depression

Researchers have identified an important part of the pathway through which stress affects mood and motivation for drugs. The finding may prove useful in humans by providing new potential targets for drugs to treat problems related to stress.  

Lifestyles and emotions play important roles in many medical illnesses, and when scientists study potential treatments to help people stop smoking, get more exercise, overcome depression or improve their diet, they often compare patients who get a certain treatment to others who don’t. Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, led by Ken Freedland, MD, say to accurately measure a new therapy’s the effectiveness, it is critical to carefully define comparison — or control — groups in those studies.  

Researchers at Washington University and King’s College London have independently identified DNA on chromosome 3 that appears to be related to depression. The new studies identify a DNA region containing up to 90 genes. Both are published May 16 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. 

If the titans of finance had only been paying attention, they would have seen that former Washington University in St. Louis economics professor Hyman P. Minsky had predicted the Great Recession decades before it happened.

A form of play therapy between parents and their toddlers can relieve depression in preschoolers, according to child psychiatry researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. For the study, the researchers adapted a play-based technique known as parent-child interaction therapy, adding a focus on emotional development. 

Washington University School of Medicine has opened a clinic for patients with treatment-resistant depression that targets those who haven’t responded to standard therapies. When at least two therapies have been tried, and a patient still hasn’t responded, that patient is said to have treatment-resistant depression, according to clinic director Charles R. Conway, MD.  

A Washington University scientist has been working with the federal government to determine what makes heart disease disabling. To determine cardiac disability, the committee recommended more functional testing and also discussed the need to evaluate not only a patient’s heart but the patient’s mood as well because depression can make heart disease worse. 

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis are studying people age 60 and older to determine whether augmenting medication for depression with a second drug might help older patients break free of clinical depression. Both study drugs are FDA-approved therapies for depression in younger adults, but the benefits need to be examined in older adults. 

Experts from the St. Louis Federal Reserve and around the country will be on the Washington University campus Friday, Feb. 5, to discuss the Federal Reserve’s role during the recent recession and future directions for policy. The free public conference, “Monetary Policy Amid Economic Turbulence,” begins at 2:30 p.m. in the Bryan Cave Moot Court Room, Anheuser-Busch Hall.

While it’s known as “the season to be jolly,” the holidays can be a time of stress, conflict, and pressure for many people. Some people feel overwhelmed and become depressed during the holidays. Don’t dismay. There are strategies for coping with the emotional stresses and strains of the holiday season. More…