Sign Up for Denver Depression Study from This Blog

A study on the medication treatment of depression is ongoing at the Denver branch of Radiant Research, 4704 Harlan St. in Denver, Colorado.

You can sign up for the study, or get more information about it, by going to their website.

Westside Behavioral Care is an outpatient, psychotherapy service with 50 exceptional clinicians spread over the entire Denver/Boulder region. With receptionists available from 7:30 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday, callers needing first-time appointments are provided with an appointment immediately according to their location, insurance, and need...no voice mail, phone tag, waiting, or sorting through lists. The number is 303-986-4197, and it is also possible to self-schedule from Westside's website 24/7.

For more information on depression, please visit Westside's website.

Antioxidants Help Cancer Treatment

As reported in the August, 2007 issue of Cancer Treatment Review an evaluation of 19 published studies indicated that supplementation with antioxidants (vitamin A, vitamin C, N-acetylcysteine, vitamin E, melatonin, an antioxidant mixture, or ellagic acid) typically resulted in one or more of the following responses:

1) Increased survival times

2) Improved responses of tumors to chemotherapy

3) Reduced toxicity of chemotherapy

The authors reported that larger studies with well-controlled, double blind designs are much needed in this area.

For mental health treatment of the emotional effects of cancer and other life-threatening illnesses in the Denver, Colorado area, please visit our website.

Westside Behavioral Care is an outpatient, psychotherapy service with 50 exceptional clinicians spread over the entire Denver/Boulder region. With receptionists available from 7:30 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday, callers needing first-time appointments are provided with an appointment immediately according to their location, insurance, and need...no voice mail, phone tag, waiting, or sorting through lists. The number is 303-986-4197, and it is also possible to self-schedule from Westside's website 24/7.

Anxiety Research Study Looking for Denver Area Participants

Denver area residents are currently being invited to participate in a research study (a clinical trial) at the Radiant Research facility, which has been conducting psychiatric research in the Denver community for many years. The researchers are interested in documenting the outcome of a new treatment for problems with anxiety and sleep.

Qualifying questions include the ones just below:

How anxious are you?

Please respond to the following questions basing your answers on your experience in the last 2 weeks or more.

1. I feel keyed up, on edge or restless
2. I feel stressed most of the time
3. I have trouble sleeping (either too little or too much)
4. I have trouble concentrating, or my mind goes blank
5. I feel irritable; I can’t relax; I’m uptight
6. I notice my heart beating rapidly
7. I feel worried, anxious and fearful

If you had 2 or more "yes" statements above and are between 21 and 64 years of age, you might qualify for inclusion in the study. All research-related treatment, follow-up, and medication are provided free of charge for qualifying participants.

Contact:

Leslie Moldauer, M.D.
Radiant Research - Denver
Telephone: 303-477-CARE(2273)

For information on panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, or anxiety - or for information on therapists who treat anxiety disorders in Denver - please visit our website.

National Anxiety Disorders Study: Sign Up from this Blog for Denver and other Locations

Researchers at the State University of New York - one of the world's foremost centers for the study of anxiety disorders - are about to begin what they hope will be an extremely helpful evaluation of the effectiveness of The Mindfulness & Acceptance Workbook for Anxiety.

Details about the study are available online at www.ACTforAnxiety. com along with eligibility criteria and what else is needed to participate.

For more information on the treatment and nature of anxiety and panic disorder, please visit our website.

New Treatment Option for Alzheimer's Disease

On the reasoning that oxidative stress is a hallmark of Alzheimer's Disease, researchers at the Department of Rehabilitation and Geriatrics in Hannover, Germany hypothesized that an antioxidant supplement, alpha-lipoic acid, might slow the progression of the disease.

As reported in the 2007 issue of the Journal of Neural Transmission (number 72), 43 patients with Alzheimer's Disease were given 600 mg of alpha-lipoic acid per day over an observation period of 4 years. Using standardized measures of functioning for Alzheimer's patients, the authors concluded that alpha-lipoic acid markedly slowed the progression of the disease compared to patients receiving no treatment as well as to patients receiving choline-esterase inhibitors.

People looking for outpatient, geriatric mental health care in the Denver, Colorado region are invited to visit our website for a list of competent practitioners.

Panic Disorder Gene Research News

Researchers at the Centre for Medical and Molecular Biology in Barcelona reported a genetic abnormality common to 90 percent of family members affected by panic disorder and social phobia. The abnormality, called the DUP25 mutation, was also present in most unrelated people suffering from these disorders but rare in people who were free from anxiety. The affected genes play a critical role in the way cells in the central nervous system interact with each other.
This discovery does not by any means rule out the influence of learning or experience; for example, 20 percent of subjects with the DUP25 mutation had no anxiety problems whatsoever. And about half of the people presenting for evaluation had no parental background for the disorder.

The researchers pointed out that a critical factor in the development of panic disorder is not the panic attack per se but the way the individual interprets it, e.g., as impending insanity, heart failure, fainting, and so forth. It was the hard won understanding of false interpretation that led behavioral researchers to develop talk therapies which are effective in 80 percent or more of cases.

Thus there are effective therapies for panic disorder which work despite genetic influence and which do not depend upon current drug therapies or medications to be developed in the future. Please visit our website for more information on the prevalence, nature, and treatment of anxiety.

Bipolar Disorder Therapy Research News

N-Acetyl Cysteine, a common nutritional supplement, was used successfully to treat depressive symptoms among bipolar patients as reported in the June, 2008 issue of Biological Psychiatry.

It is well known that depression is a significant problem in the treatment of bipolar disorder and that it is often very difficult to treat despite a range of available drug options. The authors of the study hypothesized that N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) would be effective because it corrects glutathione depletion common to the disorder.

A randomized, double blind, multi-center, placebo controlled research design was employed across 75 bipolar patients, with the treatment group receiving NAC (1 gram twice a day) over a 24 week period, adjunctive to usual medications. Compared with placebo, the NAC group showed significant improvement in mood, depressive symptoms, general functioning, social functioning, and occupational functioning.

There were no significant side effects associated with NAC. For additional information on bipolar disorder therapy, please visit our website.