According to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, young adults with higher blood levels of lead appear to be more likely to also have major depression and panic disorders.

Maryse F. Bouchard, Ph.D., M.Sc., of the Université de Montreal, Canada, and Harvard School of Public Health and her colleagues examined data from 1,987 adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years who participated in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between 1999 and 2004. The participants underwent a diagnostic interview to identify depression, panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. They also had a blood sample collected and analyzed for lead.

Bouchard's team found that the one-fifth of the participants with the highest levels of lead in their blood (2.11 micrograms per deciliter or more) had a 2.3 times greater chance of having major depressive disorder and nearly five times the risk of having panic disorder compared to those in the lowest one-fifth (0.7 micrograms per deciliter or less).

"These findings suggest that lead neurotoxicity may contribute to adverse mental health outcomes, even at levels generally considered to pose low or no risk," conclude the authors. "These findings, combined with recent reports of adverse behavioral outcomes in children with similarly low blood lead levels, should underscore the need for considering ways to further reduce environmental lead exposures."

Patients taking an antidepressant may experience changes in their personality separate from the alleviation of their depression, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

In the background material provided in the article, the authors write that two personality traits - neuroticism and extraversion - have been related to depression risk. Those with depression tend to be more neurotic and less extraverted. People who are neurotic tend to experience negative emotions and emotional instability, while those who are extraverted tend to be socially outgoing and have a tendency to experience positive emotions. Both are traits which are believed to be linked to the brain's serotonin system.

Tony Z. Tang, Ph.D, of Northwestern University, and his colleagues studied the effects of one antidepressant in particular, paroxetine (Paxil), in a placebo-controlled trial involving 240 adult patients with major depressive disorder. Of these patients, 120 were randomly assigned to take paroxetine, 60 were given cognitive therapy and 60 received a placebo. Their personality traits and depression symptoms were checked before, during and after treatment.

All participants experienced an improvement in their depression symptoms, however, those taking paroxetine also experienced a significantly greater decrease in neuroticism and an increase in extraversion than the other two groups.

These findings seem to disprove a theory called the state effect hypothesis, say the authors. According to this theory, personality changes during treatment with an SSRI like paroxetine should occur only because of improved depression symptoms. These results seem to indicate that personality changes that occur are actually separate from this alleviation of depression symptoms.

"One possiblity," say the authors, "is that the biochemical properties of SSRIs directly produce real personality change. Furthermore, because neuroticism is an important risk factor that captures much of the genetic vulnerability for major depressive disorder, change in neuroticism (and in neurobiological factors underlying neuroticism) might have contributed to depression improvement."

While there is still much to learn about what causes depression and how antidepressants relieve it, examining how the personality traits of neuroticism and extraversion are affected by SSRIs may lead to "a more parsimonious understanding of the mechanisms of SSRIs," the authors conclude.

According to Sanofi-Aventis, maker of the antidepressant desipramine (Norpramin), a new warning have been added to the drug's label indicating that the drug may be potentially lethal in patients with a family history of certain heart conditions. In addition, new language regarding overdosage has been added.The drug maker has issued a "Dear Healthcare Provider" letter describing these new changes in labeling, although no explanation has been given as to what prompted the changes.

The letter urges doctors to use extreme caution in prescribing desipramine to patients with a familial history of sudden death, cardiac dysrhythmias and cardiac conduction disturbances. It also notes that seizures may occur prior to cardiac dysrhythmias and death.

Regarding overdose, the label now includes additional information about signs of and treatment of overdose.

The full letter is available through the FDA's website.

Is someone you love depressed and you want to give them something special for Christmas to show that you care? This is a list of items that our forum members said they would find especially helpful when they are going through a rough time during the holiday season. It includes thoughtful gifts in every price range.

• Holiday Gift Guide

With the shortest days of the year falling in December, this is the peak time for seasonal affective disorder. Could it be a lack of sunlight that's causing your winter blues? Click through to learn more about SAD and what you can do to defeat seasonal mood changes.

• Read More

Elderly persons who use psychotropic medications such as antidepressants and sedatives may be at greater risk for falls, according to a report in the November 23, 2009 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

This finding is significant, says the authors, because more than 30% of seniors will fall at least once a year, and falls and their complications are the fifth-leading cause of death among the elderly in the developed world.

John C. Woolcott, M.A., of University of British Columbia and Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences, Vancouver, Canada, and his associates analyzed 22 previous studies involving 79,081 participants older than age 60 and evaluated nine drug types: antihypertensive agents; diuretics; beta-blockers; sedatives and hypnotics; neuroleptics and antipsychotics; antidepressants; benzodiazepines; narcotics; and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

After pooling the data and adjusting the results for other factors, Woolcott's team found that the use of sedatives and hypnotics, antidepressants and benzodiazepines were significantly associated with the risk of falling in the elderly.

The authors urge caution in prescribing these medications to older patients and hope that future research will shed further light on fall risk and help physicians determine how they can best prescribe medications to limit this risk.

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After giving birth, about 30% to 80% of women will experience "baby blues," feeling mild depression, weepiness, irritability, fatigue and moodiness. These mood changes occur in response to the hormonal changes that follow childbirth and rapidly resolve within hours or days.

About 10% of women, though, will go through postpartum major depression (PMD), experiencing more severe, lasting symptoms. Good self-care and support from family and friends can help many women, although others will require treatment with medication and/or therapy.

Steps you can take to prevent postpartum depression include:

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Feeling especially blue this time of year? A moderated chat room is open 24/7 at Depression Haven to support you. I know all of the moderators personally and give this site my highest recommendation.

Transcendental Meditation may be an effective way to reduce depression, anxiety, blood pressure and anger among college students at risk for high blood pressure, says a new study set to appear in the December 2009 issue of the American Journal of Hypertension.

The study was conducted at American University using 298 college students randomly placed in either a Transcendental Meditation group or a wait-list control group over a three-month period. A subset of 159 students considered to be at risk for high blood pressure were analyzed separately. At baseline and again after three months, blood pressure, psychological distress and coping ability were evaluated for this group.

Among the students at risk for high blood pressure, significant improvements in blood pressure, psychological distress and coping were observed. Compared to the controls, the students practicing Transcendental Meditation experienced a reduction of 6.3 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure and 4.0 mm Hg in diastolic blood pressure. This amount of reduction in blood pressure is associated with a 52% lower risk of developing high blood pressure in later years, according to the authors.

These results are important because "psychological distress such as anxiety, depression, and anger contribute to the development of hypertension in young adults," said lead author Sanford Nidich, of the Institute for Natural Medicine and Prevention at Maharishi University of Management. "This has major implications for the prevention of hypertension, heart attacks and strokes in adulthood," added Nidich's co-author, Robert Schneider, director of the Institute.

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A new drug called flibanserin is being hailed as a potential "Viagra-like drug for women," according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the University of Ottawa in Canada.

Flibanserin, which was originally developed as an antidepressant, did a very poor job in treating depression, says principle investigator for North America John M. Thorp, Jr., but it is effective in treating low libido, a common problem among depressed women.

Thorp, Elaine E. Jolly, overall principle investigator, and their colleagues pooled data from four clinical trials of flibanserin conducted in the U.S., Canada and Europe, including a total of 1,946 pre-menopausal women aged 18 and older who had been randomly selected to receive either the drug or placebo for 24 weeks. The women were also measured four weeks prior to treatment to obtain a baseline and followed up for four weeks afterward. One of the four trials was eventually excluded from the final report, however, due to the fact that it dealt with doses too low to be effective.

The researchers found that treatment with a 100 mg dose once a day was associated with significant improvements compared to placebo in all of the measures used, including the number of satisfying sexual events reported by the women, sexual desire and function and distress associated with sexual dysfunction.

"These results point to a novel approach to pharmacologic treatment of the sexual problem that plagues reproductive age women the most, and may over time prove to be an effective treatment without the side effects of androgen replacement therapy, which is the only treatment currently available," said Thorp.

Flibanserin is currently an investigational drug only and is not available outside of clinical trials.

Thorp and Jolly presented their results on November 16 at the Congress of the European Society for Sexual Medicine in Lyon, France.