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posted by mrpg on Friday March 02 2018, @01:33AM   Printer-friendly
from the get-help-now dept.

Research shows that longstanding depression alters the brain -- treatment may require different approaches depending on not just the severity of the depression but also on its longevity:

Is clinical depression always the same illness, or does it change over time?

New brain imaging research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that the brain alters after years of persistent depression, suggesting the need to change how we think about depression as it progresses.

The study, led by senior author Dr. Jeff Meyer of CAMH's Campbell Family Mental Health Research Institute, is published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

The research shows that people with longer periods of untreated depression, lasting more than a decade, had significantly more brain inflammation compared to those who had less than 10 years of untreated depression. In an earlier study, Dr. Meyer's team discovered the first definitive evidence of inflammation in the brain in clinical depression.

This study provides the first biological evidence for large brain changes in long-lasting depression, suggesting that it is a different stage of illness that needs different therapeutics - the same perspective taken for early and later stages of Alzheimer's disease, he says.

"Greater inflammation in the brain is a common response with degenerative brain diseases as they progress, such as with Alzheimer's disease and ParkinsonĀ“s disease," says Dr. Meyer, who also holds Canada Research Chair in the Neurochemistry of Major Depression. While depression is not considered a degenerative brain disease, the change in inflammation shows that, for those in whom depression persists, it may be progressive and not a static condition.

Over years, depression changes the brain, new study shows
Depression Can Actually Leave Long-Term Changes in Your Brain, Study Shows

More information: Elaine Setiawan et al, Association of translocator protein total distribution volume with duration of untreated major depressive disorder: a cross-sectional study, The Lancet Psychiatry (2018). DOI: 10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30048-8


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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 02 2018, @02:49AM (5 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 02 2018, @02:49AM (#646173)

    What prescription cures (as opposed to treats) depression?

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  • (Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 02 2018, @04:36AM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 02 2018, @04:36AM (#646208)

    A gun to the head.

    Since when has big pharma actually created a cure for something they could instead treat and charge for indefinably?

    If big pharma were to just today start developing a method to deal with a broken leg, it would consist only of useless wallet-draining pain killers, and just enough medicine to keep the patient alive while the bone sticks out of their leg for the rest of their life.

    • (Score: 2) by Weasley on Friday March 02 2018, @06:49AM

      by Weasley (6421) on Friday March 02 2018, @06:49AM (#646241)

      They found a cure for hepatitis c. You only have to give them your house in order to be treated.

    • (Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday March 02 2018, @07:32PM

      by DeathMonkey (1380) on Friday March 02 2018, @07:32PM (#646572) Journal

      If it's so easy why don't you get out there and fix some brains?

  • (Score: 2) by MichaelDavidCrawford on Friday March 02 2018, @08:27AM (1 child)

    by MichaelDavidCrawford (2339) Subscriber Badge <mdcrawford@gmail.com> on Friday March 02 2018, @08:27AM (#646280) Homepage Journal

    RLY.

    The problem is that when I am depressed, the absolute last thing I want to do is go out and ride fifty miles on my bike.

    I often go touring on my bike - but only when I'm not depressed.

    --
    Yes I Have No Bananas. [gofundme.com]
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 02 2018, @10:55AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 02 2018, @10:55AM (#646313)

      Didn't he already mention The Horizontal Bop?

      -- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]