News tagged with 'Depression'

When Nick Christie was taken into custody in Fort Myers for trespassing last March, his wife knew he was experiencing a manic episode from medication. His jailers didn't and instead pepper sprayed him into compliance. Then he died. His death has been ruled a homicide, the officers involved cleared and notice of a federal lawsuit has been filed.

St. John's wort shows some phototoxicity to the eyes, which may not show up for years in the form of cataracts and macular degeneration among users taking it for depression. But under law, the industry largely regulates itself and federal regulations take over only after the consumer is harmed. The uninformed user is left vulnerable.

A warning for those who use St. John's wort as a natural alternative to prescription drugs. "Nature's Prozac" also can be phototoxic to the eye lens creating cataracts, a reaction that's only been seen in the lab until now.

Hypericin, the active compound in the herb, St. John's wort, works to keep depression at bay but also has been shown in the lab to be phototoxic to the human ocular lens. Now for the first time, a correlation has been seen in the human population between the popular herb and cataracts.

GlaxoSmithKline must pay $2.5 million to settle a claim that Paxil caused significant heart defects in a 3-year-old Bensalem boy.

Internet addiction is increasingly being recognized as a mental health problem that can be identified in adolescents - those who are depressed, have social phobias and ADHD are at-risk, and therapists say intervention should start early.

A new study in the journal Stroke suggests Women who are otherwise healthy but suffer from feelings of hopelessness are at a higher risk of suffering a stroke.

The FDA has received so many reports of Chantix and Zyban users experiencing depression, hostility, agitation, and suicidal thoughts and commiting acts of suicide, that today the agency issued a Public Health Advisory that the smoking cessation drugs will be required to carry a stronger warning label.  

While Risperdal is already approved for use in adolescents, three other makers of powerful atypical anti-psychotics are seeking FDA approval for use in the young.  The drugs are effective in some, but others say they can be fatal and are known to cause weight gain and increase the risk of diabetes. 

New research suggests a cognitive behavioral program for teens at risk of depression may help prevent future depressive episodes while helping them to better deal with their problems.

When seven-year-old Gabriel Myers hanged himself in a foster care home, Florida immediately conducted an audit on how many kids, like Gabriel, were on mind-altering drugs.  Up to three times the general population are put on psychiatric drugs with the numbers increasing to one-in-three among teens in group homes.  

When Florida began requiring physicians to obtain approval from the state before prescribing antipsychotics to children under the age of six, something dramatic happened - prescriptions dropped 75 percent. The same trend is being seen nationwide. 

In one of the largest imaging studies on whether depression runs in families - researchers find that a thinning in the right hemisphere of the brain appeared to be linked to a risk of depression.

Symbyax will be used for patients who have bipolar depression that is resistant to treatment. It also helps Lilly get around the patent expiration for Prozac.

Seroquel, the antipsychotic, will have a further safety review by advisers brought in by the FDA because the drug is known to produce symptoms of tardive dyskinesia, a metabolic effect that causes involuntary movements, lip smacking, and grimacing.  Diabetes is a known side effect and the subject of thousands of lawsuits currently underway.