FINDINGS
Thursday, March 16, 2006; Page A08
Seniors and Depression
Elderly people recovering from depression are less likely to relapse when given antidepressant medicine rather than psychotherapy, researchers say.
The study, reported in today's New England Journal of Medicine, involved 116 patients ages 70 and older. The rate of recurrence was 2.4 times higher for those who got monthly counseling over two years than for those who received counseling and the drug Paxil.
The study was financed by the National Institute of Mental Health.
"There are policy implications," said lead author Charles F. Reynolds III, 50, a professor of geriatric psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "Older people with depression need maintenance treatment to stay well."
Anorexia-Genetics Link
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Researchers studying anorexia in twins conclude that more than half a person's risk for developing the sometimes fatal eating disorder is determined by genes.
The new study "hammers home the fact that these are biologically based disorders," said Cynthia Bulik, lead author of the study who is a psychiatrist at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
People with anorexia have a distorted body image and refuse to maintain a minimally acceptable body weight.
-- From News Services
