Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 10/3/07.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Are You Easily Distracted? Try Some Tea - US News and World Report, 10/8/07 - "the amino acid theanine, which is found in green, black, and oolong teas, causes a decrease in the brain's "alpha rhythms" when people perform complex attention tasks, causing them to pay closer attention. His ongoing research, funded by the food and beverage conglomerate Unilever, suggests that theanine and caffeine together improve performance more than either substance alone ... in mice, at least—tea's main antioxidant shows an ability to curb brain cell death and encourage neurons to repair themselves" - See l-theanine products at iHerb.

Red Wine Compound May Curb Diabetes - WebMD, 10/2/07 - "Resveratrol curbs insulin resistance in mice ... According to our findings, people might need to drink about three liters of red wine each day to get sufficient resveratrol -- about 15 milligrams -- for its biological effects" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.

Elevated WBC Counts and Higher Cancer Risk - Medscape, 10/1/07 - "Women in the highest quartile of WBC count (6.80-15.00 x 109 cells/L) had a 15% higher risk for invasive breast cancer, a 19% higher risk for colorectal cancer, a 42% higher risk for endometrial cancer, and a 63% higher risk for lung cancer than patients in the lowest quartile of WBC count"

Modest Weight Loss Cuts Hypertension - WebMD, 10/1/07 - "A little more than half (52%) of those who met the weight loss goal also got their blood pressure down into the normal range ... The bottom line: It didn't take a whole lot of weight loss to curb high blood pressure"

Mini-strokes Linked To Uric Acid Levels - Science Daily, 10/1/07 - "high-normal uric acid (UA) levels may cause barely detectable mini strokes that potentially contribute to mental decline in aging adults"

Breast Cancer Risk May Decrease With Increasing Duration of NSAID Use -  Medscape, 10/1/07 - "Use of NSAIDs was associated with a lower risk for breast cancer (odds ratio [OR], 0.76"

Apples and onions may slash pancreatic cancer risk - Nutra USA, 10/1/07 - "Of the three individual flavonols, they report that kaempferol was associated with the largest risk reduction (22 per cent) across all participants" - [Abstract]

Avoiding Sweets May Spell A Longer Life, Study In Worms Suggests - Science Daily, 10/2/07 - "A new study in Cell Metabolism reveals that worms live to an older age when they are unable to process the simple sugar glucose"

Popular Prostate Cancer Treatment May Encourage Spread Of Cancer, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 10/1/07 - "A popular prostate cancer treatment called androgen deprivation therapy may encourage prostate cancer cells to produce a protein that makes them more likely to spread throughout the body"

Report: Fighting Depression And Improving Cognition With Omega-3 Fatty Acids - Life Extension Magazine, 10/07 - "subjects were randomly assigned to receive 1200 mg EPA plus 900 mg DHA, or placebo, for 12 weeks. At the end of the treatment period, the group receiving omega-3 fatty acids had significantly greater improvements compared with the placebo group in scores for depression, suicidality and daily stresses" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.

Food for Thought: Fattening Carbs���Some Promote Obesity and Worse - Science News, 9/29/07 - "In the study, mice that chowed down on a type of rapidly digestible starch didn't gain any more weight than did animals eating a starch that digests slowly. But the first group did accumulate lots of excess fat"

Low HDL Cholesterol, Even When LDL Levels Are Low, Is Cardiovascular Dynamite, New TNT Analysis Shows - Medscape, 10/3/07 - "Among patients treated with statins, including those who achieved very low levels of cholesterol with high-dose statin therapy, high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol levels are still predictive of major cardiovascular (CV) events ... In the determination of the five-year risk of major CV events across the different quintiles, univariate analysis showed the event rate to be reduced by 40% in the highest quintile when compared with subjects with the lowest HDL-cholesterol levels" - See niacin at Amazon.com.

High Blood Pressure May Be Due To Excess Weight In Half Of Overweight Adults - Science Daily, 9/28/07 - "about 50 percent of overweight, hypertensive adults, ranging in age from 29 to 65 years, achieved normal body weight and blood pressure after six months of treatment with a reduced-calorie diet"

Study: Law Prompts Drop in Heart Attacks - Intelihealth, 9/28/07 - "A study released Thursday credits New York's 2003 Clean Indoor Air Act with an 8 percent drop in heart attacks statewide because of reduced exposure to second-hand smoke"

Antihypertensive Treatment May Help Maintain Memory - Medscape, 9/27/07 - "Pretreatment correlation of parietal and prefrontal change was 0.61 vs 0.94 after treatment. According to the investigators, similar differences were observed for all areas, with an average pretreatment correlation of 0.66 vs an average posttreatment correlation of 0.91"

Alcohol Amount, Not Type -- Wine, Beer, Liquor -- Triggers Breast Cancer - Science Daily, 9/27/07 - "women who drank between one and two alcoholic drinks per day increased their risk of breast cancer by 10 percent compared with light drinkers who drank less than one drink a day. The risk of breast cancer increased by 30 percent in women who drank more than three drinks a day"

"Good" Cholesterol Earns Its Name - WebMD, 9/26/07 - "the patients with the highest HDL cholesterol levels were the least likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or cardiac arrest ... The higher the patients' HDL cholesterol level was, the lower their odds of having a heart event during the study. That includes patients who got their LDL "bad" cholesterol below 70 mg/dL"

Omega-3 May Lower Type 1 Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 9/25/07 - "Eating a diet rich in omega-3 fats may help keep high-risk children from developing type 1 diabetes" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.

Fruits, Veggies Don’t Cut Colon Cancer - WebMD, 9/25/07 - "Overall, a higher intake of fruits and vegetables does not strongly reduce your risk of colon cancer"

Warming to a Cold War Herb - Science News, 9/22/07 - "Government scientists had noted that rhodiola boosted the body's response to stress ... Almost immediately, my mind seemed clearer ... After a few days, I noticed I recovered from exercise more quickly"

Hazards: Heavy Drinking May Raise Risk of Endometrial Cancer - New York Times, 9/18/07 - "Women who have more than two alcoholic drinks a day double their risk of endometrial cancer compared with those who drink less"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds:

The influence of calcium consumption on weight and fat following 9 months of exercise in men and women - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):350-5 - "Average calcium consumption was 987 +/- 389 mg/day for men and 786 +/- 276 mg/day for women. Weight change over the 9 months was -4.6 +/- 4.6 kg for men and 0.2 +/- 3.3 kg for women ... Weight and fat weight loss as a result of nine months of moderate intensity exercise may be improved by increased calcium consumption in men but was not observed in women" - Note:  4.6 kg is 10.14 lbs.

Can EGCG Reduce Abdominal Fat in Obese Subjects? - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):396S-402S - "heart rate (HR) ... Moderate consumption of EGCG can improve the health status of overweight individuals undergoing regular exercise by reducing HR and plasma glucose concentrations. Loss of body fat, however, may require a higher intake of EGCG, other catechins or addition of metabolic stimulants" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com, my favorite is green tea extract at Amazon.com.

The effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate on thermogenesis and fat oxidation in obese men: a pilot study - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):389S-95S - "These findings suggest that EGCG alone has the potential to increase fat oxidation in men and may thereby contribute to the anti-obesity effects of green tea" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com, my favorite is green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Increased calcium intake does not completely counteract the effects of increased phosphorus intake on bone: an acute dose-response study in healthy females - Br J Nutr. 2007 Oct 1;:1-8 - "When P intake was above current recommendations, increased Ca intake was beneficial for bone, as indicated by decreased S-PTH concentration and bone resorption. However, not even a high Ca intake could affect bone formation when P intake was excessive"

Exposure to the phytoestrogen daidzein attenuates apomorphine-induced penile erection concomitant with plasma testosterone level reduction in dose and time-related manner in adult rats - Urology. 2007 Sep;70(3):613-7 - "The phytoestrogen daidzein has the potential to adversely affect erectile function in a dose and time-related manner that is at least partly attributable to androgen deficiency. These findings implicate that phytoestrogens, especially isoflavones, if overconsumed for a long period, might be a novel risk factor for erectile dysfunction"

Congestive heart failure and cardiovascular death in patients with prediabetes and type 2 diabetes given thiazolidinediones: a meta-analysis of randomised clinical trials - Lancet. 2007 Sep 29;370(9593):1129-36 - "Compared with controls, patients given TZDs had increased risk for development of congestive heart failure across a wide background of cardiac risk (relative risk [RR] 1.72, 95% CI 1.21-2.42, p=0.002). By contrast, the risk of cardiovascular death was not increased with either of the two TZDs (0.93, 0.67-1.29, p=0.68) ... Congestive heart failure in patients given TZDs might not carry the risk that is usually associated with congestive heart failure which is caused by progressive systolic or diastolic dysfunction of the left ventricle"

Alpha-tocopherol supplementation prevents the exercise-induced reduction of serum paraoxonase 1/arylesterase activities in healthy individuals - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep 19 - "Alpha-T supplementation may result in protection of the enzyme PON 1/Aryl activities from free radical production"

Intake of soluble fibers has a protective role for the presence of metabolic syndrome in patients with type 2 diabetes - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2007 Sep 19 - "The intake of soluble fibers, particularly from whole-grain foods and fruits, may have a protective role for the presence of MS in this selected sample of patients with type 2 DM"

B Vitamin Plasma Levels and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke and Transient Ischemic Attack in a German Cohort - Stroke. 2007 Sep 20 - "Our data suggest that low vitamin B12 plasma levels, particularly in combination with low folate levels, increase the risk of cerebral ischemia. This effect may be mediated at least partly through elevations of homocysteine levels"

Glycaemic index, glycaemic load and ovarian cancer risk: a prospective cohort study - Public Health Nutr. 2007 Oct;10(10):1076-81 - "Glyacemic index (GI) and glycaemic load (GL) .. GI and total carbohydrate and sugar intakes were not associated with ovarian cancer risk in the total cohort. GL was positively associated with a 72% increase in risk of ovarian cancer"

• The Glycemic Index - Dr. Murray's Newsletter, 4/3/03 - "The GL calculated by multiplying the amount of carbohydrate in a serving of food multiplied by that food's GI (as compared to glucose) as a decimal"

Metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors in subjects with impaired fasting glucose: the 100 versus 110 mg/dL threshold - Diabetes Metab Res Rev. 2007 Oct;23(7):547-550 - "IFG110 was associated with higher risk of post-challenge glucose intolerance as compared with IFG100. As compared with IFG100, subjects with IFG110 have significantly lower levels of circulating IGF-I. As compared with NFG, IFG110, but not IFG100, showed a significant association with increased levels of inflammatory markers including white blood cell count (WBCC), and C-reactive protein (CRP)"

Flavonols and pancreatic cancer risk: the multiethnic cohort study - Am J Epidemiol. 2007 Oct 15;166(8):924-31 - "Intake of total flavonols was associated with a reduced pancreatic cancer risk (relative risk for the highest vs. lowest quintile = 0.77, 95% confidence interval: 0.58, 1.03; p trend = 0.046). Of the three individual flavonols, kaempferol was associated with the largest risk reduction (relative risk = 0.78, 95% confidence interval: 0.58, 1.05; p trend = 0.017). Total flavonols, quercetin, kaempferol, and myricetin were all associated with a significant inverse trend among current smokers (relative risks for the highest vs. lowest quartile = 0.41, 0.55, 0.27, 0.55, respectively) but not never or former smokers. This study provides evidence for a preventive effect of flavonols on pancreatic cancer, particularly for current smokers"

Effects of melatonin and rilmazafone on nocturia in the elderly - J Int Med Res. 2007 Sep-Oct;35(5):685-91 - "melatonin (2 mg/day; n = 20) or rilmazafone (2 mg/day; n = 22) for 4 weeks ... After 4 weeks' treatment, the number of nocturnal urinations was significantly decreased and the QoL score was significantly improved in both groups. There was no significant difference between the patient-reported effectiveness ratings between the two groups" - See melatonin at Amazon.com.

Memory impairments with adjuvant anastrozole versus Tamoxifen in women with early-stage breast cancer - Menopause. 2007 Sep 25 - "The results showed that women who received anastrozole had poorer verbal and visual learning and memory than women who received tamoxifen"

Homocysteine and diabetic retinopathy - Diabetes Care. 2007 Sep 26 - "Plasma total homocysteine concentration may be a useful biomarker and/or a novel risk factor for increased risk of diabetic retinopathy in people with type 2 diabetes"

Efficacy of changing testosterone gel preparations (Androgel or Testim) among suboptimally responsive hypogonadal men - Int J Impot Res. 2007 Sep 27 - "Changing from Androgel to Testim offers hypogonadal men the potential for improved clinical and biochemical responsiveness"

Health Focus (Depression):

Popular Depression Medications:

• See anti-depressants

Popular Depression Supplements:

• essential fatty acids / St. John's wort / acetyl-l-carnitine / DHEA / NADH / 5-HTP / omega-3 fatty acids / ginkgo / l-tyrosine / l-phenylalanine / TMG (SAM-e purcursor) / SAM-e / kava / melatonin / lavender / tianeptine

Alternative Depression News:

• Depression Protocol - Life Extension Foundation
• Depression - The Natural Pharmacist
• Depression - Vitacost Health Library
• Seasonal Affective Disorder - Vitacost Health Library
• I suffer from seasonal affective disorder. Do you have any suggestions? - Dr. Murray - "Melatonin supplementation may improve SAD because it not only increases brain melatonin levels, but also because it may suppress cortisol secretion"
• Sunshine for the Mind - thenutritionreporter.com
• Antidepressant-Like Effect of Cordyceps sinensis in the Mouse Tail Suspension Test - Biol Pharm Bull. 2007 Sep;30(9):1758-62 - "Cordyceps sinensis (CS) has been known as a component of traditional medicines that elicit various biological effects such as anti-fatigue, immunomodulatory, and hypoglycemic actions. Since it has been well-established that fatigue is closely related to depression, we used the tail suspension test (TST) in mice to examine the antidepressant-like effects of hot water extract (HWCS) and supercritical fluid extract (SCCS) of CS ... these results suggest that SCCS may elicit an antidepressant-like effect by affecting the adrenergic and dopaminergic systems, but not by affecting the serotonergic system" - See cordyceps at Amazon.com.
• Dehydroepiandrosterone and monoamines in the limbic system of a genetic animal model of childhood depression - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2007 Aug 20 - "The results from the current study may imply that treatment with DHEA could be a promising novel therapeutic option for depressed children and adolescents that fail to respond to common (monoaminergic) antidepressant treatments"
• Diets With High Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratios Enhance Risk for Depression, Inflammatory Disease - Medscape, 4/26/07 - "Whereas the early hunter-gatherers had a dietary omega-6:omega-3 ratio of 2:1 to 3:1, this ratio is now 15:1 to 17:1 in North America today ... compared with the study participants who did not have syndromal depression, the 6 participants who had depression had significantly higher omega-6:omega-3 ratios and higher levels of proinflammatory cytokines"
• Depressive Symptoms, omega-6:omega-3 Fatty Acids, and Inflammation in Older Adults - Psychosom Med. 2007 Mar 30 - "Diets with high n-6:n-3 PUFA ratios may enhance the risk for both depression and inflammatory diseases"
• Omega 3 fatty acids and the brain: review of studies in depression - Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2007;16 Suppl:391-7 - "Experimental studies in animals have shown that diets lacking omega 3 PUFA lead to substantial disturbances in neural function, which in most circumstances can be restored by the inclusion of omega 3 PUFA in the diet ... It is clear from the literature that DHA is involved in a variety of processes in neural cells and that its role is far more complex than simply influencing cell membrane properties"
• l-thyroxine augmentation of serotonergic antidepressants in female patients with refractory depression - J Affect Disord. 2007 Feb 6 - "Triiodothyronine (T3) augmentation in treatment-resistant depression had been successfully performed with both tricyclic as well as with SSRI antidepressants. In this paper, the efficacy of addition of moderate dose of l-thyroxine (T4) to serotonergic antidepressants in refractory depression was evaluated ... four weeks of l-thyroxine augmentation, the remission, assessed as 7 or less points on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) was obtained in eleven patients (64.7%). Five other patients (29.5%) had responded (reduction>50% on HDRS) and one patient did not show an improvement"
• Omega-3 in fish oils might ease depression - USA Today, 3/6/07 - "The more DHA a person consumed, the more gray matter there was in three areas of the brain linked to mood: the amygdala, the hippocampus and the cingulate, Conklin says. Seriously depressed people tend to have less gray matter in these areas" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Omega-3s may help depressive kids - pilot study - Nutra USA, 6/23/06 - "seven out of ten children in the omega-3 group and none of the children in the placebo group had depression score reductions of 50 per cent or more"
• Omega-3 treatment of childhood depression: a controlled, double-blind pilot study - Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Jun;163(6):1098-100 - "Analysis of variance showed highly significant effects of omega-3 on symptoms using the CDRS, CDI, and CGI ... Omega-3 fatty acids may have therapeutic benefits in childhood depression"
• Melatonin Improves Mood In Winter Depression - Science Daily, 5/2/06 - "melatonin, a naturally occurring brain substance, can relieve the doldrums of winter depression, also known as seasonal affective disorder, or SAD"
• Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment - Med Hypotheses. 2006 Mar 14 - "Case histories are presented showing rapid recovery (less than 7 days) from major depression using 125-300mg of magnesium (as glycinate and taurinate) with each meal and at bedtime. Magnesium was found usually effective for treatment of depression in general use" - See iHerb or Vitacost magnesium products.
• Depression and long chain n-3 fatty acids in adipose tissue in adults from Crete - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2006 Feb 8 - "The inverse relationship between adipose DHA and depression in adults, replicates findings of a previous study. This relationship indicates that a low long-term dietary intake of DHA is associated with an increased risk for depression in adults" - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin B(12) and folate serum levels in newly admitted psychiatric patients - Clin Nutr. 2005 Oct 7 - "About 30% of patients had low folate values compared to 2.5% in the control group" - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.
• Chromium Picolinate Linked With Reduced Carbohydrate Cravings in People With Atypical Depression - Doctor's Guide, 9/29/05 - "65% of the chromium picolinate patients with high carbohydrate craving versus 33% of those receiving placebo had significantly greater improvements on total HAM-D-29 scores (p < 0.05). HAM-D-29 is a standard tool commonly used in assessing severity of symptoms in depressed patients" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids and Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 5/05 - "English investigators conducted a 12-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial evaluating the efficacy of EPA doses of 1,000, 2,000, or 4,000 mg/day in addition to unchanged standard treatment in 70 patients with persistent depression. The 1,000-mg group showed a significant decrease in depression as compared with placebo, but the other groups showed little evidence of efficacy ... The bulk of evidence suggests that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation is effective in treating depression in patients with low omega-3 diets" - See Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost or iHerb.
• 'Mangia, Mangia!' -- Certain Foods Fight Depression - Science Daily, 3/25/05 - "confirmed the antidepressant-like effects of omega-3 fatty acids ... uridine, a compound found in sugar beets and molasses, has similar effects"
• DHEA May Help Midlife Depression - WebMD, 2/7/05 - "treatment with DHEA resulted in a 50% reduction in depression symptoms in half the participants ... Treatment with the supplement was associated with an increase in testosterone blood levels in both men and women ... Taking DHEA for 6 weeks also significantly improved sexual function scores" - See iHerbor Vitacost DHEA products.
• Exercising Has Great Mental Health Benefits - CBS 2 Chicago, 1/25/05 - "This is the first study that looks at exercise alone for treating mild to moderate depression. It found most symptoms were reduced almost in half by people who did some type of aerobic activity for at least 30 minutes, three to five times a week"
• Dietary Supplement Ups Antidepressant Effect - WebMD, 12/2/04 - "Half the patients in the study reported significant improvement in symptoms when they took SAMe along with their prescription antidepressant for six weeks. Forty-three percent reported having no depression symptoms at all six weeks after adding the dietary supplement to their treatment" - See iHerb or Vitacost SAMe products.
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids: Good For The Heart, And (maybe) Good For The Brain - Science Daily, 11/8/04 - "There is mounting evidence that a diet containing omega-3 fatty acids, already known to help prevent cardiovascular disease, may also prevent depression"
• Vitamin B6 level is associated with symptoms of depression - Psychother Psychosom. 2004 Nov-Dec;73(6):340-3 - "A low plasma level of PLP was significantly associated with the depression score"
• Serum Folate, Vitamin B(12), and Homocysteine in Major Depressive Disorder, Part 1: Predictors of Clinical Response in Fluoxetine-Resistant Depression - J Clin Psychiatry. 2004 Aug;65(8):1090-1095 - "The response rates for patients with (N = 14) and without (N = 38) low folate levels were 7.1% versus 44.7%, respectively" - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.
• Serum Folate, Vitamin B(12), and Homocysteine in Major Depressive Disorder, Part 2: Predictors of Relapse During the Continuation Phase of Pharmacotherapy - J Clin Psychiatry. 2004 Aug;65(8):1096-1098 - "The relapse rates for patients with (N = 7) and without (N = 64) low folate levels were 42.9% versus 3.2%, respectively" - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.
• Folate for depressive disorders - J Psychopharmacol. 2004 Jun;18(2):251-6 - "adding folate reduced Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) scores on average by a further 2.65 points ... The remaining study found no statistically significant difference when folate alone was compared with trazodone"  - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.
• Chromium Picolinate Supplementation Linked With Reduced Carbohydrate Cravings Associated With Atypical Depression - Doctor's Guide, 6/2/04 - [Nutra USA][WebMD]  "daily supplementation with 600 mcg of chromium as chromium picolinate, significantly reduced carbohydrate cravings compared to placebo, and improved other symptoms such as mood swings, fatigue and weight gain perception" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.
• S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) - A Very Important Natural Product - Dr. Murray's Natural Facts, 6/2/04 - "SAMe is perhaps the most effective natural antidepressant (although a strong argument could be made for the extract of St. John's wort standardized to contain 0.3% hypericin)" - See iHerb or Vitacost SAMe products.
• Supplement SAM-e Helps Beat Depression - WebMD, 5/5/04 - "When SAM-e was added to their usual medication, half of the patients improved and 43% went into remission, Alpert reports. "These are quite strong responses and remission rates for a population that failed traditional therapy."" - See iHerb or Vitacost SAMe products.
• Zinc May Increase Antidepressant Therapy Effectiveness - Healthwell Exchange Daily News, 3/4/04 - "the zinc-supplemented group showed a statistically significant improvement compared with the placebo group at 6 and 12 weeks ... Other natural substances that have been shown to benefit depression sufferers include folic acid, DHEA, eicosapentaenoic acid (a fatty acid found in fish oil), and St. John’s wort" - See iHerb or Vitacost zinc products.
• Herbal Combo Effective for Mild Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 2/04 - "84% of patients who received the herbal preparation had a 50% reduction in the Hamilton Depression (HAM-D) rating scale scores vs. 18% among those on placebo ... Each patient received 360 mg/day of St. John's wort, 168 mg/day of valerian, and 192 mg/day of passion flower"
• High Vitamin B12 Levels May be Linked to Better Treatment Outcome for Major Depressive Disorder - Doctor's Guide, 1/5/04 - "Low levels of folate have also been associated with a poor response to antidepressive therapy ... patients with greater HDRS responses had higher vitamin B12 levels both at baseline (r = 0.39, P < .001) and at 6 months ... The positive relationship between higher vitamin B12 levels and improved HDRS score was also confirmed by linear regression analysis" - [Abstract] - See iHerb or Vitacost Vitamin B12 products.
• High vitamin B12 level and good treatment outcome may be associated in major depressive disorder - BMC Psychiatry. 2003 Nov 27 - "Higher vitamin B12 levels significantly associated with a better outcome" - See iHerb or Vitacost Vitamin B12 products.
• Effect of zinc supplementation on antidepressant therapy in unipolar depression: a preliminary placebo-controlled study - Pol J Pharmacol. 2003 Nov-Dec;55(6):1143-7 - "Zinc supplementation significantly reduced scores in both measures after 6- and 12-week supplementation when compared with placebo treatment. This preliminary study is the first demonstration of the benefit of zinc supplementation in antidepressant therapy. The mechanism(s) may be related to modulation of glutamatergic or immune systems by zinc ion" - See iHerb or Vitacost zinc products.
• Exercise Boosts Drug Treatment for Depression - Doctor's Guide, 11/10/03
• Dietary Folate and Depressive Symptoms Are Associated in Middle-Aged Finnish Men - J Nutr. 2003 Oct;133(10):3233-3236 - "The participants were grouped into thirds according to their dietary folate intake. Those in the lowest third of energy-adjusted folate intake had a higher risk of being depressed [odds ratio (OR) 1.67, 95% CI = 1.19-2.35, P = 0.003] than those in the highest folate intake third ... There were no associations between the intake of cobalamin, pyridoxine or riboflavin, and depression. These results indicate that nutrition may have a role in the prevention of depression" - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.
• St. John's Wort -  Natural Foods Merchandiser, 10/03 - "Recently, in a large trial comparing SJW with the conventional antidepressant imipramine, researchers concluded SJW is as effective as imipramine and is better tolerated by patients.13 In a newer, larger trial (240 participants) comparing SJW directly with fluoxetine, researchers concluded SJW was as effective and safer than fluoxetine, particularly in patients suffering depression and anxiety" - See St. John's wort at Amazon.com.
• The Omega Principle - WashingtonPost.com, 8/19/03 - "Omega-3s, dubbed the "happy" fats in some quarters, are under investigation for treating depression, bipolar disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, alcoholism, Alzheimer's disease and even the so-called baby blues, or postpartum depression ... there are many profound neurological disorders that are known to be caused by lipid problems ... The brain itself, is, in fact, about 60 percent fat ... while the body can manufacture saturated fat, cholesterol and even some unsaturated fat -- it is incapable of producing two of the fatty acids that are most vital ... there has been an 1,000-fold increase in [consumption of] omega-6 fatty acids ... Flooding brains and bodies with a diet rich in omega-6 fatty acids theoretically could give an unfair advantage to these molecules, allowing them to block omega-3s from getting inside cells" - See Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost or iHerb.
• Omega-3 fatty acids in major depressive disorder. A preliminary double-blind, placebo-controlled trial - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2003 Aug;13(4):267-71 - "In this study, we conducted an 8-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, comparing omega-3 PUFAs (9.6 g/day) with placebo, on the top of the usual treatment, in 28 patients with major depressive disorder. Patients in the omega-3 PUFA group had a significantly decreased score on the 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression than those in the placebo group" - See Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost or iHerb.
• Higher Folate Levels Correlate with Improved Outcome for SSRI-Treated Geriatric Patients - Doctor's Guide, 7/16/03 - "Geriatric patients who are treated with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) sertraline appear to experience greater improvement in depression if they have higher than normal folate levels at the start of therapy"
• A New Era for SAMe - Life Extension Magazine, 6/03
• Lavender Effective Add-on Therapy for Depression - New Hope Natural Media, 5/8/03 - "the group taking the combination of imipramine and lavender had a significantly greater reduction in HAM-D scores and the antidepressant effect occurred more rapidly, compared with those taking imipramine or lavender alone" - See iHerb or Vitacost lavender products.
• Low Folate Concentrations Associated With Depression - Doctor's Guide, 5/2/03 - "Physically healthy people who are depressed have detectably lower folate status than those who are not depressed" - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.
• Depression and Folate Status in the US Population - Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics 2003;72:80-87 - "Low folate status was found to be most characteristic of recently recovered subjects, and a large proportion of such subjects were folate deficient. Conclusions: Low folate status was detectable in depressed members of the general US population. Folate supplementation may be indicated during the year following a depressive episode" - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.
• Bright Light Therapy May Boost Testosterone - WebMD, 4/22/03 - "early morning light therapy caused a surge in a pituitary hormone called luteinizing hormone (LH) that raises testosterone levels in men ... Previous studies have shown that bright light therapy of daily exposure to specially designed, high-intensity light boxes can alleviate many symptoms of depression, especially among people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD) during winter months" - I did a lot of research on lighting for our home owners association.  See http://qualitycounts.com/fp/lights.htm.  The closest fluorescents to actual sunlight are probably the ones with 5000 or 6500 Kelvin rating.  The lights advertised as "cool white" are around 3000 Kelvin.  I've always felt that the "cool white" phase was just a gimmick to sell what was cheap to make.
• Chromium Effective for Common Type of Depression - New Hope Natural Media, 4/10/03 - "15 people suffering from atypical depression, who had been off of antidepressant medication for at least seven days, were randomly assigned to receive chromium picolinate or a placebo for eight weeks. The dose was 400 mcg per day for the first two weeks, then 600 mcg per day for the remainder of the study ... Seventy percent (7 of 10) of those receiving chromium responded to the treatment, whereas none of the five individuals in the placebo group had a positive response. Although the number of participants in the study was small, the difference in outcome between the chromium and placebo groups was highly statistically significant. Moreover, in 60% of those receiving chromium, the depression went into remission" - See iHerb or Vitacost chromium products.
• Statins Appear To Have Favourable Impact On Psychological Conditions - Doctor's Guide, 4/2/03 - "the longer people are on the statins the more their symptoms of depression, anxiety and hostility decrease ... When people stop taking statins or can not tolerate the medicine, their depression, anxiety and hostility returns to pre-statin levels" - Note:  Red yeast rice is a non-prescription statin.  See iHerb and Vitacost red yeast rice products.
• The Death of Anti-Aging Supplements? - Life Extension Magazine, 3/03 - "During these many trials, researchers routinely found that when taken daily, DHEA supplements effectively reduced depressive episodes and enhanced mood. In fact, according to one major study in the UK, as many as 67% of men and 82% of women reported a noticeable decrease in their depressive symptoms while taking as little as 25 mg/day of DHEA"
• Dehydroepiandrosterone Augmentation in the Management of Negative, Depressive, and Anxiety Symptoms in Schizophrenia - Archives of General Psychiatry, 2/03 - "Results indicated significant improvement in negative symptoms (P<.001), as well as in depressive (P<.05) and anxiety (P<.001) symptoms in individuals receiving DHEA. This effect was especially noted in women"
• Fatty Acid Effective against Depression - New Hope Natural Media, 1/9/03 - "E-EPA is a chemically modified form of EPA ... the best results were achieved with the smallest amount of E-EPA tested ... The authors of the study speculated that taking too much E-EPA might cause an imbalance between the two major classes of essential fatty acids: the omega-3 class (which includes EPA) and the omega-6 class (which includes linoleic and arachidonic acids ... E-EPA is not widely available at the present time"
• S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine Results Similar to Imipramine in Major Depression - Doctor's Guide, 12/30/02 - "A total of 146 patients received 400 milligrams per day of intramuscular SAMe and 147 received 150 mg/d of oral imipramine ... SAMe and imipramine did not differ significantly on any efficacy measure, either main or secondary ... Adverse events were significantly less in patients treated with SAMe compared to those treated with imipramine" - Note:  There seems to be conflicting studies on whether oral SAMe is poorly absorbed.  I've added absorption studies near the bottom of my SAMe page.
  • SAM-e (S-Adenosylmethionine) - James South - "Because SAMe tablets are enterically coated, they should NOT be cut in half to achieve a lower dose- the SAMe may then break down before absorption"
• SAMe Beneficial in Treating Osteoarthritis, Depression, and Liver Disease - New Hope Natural Media, 12/12/02 - "More than 100 human studies have been published in medical journals showing that SAMe is a safe, effective treatment and, in the cases of depression and osteoarthritis, works as well as conventional medications"
• Mechanisms Differ Between Depression and Either Vitamin B12 Or Folate - Doctor's Guide, 12/10/02 - "hyperhomocysteinemia, vitamin B12 deficiency and, to a lesser extent, folate deficiency all were related to depressive disorders"
• Supplement [SAM-e] Found Effective As Antidepressant - Intelihealth, 11/6/02 - "The dietary supplement SAMe is about as effective as older, conventional antidepressants in treating depression, a preliminary, government-funded study says. It also finds SAMe to be comparable to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications in treating the pain of osteoarthritis. Such drugs include aspirin, ibuprofen and naproxen" - See iHerb or  Vitacost SAM-e products.
• Fish Oil Eases Depression - WebMD, 10/18/02 - "people who added a daily dose of omega-3 fatty acids to their regular antidepressant treatment had significant improvement in symptoms, including anxiety, sleeping problems, sadness, decreased sexual desire, and suicidal tendencies ... Previous studies have suggested that depressed people have lower-than-normal levels of a fatty acid known as EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid), which plays an important role in maintaining normal brain function" - See my essential fatty acids page, my omega-3 page or Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost or iHerb.
• Fish Oil May Help Relieve Stubborn Depression - Reuters, 10/17/02 - "Daily supplements of an omega-3 fatty acid--found in fish and fish oil--may help alleviate the symptoms of depression in patients who do not respond to standard antidepressant medications, new research findings suggest ... Previous researchers have suggested that the balance of omega-3 fatty acids in the brain may become skewed in people with depression, and earlier studies have shown that fish oil supplements can help alleviate the symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, or manic depression"
• Extending Healthspan: Hormones, Supplements, Diet and Exercise - Life Extension Magazine, 10/02 - "Finally, the authors note that testosterone is an excellent antidepressant. It restores good mood, self-confidence and sociability, often making antidepressants such as Prozac no longer necessary. “Grumpy old men” are those with testosterone deficiency" - See Forever Ageless at Amazon.com
• Government Report Concludes: Dietary Supplement SAM-e Equally Effective as Prescription Drugs for Depression, Osteoarthritis - Vitacost/Business Wire, 10/3/02
• Testosterone Deficiency & Depression, Does DHEA Raise the Levels of Bioavailable Testosterone in Men? - Life Extension Magazine, 8/02 - "As testosterone replacement for women is becoming increasingly commonplace, women too report not just restored libido, but also improved mood and greater energy, less anxiety and more assertiveness ... low levels of free testosterone were the best predictor of depression, regardless of age ... the study [in men] showed no correlation between depression and free estradiol ... The mood-improving action of testosterone is more likely to be due to the direct action of testosterone on the brain-possibly through raising the levels of dopamine, a very important "reward" neurotransmitter ... a well-controlled study published in the prestigious Journal of Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology and Metabolism did in fact find a significant rise in free testosterone in men aged 60 to 84 years, after three months on 100 mg of DHEA"
• Bright-Light Therapy Effective In Non-Seasonal Depression - Doctor's Guide, 5/23/02
• Adjunct Folinic Acid For Depressed Patients With Inadequate SSRI Response - Doctor's Guide, 5/8/02 - "Investigators report that patient folate levels rose. Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17 (HAM-D-17) scores among 16 patients who completed the study decreased"
• Experiments Strengthen Link Between Fish Oil, Mental Problems - Intelihealth, 4/18/02 - "Infant monkeys fed baby formulas supplemented with omega-3 fatty acids - the ones found in "fish oil" - were stronger and more alert even at less than a week old than monkeys given standard baby formula ... Harvard researchers gave two groups of persons who had recently been hospitalized with depression diets that were high in omega-3 and omega-6, respectively. The results were so dramatic that after three months, the scientists were directed by a research oversight committee to stop the experiment and allow all the subjects to take omega-3" - Personal recommendation Mega Twin EPA at Vitacost or iHerb.
• Salmon May Help Relieve Depression - WebMD, 3/15/02 - "Patients randomly received either the fish oil capsule or a sugar pill in addition to the antidepressant medication they were taking ... After four weeks, six of 10 patients receiving E-EPA -- but only one of 10 receiving placebo -- had significantly reduced symptoms of depression ... The effect of E-EPA was significant from week two of treatment ... Depressed mood, guilt feelings, worthlessness, and insomnia were all improved" - Note: One softgel of Twinlab TwinEPA contains 600 mg of EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid).
• Low Melatonin Values, Melancholic Depression Linked - Doctor's Guide, 10/9/01 - see melatonin
• St. John's Wort Vs. Drugs - Nutrition Science News, 6/01
• St. John's Wort Passes Muster - Nutrition Science News, 4/00
• DHEA: A Mental & Physical Boost - Life Extension Magazine, 12/99
• The Marriage of DHEA and 5-HTP for New and Better Mood Function - Life Enhancement Magazine, 7/99

Depression CME:

• Medscape depression CME courses
• Doctor's Guide depression CME courses
• Advances in the Treatment of Depression - Medscape, 6/29/05
• Long-term Management of Depression - Medscape, 6/29/05
• Update on the Treatment of Depression - Medscape, 3/23/05
• Advances in the Treatment of Depression: Clinical Implications of Dual-Acting Antidepressants - PowerPak.com, exp. 10/1/07
• Health Benefits of Folic Acid - PowerPak.com (CME), exp. 11/15/05 - "it was observed that rats fed a diet deficient in folic acid had significantly decreased serotonin content in the brain.25 It is now known that serotonin plays a role in the regulation of mood, and a deficiency of serotonin often is a factor in depression and mania"  - See iHerb or Vitacost folic acid products.
• Advanced Treatment of Major Depression - PowerPak.com, (CME course), exp. 12/15/06
• New Options in the Treatment of Depression - U.S. Pharmacist, exp. 11/30/05 - "When compared to fluoxetine, mirtazapine demonstrated significantly greater response rates at weeks 3 and 4. When compared to citalopram and paroxetine, mirtazapine showed significantly greater response in the first one to two weeks but not later. A comparison of mirtazapine and venlafaxine in hospitalized, severely depressed patients showed equal response and remission rates"
• Addressing Both the Emotional and Physical Symptoms in Depression - Medscape, exp. 3/21/04
• Clinical Update on the Treatment of Depression - Medscape, 9/18/02
• Recognizing and Treating Depression - The University of Mississippi School of Pharmacy and DRUG TOPICS, exp. 12/31/02
• Patient Satisfaction, Adherence, and Tolerance: Choosing the Right Antidepressant - Pragmaton Office of Medical Education, 4/11/01
• Treatment of Depression and Antidepressants -  American College of Physicians and the Office of Continuing Medical Education of the University of Virginia School of Medicine

General Depression Information:

• Depression self-assessment - Mayo Clinic
• Depression - American Academy of Family Physicians
• Depression - emedicine.com
• Depression - familydoctor.org
• Patients With Severe Depression Improve Using Texas Medication Algorithm Project Guidelines - Doctor's Guide, 7/6/04 - "the level of improvement in the disease-management group was twice as much better when measured by a clinician and three times as much better when the patient described his or her own level of improvement"
• Why Are So Many Women Depressed? - Scientific America Women's Health: A Life Long Guide, Summer 1998 (see the subtopic "Stress and Cortisol") - "It is unclear whether depression is a cause or a consequence of elevated cortisol levels, but the two are undoubtedly related."
• Intelihealth depression page
• Atypical Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 3/03
• Books on depression - Amazon.com
• Treatments for depression - Medifocus.com

Depression and Endocrinology:

• Wilson's Thyroid Syndrome - "Conversion of T4 to T3 can also be impaired by glucocorticoids" - Maybe that is the mechanism by which cortisol causes depression, and if so, could T3 then cure the depression? - Ben, Related article:
• l-thyroxine augmentation of serotonergic antidepressants in female patients with refractory depression - J Affect Disord. 2007 Feb 6 - "The study included 17 female patients ... After four weeks of l-thyroxine augmentation, the remission, assessed as 7 or less points on Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) was obtained in eleven patients (64.7%). Five other patients (29.5%) had responded (reduction>50% on HDRS) and one patient did not show an improvement"
• Use OF T3 Thyroid Hormone to Treat Depression - DrMirkin.com - "some people become depressed when they take just T4 and their depression can be cured when they take both thyroid hormones, T3 and T4"
• Thyroid Supplementation Enhances Antidepressant Response - Medscape, 9/21/06 - "Remission occurred in 31 patients (58.5%) receiving T3 compared with 19 patients (38%) in the placebo group" - See T3 at International Anti-aging Systems but check with your doctor first.
• Salivary Cortisol Response to Prednisolone Challenge Helps Understand Treatment-Resistant Depression - Doctor's Guide, 9/19/06 - "prednisolone is a better corticosteroid than dexamethasone to assess the HPA axis because it binds to 2 different receptors, not only the glucocorticoid receptors but also the mineralocorticoid receptors, providing a more physiological approach"
• A Comparison of Lithium and T3 Augmentation Following Two Failed Medication Treatments for Depression: A STAR*D Report - Am J Psychiatry. 2006 Sep;163(9):1519-30 - "After a mean of 9.6 weeks (SD=5.2) of treatment, remission rates were 15.9% with lithium augmentation and 24.7% with T(3) augmentation" - See T3 at International Anti-aging Systems.
• Chronic Exposure To Stress Hormone Causes Anxious Behavior In Mice - Science Daily, 4/17/06 - "Scientists already knew that many people with depression have high levels of cortisol, a human stress hormone, but it wasn't clear whether that was a cause or effect. Now it appears likely that long-term exposure to cortisol actually contributes to the symptoms of depression" - See my cortisol page for ways to reduce it.
• T3 augmentation of SSRI resistant depression - J Affect Disord. 2006 Feb 14 - "T3 augmentation was associated with a statistically significant drop (p<.003) in the mean HAMD at end of the three weeks compared to baseline scores ... T3 augmentation resulted in improvement of mood scores"
• Depression May Raise Women's Diabetes Risk - WebMD, 12/22/04 - "symptoms of depression were linked to greater levels of insulin resistance among the women ... depression can alter hormones relating to how the body handles stress. This in turn can affect body fat distribution and how it handles blood sugar metabolism"
• Algorithm-Based Treatment Shows High Lack Of Response To Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors - Doctor's Guide, 4/17/03 - "When the clinicians added T3, they found it was effective among 10 out of 16 women patients (62.5%), but was not effective in any of the 9 male patients who received it. Although values were within the normal range, patients who responded to T3 had higher serum thyroid-stimulating hormone levels than those who did not ... The effect of T3 may be related to thyroid function even within the normal range"
• Mirtazapine Attenuates Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical Axis Hyperactivity in Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 4/17/03 - "it has been shown to have an acute inhibiting effect on cortisol secretion in healthy subjects ... Apparently, mirtazapine rapidly attenuates HPA axis hyperactivity in depressed patients via direct pharmaco-endocrinological effects. However, this amelioration of HPA system dysregulation is not necessarily related to clinical improvement" - Click here for a previous study.
• Treatment of Subclinical Hypothyroidism Advocated - Doctor's Guide, 4/7/03 - "Adverse effects fall into four general categories, according to Dr. Gardner -- neuropsychiatric symptoms, abnormal lipids, altered myocardial function, and greater risk of atherosclerotic heart disease ... Adding to the controversy, he added, is growing evidence that the upper limit of normal serum TSH concentration should be less than 2.5-3.0 U/mL and not the current levels of 5.0-5.5 U/mL"
• Testosterone May Help Depressed Men - WebMD, 1/3/03 - "nearly half of the men who had not responded to conventional depression treatment had low or low-to-normal testosterone levels. And several showed dramatic improvement when the male hormone was given along with antidepressants"
• Depression Management - ContinuingEducation.com, exp. 12/31/02 - See table six, recommends 5 - 50 mcg T3, 100 mcg (.1 mg) T4
• New Vistas in Antidepressant Development - Medscape, 11/21/02 - "The evidence for corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) hypersecretion in depression and certain anxiety disorders is compelling ... CRF is transported to the anterior pituitary via the hypothalamo-hypophyseal portal system where it promotes the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) into the general circulation, which in turn stimulates the production and release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex ... Numerous studies have revealed that the direct injection of CRF into the CNS of laboratory animals produces effects reminiscent of the cardinal symptoms of depression, including decreased libido"
• Bipolar Patients Sensitive to Thyroid Function Variations - Doctor's Guide, 1/8/02 - "They studied 65 patients in the depressed phase of bipolar I disorder to test the hypothesis that patients with lower thyroid function, even within the normal range, might have a poorer response to treatment initially ... Outcomes were relatively poor unless patients had FTI [free thyroxine index] values above the median and TSH values below the median"
• Cortisol Feedback Could Be Normal in Major Depression Patients - Doctor's Guide, 1/2/02
• Thyroid Hormones Accelerate Depressive Response to Drug Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 10/30/01 - "Five of the six studies found T3 to be significantly more effective than placebo in accelerating clinical response ... Investigators say they found that the average effect was highly significant"
• Researchers Explore New Meds for Mood Disorders - Clinical Psychiatry News, 10/01 - "Another approach being developed for patients with high levels of circulating cortisol involves the abortion pill mifepristone ... The findings, to be published this month in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, suggest that a rapid antidepressant response (approximately 7 days) may occur in some patients"
• Researchers Hopeful Antidepressant Augmentation Will Improve Remission - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/01 - "In psychotic depression, a corticosteroid antagonist looks most promising. Mifepristone, which is used to induce abortions but was originally designed as treatment for Cushing's disease, has achieved rapid reversal of symptoms in some 30 psychotically depressed patients, ostensibly by blocking cortisol receptors. The drug is now being investigated in a large double-blind trial, he said"
• Major Depression: Tianeptine At Least Halves Relapse And Recurrence Rates - Doctor's Guide, 3/29/01 - "A smaller proportion of the tianeptine group experienced either relapses or recurrences compared to placebo (16 and 36 percent, respectively) ... events related to treatment were rare and mild in both arms of the study ... The rates of relapse and recurrence decreased between two- and three-fold among tianeptine users compared to placebo. However, the treatments were equally well accepted by the two groups" - note: tianeptine is believed to inhibit cortisol - Ben
• Depressed Patients Show Thyroid Resistance To Thyrotropin Action - Doctor's Guide, 2/6/01
• Mirtazapine Regulates Stress Hormones, Improves Sleep In Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/8/01 - "Mirtazipine might be the best option for depressed patients with sleep disturbance and irregularities in stress hormone function ... Depression is often accompanied by sleep disturbance -- subjective and objective -- as well as [hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal] HPA-axis dysregulation ... Mirtazapine is a treatment that [profoundly affects] the HPA-axis within hours and promotes sleep within days ... They tested the 24-hour urinary free cortisol (UFC) levels of 16 healthy men and 20 men and women with major depression ... mirtazipne significantly reduced UFC concentrations, which is often elevated in depressed patients"
• Effects of thyroxine as compared with thyroxine plus triiodothyronine in patients with hypothyroidism - N Engl J Med. 1999 Feb 11;340(6):469-70 - "among 15 visual-analogue scales used to indicate mood and physical status, the results for 10 were significantly better after treatment with thyroxine [t4] plus triiodothyronine [t3]"
• RU-486 could aid variety of ills - MSNBC, 11/2/00 - "RU-486’s ability to block the action of a different hormone — cortisol — has prompted doctors to try it for psychotic depression. In addition to feeling sad and worthless, people with this devastating condition have distorted thinking and often suffer delusions or hallucinations. Many
  become suicidal.
  
  “They have very, very disturbing and crazy thoughts ... and they have no ability to suppress them,” said Joseph K. Belanoff, a California psychiatrist who is chief executive officer of Corcept Therapeutics Inc., a small pharmaceutical company. Corcept is sponsoring a study of RU-486 for psychotic depression.
  
  Several lines of evidence have led researchers to suspect that some of the symptoms of psychotic depression are caused by an excess of cortisol in the brain. Cortisol levels rise in response to stress and may be abnormally elevated in depressed individuals. Similar symptoms can occur in patients with Cushing’s syndrome, an overabundance of cortisol usually caused by a tumor, and RU-486 has cured the mental disturbance in some
  such cases.
  
  “Our feeling has been that a lot of the cognitive problems and delusions that you see in some of the patients are due to the [cortisol],” said Alan F. Schatzberg, chairman of the psychiatry department at Stanford University School of Medicine, where researchers are conducting a study that will test RU-486 on 30 patients with psychotic depression.
  
  RU-486 or other cortisol-blocking drugs “may be better alternatives than ... some of the typical treatments” such as antipsychotic drugs or electric shock therapy, he said."
• Two studies implying that cortisol is the cause, not the result of depression:
  • Hyper-Secretion of Cortisol Found in Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/28/01 - "a dysfunction in 5-HT 1A receptor activity could be due to a hyper-secretion of cortisol" - Ref. for this article:
  • Hpa axis dysfunction in major depression: relationship to 5-ht(1a) receptor activity - Neuropsychobiology 2001;44(2):74-77 - "a dysfunction in 5-HT(1A) receptor activity could be due to a hypersecretion of cortisol"
  • Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Offers Antidepressant Effects - Doctor's Guide, 9/4/01 - Note: It doesn't mention cortisol but the following study it references does:
  • The impact of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on pituitary hormone levels and cortisol in healthy subjects - J Affect Disord 2001 Sep;66(1):83-88, - "These changes, in particular the decrease of cortisol levels, might explain in part the efficacy of rTMS"

Other Depression News:

• Depression Worsens Health More Than Angina, Arthritis, Asthma, Diabetes - Doctor's Guide, 9/14/07 - "Depression produces the greatest decrement in health compared with the chronic diseases angina, arthritis, asthma, and diabetes"
• Depression Associated With Accelerated Bone Loss in Older Women - Medscape, 6/29/07 - "We found that depressive symptoms were associated with greater rates of bone loss in a group of older women (average age about 75 years old); the more depressive symptoms women had, the greater their rates of bone loss"
• Depression May Trigger Diabetes In Older Adults - Science Daily, 4/23/07 - "Carnethon theorizes that the culprit responsible for diabetes in persons who are depressed is a high level of a stress hormone, cortisol"
• Depression May Be Related to Testosterone Levels in Men - Doctor's Guide, 11/13/06 - "Levels of TT were 11.94 among patients with major depression and 17.64 among healthy controls (P < .001). Bioavailable testosterone measures were 3.51 among patients with depression and 4.69 among controls ... Men with depression have a significantly lower BT level than do non-depressed men but using TT as the threshold to define hypogonadism revealed an even greater difference between the 2 groups in this study"
• Study Says Depression May Weaken Bones - WebMD, 10/30/06 - "After four weeks, the depressed mice had lost bone density, the study shows. The problem: They had a drop in bone-building cells called osteoblasts ... When the depressed mice drank water laced with imipramine, their depression eased and their bone loss stopped"
• Strong Link Seen Between Depression, Inflammation - Clinical Psychiatry News, 6/06 - "depressed patients have elevated inflammatory markers—such as interleukin-6 and C-reactive protein. In fact, the levels of proinflammatory cytokines correlate with the severity of depressive symptoms in studies. In addition, administration of cytokine antagonists can effectively reverse depressive symptoms in patients"
• Chronic depression may rob you of more than joy: The evidence is piling up that it can also steal your health - US News, 4/10/06 - "depressed adults have a 37 percent greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes than the rest of the population; other studies have suggested their risk actually doubles ... One intriguing recent study of Alzheimer's patients revealed that those with a history of depression had more extensive plaques in their brains. Depressed postmenopausal women with no history of heart disease are much more likely to develop it and die of it than their peers ... loneliness can spike blood pressure by 30 points in older people. Pancreatic cancer, for reasons scientists don't understand, is often preceded by a serious depression before the disease asserts itself"
• First Antidepressant Fails 70% of Time - WebMD, 1/4/06
• Link between Depression, Coronary Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 12/21/05
• Combination Therapy More Effective than Monotherapy for Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder - Doctor's Guide, 11/11/05
• Patients With Depression and Migraine Likely to Have More Serious Disease - Doctor's Guide, 10/11/05
• Symptoms of Depression May Worsen Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 9/12/05 - "depression may hasten the progression of heart disease by increasing the levels of a key protein that causes inflammation ... tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha)"
• Depression Worsens Heart Disease - WebMD, 8/15/05 - "Patients who reported symptoms of depression did significantly worse on a test of blood vessel function"
• Drowsy Days May Signal Depression - WebMD, 8/12/05 - "After crunching the numbers, depression was the No. 1 risk factor for excessive daytime sleepiness. BMI came second. Typical sleep duration was third, followed by diabetes, smoking, and, finally, sleep apnea"
• Dopamine May Play New Role in Depression - WebMD, 7/28/05 - "Current antidepression treatments are mostly based on the deficiency or imbalance of the brain chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine ... This new study highlights the importance of the dopamine system"
• Drug Combination Shows Efficacy in Psychotic Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 7/05
• Insomnia May Precede And Prolong Major Depression - Doctor's Guide, 6/22/05 - "depressed patients with insomnia were nearly 11 times more likely to still be depressed at six months than those sleeping well, and 17 times more likely to remain ill after a year ... they suggest that targeted treatment for insomnia will increase the likelihood and speed of recovery from depression"
• Depression Treatment Fraught With Challenges - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/05
• Study Shows Strong Link Between Depression and Painful Complaints - Doctor's Guide, 3/10/05
• Depression Risk Worsens Through Generations - WebMD, 1/12/04
• Many Depressed Patients Have Bipolar Disorder - Medscape, 10/18/04 - "used the Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) to reinterview 61 patients diagnosed with unipolar depression who had failed to respond to at least two adequate courses of antidepressants ... after following them for a year, fully 80% of patients were deemed to have bipolar disorder"
• Unhappy Marriage Reflects Spouse's Depression - WebMD, 10/11/04 - "each spouse's level of anxiety and depression predicted an unhappy marriage for the depressed spouse and the other spouse as well"
• Elevated Depressive Symptoms and Inflammation Seen in Heart Failure Patients - Doctor's Guide, 9/16/04 - "Activation of proinflammatory cytokines that occurs as a result of depression may promote the progression of heart failure and result in mortality in these patients"
• Study Links Depression and Pain - WebMD, 8/26/04
• Depression Traced To Overactive Brain Circuit - Science Daily, 8/4/04
• Body Aches May Signal Depression - WebMD, 7/20/04 - "often, physical ills occur for no apparent reason -- and depression could be a likely cause ... Yet unless they are specifically screened for depression, it's hard for some doctors to pick up that it may be depression, especially in the primary care setting"
• Try Augmentation to Beat Fatigue in Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 6/04
• Primary Care for Depression Fails 50% of Time - WebMD, 5/6/04
• Schizophrenia Drug [Geodon] Used for Depression - WebMD, 3/24/04
• Depression, The Mind Body Connection - Physician's Weekly, 2/16/04 - "We are just beginning to realize the high number of patients coming to doctors with physical complaints that, at least in part, stem from depression. Approximately 12% of the general population is depressed, and among those with physical illness that number increases dramatically to maybe more than 40%; an astronomical number of ill patients are depressed ... People who are depressed are likely to have norepinephrine abnormalities; the proper functioning of blood macrophages is dependent upon health norepinephrine"
• Low Testosterone May Cause Depression - 2/3/04 - "some 30% of men over age 55 have it. Low levels of the hormone can cause symptoms of fatigue, a decreased sex drive, and irritability ...the men with low testosterone were four times more likely to be diagnosed with clinical depression" - [Abstract]
• Morning Headaches Linked to Depression - WebMD, 1/12/04
• Statins: A New Therapy for Depression? - Physician's Weekly, 12/8/03 - "adult patients with underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) who continuously used statins were 30% to 40% less likely to be at risk for depression, anxiety, and hostility"
• Even Mild Depression Harms Immunity - WebMD, 10/15/03
• Should Depressed Patients Take Antidepressants Longer? - Physician's Weekly, 8/25/03 - "depressed women had a smaller hippocampus ... women who remained on a medication for less time experience greater shrinkage of the hippocampus"
• Oral Contraceptives and Depression - Medscape, 8/7/03
• Depression Liked to Alzheimer's Risk - Physician's Weekly, 7/28/03 - "People who have experienced depression are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than their relatives who have never shown signs of depression ... People who have experienced depression are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease than their relatives who have never shown signs of depression"
• Depression Most Costly Illness for Employers - Psychiatric News, 7/18/03 - "workers with depression cost employers more than three times the amount associated with lost productivity from all other illness ... Twenty percent of the $44 billion cost of depression was accounted for by absenteeism, while 80 percent of the costs associated with depression, or $35.7 billion, was linked to "presenteeism"—that is, present on the job but with significantly reduced productivity"
• 80% Inadequately Treated for Depression - WebMD, 6/17/03 - "Most people with depression have moderate to severe forms of major depression. Only 10% of depressed Americans have mild, fleeting episodes ... The typical American with major depression is unable to work or perform everyday activities for 35 days each year. Those with the most severe major depression typically lose some 90 days each year"
• Sexual Dysfunction Common But Conservatively Treated In Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 5/26/03 - "Sexual dysfunction was observed in 35% of those spontaneously reporting problems and in 69% of those with problems identified by physician questioning. Of patients treated with antidepressants, 71% reported sexual dysfunction compared to 65% in untreated patients. The researchers also found that treatment with tianeptine was associated with a lower incidence of sexual dysfunction than was treatment with tricyclic antidepressant or serotonin reuptake inhibitors" - Interesting because depression is associated with high cortisol and tianeptine has been shown to counter the effects of cortisol.  That supports the theory of cortisol being the cause.  Tianeptine is available at IAS. - Ben
• New Stress-Buster Drugs Block Hormone Binding - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/03 - "A new class of anxiety-relieving drugs—agents that interrupt core hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) stress signals—will emerge in the next 2-3 years ... In his HPA axis model of depression, the affected individual has a blunted ability to counterregulate in response to stress-induced cortisol increases, and thus is unable to turn off the fight-or-flight HPA mechanism. The result is constant anxiety and overreaction to external stimuli, followed by a sense of learned helplessness and loss of motivation. Many symptoms of deeply entrenched depression—anxiety, loss of appetite, reduced libido, elevated heart rate, hypertension, and dyslipidemia—point to HPA dysregulation ... People with melancholic depression do tend to produce abnormally high levels of CRH. These individuals also have elevated levels of cortisol" - See my cortisol page for ways to reduce it.
• Sleep Problems Don't Discriminate by Age - WebMD, 3/31/03 - "Sleep disorders were reported by: ... 82% of those with depression"
• Electroconvulsive Therapy More Effective Than Medication in Depression - Medscape, 3/6/03 - See my ECT page.
• Recurrent Major Depression Important Risk Factor For Carotid Plaque In Healthy Middle-Aged Women - Doctor's Guide, 3/3/03 - "Women with a lifetime history of recurrent major depressive episodes were more than twice as likely to have plaque on carotid ultrasonography than women with no history of major depression"
• Chronic Painful Physical Conditions [CPPCs] Strongly Associated With Major Depression - Doctor's Guide, 2/19/03 - "A diagnosis of major depressive disorder was made in 4% of participants, and 43.4% of those with major depression had at least one CPPC. The researchers point out this was four times the rate in people without major depressive disorder"
• Ovarian Function Could Decline Early In Women With A History of Depression - Doctor's Guide, 2/19/03 - "Women with a lifetime history of major depression could have an early decline in ovarian function"
• Testosterone May Boost Efficacy Of Antidepressants in Men - Psychiatric News, 2/7/03
• Depression And Chronic Pain Linked, May Influence Diagnosis, Treatment - Doctor's Guide, 1/16/03 - "A new study finds that people who have major depression are more than twice as likely to have chronic pain when compared to people who have no symptoms of depression" - See substance P.
• How Your Mind Can Heal Your Body - Time Magazine, 1/20/03 - "More and more doctors—and patients—recognize that mental states and physical well-being are intimately connected. An unhealthy body can lead to an unhealthy mind, and an illness of the mind can trigger or worsen diseases in the body. Fixing a problem in one place, moreover, can often help the other ... Somehow depression makes the body less responsive to insulin, the hormone that processes blood sugar—plausibly through the action of cortisol, a hormone that can interfere with insulin sensitivity and that is often elevated in depressed patients ... Cortisol may also make depressed patients more prone to osteoporosis ... Cizza estimates that some 350,000 women get osteoporosis each year because of depression. Cortisol appears to interfere with the ability of the bones to absorb calcium and offset the natural calcium loss that comes with menopause and aging"
• Testosterone Gel Helpful in Refractory Depression - Medscape, 1/15/03
• Alzheimer's Drugs Help More Than Memory - WebMD, 1/7/03 - "Four such drugs have been approved by the FDA for use in the U.S. -- Reminyl, approved in 2001; Exelon, approved in 2000; Aricept, approved in 1996; and Cognex, approved in 1993, but rarely used now because it can cause liver problems ... treatment with one of these drugs for at least one month slowed the worsening of functional skills such as the ability to dress, bathe and shop. And it improved psychiatric symptoms including depression, hallucinations, delusions, anxiety, and apathy"
• Testosterone May Help Depressed Men - WebMD, 1/3/03 - "nearly half of the men who had not responded to conventional depression treatment had low or low-to-normal testosterone levels. And several showed dramatic improvement when the male hormone was given along with antidepressants"
• Three Depression Subtypes Respond Selectively - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "Psychotic depression ... In general, the antidepressant needs to be helped along by an adjunctive antipsychotic agent or by ECT ... That constellation of symptoms known as atypical depression seems to preferentially respond to our old friends—the MAO inhibitors"
• Depression Could Cost You Your Job - WebMD, 12/9/02 - "researchers found that 42% of those who showed symptoms of depression in the study's first year eventually lost their jobs"
• Brain Serotonin Production Directly Related To Degree Of Sunlight - Doctor's Guide, 12/5/02
• Unraveling the Sun's Role in Depression - WebMD, 12/5/02 - "regardless of the season, the turnover of serotonin in the brain was affected by the amount of sunlight on any given day. And the levels of serotonin were higher on bright days than on overcast or cloudy ones. In fact, the rate of serotonin production in the brain was directly related to the duration of bright sunlight"
• Don't Ditch Your Antidepressants - WebMD, 9/17/02 - "It can take 9 months of treatment -- maybe up to a year -- to help prevent a relapse"
• Modafinil May Reduce Residual Fatigue, Sleepiness - Clinical Psychiatry News, 7/02 - "Fatigue, sleepiness, and such related phenomena as impaired concentration and reduced energy are extremely common in depression, and may remain—sometimes for years—after the disorder has resolved ... There were significant declines in both sleepiness and fatigue in the medication [modafinil] group, compared with placebo, at the first week of treatment (for sleepiness) and the second (for fatigue)."
• Testosterone Therapy Improves Exercise Ability of Men with Chronic Congestive Heart Failure - Doctor's Guide, 6/21/02 - "After 12 weeks, the testosterone group achieved a 34 percent increase in exercise capacity compared to 2 percent for the control group ... In addition, the testosterone treatment improved depression and heart failure symptoms while causing few side effects"
• Depression Linked to Parkinson's - WebMD, 5/28/02 - "About 1.4% (19) of the depressed people (about 1.4%) developed Parkinson's compared with only 0.4% of the others ... the link may have a biological explanation, known as the "serotonin hypothesis." Not only do people with Parkinson's disease have lower levels of dopamine in the brain, studies have also shown that the brains of these patients also have reduced levels of another brain chemical, serotonin. Low levels of serotonin are known to be a key factor in depression" - Note: St. Johns wort is believed to increase all three of the brain's primary chemicals, serotonin, norepinephrine and dopamine.
• Alcohol Hampers Depression Tx - Clinical Psychiatry News, 5/02
• Primary-Care Treatment Choices Outlined For Non-Major Depression - Doctor's Guide, 5/8/02 - "They add that individual trials suggest significantly greater improvements in symptom scores with venlafaxine [Effexor]"
• Nausea Sometimes A Red Flag For Anxiety and Depression - Doctor's Guide, 3/8/02 - "People who experience nausea may be suffering from anxiety or depression, possible causes that should be investigated before aggressive treatments are begun for gastrointestinal disorders"
• Persistent Mild Depression In Older Adults May Lower Immunity And Ability To Fight Off Disease, According To New Study - Intelihealth, 2/11/02
• 3 Antidepressants Equally Effective - WebMD, 12/18/01
• Augmentation Strategy Aids Treatment-Resistant Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 11/01 - "Pramipexole, a dopamine agonist, may be an effective augmentation agent for patients with treatment-resistant depression"
• Estradiol Beneficial In Treating Some Menopausal Women With Depression - Doctor's Guide, 10/9/01
• Depression May Lurk in Stress-Response System - Clinical Psychiatry News, 9/01 - "Norepinephrine depletion has a particularly marked effect on concentration, energy, and interest, while mood is equally sensitive to this neurotransmitter and serotonin"
• Hyper-Secretion of Cortisol Found in Depressed Patients - Doctor's Guide, 8/28/01 - "a dysfunction in 5-HT 1A receptor activity could be due to a hyper-secretion of cortisol"
• Wendy Williams dives into depression awareness - USA Today, 8/10/01 - "Depression is the number one cause of disability in the world, worse than heart disease, cancer, and car accidents"
• Depressive Symptoms In Diabetics Worsen Glycemic Control - Doctor's Guide, 6/25/01
• Depression may double diabetes risk - USA Today, 5/24/01 - "But, even "independent of weight gain and other factors," Lustman says, depression doubles the risk for diabetes. "There are changes in hormones that occur during depression that can directly increase insulin resistance.""
• Venlafaxine Improves Patients Depression-Free Days Compared To Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, Placebo - Doctor's Guide, 5/10/01
• Consider Undertreatment in Resistant Depression - Clinical Psychiatry News, 4/01 - "Dosage should be pushed to the maximal tolerated level—something many psychiatrists are not prepared to do—and then maintained there for at least 6 weeks before an agent is concluded to be ineffective"
• Antidepressants Can Cause Bedroom Blues, Wellbutrin Fixes Antidepressant Sex Problems - WebMD, 4/18/01 - "as many as half of the men and women taking these drugs find that it affects their sex lives"
• Depression In Later Life May Be Caused By Hardened Arteries - Doctor's Guide, 12/20/00
• Effexor More Effective Than Prozac In Achieving Remission In Depression - Doctor's Guide, 2/10/00
• Remeron Relieves Depression Quicker Than Do Some SSRIs - Doctor's Guide, 12/15/99
• Depression Commonly Misdiagnosed As Dementia - Doctor's Guide, 9/13/99
• Antidepressant-Induced Sexual Dysfunction Associated with Low Serum Free Testosterone
• Erectile Dysfunction Associated With Depression - Doctor's Guide, 7/23/98
• Remeron Found Superior To Fluoxetine In Early Depression Treatment - Doctor's Guide, 6/25/98
• Effexor XR Produces Significantly Higher Depression Remission Rates Than Prozac - Doctor's Guide, 6/2/98
• Antidepressant Can Change Personality Traits In Healthy People - Doctor's Guide, 3/2/98
• Treating Depression In Diabetics Helps Control Blood Sugar - Doctor's Guide, 6/6/97

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