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Depression

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Popular Medications:

• See anti-depressants

Popular 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 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
• St. John’s Wort for Major Depression? - WebMD, 10/10/08 - "Can taking an herbal supplement be as good as a prescription medication for people who are severely depressed? ... Researchers in Germany think so" - See Kira® (LI 160 extract) St. John's wort at iHerb and Perika (WS 5570 extract) at iHerb.
• Taking herb 'helps depression'  - BBC News, 10/8/08 - "Overall, the St John's Wort extracts tested in the trials were superior to placebo, similarly effective as standard anti-depressants, and had fewer side effects ... Doctors think it works because the herb keeps serotonin, a chemical which makes you happy, in the brain for longer" - See Kira® (LI 160 extract) St. John's wort at iHerb and Perika (WS 5570 extract) at iHerb.
• Add-On Therapy Improves Depressive Symptoms In Bipolar Disorder - Science Daily, 9/2/08 - "sought to evaluate whether N-acetyl cysteine (NAC), an over-the-counter supplement that increases brain glutathione, might help alleviate depressive symptoms ... Glutathione is the brain’s primary antioxidant defense, and there is evidence of increased oxidative stress in bipolar disorder. Therefore, we studied the potential benefit of NAC treatment in bipolar disorder and found that it impressively remedied residual depressive symptoms" - See NAC products at iHerb.
• St. John's Wort and Duloxetine Equally Effective in Mild to Moderate Depression - Doctor's Guide, 9/1/08 - "Twenty patients received St. John's Wort at a dosage of 900 mg QD, whereas the remaining 20 participants were treated with duloxetine 60  30 mg QD ... In the group of patients suffering from moderate depression, we did not find any statistically significant differences between the 2 treatment groups" - See St. John's wort products at iHerb.
• Continuation and long-term maintenance treatment with Hypericum extract WS((R)) 5570 after recovery from an acute episode of moderate depression - A double-blind, randomized, placebo controlled long-term trial - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2008 Aug 9 - "3x300 mg/day WS((R)) 5570 or placebo for 26 weeks. 426 patients were evaluated for efficacy. Relapse rates during continuation treatment were 51/282 (18.1%) for WS((R)) 5570 and 37/144 (25.7%) for placebo. Average time to relapse was 177+/-2.8 and 163+/-4.4 days for WS((R)) 5570 and placebo, respectively (time-to-event analysis; p=0.034; alpha=0.025 one-sided). Patients treated with WS((R)) 5570 showed more favorable HAMD and Beck Depression Inventory time courses and greater over-all improvement (CGI) than those randomized to placebo. In long-term maintenance treatment a pronounced prophylactic effect of WS((R)) 5570 was observed in patients with an early onset of depression as well as in those with a high degree of chronicity. Adverse event rates under WS((R)) 5570 were comparable to placebo. WS((R)) 5570 showed a beneficial effect in preventing relapse after recovery from acute depression. Tolerability in continuation and long-term maintenance treatment was on the placebo level" - Note:  The 5570 extract is the Perika Brand.  See Perika (WS 5570 extract) at iHerb.
• A double-blind dose-finding pilot study of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) for major depressive disorder - Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2008 Jun 5 - "Group A (n=14): 1 g/day of oral DHA; Group B (n=11): 2 g/day; and Group C (n=10): 4 g/day. We measured HAM-D-17 scores, plasma DHA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and n-6/n-3 ratio. Completer response rates (>/=50% decrease in HAM-D-17 score) were 83% for Group A, 40% for Group B, and 0% for Group C; Groups A and B had significant decreases in HAM-D-17 scores" - See Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• Rhodiola for What Ails You? - Dr. Weil, 5/15/08 - "A 2002 review in Herbalgram, the Journal of the American Botanical Council, reported that over the years, numerous studies of rhodiola in humans and animals have shown that it helps prevent fatigue, stress and the damaging effects of oxygen deprivation. Evidence also suggests that it has an antioxidant effect, enhances immune system function and can increase sexual energy ... A study published in 2007 in the Nordic Journal of Psychiatry showed that patients with mild-to-moderate depression who took a rhodiola extract reported fewer symptoms than those who took a placebo. And a study by researchers at the University of California at Irvine found that fruit flies that ate a diet supplemented with rhodiola lived an average of 10 percent longer than flies that didn't eat this herb" - See Rhodiola rosea products at iHerb.
• Plasma eicosapentaenoic acid is inversely associated with severity of depressive symptomatology in the elderly: data from the Bordeaux sample of the Three-City Study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2008 May;87(5):1156-62 - "Higher plasma EPA was associated with a lower severity of DS in elderly subjects, especially those taking antidepressants" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
• Many Depressed Older Adults Lack Vitamin D - WebMD, 5/6/08 - "Researchers reporting in the May issue of Archives of General Psychiatry have linked low blood levels of vitamin D -- the "sunshine vitamin" -- and increased parathyroid hormone levels to depression among older adults" - See vitamin D products at iHerb.
• Diets With High Omega-6:Omega-3 Ratios Enhance Risk for Depression, Inflammatory Disease - Medscape, 4/25/08 - "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 ... It is believed that these dietary changes might be related to increases in inflammatory-related diseases, including depression and cardiovascular disease ... at higher levels of depressive symptoms, as the omega-6:omega-3 ratio increased, there was a marked increase in proinflammatory cytokine levels ... 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" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
• Omega-3 EPA may benefit depressives, says study - Nutra USA, 4/7/08 - [Abstract] - "were randomly assigned to receive a daily EPA supplement (1000 mg, supplied by Minami Nutrition, Belgium), or 20 mg fluoxetine daily, or a combination of the two for two months ... At the end of the study, data from the 48 people who finished the study showed a 50 per cent reduction in HDRS scores for people in the EPA group, a 56 per cent reduction in people in the fluoxetin group, and a 81 per cent reduction in people in the combined intervention group" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
• Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Major Depressive Disorder During Pregnancy: Results From a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial - J Clin Psychiatry. 2008 Mar 18;:e1-e8 - "As compared to the placebo group, subjects in the omega-3 group had significantly lower HAM-D scores at weeks 6 (p = .001) and 8 (p = .019), a significantly higher response rate (62% vs. 27%, p = .03), and a higher remission rate, although the latter did not reach statistical significance (38% vs. 18%" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb and Jarrow Max DHA at iHerb.
• Comparison of therapeutic effects of omega-3 fatty acid eicosapentaenoic acid and fluoxetine, separately and in combination, in major depressive disorder - Aust N Z J Psychiatry. 2008 Mar;42(3):192-8 - "EPA + fluoxetine combination was significantly better than fluoxetine or EPA alone from the fourth week of treatment. Fluoxetine and EPA appear to be equally effective in controlling depressive symptoms. Response rates (>/=50% decrease in baseline HDRS) were 50%, 56% and 81% in the fluoxetine, EPA and combination groups, respectively" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
• Association of folate intake with the occurrence of depressive episodes in middle-aged French men and women - Br J Nutr. 2007 Dec 6;:1-5 - "the risk of experiencing recurrent depressive episodes (two or more) during the follow-up was strongly reduced in men with high folate intake (OR 0.25 (95 % CI 0.06, 0.98) for the highest tertile v. the lowest" - See iHerb folic acid products.
• Folate may reduce depression symptoms for men, says study - Nutra USA, 12/7/07 - "male subjects with the highest average intake (235 micrograms per 100 kcal) were 50 per cent less likely to have depressive symptoms than men with the lowest average intake (119 micrograms per 100 kcal)" - [Abstract] - See iHerb folic acid products.
• High {omega}-6 and Low {omega}-3 Fatty Acids are Associated With Depressive Symptoms and Neuroticism - Psychosom Med. 2007 Nov 8 - "Lower EPA, and higher AA, AA:EPA ratio and AA:DHA ratio were associated with greater NEO-PI-R Neuroticism" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb.
• Low Omega-3s in Diet Linked to Higher Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Heart Failure Patients - Doctor's Guide, 11/7/07 - "Heart Failure patients who were prone to depressive symptoms ate 15% fewer omega-3 fatty acids and those with anxiety consumed 14% fewer omega-3 fatty acids than heart failure patients without symptoms"
• Augmenting antidepressants with folate: a clinical perspective - J Clin Psychiatry. 2007;68 Suppl 10:4-7 - "Folate in particular has been found to further reduce symptoms in patients with depression when used in conjunction with an antidepressant, and because folate is a water-soluble B vitamin, its safety and tolerability are well established. This strategy would typically be used in patients with low plasma or red blood cell folate levels. Folate augmentation may be used (1) to enhance the efficacy of antidepressants in nonresponders, (2) to enable those who partially respond to antidepressant monotherapy to achieve remission, and (3) to alleviate residual symptoms during antidepressant treatment" - See iHerb folic acid products.
• The role of folate in depression and dementia - J Clin Psychiatry. 2007;68 Suppl 10:28-33 - "folate deficiencies may be caused by improper absorption and utilization, often due to genetic polymorphisms. Individuals, therefore, can have insufficient levels or lack needed forms of folate, despite adequate intake. Supplementation with the active form of folate, methyltetrahydrofolate, which is more readily absorbed, may be effective in the prevention and treatment of both depression and dementia" - iHerb folic acid products.
• 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 products at iHerb.
• 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 iHerb.
• Vascular Nutritional Correlates of Late-Life Depression - Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2006 Sep;14(9):787-795 - "The depression group had higher intake of saturated fat and cholesterol, higher body mass indices, lower alcohol intake, and higher Keys score than the comparison group"
• 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 iHerb.
• 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.
• Using Magnets to Treat Depression - ABC News, 5/17/05
• 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 Be Effective for Midlife-Onset Minor and Major Depression - Medscape, 2/14/05
• 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.
• Major depressive disorder: probiotics may be an adjuvant therapy - Med Hypotheses. 2005;64(3):533-8 - "Stress, a significant factor in MDD [major depressive disorder], is known to alter GI microflora, lowering levels of lactobacilli and bifidobacterium. Research suggests that bacteria in the GI tract can communicate with the central nervous system, even in the absence of an immune response. Probiotics have the potential to lower systemic inflammatory cytokines, decrease oxidative stress, improve nutritional status, and correct SIBO. The effect of probiotics on systemic inflammatory cytokines and oxidative stress may ultimately lead to increased brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). It is our contention that probiotics may be an adjuvant to standard care in MDD"
• Exercise for Depression Rivals Drugs, Therapy - WebMD, 1/26/05
• 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.
• Shock Treatment for Mild Depression? - Dr. Weil, 7/9/04
• 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.
• Supplements to Balance Mood - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 10/03
• 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 Kira® (LI 160 extract) St. John's wort at iHerb.
• 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
• Straight Talk on Natural Depression Remedies - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 10/02
• 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
• The Nature of Depression and Antidepressants - Nutrition Science News, 6/01
• St. John's Wort Vs. Drugs - Nutrition Science News, 6/01
• Exercise May Be A Viable Alternative To Antidepressants - Doctor's Guide, 9/22/00
• Polyunsaturated Fats and Neurological Disorders - Nutrition Science News, 9/00
• Fish May Lower Depression Risk - Intelihealth, 5/16/00
• St. John's Wort Passes Muster - Nutrition Science News, 4/00
• DHEA: A Mental & Physical Boost - Life Extension Magazine, 12/99
• Depression and DHEA Treatment - Life Extension Magazine, 10/27/99
• Magnetic Stimulation May Be A Safe Alternative To Shock Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 10/12/99
• The Marriage of DHEA and 5-HTP for New and Better Mood Function - Life Enhancement Magazine, 7/99
• DHEA, a better antidepressant - Life Enhancement Magazine, 7/99
• Catecholamines Kick Out the Demons of Depression - Life Enhancement Magazine, 7/99
• Fighting depression with needles and herbs - CNN, 7/21/99
• Natural Remedies for Depression - Nutrition Science News, 2/99
• Efficacy and Tolerability of Kava in Anxiety - Herb Research Foundation
• Fat in the diet may affect mental ability - CNN, 9/4/98
• S-Adenosylmethionine (SAMe) - Part 2: Fast-Acting Natural Antidepressant - Life Extension Magazine, 4/97

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 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
• Depression - Veritas Medicine
• 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:
• Neurogenesis In Adult Brain: Association With Stress And Depression - Science Daily, 8/31/08 - "Chronic stress can affect the brain and lead into depression"
• Depression can trigger diabetes, study suggests - MSNBC, 6/17/08 - "Depressed people were 42 percent more likely to develop diabetes ... depression also pushes up the levels of stress hormones such as cortisol ... Elevated cortisol levels can impair insulin sensitivity in the body and encourage belly fat, a risk factor for diabetes"
• Depression Associated With Low Bone Mineral Density - Medscape, 12/3/07 - "The novelty of this study is the fact that these women were not severely depressed ... Depression is considered a disease of chronic stress, Dr. Cizza said, with attendant increases in the stress hormone cortisol, and cytokines produced by the immune system. "Those substances are helpful to fight stress, but if there is too much cortisol or cytokines, there are side effects," he said. "One of the side effects is bone loss, so it was obvious to ask the question, 'do women with depression have low bone mass?'""
• 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"
• Atypical Depression: Thyroid Link Still Alive - WebMD, 3/15/04
• 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"
• Sleep-Endocrine Changes Could Be Most Prominent In Postmenopausal Major Depression Patients - Doctor's Guide, 3/7/03
• Testosterone Gel Could Help Depressed Men With Low Testosterone Levels - Doctor's Guide, 1/8/03
• 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
• Serum Thyrotropin Concentrations and Bioactivity During Sleep Deprivation in Depression - AMA, 1/01
• 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]"
• Study Supports Role Of Anticort In Treating Alzheimer's, HIV - Doctor's Guide, 4/17/98 - "Cortisol's role as a cause of disease is most recently confirmed in a study to be published in the May issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience. Authored by Dr. Sonia Lupien of McGill University, the study reports that high levels of cortisol play a key role in Alzheimer's, memory loss, shrinkage of the brain and aging. Dr. Lupien also states that such illnesses might be prevented with medications to reduce elevated cortisol levels."
• 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 News:

• FDA OKs TMS Depression Device - WebMD, 10/8/08 - "TMS is much safer than ECT. Unlike ECT, TMS does not require sedation and is administered on an outpatient basis"
• Obesity And Depression May Be Linked - Science Daily, 6/2/08
• Smokers Have A 41 Percent Higher Risk Of Suffering Depression - Science Daily, 4/24/08
• Antidepressants Linked To Type 2 Diabetes, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 3/25/08 - "the risk of diabetes almost doubled for the patients who were using two types of therapies at the same time, tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)"
• Treating SSRI-resistant Depression - Science Daily, 3/25/08
• Low free testosterone concentration as a potentially treatable cause of depressive symptoms in older men - Arch Gen Psychiatry. 2008 Mar;65(3):283-9 - "Participants with depression had significantly lower total and free testosterone concentrations than nondepressed men (P < .001 for both). However, they were also more likely to smoke and to have low educational attainment, a body mass index categorized as obese, a Mini-Mental State Examination score less than 24, a history of antidepressant drug treatment, and greater concurrent physical morbidity. After adjusting for these factors and for age, men with depression were 1.55 (95% CI, 0.91-2.63) and 2.71 (95% CI, 1.49-4.93) times more likely to have total and free testost