Barb's Daily Dose

Contaminated Water and Mental Illness

Is it possible that early exposure to water contaminated with PCE's (tetrachloroethylene) can cause mental illness? 

A recent study of over 1500 people from Cape Cod, Massachusetts found that people who had long term exposure to contaminated water were much more likely to be bi-polar and have depression. That's scary and would keep me up at night, especially since I used to spend my summers on Cape Cod as a child.

Are Depressed Kids Bully Magnets? - Health News

An Interesting Article from Health.com.

Are Depressed Kids Bully Magnets? - Health News - Health.com.

Childhood Trauma Linked to Depression

I saw a patient the other day, who is battling depression. She and I were talking about some of her early experiences as a child and there came that moment when I could see that no matter how resilient or  strong a person is, it's extraordinarily difficult to recover 100% from being treated badly.  

According to an excellent article by Kate Kelland from Reuters, "A study published earlier this month found that childhood hardship, including suffering abuse or losing a parent or having a parent with  addiction problems, also raised the risk of a range of chronic physical illnesses in later life, such as diabetes, heart disease or asthma.

1 Million Suicide Attempts

According to a survey done by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration about 8.4 million Americans had suicidal thoughts in the past year and 2.2 million made plans to kill themselves. One million people attempted suicide.  These numbers are staggering and yet point to the fact that a significant number of Americans are depressed and anxious,  with reports ranging from 8-25%.

We also know that many people are living with or caring for family members who are seriously depressed or mentally ill, which also creates more depression and anxiety.  On top of that many people are stressed from caretaking elderly relatives which also puts them at risk for depression.  

Too Much TV? Does it Increase the Risk of Depression

In a recent report from the Nurses Health Study, it was found that women who watch the most TV, and exercised the least, were more likely to be depressed.

What do you think?  Is it the TV watching that leads to depression?  Or is it that when we're depressed, we don't have the energy or the motivation to get up off the couch and do something else? Which comes first?  This study was interesting in that it looked at women in their 60's.  

Diabetes and Depression

Treating the underlying depression that afflicts most diabetics helps them get their diabetes under control, decrease blood pressure and helps with the depression. In the 3 year study, people with Type 2 diabetes had regular telephone follow up with specially trained nurses who first addressed depression and later added advice about walking and increasing their physical activity.

Omega-3's Reducing Depression

A recent study on a small group of pregnat women found that those who took DHA, Omega-3 supplements during their pregnancy had a decreased risk of postpartum depression.  According to the lead author, Dr. Michelle Price Judge, it's thought that as pregnancy progresses into the 3rd trimester, more of the mother's stores of DHA are transferred to the baby, which causes a depletion in the mother.

Paulina's Midlife Affair with Meds

Paulina Porizkova, a former model, writer, and a mom featured an article on Huffington's Post that I thought would be of interest.

Here's What I Have to Say:

I see a lot of women in midlife and at the other side of hormonal swings, adolescence.  I'm convinced that our brain chemistry shifts dramatically with hormone surges and precipitous drops.  I've seen well adjusted women with everything under control, suddenly become unrecognizable to themselves and their families. I've seen the same thing happen with teens. HMMM?

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Heart Disease

In a recent post I wrote about how depression in people with heart disease makes them more likely to have a worsening of symptoms.  Now another study from Sweden lends credence to that.  Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which is a type of psychological counseling was shown to help reduce the risk of heart attack and death in people who underwent counseling sessions regularly.

Your Heart is Connected to Your Heart

Guess What? 

When it comes to your heart and the risk of heart disease, it's not just about keeping arteries clean and not-clogged, not smoking and keeping blood pressure down, it's also about avoiding depression.  That's right.  When your heart aches, your heart aches!