Depression Common After Brain Injury

TUESDAY, April 19 (HealthDay News) — Nearly one-third of people who suffer a traumatic brain injury (TBI) will experience depression after the injury, a new study finds.

A team at Vanderbilt University Medical Center analyzed existing research on blunt force trauma head injuries suffered by civilians in traffic accidents, falls, sports and assaults.


“Any patient who has a traumatic brain injury is at a real risk for developing depression, short and long term,” study co-author Dr. Oscar Guillamondegui, an assistant professor in the trauma and surgical critical care division, said in a medical center news release.

“It doesn’t matter where on the timeline that you check the patient population — six months, 12 months, two years, five years — the prevalence is always around 30 percent across the board.”

The rate of depression in the general population is about 9 to 10 percent, Guillamondegui said.

Each year, U.S. hospital emergency departments treat 1.2 million cases of traumatic brain injury. These findings suggest that about 360,000 of those patients will suffer depression after their head injury.

The study authors said their findings about the high rate of post-injury depression are especially important considering the lack of research on whether antidepressants are a safe and effective treatment for brain-injured people.

“Even though it is possible that individuals with TBI and depression may warrant different approaches to treatment than the general population with depression, there were only two studies of treatment in this population,” co-author Melissa McPheeters, co-director of the Vanderbilt Evidence-based Practice Center, said in the news release.

“It’s unacceptable, with so many people sustaining TBIs — both in combat and civilian life — that we know so little about treating depression in this population,” she added.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke has more about traumatic brain injury.

— Robert Preidt

SOURCE: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, news release, April 13, 2011

Last Updated: April 19, 2011

Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Fish Oil Promising Against Postpartum Depression in Small Trial

TUESDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) — Consuming omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil capsules during pregnancy may reduce a woman’s risk of postpartum depression, according to a new study.

Researchers looked at 52 pregnant women who took either a placebo or a fish oil capsule containing 300 milligrams of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) five days a week each week from weeks 24 to 40 of pregnancy. DHA is a prominent omega-3 fatty acid.


After the babies were born, the researchers assessed the women for postpartum depression symptoms, such as sleeping and eating problems, anxiety, emotional issues, confusion, guilt, loss of self and thoughts of suicide.

There weren’t enough women in the study to determine if consuming DHA resulted in a lower incidence of postpartum depression. But women who took the fish oil capsules had significantly fewer symptoms of postpartum depression than those who took the placebo, said Dr. Michelle Price Judge, of the University of Connecticut School of Nursing, and colleagues.

“DHA consumption during pregnancy at levels that are reasonably attained from foods has the potential to decrease symptoms of postpartum depression,” they concluded in a news release from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

But one expert said the jury is still out on fish oil’s ability to curb postpartum blues.

“This study is interesting but must be replicated on a larger scale with proper controls for a number of medical and psychosocial factors before concluding that omega-3 fatty acid consumption lowers the risk of postpartum depression,” said Dr. Shari I. Lusskin, director of reproductive psychiatry at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.

“In the meanwhile,” she said, “following a healthy diet can only be a good thing for the pregnant woman and her developing baby.”

The study was to be presented Tuesday at a meeting of the federation in Washington, D.C. Research presented at meetings is considered preliminary until it is published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Postpartum depression affects up to 25 percent of new mothers, some experts estimate.

More information

The Nemours Foundation has more about postpartum depression.

— Robert Preidt

SOURCE: Shari I. Lusskin, MD, director, reproductive psychiatry, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City; Federation of the American Societies for Experimental Biology, news release, April 12, 2011

Last Updated: April 12, 2011

Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.