CONDITIONS
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Family Medicine Stories and Local Doctors
Depression
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YOUR LOCAL Depression DOCTOR |
Reducing Stress Lowers Risk of Cardiovascular Problems
A Review in The Lancet reveals the importance of healthy lifestyle choices to reduce stressors related to cardiovascular risk factors. Researchers from John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore examined records between 1990 to 2006. They observed how stress affects the sympathetic nervous system, impacts physiology, and the effect it has on the cardiovascular system. Lead author, Daniel Brotman, claims "Acute physical stressors such as sugery, trauma, and intense physical exertion are well known triggers of cardiovascular events. Emotional stressors are increasingly recognized as precipitants of such events." (Read more about Reducing Stress Lowers Risk of Cardiovascular Problems)
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Yoga Is a Possible Treatment For Depression
Yoga may offer solutions for depression, anxiety and epilepsy.
Reports from the World Health Organization and elsewhere estimate that mental illness comprises fifteen percent of the global disease burden. Depression and anxiety disorders contribute heavily to these numbers. One treatment approach is offered by various medications designed to stimulate the brain's primary inhibitory neuro transmitter, gamma-aminobutyric (or GABA) levels. Findings released by Boston University School of Medicine report that yoga may elevate these GABA levels in the brain and may provide a way to treat these disorders. (Read more about Yoga Is a Possible Treatment For Depression)
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Postpartum Depression and Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding can counter the effects of depression in new mothers.
Studies published in the International Breastfeeding Journal, conducted by University of New Hampshire researcher Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, has found evidence supporting a connection between breast feeding and mental health for mothers. (Read more about Postpartum Depression and Breastfeeding)
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Antidepressants and Suicide
It’s the center of a huge ongoing debate in the medical world: how significant a risk are antidepressants in terms of suicide risk, particularly among adolescents?
And are adults at risk?
It is perhaps a cruel twist of fate that medications intended to help treat those suffering from depression would, in a rare few, pose an increased risk for the greatest complication of depression itself: suicide.
That is the concern, and the reason for black box warnings on antidepressants, that they can increase the risk of suicidal behavior or thoughts in children and adolescents.
But do they truly cause completed suicides, and in whom is the risk the greatest?
The latest research in the Archives of General Psychiatry shows severely depressed children and adolescents ages 6 to 18 years were 1.5 times as likely to attempt suicide and also significantly more likely to complete suicide if they were treated with an antidepressant medication than if they were not treated with an antidepressant. (Read more about Antidepressants and Suicide)
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Family History
How well do you know your family medical history?
We mean, really know –in the sense of knowing what each parent, brother, sister, grandparent, and great-grandparent, aunt, uncle, and cousin has or has had in terms of medical conditions. (Read more about Family History)
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Depression and Medication
“I actually used to think the best thing that could happen to me, I would just die, it would be great to just get hit by a car because it would put me out of my misery, I thought living was the worst thing,” says Karen Gormandy.
47 year old Karen has been battling depression since she was a teenager. As she felt her life spiraling out of control, Karen turned to anti-depressants to help her cope. She says the medication gave her a renewed sense of hope. In fact, she felt so confident with her state of mind that she stopped taking her medicine. (Read more about Depression and Medication)
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CHOOSING AN ANTIDEPRESSANT
With so many antidepressants on the market, choosing an antidepressant can often be a confusing task. Choosing an antidepressant becomes a pressing issue when you consider that there is a good chance you or someone you know and care about suffers from, or has suffered from depression. Significant depression affects 16 percent of the U.S. population at some point in their lives.
There are so many new medications out there now to help. They all work on one or another brain chemical, whether it’s serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine.
They are marketed with fierceness, all fighting for a piece of the lucrative depression pie. The competition only serves to make the task of choosing an antidepressant all the more confusing. Is one antidepressant really better than the others? (Read more about CHOOSING AN ANTIDEPRESSANT)
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PSYCHOLOGY OF TERROR ATTACKS
Most large scale traumatic events are followed by a sharp rise in the occurrence of cases of post traumatic stress disorder. The London Terror Attacks have shocked the world, and the repercussions here in the U.S. on a psychological level can and will be dramatic.
The wounds of September 11th are still very much fresh and the Oklahoma City bombing is far from a distant memory.
With the new reality that we live in, of a society where terror can strike anywhere at any time, a rise in the occurrence of PTSD is natural. (Read more about PSYCHOLOGY OF TERROR ATTACKS)
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COGNITIVE THERAPY
Cognitive therapy can treat depression, but new research shows that switching between medication and cognitive therapy for depression, is often important.
Priscilla Hernandez describes her world as going completely black. Deep, dark depression zapped away all signs of life, energy, hope and motivation.
“I was as depressed as you can get. The only way I can think of describing it is bottom of the barrel and then some. My depression was impacting not just me, but my family and my ability to pretty much do anything,” says Priscilla. (Read more about COGNITIVE THERAPY)
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Exercise
You have taken the important first step on the path to physical fitness by seeking information. The next step is to decide that you are going to be physically fit. This pamphlet is designed to help you reach that decision and your goal.
The decision to carry out a physical fitness program cannot be taken lightly. It requires a lifelong commitment of time and effort. Exercise must become one of those things that you do without question, like bathing and brushing your teeth. Unless you are convinced of the benefits of fitness and the risks of unfitness, you will not succeed. (Read more about Exercise)
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