| Recovery For Elderly With Depression Improves With Medication ...
Adding a medication to a standard treatment regimen for major depressive disorder in the elderly improves chances of recovery in those who do not adequately respond to the first-course therapy or who relapse from it, finds a University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, the official journal of the American Psychiatric Association. Up to 84 percent of the elderly who experience depression either fail to respond to first-course treatment or relapse during the first six to 12 weeks of treatment.
The study found that adding a second drug to the treatment of depressed participants over the age of 70 who either did not respond to initial treatment with the antidepressant paroxetine and interpersonal psychotherapy, or to those who responded to the initial treatment but quickly relapsed, caused the likelihood of recovery to rise from 40 percent to 60 percent.
Personal issues are not Congress’s problem
When Tom Cruise belittled Brooke Shields some time ago for resorting to medication in her effort to cope with her postpartum depression, it was one celebritys meddling in anothers affairs. Shields may well needed some help but, in any case, it wasnt Cruises business. Such matters are not easily generalized, and who can tell whether what ailed Shields ought to be dealt with by way of medication? Was Cruise qualified to advise Shields? I doubt it. Now it is Shields, however, who is doing some meddling herself, asking that the United States Congress provide an easy gift to give to women everywhere by way of legislation that would, as one report has it, address post-partum depression education, detection and treatment. The lady seems to think that it is Congresss task to come to the aid of those who are finding it difficult to cope after having given birth.
Preliminary exam postponed for Westland woman accused of putting ...
WESTLAND -- Missing medical records caused a preliminary examination to be postponed today in 18th District Court for a woman accused of attempted murder for allegedly sealing her newborn son inside a plastic garbage bag. Valeeka Gartrell, 27, of Westland was ordered to return to court June 21, after Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Woodyard told Judge Charles Bokos he would subpoena records from St. Mary's Hospital in Livonia where both the mother and infant received treatment. Gartrell's attorney, Barry Resnick, has said his client likely was suffering from postpartum depression after her son was born April 23. The boy survived and is in the custody of relatives. Gartrell is free on bond but was ordered to have no contact with the baby. You can reach Doug Guthrie at (734) 462-2674 or dguthrie@detnews.com.
Poetry and action
This year, the Prague Writers' Festival presents Dada-East: the secret history of Dada. In the first of a series of interviews introducting the festival, director Michael March talks to Pulitzer prize-winning poet Gary Snyder about environmental and social responsibility
Wednesday May 30, 2007
Guardian Unlimited
Gary Snyder, at home in Sierra Nevada. Photograph: Guardian/Dan Chung
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