Wednesday, March 02, 2005

Adherence to Maintenance-Phase Antidepressant Medication as a Function of Patient Beliefs About Medication Annals of Family Medicine article at Medscape - "Patients given maintenance anti depressants vary widely in adherence. This variation is primarily explained by the balance between their perceptions of need and harmfulness of antidepressant medication, in that adherence is lowest when perceived harm exceeds perceived need, and highest when perceived need exceeds perceived harm.We speculate on ways to tailor adherence strategies to patient beliefs.Subsequent research should determine whether patients' perceptions about medication predict depression outcomes, can be used to improve clinical management, and respond to behavioral intervention." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Electrical brain implants target deep depression Toronto Globe and Mail story on a study to be published this week in the journal Neuron - "Unlike electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), which shocks the entire brain with electricity to induce brain seizures as a treatment for severe depression, DBS is designed to electrically stimulate only the brain region known to be overactive in people with the condition. It is part of an expanding field known as "brain pacemakers," in which doctors implant devices that electrically alter neural circuits to treat disorders such as Parkinson's disease, epilepsy and even obsessive-compulsive behaviour. DBS is also less painful than ECT, with patients unable to feel the presence of the electrodes, or even whether they are turned on. As well, in stark contrast to other external, electrical therapies, the beneficial effects of DBS appear, so far, to be long lasting..."  
  

Drug 'doubles mental health risk'  BBC story - "Smoking cannabis virtually doubles the risk of developing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, researchers say. The New Zealand scientists said their study suggested this was probably due to chemical changes in the brain which resulted from smoking the drug. The study, published in the journal Addiction, followed over 1,000 people born in 1977 for 25 years."