Research uncovers the real effects of music therapy on dementia patients.
A ubiquitous food seasoning paves the way to depression-like behaviour.
The numbers are in: creativity isn’t just for fun, it’s for healing.
A probiotic supplement containing eight different strains was found to reduce depressive symptoms.
A probiotic supplement containing eight different strains was found to reduce depressive symptoms.
A higher dose probiotic supplementation called Vivomixx® has been found to reduce depression and improve the effect of antidepressants.
In the study, when depressed patients took a multi-strain probiotic supplement for a month they saw reductions in their symptoms.
Depression is one of the most common and troublesome mental illnesses which affects millions of people, yet current treatments are inadequate.
Psychotherapy along with medication can help some patients escape the “black dog”, but not everyone.
Studies show that two-thirds of depressed patients don’t respond well enough to antidepressants, thus experts are still looking for more options to improve current treatments or find better ones.
One treatment approach is targeting the microbiota-gut-brain (MGB) axis to make existing drugs more efficient and lower depression.
The brain and the digestive system have a two-way relationship, which is known as the gut-brain axis.
In other words, what you eat affects how you think and what you think also affects how your digestion works.
Depressed patients generally have more digestive disorders and a greater gut bacteria imbalance.
Research suggests that if the intestinal flora of depressed people is imitated in mice then they show symptoms of depression like fatigue, lack of interest, and sadness.
This indicates that microbiota composition influences the central nervous system through the gut-brain axis.
Probiotics can stimulate the gut-brain axis and potentially improve mood and brain function (Ranuh et al., 2019).
Moreover the current study shows that probiotics can improve the effects of antidepressants, leading to better outcomes.
In this study, patients with depression took a probiotic supplement called Vivomixx®, which contains eight specific strains providing 900 billion CFU per day for one month.
The results showed a great improvement in patients’ mood as well as changes in the composition of their intestinal flora.
However, the positive health effects caused by probiotics reduced when the supplementation stopped.
Ms Anna-Chiara Schaub, the study’s first author, said:
“It may be that four weeks of treatment is not long enough and that it takes longer for the new composition of the intestinal flora to stabilize.”
Related research:
The study was published in the journal Translational Psychiatry (Schaub et al., 2022).
Those who neglect this one social habit may unknowingly increase their depression risk.
Depression affects one in five people each year.
Depression affects one in five people each year.
Depression and anxiety speed up brain aging.
People who are depressed experience greater memory loss, decreased processing speed and more problems with decision-making as they age.
However, getting the right treatment for depression may help slow the process down, the study’s authors suggest.
Recommended treatments include learning the basics of cognitive behavioural therapy, practising mindfulness and exercising.
Dr Darya Gaysina, study co-author, said:
“This study is of great importance — our populations are ageing at a rapid rate and the number of people living with decreasing cognitive abilities and dementia is expected to grow substantially over the next thirty years.
Our findings should give the government even more reason to take mental health issues seriously and to ensure that health provisions are properly resourced.
We need to protect the mental wellbeing of our older adults and to provide robust support services to those experiencing depression and anxiety in order to safeguard brain function in later life.”
The study’s authors analysed 34 separate studies including over 71,000 people.
Depression and anxiety were both linked to greater cognitive decline and, possibly, dementia.
Ms Amber John, who co-authored the study, said:
“Depression is a common mental health problem — each year, at least 1 in 5 people in the UK experience symptoms.
But people living with depression shouldn’t despair — it’s not inevitable that you will see a greater decline in cognitive abilities and taking preventative measures such as exercising, practicing mindfulness and undertaking recommended therapeutic treatments, such as Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, have all been shown to be helpful in supporting wellbeing, which in turn may help to protect cognitive health in older age.”
The study was published in the journal Psychological Medicine (John et al., 2018).
People with these conditions experience Alzheimer’s symptoms up to 7 years earlier.
People with these conditions experience Alzheimer’s symptoms up to 7 years earlier.
Both depression and anxiety increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
People who are depressed develop the symptoms of Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia, two years earlier.
Those with anxiety develop symptoms of Alzheimer’s three years earlier.
Having multiple mental health problems is linked to developing symptoms of the disease even sooner.
Dr Zachary A. Miller, the study’s first author, said:
“More research is needed to understand the impact of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety on the development of Alzheimer’s disease and whether treatment and management of depression and anxiety could help prevent or delay the onset of dementia for people who are susceptible to it.
Certainly this isn’t to say that people with depression and anxiety will necessarily develop Alzheimer’s disease, but people with these conditions might consider discussing ways to promote long-term brain health with their health care providers.”
The study included 1,500 people with Alzheimer’s disease who were asked about their mental health.
The results revealed that the more mental health problems people had, the sooner they began experiencing dementia symptoms.
Three or more psychiatric disorders together was linked to developing symptoms more than 7 years earlier them.
Both depression and anxiety were linked to a history of autoimmune disorders.
Dr Miller said:
“While this association between depression and autoimmune disease, and seizures and anxiety is quite preliminary, we hypothesize that the presentation of depression in some people could possibly reflect a greater burden of neuroinflammation.
The presence of anxiety might indicate a greater degree of neuronal hyperexcitability, where the networks in the brain are overstimulated, potentially opening up new therapeutic targets for dementia prevention.”
The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 73rd Annual Meeting (Miller et al., 2021).
Research uncovers striking brain differences in depressed individuals.
Around 13 percent of the population has depressive personality traits — but they do not have to be permanent.
Around 13 percent of the population has depressive personality traits — but they do not have to be permanent.
Talking therapies can help to change depressive personality traits.
Although personality is sometimes thought of as fixed, psychotherapy can actually change it.
Around 13 percent of the population have depressive personality traits — but they do not have to be permanent.
People with depressive personality traits often feel down and worried and are frequently dissatisfied with life.
They are also likely to be negative and brooding, as well as having low self-esteem and feelings of worthlessness.
Dr Rachel Maddux, who completed the research for her doctoral thesis, said:
“The interesting thing was that therapy not only improved the depression itself, it also ameliorated the pervasive depressive traits.”
The conclusions come from a study of 159 people with chronic depression, 44 percent of whom had depressive personality traits.
The results showed that people with and without depressive personality traits responded to psychotherapy in a similar way.
After treatment, only 11 percent could still be classified as having a depressive personality disorder.
Both cognitive-behavioural therapy and psychodynamic therapy were effective.
Indeed, people with depressive personality traits actually responded better to the treatment than others.
They had less severe symptoms and greater improvements in depression.
Dr Maddux writes:
“…individuals with DPD [Depressive Personality Disorder] experience significant psychological distress, but they appear to respond as well or better than individuals without DPD to various types of treatment.
Thus, DPD should not be viewed as an impediment to successful outcomes.
Further, DPD itself appears to resolve for many individuals over the course of treatment…”
Dr Maddux said:
“…now I know that there is hope for those with depressive personality.
The next step will be to study other factors that could affect the outcome of treatment; biology, childhood and development, trauma, etc.”
The thesis was published on the Lund University website (Maddux, 2012).
Along with fewer depression symptoms, it was also linked to better sleep.
Along with fewer depression symptoms, it was also linked to better sleep.
Higher intelligence reduces the risk of mental health problems, including depression.
A higher IQ is linked to less self-reported depression symptoms, fewer sleep problems and better overall mental health.
The conclusions come from a study of 5,793 people who were followed for decades.
The results showed that those with higher IQ scores in their youth had better overall mental health when they were 50-years-old, compared to those with lower IQs.
Along with fewer depression symptoms, those with higher IQs also slept better in middle age.
The authors conclude that IQ may have a protective effect against depression in middle age:
“Higher pre-morbid intelligence was significantly associated with less depression, less sleep difficulty, and a better overall mental health status at age 50.
These results were similar to those found at age 40 and they suggest that higher intelligence in youth, in both men and women, may have a protective effect on mental health into middle age.”
However, people with higher IQs were more likely to have received a depression diagnosis by age 50.
This seems to contradict the finding that they self-reported lower symptoms of depression.
The researchers think it may be because intelligent people are more likely to recognise depression and get help for it.
They write that one possible reason is that:
“…people with higher intelligence may also have higher mental health literacy.
Those with higher intelligence might be more able to identify their symptoms of depression, which could motivate them to consult a doctor for diagnosis and advice; they might also be likely to have accurate reporting of such diagnoses in the health module.”
The study was published in the journal Intelligence (Wraw et al., 2018).
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