HCP Live: (health care professional): this web site bills itself as “the preeminent destination for physicians, pharmacists, managed care executives, and other healthcare
professionals who are looking for tools, techniques, and information that can
help them provide better care.” An immodest claim certainly, but the site has
multiple resources, not only for doctors but for patients. The home page lists all of the multiple health topics covered. This is a listing of the display on Depression for February 2011.
http://www.hcplive.com/publications/mdng-Psychiatry/2011/february2011/depression
Depression (Published Online: Tuesday, February 1st, 2011)
//The Educated Patient
Depression 1-on-1
This site offers information and day-to-day tips designed to help visitors understand depression and available treatments. In the “Understanding Depression” section is an animation that coincides with a narration on the biochemical process of depression throughout the body. Types of depression, including dysthymia and seasonal depressive disorder, are discussed here, as well as causes, and action plans. http://hcp.lv/fHq3RZ
Understanding Depression
This resource overviews the signs and symptoms that might indicate depression, noting that patients may have depression if “you can’t sleep or you sleep too much,” “you can’t concentrate or find that previously easy tasks are now difficult,” and “you feel hopeless and helpless.” The site also breakdowns how depression may be experienced differently in specific gender and age populations, such as teens, older adults, men, and women. The various types of depression are also explored. http://hcp.lv/ez78LD
Depression Quiz: Test Your Medical IQ
Provided by MedicineNet.com on the main depression page, this quiz will help patients determine how much they know about depression and possibly shed some light on what they have yet to uncover. http://hcp.lv/eIUGsq
//Online CME
Managing Depression in Older Adults: Practical Approaches to Complex Patients
Credits:1.00; Fee:None; Expires:September 3, 2011; Multimedia:None
This activity focuses on assessing depression in older adults, identifying co-morbidities, implementing multimodal treatment plans, and implementing psychosocial interventions.
http://hcp.lv/ePKunX
Chronic Pain and Depression
Credits:0.75; Fee:None; Expires:Dec. 28, 2011; Multimedia:Audio/Slides
The “association between chronic pain and depression,” the longitudinal relationship between the two, and the use of anti-depressants are reviewed in this program.
http://hcp.lv/egxZy2
//From the Literature
Sleep Problems Early in Life may Predict Anxiety or Depression
Researchers studied sleep problems in infancy and early toddlerhood to examine whether they could predict the development of anxiety or depression at age 3 years. The study included data on the sleep patterns of 4,682 children age 2-24 months. The results demonstrated that attention should be placed on sleep problems in young children early on. http://hcp.lv/hcAafL
Sensitivity to Peer Rejection may Predict Adolescent Depression
Adolescents with increased activity in the subgenual region of the anterior cingulated cortex (subACC) may have a heightened sensitivity to peer rejection. Increased activity of the subACC has also been linked to depression. The researchers sought to directly test the “hypothesis that adolescents’ subACC responses are predictive of their risk for future depression.” They found that “subACC responsivity to social exclusion may serve as a neural marker of adolescents’ risk for future depression.” http://hcp.lv/h47vZk
Positive Feedback Activates Amygdala in Young Depressed Adults
Whereas past studies have demonstrated that depressed patients respond to negative social feedback with increased amygdala activation, the researchers for this study demonstrated that the same patients respond with increased amygdala activation for positive stimuli as well. “Amygdala hyperresponsivity in depression is not restricted to negatively-valenced stimuli.” The researchers sought to test whether aberrant activity is demonstrated in the amygdala during both positive and negative stimuli. http://hcp.lv/hI6zMc
//Clinical Trials
Depression Management at the Workplace http://hcp.lv/gDilQS
Effectiveness of a Web-based Prevention Program for Postpartum Depression http://hcp.lv/fpw37Z
Effectiveness of Behavioral Treatments for Obesity and Major Depression in Women http://hcp.lv/f5IVWH
Psychosocial Treatment for Women With Depression and Pain http://hcp.lv/f2VNxI
