Magic mushroom` trips point to new depression drugs

The brains of people tripping on magic mushrooms have given the best picture yet of how psychedelic drugs work and British scientists say the findings suggest such drugs could be used to treat depression.

Two separate studies into the effects of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms, showed that contrary to scientists` expectations, it does not increase but rather suppresses activity in areas of the brain that are also dampened with other anti-depressant treatments.

"Psychedelics are thought of as `mind-expanding` drugs so it has commonly been assumed that they work by increasing brain activity," said David Nutt of Imperial College London, who gave a briefing about the studies on Monday. "But, surprisingly, we found that psilocybin actually caused activity to decrease in areas that have the densest connections with other areas."

These so-called "hub" regions of the brain are known to play a role in constraining our experience of the world and keeping it orderly, he said.

"We now know that deactivating these regions leads to a state in which the world is experienced as strange."

In the first study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) journal, 30 volunteers had psilocybin infused into their blood while they were inside magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanners, which measure changes in brain activity.

It found activity decreased in "hub" regions and many volunteers described a feeling of the cogs being loosened and their sense of self being altered.


The second study, due to be published in the British Journal of Psychiatry on Thursday, involved 10 volunteers and found that psilocybin enhanced their recollections of personal memories.

Robin Carhart Harris from Imperial`s department of medicine, who worked on both studies, said the results suggest psilocybin could be useful as an adjunct to psychotherapy.

Nutt cautioned that the new research was very preliminary and involved only small numbers of people.

"We`re not saying go out there and eat magic mushrooms," he said. "But...this drug has such a fundamental impact on the brain that it`s got to be meaningful -- it`s got to be telling us something about how the brain works. So we should be studying it and optimizing it if there`s a therapeutic benefit."

"FUNDAMENTAL IMPACT"

The key areas of the brain identified -- one called the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and another called the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) -- are the subject of debate among neuroscientists, but the PCC is thought by many to have a role in consciousness and self-identity.

The mPFC is known to be hyperactive in depression, and the researchers pointed out that other key treatments for depression including medicines like Prozac, as well as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and deep brain stimulation, also appear to suppress mPFC activity.

Psilocybin`s dampening action on this area may make it a useful and potentially long-acting antidepressant, Carhart-Harris said.

The studies also showed that psilocybin reduced blood flow in the hypothalamus -- a part of the brain where people who suffer from a condition known as cluster headaches often have increased blood flow. This could explain why some cluster headache sufferers have said their symptoms improved after taking the psychedelic drug, the researcher said.

The studies, which are among only a handful conducted into psychedelic substances since the 1960s and 1970s, revive a promising field of study into mind-altering drugs which some experts say can offer powerful and sustained mood improvement and relief from anxiety.

Other experts echoed Nott`s caution: "These findings are very interesting from the research viewpoint, but a great deal more work would be needed before most psychiatrists would think that psilocybin was a safe, effective and acceptable adjunct to psychotherapy," said Nick Craddock, a psychiatry professor from Cardiff University.

Kevin Healy, chair of the Royal College of Psychiatrists` faculty of medical psychotherapy said it was interesting research "but we are clearly nowhere near seeing psilocybin used regularly and widely in psychotherapy practice."

Low vitamin D levels spell depression

Low levels of vitamin D, linked earlier with cardio diseases and neurological conditions, are also tied with the blues.

This new study helps clarify a debate that erupted after smaller studies produced conflicting results about the relationship between vitamin D and depression.

"Our findings suggest that screening for vitamin D levels in depressed patients - and perhaps screening for depression in people with low vitamin D levels - might be useful," said E. Sherwood Brown, professor of psychiatry at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre and study author.

"But we don`t have enough information yet to recommend going out and taking supplements," said Brown, who co-authored the study with The Cooper Institute, Dallas.

Researchers examined the results of almost 12,600 participants from late 2006 to late 2010, the journal Mayo Clinic Proceeding reports.

Brown and colleagues found that higher vitamin D levels were tied with a significantly decreased risk of current depression, particularly among people with a prior history of depression, according to a Texas statement.

Low vitamin D levels were tied with depressive symptoms, particularly those with a history of depression, so primary care patients with a history of depression may be an important target for assessing vitamin D levels.

No study on depression cases in India

There is no study on whether number of depression cases in the country have increased or not, even as a mental health programme has been underway since 1982, parliament was informed Friday.

In a written reply in the Lok Sabha, Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said that the national mental health programme was introduced in the country in 1982.

"A total of 123 districts in 30 states and uniot territories have been covered under the district mental health programme to provide detection, management, and treatment of mental disorders," he said.

The minister however also said that there was "no long term population based study in India to suggest that the number of cases of depression and consumption of antidepresseant drugs are increasing."

According to a study conducted by the World Health Organization, India has the highest rate of major depression in the world.

Around nine percent of people have been reported having an extended period of depression within their lifetime and nearly 36 percent suffered from "major depressive mode".

How Depression Affects Your Eating

Depression can significantly affect your eating habits. Some people tend to enhance their food habits and the others lose their appetite over time. According to Susan Albers, a clinical psychologist at Cleveland clinic in Wooster (Ohio), a depressed person makes use of food to feel better; it can either be by overeating or by not eating enough.


Trying to fill the emptiness


You may have noticed during some days that you crave for chocolate. If you think that this is because of its darning taste, think again. New researches have come up that show a strong link between eating chocolate and being depressed.


Some people eat more to avoid uncomfortable and negative feelings such as sadness, self loathing and shame. A depressed person usually craves for carbohydrates and soothing food (such as ice cream) because these edibles elevate mood by increasing the serotonin level (a brain chemical).


High sugar food soothes your mood, but in the longer run, this comforting food can add pounds to your body weight, thus, making you more prone to serious health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.


Eating less


Some people eat less when they are depressed. Experts are of the view that when an individual is depressed, he or she has an almost negligible desire to eat food. Some of them often sleep through the meal’s time. As a result, a depressed person unintentionally ends up losing weight.


When you are worried, anxious or sad, food does not seem appealing. According to some people, when a person is depressed, he lacks the motivation and energy to eat. Insufficient supply of food, however, can add to your depression and make you more irritable and sensitive.


Making unhealthy food choices


Another affect of depression on eating habits of an individual is that in depression, the person ends up making unhealthy food choices. When a person is in depression, he/she never makes extra effort to purchase or prepare healthy meals. They are not worried about the nutrient level of food they are consuming, instead they eat food that is conveniently available. Common food choices of depressed persons include:



As mentioned before, they grab easily available food; fast food is therefore, on the top of the list of people with depression.
In some cases, depressed persons get into a rut of eating the same food continously. One possible reason of this behaviour is that depressed individuals face difficulty in making decisions, concentrating and memorising. Therefore, a simple task of eating a particular cereal can be so overwhelming that they end up eating the same in all the three meals.

Women`s depression linked to partners` abuse

Forty percent of women who suffer depression after childbirth are abused either physically or emotionally by their partners, researchers in Australia said on Wednesday, calling on health workers to be more alert to such cases.

"That is a very important message to get out to health professionals," said Hannah Woolhouse at Murdoch Children`s Research Institute in Victoria, Australia.

"If they are working with women with post-natal depression, they should consider the possibility that partner violence may be contributing to that."

Possible solutions included offering treatment to the abusive partner, counseling for such couples, or even shelter for abused women, she said in a telephone interview.

In their study of 1,305 first-time mothers, Woolhouse and colleagues found that 210, or 16 percent, reported depression in the 12 months following delivery.

" Around 40 percent of women reporting depressive symptoms also reported intimate partner violence," the researchers wrote in the paper published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

After taking into account other possible reasons such as age and unemployment, the risk of experiencing post-natal depression was three times higher for women who suffered emotional abuse compared with women who did not suffer any abuse, they said.
The risk was four times higher for those who experienced physical abuse.

"Emotional abuse is a lot more common than physical abuse ... and it is just as damaging," said Woolhouse.

The study also found that most women first reported depression more than six months after delivery.

"In Australia and the UK, screening for depression takes place in the first few months after delivery so they are likely to miss maybe over half of the cases of depression," Woolhouse said. "We would be recommending that professionals regularly enquire about women`s mental and emotional wellbeing."

Depression doubles heart disease risk

Depressed people have double the chances of suffering from heart disease compared to people who are not depressed, a new study has suggested.

A new study led by Concordia University has found that depressed individuals have a slower recovery time after exercise in contrast to those who do not suffer from mood disorders.

These findings suggest that a dysfunctional biological stress system is at play among depressed individuals.

“There have been two competing theories as to why depression is linked to cardiovascular disease,” says first author Jennifer Gordon.

“Depressed people may have poorer health behaviours, which may in turn lead to heart problems. The other possibility is physiological: a problem with the stress system known as the fight or flight response.”

“Our study was the first to examine the role of a dysfunctional fight or flight response in depression in a large population.”

A total of 886 participants, who were on an average 60 years old, took part in the study.

Approximately 5 per cent of participants were diagnosed with a major depressive disorder. All individuals were asked to undergo a stress test after which their heart rate and blood pressure were recorded.

Recovery heart rates and blood pressure levels were compared between depressed and non-depressed individuals.

“We found that it took longer for the heart rate of depressed individuals to return to normal,” said senior author, Simon Bacon, a professor in the Concordia University Department of Exercise Science and a researcher at the Montreal Heart Institute.

“Heart rate recovery from exercise is one way to measure the fight or flight stress response. The delayed ability to establish a normal heart rate in the depressed individuals indicates a dysfunctional stress response.

“We believe that this dysfunction, can contribute to their increased risk for heart disease,” Bacon added.

The study has been published in the journal Psychophysiology.

Marriage cuts down risk of depression

.Getting married is good for the well being of both men and women, cutting down risks of depression, anxiety and substance abuse, says a new study.

The study was based on a survey of 34,493 people from 15 countries.

Conversely, ending marriage through separation, divorce or being widowed, is associated with much higher risks of mental disorders in both genders; particularly substance abuse for women and depression for men.

The wide-ranging study, led by clinical psychologist Kate Scott from the University of Otago in New Zealand is based on the WHO World Mental Health (WMH) surveys across developing and developed countries in the past decade.

"There have been a number of international studies about the impact of marriage on the mental health of men and women and this is quite a controversial area because of the gender politics involved," says Scott.

"But what makes this investigation unique and more robust is the sample is so large and across so many countries and the fact that we have data not only on depression, which has been much studied in the past, but also on anxiety and substance use disorders," she says.

"In addition we were able to look at what happens to mental health in marriage, both in comparison with never getting married, and with ending marriage."

"One of the more important findings is that in recent years it has been asserted that marriage is better for men than for women in terms of mental health. This study does not agree with that position," Scott says.

"We found that compared to never getting married, getting married is good for both men and women in terms of most mental health disorders."

This study was recently published in Psychological Medicine.

Depression is as deadly as smoking: Study

Based on a series of tests, European scientists now believe that depression can increase mortality rates as much as smoking.

According to a study by researchers at the King's College in London, and the University of Bergen in Norway, depression is as deadly as smoking.

"Patients with depression face an overall increased risk of mortality, while a combination of depression and anxiety lowers the mortality risk compared with depression alone," lead author Dr Robert Stewart said.

He said, "The possible reasons that may underlie these surprising findings is that Unlike smoking, we don't know how causal the association with depression is but it does suggest that more attention should be paid to this link because the association persisted after adjusting for many other factors".

Utilising a unique link between a survey of over 60,000 people and a comprehensive mortality database, the researchers found that over the four years following the survey, the mortality risk was increased to a similar extent in people who were depressed as in people who were smokers, The British Journal of Psychiatry said.

"One of the main messages from this research is that 'a little anxiety may be good for you," Stewart said.

In light of the findings, Dr Stewart makes suggestions on the focus of future developments in the treatment of depression and anxiety: "The physical health of people with current or previous mental disorder needs a lot more attention than it gets at the moment".

Low carb diet may land you in depression

A very low carbohydrate diet, seen as a sure shot way to shed weight, may not be good for your mental health, warn researchers.

An Australian study published in prestigious medical journal, Archives of Internal Medicine, a journal of America Medical Association, shows that compared to low fat diets the very low carbohydrate diets can cause depression, anxiety and mood swings in the patients. The study says that very low carbohydrate diet takes away all the joys of weight loss.

The researchers from University of South Australia and Flinders and University Adelaide, Australia, studied about 106 overweight and obese individuals who were either given a low carbohydrate or a low fat diet for about a year. The people were allowed to consume only 1433-1672 kcal. The researchers observed the changes in body weight, psychological mood and well being.

It was observed that both diets achieved a similar reduction in body weight of approximately 14 kg. Compared with the low carb diet, the low fat diet had greater improvements in psychological mood state. Both diets had similar effects on cognitive functioning (working memory and speed of processing information).

"These findings suggest that although dietary macronutrient composition may have little influence on long-term weight loss, some aspects of the low carb diet may have detrimental effects on mood that may negate any positive mood effects following weight loss," the researchers wrote.

Renowned clinical nutritionist and Director of health food chain in Delhi, Whole Foods, Ishi Kosla says carbohydrates are important for brain and taking them out of food completely can cause depression.

"Lot of neurotransmitters are carbohydrate dependant and taking carbs out of food can not only cause depression but also manifest in things like lack of stamina. Brain requires a minimum of 100 gm of carbs daily and some crash diets like atkins and others reduce carbs to less than 30 to 40 grams per day which has bad impact on the brain," she said.

Even the psychiatrists agree. "We see a lot of such cases were eliminating or giving less carbs than what the body requires is causing severe reaction in people and the reactions manifest more in the physical functions like in chronic fatigue syndrome, mixed anxiety, restlessness, palpitations and panic attacks," said Dr Jitendra Nagpal, Delhi based clinical Psychiatrist.

"Carbs are fuel of the body and eliminating them can effect the emotion regulating centers of the brain. It is wrong on part of dieticians or weight loss management experts to even suggest taking carbohydrates out of the diet," he added.

There however are some for whom the study warrants more study. A number of factors have to be considered.

In context of diabetes management low carbohydrates have been seen to have positive impact on disease management but the new study needs to be further evaluated as if the patients gets depressed not only will it affect diet control but taking medicines as well," said Dr Anoop Misra, HoD, department of diabetes and metabolism at Fortis Hospitals Noida and Delhi.

Processed food increases risk of depression

People who eat a diet laden with processed and high-fat foods, like sweetened desserts, fried food and refined grains, faced a greater risk of depression, according to a study led by an Indian-origin researcher.

While vegetables, fruit and fish lower the risk of depression, processed food diet such as sweetened desserts, fried food, refined grains and high-fat dairy products increases the risk, British Journal of Psychiatry reported on Monday.

Researchers at the University College London said, "It is not yet clear why some foods may protect against or increase the risk of depression but scientists think there may be a link with inflammation as with conditions such as heart disease".

"Those who ate the most whole foods had a 26 per cent lower risk of future depression than those who ate the least whole foods. By contrast people with a diet high in processed food had a 58 per cent higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed foods," study author Dr Archana Singh-Manoux said.

During the research, the team split the 3,500 participants into two types of diet - those who ate a diet largely based on whole foods, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables and fish, and those who ate a mainly processed food diet.

After accounting for factors such as gender, age, smoking habits and chronic diseases, they found a significant difference in future depression risk with the different diets.

Depression leads to increased inflammatory protein linked to heart disease

Depression leads to elevated inflammatory proteins in the human body, according to researchers at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.

depression-leads-to-increased-inflammatory-protein-linked-to-heart-disease

Led by Dr. Jesse Stewart, researchers found that depressive symptoms are associated with increases over time in interleukin-6, an inflammatory protein that predicts cardiovascular events.

On the other hand, levels of interleukin-6 were not linked to subsequent increases in depressive symptoms.

The new study is the first to examine both directions of the depression-inflammation connection and to measure the physical symptoms of depression, such as fatigue and sleep disturbance, in addition to the cognitive-emotional symptoms, such as pessimism and sadness.

While many previous studies have linked depression to increased inflammatory protein levels measured at the same time, but they couldn”t speak to which is the cause and which is the effect.

“There is two-way communication between the brain and the immune system, so we had to determine whether activation of the body’’s immune system sent a signal to the brain to affect mood and behavior or whether the depression activated the immune system,” said Dr. Stewart.

The participants in the study consisted of 263 healthy men and women aged 50-70 years at the start of the study.

They were tested at baseline and again six years later to determine their levels of depressive symptoms and interleukin-6.

Levels of C-reactive protein, another inflammatory protein, were also measured but were not related to depression.

Stewart said that the strength of the association of depression with future heart disease is similar to that of traditional risk factors like smoking, high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol.

“Promotion of inflammation may be one pathway through which depression may ”get under the skin” to negatively influence cardiovascular health. The link to cardiovascular disease demonstrates that there may be physical as well as mental health reasons to treat depression,” said Stewart.

The study has been published in the latest issue of the journal Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

Meditation key to treat Depression

People with severe and recurrent depression could benefit from a new form of therapy that combines ancient forms of meditation with modern cognitive behaviour therapy, early-stage research by Oxford University psychologists suggests.

The results of a small-scale randomised trial of the approach, called mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT), in currently depressed patients are publishe

The therapy included special classes o

The Oxford team, which is currently carrying out a larger study that will compare MBCT with a group form of cognitive therapy to pinpoint the kind of elements of meditation or talking therapies which can help specific patients, will follow up the preliminary evidence from this small-scale study.

It also hopes to do follow up work with patients to reveal whether MBCT can also help reduce the risk of relapse.

According to an estimate, more than one in five people in UK suffer through depression at some point in their lives and about 5000 people in grip of the phenomenon commit suicide each year in the country.

f meditation learning and advice on how best participants can look after themselves when their feelings threaten to overwhelm them.

Professor Mark Williams, who along with his colleagues in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Oxford, developed the treatment said, "We are on the brink of discovering really important things about how people can learn to stay well after depression."

"Our aim is to help people to find long-term freedom from the daily battle with their moods," William said.

One way that the treatment benefits people is helping them to live more in the moment, rather than be caught up in upsetting memories from the past or worries about the future, h

d in the journal Behaviour Research and Therapy.

In an experiment, 28 people currently suffering from depression,having also had previous episodes of depression and thoughts of suicide, were randomly assigned into two groups.

One group received MBCT in addition to treatment as usual, while the other just received treatment as usual. The result indicated that the number of patients with major depression reduced in the group which received treatment with MBCT while it remained the same in the other group.