In a study looking at suicide rates in schizophrenic patients using various psychotropic drugs, it was found that treatment with antidepressants was associated with a reduced rate of death from suicide.  Benzodiazepines, however, were associated with a greater rate of suicide and taking multiple antipsychotics together had no effect.

The study followed 2,588 Finnish patients, who had recently developed schizophrenia, for an average of four years.  Finnish registries were used to assess the effect of the various drugs on mortality risk in the group.

Of this group, there were 35 cases of suicide.

The researchers found that when patients were taking antidepressants they had a 43% lower risk of death than when they were not taking them.  The decrease in suicide risk was 85%.

Among those taking benzodiazepines, there was a 91% greater risk of early death, most commonly from suicide, than when they were not taking the drugs.  In addition, most deaths occurred among  those who had been taking benzodiazepines for more than four weeks.  The authors speculated that this may have been due to withdrawal symptoms when the drugs ran out.

Taking multiple antipsychotics simultaneously had no effect on death rates, which the authors note is contrary to what is commonly believed.

The study appeared online May 7, 2012 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Women who undergo "surgical menopause" due to hysterectomy do not appear to have any more severe depression than those women who go through natural menopause, according to a new study.

For the study, about 2,000 women, who were between the ages of 42-52 at the start of the study, were followed for over ten years.

Over the course of the study, 1,793 of the women went through natural menopause while 76 had a hysterectomy and 101 had a hysterectomy plus removal of their ovaries.

All of the women were perimenopausal at the start of the study and had similar scores on a scale used to measure depression.  All three groups had decreasing depression scores from the time they entered menopause until the end of the study and they were at about the same rates.

These results seem to imply that women become less depressed as they enter their postmenopausal years, said study author Carolyn Gibson, a researcher at the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh.

These results may not be applicable to all women, however, especially in those who have a history of mood disorders.

The article appears in the May 2012 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Teen girls who have a good attitude about their bodies have higher self-esteem and are less likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors, says a new study to be published in June 2012.

For the study, 103 overweight teens were surveyed between 2004 and 2006, and factors such as body satisfaction, weight-control behavior, importance placed on thinness, self-esteem, anxiety and depression were assessed.

"We found that girls with high body satisfaction had a lower likelihood of unhealthy weight-control behaviors like fasting, skipping meals or vomiting," said study author Kerri Boutelle.

Based upon these results, Boutelle suggests that improving body satisfaction would probably be a key part in any interventions aimed at helping overweight teen girls.

The study will appear in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

While the disease Hepatitis C can cause patients to become depressed, a standard treatment for it, interferon, can also cause varying degrees of depression, including thoughts of suicide, say researchers at Loyola University.

In fact, anywhere from 10-40% of hepatitis C patients will become depressed during the course of their illness.

Interferon can cause depression because it affects the level of serotonin, a neurotransmitter which helps in mood-regulation.

In a review article, Dr. Murali S. Rao and his team examined the complexities of sorting out the causes of depression in hepatitis C patients and effectively treating it.

Rao suggests that patients with a history of depression and suicide should be carefully screened and evaluated prior to treatment with interferon.

In addition, treatment with a class of antidepressants called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - which includes such medications as Zoloft, Celexa and Prozac - has been shown to be effective in patients receiving interferon therapy.

The study was published in the International Journal of Interferon, Cytokine and Mediator Research.