The connection between physical ailments and mood is not a new one. It is well-established that medical illness, ranging from infections to cardiovascular disease, can result in increased symptoms of depression, while depression can predispose people to become physically sick more often. Now, a growing body of evidence shows that depression and physical illness have something important in common: inflammation.
Continue reading » “Can Anti-inflammatory Drugs Treat Depression? Some Promising New Evidence But Not Yet Enough”Category: New Health Info
“Plastics”
Many of us of a certain age will never forget the sage, one-word piece of occupational advice given to Benjamin Braddock in the movie, The Graduate: “Plastics.” In the early 1960’s, plastics were thought to be the next big area of economic growth. Benjamin, as we all remember, takes in this recommendation with alienated befuddlement. However from the vantage point of 21st century psychiatric research, this advice may have been unwittingly prescient.
Continue reading » ““Plastics””Do Antiepileptics Increase the Risk of Suicide?
Antiepileptic medications have been a mainstay in the treatment of bipolar illness since the use of valproate in the 1980’s.Since that time other anticonvulsants such as carbamazepine, lamotrigine, and oxcarbazepine have been added to the list that help control the mood fluctuations that occur in bipolar disorder. In January 2008, the FDA issued an alert about patients being treated with antiepileptics:
Continue reading » “Do Antiepileptics Increase the Risk of Suicide?”