Minneapolis St. Paul Mental Health Blog

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Depression (4)

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is Depression becoming more common among U.S. teens?

The number of U.S. adolescents and young adults with untreated depression may be on the rise, a recent study suggests.

For youth ages 12 to 17, the prevalence of depression increased from 8.7 percent in 2005 to 11.3 percent in 2014, the study found. Among adults aged 18 to 25, the prevalence climbed from 8.8 percent to 9.6 percent during the study period.

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Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder | Whole Body Hyperthermia study

With the limitations of today’s antidepressants, the need to find alternative treatments for major depressive disorder is strong.


Whole-body hyperthermia (WBH) may ease depression symptoms for up to 6 weeks, according to a study published in JAMA Psychiatry to coincide with the annual meeting of the Society of Biological Psychiatry, held from May 12 to 14 in Atlanta.

Researchers evaluated 29 patients (18 to 65 years of age) who were deemed medically healthy, met criteria for major depressive disorder, were free of psychotropic medication use, and had a baseline 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score of 16 or greater.

The team conducted a 6-week, randomized, double-blind study at a university-based medical center comparing WBH with a sham treatment.

One week after treatment, the researchers re-evaluated each participant's depression symptoms. Additional evaluations were conducted every 2 weeks for 6 weeks.

The researchers found that 60% of the patients responded to treatment and 40% met the criteria for remission from their depression.

The real hyperthermia therapy improved depression scores a week later by an average of 5.67 points above that produced by the sham treatment. At 6 weeks after treatment, the real treatment had still improved depression scores by 4.83 points.

"We were surprised to see that the effect (of reduced depression symptoms) was still present six weeks after the initial treatment," study author Charles Raison, MD, of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said in a university news release.

Self-reports from the volunteers also showed their syptoms of depression had eased slightly. The participants reported only minor adverse effects from the treatment.

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Depression | is it a reaction to inflammation?

Depression, the stigma associated with it brings many to see it as a weakness vs. anything else, so what if….

  • If it was determined that it was a physical illness?
  • Would that make it less of a issue to admit to?
  • Does that make it… all in the mind?
But what if it actually has a physical cause that could be treated with anti-inflammatory drugs such as aspirin and ibuprofen, or even antibiotics?
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