Depression symptoms may lift with Transcendental Meditation

Medication isn't the only way people successfully battle depression -- exercise and acupuncture are two alternative methods. A new study suggests that Transcendental Meditation may also be an effective way to lessen depression symptoms.

Two studies compared months of Transcendental Meditation practice with health education (which served as a control) on depression. The TM technique uses a mantra to help people achieve a relaxed state, and the practice is typically done for about 15 to 20 minutes twice a day. The methodology of both studies was the same: Participants were asked to do TM or follow a health education program twice a day for 20 minutes.

Researchers measured depression symptoms at the beginning of the studies and three, nine and 12 months later. Since there is a link between depression and a risk for cardiac events in people who have coronary heart disease, participants in both studies also had cardiovascular risk factors such as carotid artery wall thickness.

In one study, participants included 59 African American men and women ages 55 and older, and in the other, participants included 53 native Hawaiian men and women ages 55 and older. In both studies, the meditation groups had a far greater reduction in depression symptoms than the control groups. There were no substantial differences between genders.

Researchers speculate that meditation may trigger changes in the body's chemistry, affecting serotonin (a neurotransmitter that may be linked to depression) and fostering better reactions to environmental stress.

"These results are encouraging and provide support for testing the efficacy of Transcendental Meditation as a therapeutic adjunct in the treatment of clinical depression," said Hector Myers, a co-author of one of the studies, in a news release. Myers is director of clinical training in the Department of Psychology at UCLA.

The studies will be presented April 9 at the annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine in Seattle.

-- Jeannine Stein

Emergency contraception might offer peace of mind, doesn't change big picture

Women with a stash of emergency contraceptives likely would have lower pregnancy rates, one might think, as they wouldn't be faced with the sometimes overly daunting task of trying to find the medications when time is of the essence. Those same women also might be more likely to engage in unprotected sex, similar thinking might hold, as they wouldn't have to worry about at least one reason for using condoms.

But such thoughts would be incorrect, says a featured research review from the Cochrane Library.

Here's the summary. It notes that women with emergency contraception on hand are more likely to use the drugs, yes, but widespread effects are hard to find.

In another featured research review: Antidepressants can effectively treat depression in physically ill people.

Duh, you say?

Maybe. The point is, in analyzing the data, sometimes researchers get expected results; sometimes they get unexpected results. The risk comes from assumptions beforehand. The Cochrane Reviews help separate assumptions from evidence.

Read more about the reviews here. Then take a spin through the library. You never know what assumption-busting results you may find.

-- Tami Dennis

Photo: Emergency contraception, shown here in one of its forms, can be hard to get when women most need it. 

Credit: AFP / Getty Images

Book Review: 'Eat Your Way to Happiness' by Elizabeth Somer

Battling the blues? Put down that Prozac prescription and head for the pantry, says Elizabeth Somer, author of the new book "Eat Your Way to Happiness." It's time for a diet makeover.

Changing what and how you eat can dramatically improve your life, without the negative side effects of antidepressants, writes the registered dietitian and frequent morning TV show guest.

Somer says people who followed diet advice she gave in her 1995 book, "Food & Mood," have told her they've seen their energy increase, their memories improve, their PMS symptoms vanish, their extra weight drop off and even their depressions lift. (She emphasizes that people should always seek medical help for depression that lasts more than a month or is accompanied by other symptoms.)

In her new book, she shares some of their stories and offers updated nutritional information.

Included in "Happiness" is advice we hear from many quarters today: Eat a good breakfast; cut back on sugar, white flour and saturated fats; choose real food over processed food most of the time; exercise daily. But she also goes further, quantifying what we should aim for and including research to back up her claims.

For example, Somer writes that sugar today makes up 25% of calories in most American diets -- much of it coming from processed foods. But a diet in which even 9% of calories are from added sugar is a red flag for weight and health problems, she says, and too much sugar offers a temporary "high" that can end in fatigue and depression. The good news is that cutting back can bring immediate weight loss, mood improvements and increased energy. She says we should aim for no more than 6% of our calories from added sugar -- 30 grams, or 7 1/2 teaspoons, a day on a 2,000-calorie diet. (This doesn't include the sugar found in naturally sweet foods such as fruit.)

Somer lists a dozen "super mood foods" to include in our diets whenever possible. Nuts are in the No. 1 spot, and she recommends an ounce a day to raise metabolism, take the edge off hunger and help regulate blood sugar. Other must-eat foods include soy (a memory booster, she says), milk and yogurt, dark leafy greens and dark orange vegetables, broth soups (which help dieters feel satisfied on fewer calories, a secret to permanent weight loss), legumes, citrus and tart cherries (they contain melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep).

She spells out potential brain- and mood-boosting benefits of eating omega-3 fats, especially DHA, found in fatty fish ("Prozac from the sea"). She also goes into the downside of eating fatty fishes -- the mercury they may contain -- and gives DHA-fortified alternatives.

Somer offers tips for how to eat to sleep better (one is to eat a light dinner no less than three hours before bedtime) and work with, rather than fight, cravings. She discusses supplements, beverages and the right vices in which to indulge (good news for dark chocolate lovers). She outlines an ideal diet -- think fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, milk and soy, lean protein. Her book also includes recipes and a two-week kick-start diet plan.

-- Anne Colby

Photo: "Eat Your Way to Happiness," Elizabeth Somer, Harlequin, $16.95

RELATED

Book Review: 'You: On a Diet'

Book Review: 'The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough'

Book Review: 'The Big Breakfast Diet'

Book Review: 'The Mayo Clinic Diet

Book Review: 'Denise's Daily Dozen'

Internet browsing: Searching for happiness?

People who are addictive Internet searchers should probably browse for a phone number to the nearest therapist. Though almost everyone uses the Internet to conduct business, connect with people, pay bills or find information, the people who spend hours each day aimlessly surfing the net are more likely to be depressed, according to a new study.

Psychologists at the University of Leeds in Britain evaluated the Internet use and depression levels of 1,319 people ages 16 to 51. Of this group, 18 people (1.2%) were classified as Internet-addicted. When these 18 people were compared with 18 similar people who were not Internet-addicted, the researchers saw striking differences in depression. The 18 non-addicted people were not depressed while the 18 Internet-addicted people were classified, as a group, as moderately to severely depressed.

The addicted people tended to use the Internet more for sexual gratification, gaming and chat rooms, compared with the non-addicts. The authors of the paper, published in the journal Psychopathology, concluded that these people are replacing real-life socializing with Internet surfing. 

They say, however, that it's not clear which comes first: the Internet addiction followed by depression or depression followed by Internet addiction. Regardless of the answer to that question, depression and heavy Internet use appear to be a bad mix.

Here's a link to The Center for Internet Addiction.

-- Shari Roan

Photo credit: Greg Baker / Associated Press

What to do about mild depression

A recent, highly publicized study suggested that people with mild cases of depression do not benefit from antidepressant medication. However, that doesn’t mean that mild depression should be ignored.

A new study, published Monday, found that mild symptoms of depression that are not treated often do not go away and, in fact, may progress into a more severe course of depression. The research was published in the journal Psychiatric Services.

Researchers at Columbia University followed 348 adults with symptoms of mild depression. They were not in treatment for the depression and had not received any treatment in the previous year. Four years later, researchers found that 62% of the study participants were currently experiencing major depression.

The question of whether to seek help for mild symptoms can be tough for a patient and doctor. But, at the least, it would seem prudent to discuss mild depression with a primary-care doctor and arrange for continued follow-up to assess whether symptoms are improving or worsening. Moreover, mild depression often benefits from such easy remedies as an increase in exercise, healthier eating, improved sleep schedules and having someone supportive to talk to.

-- Shari Roan

Photo: Kirk McCoy / Los Angeles Times 

More could be better when it comes to attending AA meetings

Alcoholics Anonymous has helped millions of people get and stay sober. A new study explores why the program may have such a good results record for some.

Data from 1,706 people from Project MATCH, a federally funded trial that compared three alcohol treatment programs, was analyzed by researchers. The study participants were randomly assigned to cognitive behavior therapy, motivational enhancement therapy (which encourages people to find their motivation to change and devise a plan to do it), or a 12-step program (all participants could also take part in AA meetings during the study period). The men and women were followed for 15 months and were asked about how much alcohol they consumed, the number of AA meetings they went to, and about their depression symptoms.

Researchers found that those who attended more AA meetings drank less, and less frequently. At the beginning of the study the participants had more depression symptoms than the general public, but those who attended more AA meetings had substantially fewer symptoms--if they weren't drinking. Those who continued to drink did not show the same lessening of symptoms.

In the study, the authors wrote, "AA attendance appears to help individuals to increase abstinence and to reduce the intensity of drinking when lapses do occur, partially by reducing symptoms of negative affect."

In a news release, lead author John F. Kelly said, "Some critics of AA have claimed that the organization's emphasis on 'powerlessness' against alcohol use and the need to work on 'character defects' cultivates a pessimistic world view, but this suggests the opposite is true. AA is a complex social organization with many mechanisms of action that probably differ for different people and change over time. Most treatment programs refer patients to AA or similar 12-step groups, and now clinicians can tell patients that, along with supporting abstinence, attending meetings can help improve their mood. Who wouldn't want that?" Kelly is an associate professor in the Harvard Medical School department of psychiatry. The study was released online recently in the journal Addiction.

-- Jeannine Stein

Photo credit: Mark Ralston / AFP/Getty Images

Doctors encourage depression screening during and after pregnancy

Pregnancy and the postpartum period are peak times for women to experience depression, and routine screening for the condition should be a priority, say the authors of an opinion paper issued today in the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology.

An estimated 14% to 23% of pregnant women experience depression, while 5% to 25% will have postpartum depression. The illness carries serious repercussions for both mother and baby, noted the authors of the paper. During pregnancy, depression raises the risk of preterm birth and other adverse outcomes. After the birth, the mother is not only impacted by depression but infants can suffer cognitive, neurologic and motor skill delays because the mother's illness affects her interactions with her baby.

"We recognize that postpartum depression is a serious health issue that we need to direct more attention toward," Dr. Gerald F. Joseph Jr., president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a news release. "Screening for depression during pregnancy is also important to identify it early on and to help prevent a worsening of the condition after delivery."

-- Shari Roan

Photo credit: Louid Balukoff / Associated Press

Reconsidering antidepressants? Other options exist

So if, as a new study suggests, antidepressants don't help people with anything less than very severe depression -- marked by crying jags, social withdrawal, a willingness to just give up completely -- what does? Many things.

Social support, sleep, stress reduction, a diet with a minimum of fried snack foods topped with cheese-like powder (paraphrased), exercise ... all are important, says helpguide.org. Even if you do opt for the meds -- and many people swear by them -- you should make these other things part of your get-well package.

As it notes: "Lifestyle changes are simple but powerful tools in treating depression. Sometimes they might be all you need. Even if you need other treatment as well, lifestyle changes go a long way towards helping lift depression. And they can help keep depression at bay once you are feeling better."

Here's a recent Los Angeles Times story explaining how exercise specifically can help.

And of course, there's therapy. (Along those lines, tomorrow afternoon, we'll offer a look at the "holy war" among psychologists. On one side are those who say too many practitioners are ignoring the most science-based approach: cognitive behavioral therapy. On the other are those who say the skill of the therapist is more important than the type of therapy.)

Here's more -- much more -- about depression -- from MedicineNet. It begins with a bit of history (black bile, anyone?) and proceeds through self-help tips, alternative therapies and beyond. Among those tips: "Break large tasks into small ones ...." "Do not make major life decisions, such as changing jobs or getting married or divorced without consulting others who know you well."

The guide is a gold mine, with not just the typical explanation of drug options, though it has that too, but also patient discussions, resources, a quiz. 

And here's a booklet on depression from the National Institute of Mental Health. It notes the differences in depression as experienced by men, women, older adults, adolescents, teenagers and children.

As for that new study, the LA Times story about it began:
 
"Antidepressant medications probably provide little or no benefit to people with mild or moderate depression, a new study has found. Rather, the mere act of seeing a doctor, discussing symptoms and learning about depression probably triggers the improvements many patients experience while on medication."

-- Tami Dennis

Photo credit: Pedro Armestre / AFP / Getty Images

For obese binge eaters, good news and bad news

Binge eaters who get a specialized form of talk therapy aimed at reducing their bingeing behavior are more likely than those who participate in a weight-loss program to shed their eating disorder two years after treatment, a new study finds. But among binge eaters who are obese, no treatments led to long-term weight loss.

Those findings are the newest evidence that binge eating--a pattern of frequent out-of-control consumption accompanied by guilt and shame and often contributing to obesity--may yield to therapies tailored to treating the disorder. But it also suggests that obesity--which affects most binge eaters--is tougher to treat, and will likely not go away even if the bingeing behavior is extinguished. The study, published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, comes as the American Psychiatric Assn. ponders whether binge eating should be recognized as an eating disorder distinct from bulimia and anorexia when the psychiatric community releases its updated diagnostic manual in 2013.

The study pitted three kinds of treatment--interpersonal therapy, a form of cognitive behavioral therapy described as "guided self-help," and a behavioral weight-loss program--against each other for 24 weeks. Immediately following the interventions and a year later, all three appeared to have roughly equal success in reducing the central--psychological--symptoms of binge eating disorder. The behavioral weight-loss program, however, resulted in greater weight loss at the earliest assessment period.

A year later, all three treatments still looked to have had similar rates of success in alleviating binge-eating symptoms. But by the two-year post-treatment mark, the two forms of talk therapy appeared far superior to the behavioral weight-loss program in maintaining a remission of binge-eating symptoms. Meanwhile, those in the behavioral weight-loss group steadily gained back the weight they had lost during the program; in the end, the number of subjects in all three intervention groups who had lost 5% of their body weight and kept it off showed statistically little difference: 21% of those in interpersonal therapy, 23% of those in cognitive behavioral therapy and 27% of those that had been in the behavioral weight-loss program were able to maintain a 5% weight loss. 

The study, led by Rutgers University psychologist G. Terence Wilson, underscores that, in treating binge eating disorder, treating the symptom--obesity--probably doesn't pay in the long run. And it's not effective either.

Think you may have a binge-eating problem? A good place to start is here, but also see our recent report on the subject, as well the fledgling support and advocacy organization for Binge Eating Disorder, here. Many people report they have had great success with Overeaters Anonymous, a 12-step program that views overeating as a form of addiction. To get the take of one of the nation's best-regarded binge-eating programs, check out the eating disorders program at Duke University.

-- Melissa Healy

This new year, resolve to be happy

Instead of planning to lose weight, find a better job, be a better person (typical New Year’s resolutions, according to a recent Marist poll) why not use 2010 to focus on what’s really important – your own happiness?

Dropping a few pounds and getting a raise might seem like means to that end. And happiness itself might sound like a nebulous, unachievable goal. But happiness might be worth pursuing in its own right – and, according to recent research, could be a much more measurable and tangible goal than previously thought.

Want a primer on that special feeling? A three-part PBS series, "This Emotional Life," tonight will look at why we feel what we feel, through a scientific lens and through the wisdom of such celebrities as Larry David, "Seinfeld" co-creator: "I don't think it's that much of a mystery. If you don't have a job that you like, and you're not having sex, you're just not gonna be happy."

Show host Daniel Gilbert, who sat down with NPR today for an interview, said the larger point on relationships and happiness rings true. "If you're not involved in a relationship," the Harvard psychologist said, "then indeed we see that people who aren't in romantic relationships are less happy than those who are."

Perhaps happiness is contagious, too. In an article published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, researchers found that the feeling created by absence of relationships -- loneliness -- spreads like a disease:

Results indicated that loneliness occurs in clusters, extends up to three degrees of separation, is disproportionately represented at the periphery of social networks, and spreads through a contagious process.  

Another reason to pursue happiness and avoid loneliness this year – scientists say it’s just as important on the New Year’s resolution list as quitting smoking or losing weight. As Health reporter Melissa Healy blogged last month, loneliness can be as bad for your health as smoking and obesity. 

One double-take worthy theory presented in the PBS show: That, controlling for health problems, older people are generally happier than younger people. Counterintuitive as that notion might seem, it’s been gaining strength in recent years. Health reporter Shari Roan found some logical explanations for the theory in a 2007 story:

[M]ost scientists now think that experience and the mere passage of time gradually motivate people to approach life differently. The blazing-to-freezing range of emotions experienced by the young blends into something more lukewarm by later life, numerous studies show. Older people are less likely to be caught up in their emotions and more likely to focus on the positive, ignoring the negative.

In a special to The Times, Marnell Jameson explores how scientists are starting to quantify and measure happiness -- and what their conclusions are. She starts with a quick quiz: 

True or false:

___ I would be happier if I made more money, found the perfect mate, lost 10 pounds or moved to a new house.
___ Happiness is genetic. You can't change how happy you are any more than you can change how tall you are.
___ Success brings happiness.
Answers: False, false and false. 

Want to find out why? Read Jameson's story, and check out the first part of “This Emotional Life” tonight, airing at 9 p.m. on KCET.   

-- Amina Khan