Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Treatments of Depression”
Two recent studies suggest that the Mediterranean diet may be an antidepressant diet as well as the diet that reduces heart disease, inflammation, and the risk of dementia. In the SMILES trial 65 patients with depression were randomized to a Mediterranean diet based intervention (a diet support group) or a social support group. The group excluded people who were treatment …
What TMS predictors of outcome in bipolar depression and unipolar major depression can we use to identify those who are likely to respond to treatment? An article in 2017 in the journal Clinical Neurophysiology reports data from a very large series of patients with both types of depression who were treated with TMS. The study looked at records from 105 …
A patient with treatment resistant depression and an excellent initial response to TMS asked me about the value of maintenance TMS. The question is a reasonable one given what we know generally about the treatment of chronic and/or treatment resistant depression. Almost all of the effective treatments (psychotherapy, medications, ECT, etcetera) have acute and maintenance treatment components. And for all …
A single infusion of ketamine reduces suicidal thoughts in depressed patients in one day, with benefits lasting for up to one week, according to a meta-analysis reported in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Further, ketamine did not seem to be just treating depression, it seemed to have an effect on suicidal thinking that was greater than its effect on depression “This suggests that …
The news that bipolar depression light therapy may be effective is good news and follows a series of studies this past year highlighting the importance of treatments that affect circadian rhythms by manipulating light and dark in treating mood disorders. Bipolar depression is one of the hardest conditions to treat effectively. Antidepressant medications may have significant side effects, including inducing mania, …
One of my patients asked me what the long term effects of ketamine are. She was particularly interested in long-term adverse effects. The last time I did a review of the literature I noted that there seem to be very little information available. This is not surprising with the psychiatric literature since ketamine and its use for chronic depression are …
About a year ago we reviewed the data on the use of genetic tests for antidepressants as well as other medications and identified three pharmacogenetic panels that seem to have research support: Genecept by Genomind, Genesight, and CNS Dose. Of these three we have been using Genecept and Genesight with some success but now we are happy to add to …
Enlyte is a therapeutic food that has been designed to help people at risk of functional deficits in folate and methylfolate that may be associated with treatment resistant depression. It contains a mixture of folate, folinic acid and l-methylfolate as well as other co-factors. EnLyte/EnBrace HR/EnLyte-D helps with concentration, motivation, and sleep. Symptoms include depressed mood, loss of interest, problems concentrating, insomnia, …
How Long Should You Take Antidepressants – Factors to consider, the importance of first getting well, how long it takes for the brain to heal after depression.
Is there a role for functional brain imaging in depression? Many people seeking treatment are interested in the notion that the brain imaging, particularly imaging that looks at neural activity, might be useful in guiding treatment. Up until the last couple of years the answer to this question has always been that the role is primarily restricted to research settings …
