

Researchers have found a link between dementia and childhood intelligence.

A study by doctors from the University of Edinburgh found the risk of vascular dementia – caused by problems in blood supply in the brain – increased in cases of lower childhood IQ.

The results also showed a cut in smoking and attempts to lower blood pressure early in life could help people with lower IQs reduce the risk of developing the brain disease.

Part of the study compared medical records of 173 people randomly selected from the Scottish Mental Survey of 1932 – a mental ability test of most 11-year-olds at schoolinScotland.

Dr Brian McGurn, lead researcher, said: “We have shown that for people with lower mental ability in early life there seems to be a higher risk of vascular dementia in later life. The unique data available from the Scottish Mental Survey means the link can be demonstrated independently of factors like socio-economic status and education.”

Vascular dementia is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer’s and has been linked to high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking. In the UK there are about 112,000 sufferers.

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ADHD Gene Doesn't Predict Response to Drugs

Canadian researchers report that their discovery of a gene variant that seems to affect the severity of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder did not help them predict which patients are likely to respond to a class of drugs widely used to treat the disorder.

The lack of a connection between the variant and response to methylphenidates was a blow for researchers, who have hoped to use genetic data to better predict who might be the best candidates for this treatment. Ritalin is one example of a methylphenidate.

"It is a negative study," said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Schneider Children's Hospital in New Hyde Park, N.Y. "The goal is to try and better identify patients who are best going to respond to which medicine, and they didn't get the findings they were hoping to find. Their theory wasn't supported by the data."

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DEA seeks new restrictions on Internet pharmacies

Illicit Internet pharmacies are helping abusers obtain controlled drugs such as the anti-anxiety medication Xanax, the painkiller Vicodin and anabolic steroids, the Drug Enforcement Administration told a House subcommittee on Tuesday.

The DEA wants Congress to require that drugs be sold over the Internet only on the basis of "valid prescriptions" that are written after face-to-face medical evaluations or, under special circumstances, through telemedicine.

Patrick Egan, a Philadelphia lawyer who specializes in Internet pharmacy regulations, countered that the DEA's proposed requirements would impose a hardship on rural and poor patients who use Internet pharmacies to reduce prescription drug costs. Telemedicine might solve part of the problem, he said, but not for patients who can't afford a consultation.

Other witnesses before the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security said that federal regulation of Internet drug sites is needed. State regulations vary widely, said William Winsley, the executive director of the Ohio State Board of Pharmacy, and illicit Internet drug site operators seek out the least regulated ones.

READ MORE @ MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU

House Votes to Expand Civil Rights for Disabled

The House passed a major civil rights bill on Wednesday that would expand protections for people with disabilities and overturn several Supreme Court decisions issued in the last decade.

The bill, approved 402 to 17, would make it easier for workers to prove discrimination. It would explicitly relax some stringent standards set by the court and says that disability is to be “construed broadly,” to cover more physical and mental impairments.

Supporters of the proposal said it would restore the broad protections that Congress meant to establish when it passed the Americans With Disabilities Act that President George Bush signed in 1990.

Lawmakers said Wednesday that people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other ailments had been improperly denied protection because their conditions could be controlled by medication or were in remission. In a Texas case, for example, a federal judge said a worker with epilepsy could not be considered disabled because he was taking medications that reduced the frequency of seizures.

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Olanzapine Long-Acting Injection (LAI) Data Presented at First Annual Schizophrenia International Research Society Conference

Results from olanzapine )long-acting injection (LAI) clinical trials showed that the efficacy and safety profile of olanzapine LAI was generally consistent with that of Zyprexa(R) (olanzapine) with the exception of injection-related events. Results from a 24-week maintenance study (HGKA) and interim findings from an ongoing open-label study (HGKB) were presented at the first annual Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) Conference in Venice, Italy.

Olanzapine LAI is an investigational formulation that combines olanzapine with a pamoate salt, resulting in an extended delivery of up to four weeks. Since olanzapine was introduced in 1996, it has been prescribed to approximately 24 million people worldwide.

"These studies offer insight into the potential of olanzapine LAI as a maintenance treatment for patients with schizophrenia who may have difficulty taking medication on a daily basis," said David McDonnell, M.D., clinical research physician at Lilly. "Schizophrenia is a challenging and complex disease to manage, which is why finding new ways to support patient compliance with medication is so important."

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The working wounded

Mental illness is costing the Canadian economy a staggering $51-billion a year, and each day 500,000 people miss work because of psychiatric problems. What are employers doing about it? Not much.

The day Sylvie Giasson lost her job at the National Gallery of Canada – a victim of restructuring – it was as if a black hole opened up to swallow her.

The Gatineau, Que., translator began stuttering and crying. The tears wouldn't stop. She couldn't sleep. Suicidal thoughts overwhelmed her.

It took all the energy Ms. Giasson could muster to get herself to hospital, where she was diagnosed with severe depression and anxiety disorder. She spent seven months in the Royal Ottawa Hospital, being treated with medication, counselling and electroconvulsive therapy. And she endured it all virtually alone.

“Nobody wants to visit a loved one in a mental hospital,” Ms. Giasson said. There were no flowers or get-well-soon cards. No one called.

Society's silence about mental health is deafening. When you are diagnosed, you disappear. Yet the vast majority of Canadians suffering from mental illness – such severe conditions as depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia – are not in hospital but in the community and at work.

Mental illness accounts for a stunning 40 per cent of disability claims and sick leaves in Canada. While employees jest about “mental-health days,” they are no joke. Every day, 500,000 Canadians are absent from work due to psychiatric problems; the most recent estimate pegged the annual economic burden of mental illness at a staggering $51-billion. The World Health Organization estimates that by 2020, depression will be the leading cause of disability on the planet.

READ MORE @ THE GLOBE AND MAIL

EU drugmakers demand repackaging ban to stop fakes

Drugmakers called on Thursday for a ban on the repackaging of medicines within the European Union in order to stamp out the growing threat of counterfeits.

"It is absolutely imperative, if we are going to try and protect consumers from counterfeits, that we do not allow a system that can take our medicines out of its packaging," industry association head and Bayer Healthcare (BAYG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) CEO Arthur Higgins told reporters.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers blame the legal practice of parallel trade -- in which drugs bought in low-priced markets are repackaged and resold in high-price countries -- for fuelling counterfeit traffic. Parallel traders deny the charge.

Preventing repackaging would deal a blow to the parallel trade and could also help drugmakers' profits, since companies' revenues are currently eroded by arbitrage dealings in their products across borders.

READ MORE @ REUTERS

Treatment-Resistant Depression Affects Millions of Americans Each Year

Millions of Americans with depression are able to successfully manage their condition with a combination of available therapies. However, according to an article in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, up to 35 percent of patients treated for depression may have a little-known condition called Treatment-Resistant Depression, or TRD.

“There are evolving definitions of TRD among the research community, but at this point, a TRD diagnosis is usually given to a patient with major depressive disorder who has failed two adequate trials of an antidepressant medication,” said Dr. W. Clay Jackson, a primary care physician and assistant professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Tennessee.

READ MORE @ NORTH AMERICAN PRESS SYNDICATE

Falls, depression and antidepressants in later life

Older people are at high risk for falls and subsequent injuries. Those who have depression have an increased risk of falls and the medications they take for depression increase their risk even more, New Zealand and Australian researchers reported in the open-access journal PLoS ONE.

"People with depression and those taking antidepressants, especially SSRIs, are 50% more likely to fall than other older people," said Ngaire Kerse, lead author of the study and associate professor in the Department of General Practice and Primary Healthcare at the School of Population Health in the University of Auckland, New Zealand. "Falls are very common and risk factors for falls are easy to identify. We need to emphasise fall prevention during treatment of depression in older people."

In a study of 21,900 older Australians, over age 60, who responded to a survey sent out by their GP, 24 percent reported at least one fall during the last 12 months, 11% had injured themselves with falling and 8% had needed to see a doctor because of a fall.

About one quarter of the group reported symptoms of depression and 12% were taking some form of antidepressant. While using antidepressants was a significant risk for falls, the highest risk (66% increase in falls) was seen when older people used SSRIs, the most frequently prescribed antidepressant (6% of people took this medication).

"This risk associated with SSRIs has been reported before but not in such a large group of older people living in the community," Kerse said. "More than 60% of women aged over 80 with depression and taking an SSRI fell in the last year. This means that falls prevention strategies must really be thought of when prescribing antidepressants for older people."

READ MORE @ EUREKALERT

Mentally ill face extra-long ER waits

Psychiatric patients who need hospitalization wait for hours in emergency departments for admission because hospitals are dropping mental health units and beds are scarce, a new survey says.

Nearly 80% of hospitals said mentally ill patients sometimes wait four hours or more to be admitted, says the American College of Emergency Physicians, which surveyed 328 emergency medical directors. About 10% said patients wait more than a day on average.

Average admission times for non-psychiatric patients were shorter: Only 30% of directors said those patients waited four hours or more. Yet 84% of the medical directors said ER wait times for all patients would drop if their hospitals had better psychiatric services.

Only half of the hospitals surveyed had psychiatric units. The rest transferred patients, sometimes far from homes and families. Hospitals are closing their units because of inadequate payments from government and insurers, unpaid costs for the uninsured and too few psychiatrists willing to work in hospitals, says James Bentley of the American Hospital Association.

READ MORE @ USA TODAY

FDA Orders Warning Label on Older Antipsychotics

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is cautioning physicians that certain types of antipsychotic drugs can boost the death risk of seniors with dementia.

Doctors sometimes use antipsychotics to help treat behavioral problems in demented patients.

But from now on these older, so-called "conventional" antipsychotics -- which include drugs such as thorazine and prolixin -- will carry a new black box warning alerting physicians of the danger, FDA officials announced Monday.

"We issued letters to all the manufacturers of antipsychotic drugs, both conventional and atypical, requiring them to update their labeling with new language for a box warning about an increased risk of death in elderly patients with dementia," Dr. Thomas Laughren, director of the FDA's Division of Psychiatry Products at the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said during an afternoon teleconference.

This is a new warning for conventional antipsychotics, but it is not new for another class of the medications, called atypical antipsychotics. Back in 2005, the FDA ordered warning labeling for those medications, which include newer drugs such as Zyprexa and Risperdal. That labeling warned of a higher risk for heart attack and pneumonia for elderly patients with dementia who received atypical antipsychotics.

READ MORE @ WASHINGTON POST

ADD: not just child's play

Imagine you have to do something difficult like translating a document into ancient Greek. Not only that, but you have to do it in a room where the walls and ceiling are covered in television screens, each showing a different programme and on at full volume. At the same time, people are poking you with sharp sticks. When you ask to leave the room, all they say in reply is: "Just try harder."

This is how Garret Smyth, a British novelist with a degree in neuroscience, describes what it is like to live with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) - something he himself suffers from. Unable to concentrate, prone to annoying and impulsive behaviour, and incapable of following the instructions for filling in a tax return, it is, he says, scarcely surprising that many adult sufferers fail in their working or private lives, and succumb to depression. "Everyone knows someone who is late for everything, surrounded by huge piles of paper, who is thinking about 10 things instead of focusing on one. You can take a moral line - this person is hopeless - or you can decide the person needs help."

Between one and four per cent of children are believed to have AD(H)D. Hyperactivity (H) decreases as the brain matures. But the inability to concentrate can persist into adulthood. The idea that adults can have ADD is only just gaining acceptance and, at present, medication to deal with it is only licensed for children. That means treatment often comes to a sudden end at 18, and adults seeking help often report finding their GPs are dismissive. Adult ADD is currently being studied in centres in London, Cambridge, Canterbury and Swansea but elsewhere adults are forced to queue in clinics geared to children, sitting on tiny chairs among finger paintings. "That's humiliating," says Smyth.

READ MORE @ TELEGRAPH

Hunger hormone increases during stress, may have antidepressant effect

New research at UT Southwestern Medical Center may explain why some people who are stressed or depressed overeat.

While levels of the so-called "hunger hormone" ghrelin are known to increase when a person doesn't eat, findings by UT Southwestern scientists suggest that the hormone might also help defend against symptoms of stress-induced depression and anxiety.

"Our findings in mice suggest that chronic stress causes ghrelin levels to go up and that behaviors associated with depression and anxiety decrease when ghrelin levels rise. An unfortunate side effect, however, is increased food intake and body weight," said Dr. Jeffrey Zigman, assistant professor of internal medicine and psychiatry at UT Southwestern and senior author of a study appearing online today and in a future print edition of Nature Neuroscience.

Dr. Michael Lutter, instructor of psychiatry at UT Southwestern and lead author of the study, said, "Our findings support the idea that these hunger hormones don't do just one thing; rather, they coordinate an entire behavioral response to stress and probably affect mood, stress and energy levels."

READ MORE @ EUREKALERT

Mutation Related To ADHD Drug Metabolism Discovered

Researchers within the Darby Children’s Research Institute at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have discovered a gene mutation directly involved in the metabolism of the most common and perhaps most known medication used to treat ADHD, methylphenidate (MPH), or Ritalin. The discovery may open the door to pre-testing of patients for the appropriate ADHD medication, instead of having to undergo trial and error.

It’s not unusual for scientists to focus their work in one direction, only to discover something unexpected. Researchers within the Darby Children’s Research Institute at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) have discovered a gene mutation directly involved in the metabolism of the most common and perhaps most known medication used to treat ADHD, methylphenidate (MPH), or Ritalin®. This research is described in full detail in the June 2008 issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

READ MORE @ SCIENCE DAILY

GlaxoSmithKline faces US scrutiny over Paxil suicide link

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the UK's largest drug maker, is facing new scrutiny in America in the wake of a British government inquiry that found the company withheld data on the suicide risk of an antidepressant.

A US senator today asked the food and drug administration (FDA), the agency that regulates American pharmaceuticals, to follow its UK counterpart in probing whether GSK concealed clinical trial evidence.

"If the company engaged in this behaviour in the UK, then I want to make sure that the same didn't happen here in the US," Grassley said.

"The FDA should investigate this question thoroughly and be forthcoming about its findings."

The drug in question - Paxil, marketed in the UK as Seroxat - has been the subject of suicide warnings since 2003, when the British government told doctors not to prescribe it to young adults. A warning to that effect was added to its US labels in 2006.

In responding to the UK conclusion that GSK failed to inform authorities of Paxil's suicide risk, Grassley quoted the Guardian's report on imminent British legislation requiring drug companies to promptly publicise clinical trial data.

READ MORE @ THE GUARDIAN

Antidepressants Alone: Not For Bipolar Depression

Psychiatrists have cautioned against the use of antidepressants alone in people with bipolar disorders, saying they could worsen a patient's condition by causing a destabilisation in mood.

Dr Ajeet Singh and Professor Michael Berk, consultant psychiatrists from the University of Melbourne, state in the current edition of Australian Prescriber that the goal of treatment in bipolar disorder is to stabilise mood, and antidepressants may defeat this purpose if they are not taken with other drugs.

"Patients may need an antidepressant, but this must be taken with a mood-stabilising drug. Antidepressants place patients at risk of switching to elevated phases of the disorder and rapid cycling patterns," they say in the article.

Patients should not simply be left on antidepressants long term without review, say the authors, as there is no good evidence of efficacy in the maintenance phase. If symptoms of elevated mood emerge, the patient should have their dose of the antidepressant reduced or stopped.

READ MORE @ MEDICAL NEWS TODAY

ADA: Metabolic Monitoring Guidelines for Antipsychotics Largely Unheeded

Recommendations for lipid and glucose monitoring for patients on atypical antipsychotic drugs have made scarcely a dent on clinical practice, researchers found.

Metabolic screening and monitoring rates rose by 5% or less since 2004, when the FDA warned of increased diabetes and cardiovascular risk with antipsychotic medications, according to two separate analyses of large insurance claim databases reported here at the American Diabetes Association meeting.

Only about 20% of patients on second-generation antipsychotics received recommended glucose monitoring and just 10% had lipids monitored, reported Dan W. Haupt, M.D., of Washington University in St. Louis, and colleagues in one of the studies.

Changes in screening rates were no better than, and in some cases worse, for patients starting antipsychotics than for other commercially-insured patients, found Elaine Morrato, Dr.P.H., M.P.H., of the University of Colorado in Denver, and colleagues in the other study.

READ MORE @ MEDPAGE TODAY

US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan turning to anti-depressants in record numbers

Overwhelmed by the horrors and rigours of war, American troops are turning to prescription anti-depressants in record numbers.

America is facing accusations that it is maintaining the troop strength of its overstretched forces through a quiet policy of plying soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan with prescription drugs.

The numbers of American servicemen on medications such as Prozac and Zoloft in combat zones now exceeds 20,000.

Critics claim a regulatory sleight of hand by service chiefs triggered the explosion in drug use. In November, 2006 the military issued a fresh order banning the use of older drugs, including lithium, anticonvulsants and antipsychotics, but omitted new generation of psychotropic medicine.

READ MORE @ TELEGRAPH

With Precautions, Psychiatrists Need Not Shun off-Label Prescribing

Fear of lawsuits should not stop psychiatrists from prescribing medications for off-label indications as long as they make patient-centered decisions based on evidence and talk to patients about risks and benefits.

By focusing on patient care and providing appropriate informed consent, consultation-liaison psychiatrists can protect themselves from liability lawsuits regarding the use of antipsychotics and other medications for indications not approved by the Food and Drug Administratio (FDA). So said experts who led a workshop for consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatrists at APA's 2008 annual meeting in Washington, D.C., in May.

Off-label use includes prescribing medications not only for unapproved indications, but also for unapproved dosages and patient populations, some of which may be subject to specific warnings by the FDA, said Ramaswamy Viswanathan, M.D. He is the director of the C-L Psychiatry Department at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. Intravenous infusion of haloperidol and the use of antipsychotics to treat dementia-related agitation are only two notable examples.

READ MORE @ PSYCHIATRIC NEWS

Researchers Fail to Reveal Full Drug Pay

A world-renowned Harvard child psychiatrist whose work has helped fuel an explosion in the use of powerful antipsychotic medicines in children earned at least $1.6 million in consulting fees from drug makers from 2000 to 2007 but for years did not report much of this income to university officials, according to information given Congressional investigators.

By failing to report income, the psychiatrist, Dr. Joseph Biederman, and a colleague in the psychiatry department at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Timothy E. Wilens, may have violated federal and university research rules designed to police potential conflicts of interest, according to Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. Some of their research is financed by government grants.

Like Dr. Biederman, Dr. Wilens belatedly reported earning at least $1.6 million from 2000 to 2007, and another Harvard colleague, Dr. Thomas Spencer, reported earning at least $1 million after being pressed by Mr. Grassley’s investigators. But even these amended disclosures may understate the researchers’ outside income because some entries contradict payment information from drug makers, Mr. Grassley found.

READ MORE @ NY TIMES

Experts Analyze Real Meaning of CATIE Study Findings

Despite the finding that SGAs are on average only marginally more efficacious than an FGA, perphenazine, most experts emphasize that what is true for "the average" patient may be not be best for the individual patient.

Science without the industry spin. That's the idea behind a series of nine papers appearing as a special section in the May issue of the APA journal Psychiatric Services looking at the results of the landmark Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention effectiveness (CATIE).

Prior to the appearance of the first CATIE study results in the New England Journal of Medicine (September 22, 2005), the superiority of second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) over first-generation antipsychotics (FGA) was widely considered a given. Though the trial pitted a proxy FGA, perphenizine, against five SGAs, the primary question for many was which SGA was most efficacious.

So when results showed that, with the exception of clozapine, SGAs had only marginal superiority over perphenazine, the response from quarters with vested interests was not tepid; the pharmaceutical industry was loudest in attacking CATIE on methodological grounds.

READ MORE @ PSYCHIATRIC NEWS

New research explores role of serotonin

Findings provide insight into clinical disorders characterised by low serotonin level, such as depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and severe anxiety

New research by scientists at the University of Cambridge suggests that the neurotransmitter serotonin, which acts as a chemical messenger between nerve cells, plays a critical role in regulating emotions such as aggression during social decision-making.

Serotonin has long been associated with social behaviour, but its precise involvement in impulsive aggression has been controversial. Though many have hypothesised the link between serotonin and impulsivity, this is one of the first studies to show a causal link between the two.

Their findings highlight why some of us may become combative or aggressive when we haven't eaten. The essential amino acid necessary for the body to create serotonin can only be obtained through diet. Therefore, our serotonin levels naturally decline when we don't eat, an effect the researchers took advantage of in their experimental technique.

The research also provides insight into clinical disorders characterised by low serotonin levels, such as depression and obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), and may help explain some of the social difficulties associated with these disorders.

This research, funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Medical Research Council, suggests that patients with depression and anxiety disorders may benefit from therapies that teach them strategies for regulating emotions during decision making, particularly in social scenarios.

READ MORE @ EUREKALERT

Antipsychotics May Improve Psychiatric Symptoms In Alzheimer's Disease

Psychiatric and behavioral symptoms associated with Alzheimer's disease-such as anger, agitation, aggression, and paranoid thoughts and ideas-may improve with the use of second-generation antipsychotic medications, a new federally funded study has found. Improvements were seen both in global measures and in measures of specific symptoms. In addition, the analysis indicates that particular symptoms may respond better to different second-generation antipsychotic medications.

The new analysis of data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness-Alzheimer's Disease (CATIE-AD), funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, will be published online ahead of print by The American Journal of Psychiatry (AJP), the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. The report will appear online1 under AJP in Advance on June 2, and will appear in print in the July issue of AJP.

READ MORE @ MEDICAL NEWS TODAY

Eating And Weight Gain Not Necessarily Linked, Study Shows

You may not be what you eat after all. A new study shows that increased eating does not necessarily lead to increased fat. The finding in the much-studied roundworm opens the possibility of identifying new targets for drugs to control weight, the researchers say.

The discovery reveals that the neurotransmitter serotonin, already known to control appetite and fat build-up, actually does so through two separate signaling channels. One set of signals regulates feeding, and a separate set of signals regulates fat metabolism. The worm, known scientifically as Caenorhabdtis elegans, shares half of its genes with humans and is often a predictor of human traits.

The signaling pathways are composed of a series of molecular events triggered by neurons in the brain that ultimately "instruct" the body to burn or store fat.

READ MORE @ SCIENCE DAILY

£1.2M trial to test effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy

Study to map effectiveness of CBT for patients who have not responded to antidepressants

A team of researchers, led by Dr Nicola Wiles at the University of Bristol and involving researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in the South West, has been awarded £1.2 million by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA) programme for a clinical trial to investigate the effectiveness of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for patients with depression who do not respond to treatment with antidepressants.

Patients who have been taking antidepressants for at least six weeks will be invited to participate in the trial and receive either CBT in addition to their medication, or continue with usual care from their general practitioner (including medication). Both groups will be followed up for 12 months to see which approach is the most effective in reducing depressive symptoms and improving quality of life. Recruitment for the trial is due to start in the autumn.

The Bristol team, in partnership with researchers from the University of Exeter, the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Glasgow and the Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership, will also evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the treatment and patients' views and experiences of it.

Dr Nicola Wiles said: "CBT has been shown to help patients with depression but there is currently little evidence about what alternative treatment options doctors should discuss with patients who do not get better with antidepressants. Improving access to psychological therapies is a Government priority, so it is important that we conduct studies such as this to help inform the care of people with depression."

READ MORE @ EUREKALERT

The Growing Evidence for Antidepressants as Anticancer Agents

Prostaglandins are infinitesimal, ephemeral lipid signalers in every cell in the body, and regulating every activity that takes place within a cell. As regulators of cellular activity, prostaglandins influence how cells are formed and what part of the body the cell will become. lithium are vital for cellular growth, health, and replication. Prostaglandins regulate the normal life cycle of a cell, knowing when each cell must be repaired and when each one is beyond repair and has reached the end of its cycle.

Laboratory animal experiments in the 1960s demonstrated a powerful influence of prostaglandins on the brains of the animals and birds. Subsequent experiments showed that lithium and every antidepressant tested inhibit prostaglandins. Excessive synthesis of prostaglandins activates a number of mechanisms that result in cancer. Cancer cells grow too fast and multiply too rapidly. They aren’t repaired and don’t die at the end of their cycle. Excessive synthesis of prostaglandins disrupts the signaling mechanisms in which cells communicate with each other. It hinders optimum performance of the immune system, weakening it and turning it against itself. The weakened immune system allows cancer cells to thrive. About 20% of cancers are caused by pathogenic, or disease-causing, microbes. By inhibiting prostaglandins, lithium and antidepressants stimulate immune function and defeat microbes.

READ MORE @ MED HEADLINES

Drugs to Grow Your Brain - Compounds that trigger the growth of new brain cells might help treat depression.

Drugs that encourage the growth of new neurons in the brain are now headed for clinical trials. The drugs, which have already shown success in alleviating symptoms of depression and boosting memory in animal models, are being developed by BrainCells, a San Diego-based start-up that screens drugs for their brain-growing power. The company hopes the compounds will provide an alternative to existing antidepressants and says they may also prove effective in treating cognitive disorders, such as Alzheimer's.

"The fact that you might be able to take small molecules to stimulate specific cells to regenerate in the brain is paradigm-shifting," says Christopher Eckman, a neuroscientist at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. "[This approach] takes advantage of the body's innate ability to correct itself when given appropriate cues." Eckman studies compounds that boost brain cell growth in models of neurodegenerative disease and is not involved with BrainCells.

READ MORE @ TECHNOLOGY REVIEW

Brain pacemakers show promise against depression in 1st tests

Some worst-case patients - whose illness isn't relieved by medication, psychotherapy, shock treatment - get lasting relief

It's a new frontier for psychiatric illness: brain pacemakers that promise to act as antidepressants by changing how patients' nerve circuitry fires.

Scientists already know the power of these devices to block the tremors of Parkinson's disease and related illnesses; more than 40,000 such patients worldwide have the implants.

But psychiatric illnesses are much more complex, and the new experiments with deep brain stimulation, or DBS, are in their infancy. Only a few dozen patients with severe depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder so far have been treated in closely monitored studies.

Still, the early results are promising. Dramatic video shows one patient visibly brightening as doctors turn on her brain pacemaker and she says in surprise: "I'm starting to smile." And new reports this month show that some worst-case patients - whose depression wasn't relieved by medication, psychotherapy or even controversial shock treatment - are finding lasting relief.

READ MORE @ SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE