Winter blues see the light
People of all ages can develop winter blues or seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of clinical depression which occurs typically during the fall and winter and resolves itself by spring. Eric Lenze, MD, professor of psychiatry at
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, says bright light therapy, sometimes called phototherapy, is the treatment of choice for seasonal affective disorder.
Why depressed heart patients have higher mortality rates
Abnormal heart rate variability increases the risk of death for depressed heart patients.Scientists have known for years that depression increases the risk of dying in the months after a heart attack, but they haven’t understood how depression raises that risk. Now, behavioral medicine specialists at the School of Medicine are reporting in the Archives of Internal Medicine that abnormal heart rate variability is partially responsible for depression’s effects in heart patients.
Low heart rate variability in depressed patients contributes to high mortality after heart attack
Abnormal heart rate variability increases the risk of death for depressed heart patients.Scientists have known for years that depression increases the risk of dying in the months after a heart attack, but they haven’t understood how depression raises that risk. Now, behavioral medicine specialists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are reporting in the Archives of Internal Medicine that abnormal heart rate variability is partially responsible for depression’s effects in heart patients.