Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Nov 02, 2008
A drug to stop smoking linked to depression and suicide
Champix, a wonder drug prescribed to nearly 400,000 people in the UK to help them give up nicotine has been linked to severe depression and suicidal thoughts. Launched two years ago, scientists and researchers claimed Champix (known clinically as Varenicline) was more effective than alternative therapies in helping people give up smoking. Across the world, nine million people are said to use the drug which mimics the effects of nicotine to help reduce the desire to smoke and aids nicotine withdrawal. However, stories are now emerging in the media about people who are taking the drug suffering with depression while some people are attempting to take their own life, and succeeding.
In Britain alone, 3,000 people have complained about the drug’s effects with nearly 300 reporting suicidal thoughts. Ten people taking the drug have killed themselves.
Posted by: Uticopa in Untagged on
Nov 02, 2008
Diagnosis of depression in physical illness
There is no doubt that clinical depression is a painful and debilitating condition that often occurs in association with severe physical illness, but how to diagnose it in these circumstances?
The biological symptoms of depression include anorexia, weight loss, sleep disturbance, lethargy and psychomotor retardation; however, all of these may equally be due to the physical illness. A useful guide is the three main symptoms that help to differentiate depression from non-depression in medical patients: depressed mood, morning depression and hopelessness.
