Posts Tagged "depression"

Depression and menopause: can acupuncture help?

Posted by Liz on Jan 21, 2011 in depression | 4 comments

Depression and menopause. It keeps coming up as a topic and so I’m going to continue to write about it until researchers find an effective way to battle depression during menopause, effective meaning that it is an acceptable strategy for women who prefer alternatives to pharmaceutical agents, effective in that it addresses the underlying causes of depression in menopausal women, including fluctuating estrogen levels, sleep disturbances, night sweats, hot flashes and life factors, and effective in that it is affordable. It’s a tall order, isn’t it?

As I’ve noted time and again, depression is an important issue for many but not all menopausal women, affecting approximately 20% to 40% in a some way or another. Just this week, I wrote about use of the SSRI antidepressants as an alternative to HRT for hot flashes and depression, and possibly as a stop-gap measure until practitioners more widely embrace alternative strategies. On the heels of this study comes another in the  Online Edition of Menopause journal, examining data from one of my favourite studies, ACUFLASH. If you don’t feel like clicking on the link and updates about this study, briefly, in ACUFLASH, researchers randomized 399 postmenopausal women (1 year since last menstrual period) regularly experiencing at least 7 hot flashes daily to acupuncture or no treatment. Moxibustion was used at the practitioner’s discretion and sessions could also be extended by two weeks (from 12 weeks), if needed.  Although the practitioners met beforehand to discuss possible diagnoses and recommended treatment points, all treatment was individualized. Both groups of patients also received self care recommendations, which consisted of a one-page information leaflet on care of menopausal symptoms (e.g. soy, herbs, physical activity and relaxation techniques) which they were free to add at their own discretion.

Overall, the mean frequency of hot flashes declined by 48% in women receiving acupuncture compared with 28% of women using self-care methods only. This means that 50% of women receiving acupuncture experienced a 50% or greater reduction in how often their hot flashes occurred, compared to 16% of women using self-care. Significant reductions were also seen in hot flash intensity. Additionally, the acupuncture group reported significant improvements in vasomotor, sleep, and somatic symptoms over the course of the study.

So, what about acupuncture and depression?

In the current study, researchers examined a sample of 72 women who had participated in ACUFLASH and had either received self-care only or self-care plus acupuncture. At the start, almost 31% of these women reported depressive symptoms and of these, about 17% were determined to suffer from moderate to severe depression (based on a scientific method that measures the severity of depressive symptoms). Although these figures are higher than what is normally seen in the general population, severe depression is often seen among women experiencing very frequent hot flashes (7 or more in a 24 hour period for at least 1 week). And while both groups reported significant declines in depressive symptoms during the 12 week study period by as much as 16%, the declines were similar in both groups, indicating the acupuncture,while helpful for lessening the severity of hot flashes, did not have a specific effect on depression.

If acupuncture doesn’t help depression, why did the results indicate such a high level of improvement that under normal circumstances, an individual could forgo drugs for needles?

A key finding of the original and follow up ACUFLASH studies was the feeling of control over symptoms that was imparted by being educated about self-care. However, here’s the rub: even though acupuncture was shown to significantly benefit both the intensity and frequency of hot flashes, it didn’t provide an edge over depressive symptoms compared to self care alone. The researchers say that this leads them to believe that although a domino effect is at-play (i.e. hot flashes lead to sleep issues lead to symptoms of depression) there is something else that also influences the depression part of the equation.

In the interim, it’s frustrating, right? You can deal with your hot flashes but you still feel blue, low, out of sorts. There is clearly a link between the hot flashes and sleep and depression. It simply needs to be teased out a wee bit further. Keep the faith. We’ll get there!

Wednesday Bubble: hot flashes and antidepressants

Posted by Liz on Jan 19, 2011 in hot flash | 4 comments

Researchers have been studying antidepressant therapy (namely selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors – SSRIs, and serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors -SNRIs) for some time now in hopes of discovering an effective treatment for hot flashes and an alternative to hormone replacement therapy (HRT). However, antidepressants’ ability to ameliorate hot flashes have yielded mixed results in the study arena. One potential advantage of using an antidepressant in this regard is the ability to also effectively address mood swings and depression that occur as hormone levels wane and decline throughout menopause. Hence, I was intrigued by a new study, published this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, that not only evaluated the benefit of using the SSRI Lexapro for hot flashes but also, whether or not factors such as race and coexisting depressed mood and/or anxiety would affect the results. Notably, African-American women are reportedly more likely than report having particularly bothersome hot flashes.

In this particular trial, 205 menopausal or postmenopausal women reporting at least 28 hot flashes or night sweats per week over a three week period that were bothersome or severe the majority of time were asked to take 10 mg escitalopram (Lexapro) or placebo tablet daily for 8 weeks. This dosage was increased midway through the trial if hot flash frequency didn’t decrease by at least 50% and if severity did not change.

The findings:

• More than half of women reported that the frequency of their hot flashes declined by at least 50% from the study starts (compared to slightly more than a third of women taking placebo)
• Women taking Lexapro reported that the severity of their hot flashes decreased by 24% compared to the study’s start (and a 14% decline in severity among the placebo group)
• The response to Lexapro was rapid and improvements started to be seen within one week
• Reported side effects between the two groups were fairly equal, and mostly related to feeling tired, stomach issues and dry mouth
• Race did not appear to play a role in either group
• Hot flashes returned after Lexapro was stopped

Although the researchers caution that the group of women in the study were highly motivated and not necessarily reflective of women in the general population, I would argue that a woman with severe and frequent hot flashes is motivated, period. I’m not a huge fan of using pharmaceutical medications to address menopausal symptoms for two reasons: 1) menopause is not a disease and, 2) as evidenced by the archives, there is an evolving body of literature that supports the use of alternative strategies for managing menopause. Nevertheless, as someone who has had lifelong bouts of depression that are exacerbated by hormones, I welcome an effective alternative to HRT that might be more broadly embraced by the medical community. Until a greater proportion of healthcare practitioners begins to accept the distinctions between between eastern and western medical philosophies and the potential advantages of complementary strategies, the learning (and begging) curve will continue to be steep.

Perhaps antidepressants are an initial stop-gap while the body of evidence supporting alternatives like acupuncture or isoflavones for hot flashes and depression grows. I’m optimistic we’ll get there. And I will always be happy to see women provided with an alternative to HRT.

Looking through the window: depression and menopause

Posted by Liz on Dec 27, 2010 in depression | 2 comments

There’s a new term that’s being kicked around in medical circles: ‘windows of vulnerability.’

It appears that a growing body of evidence supports the fact that during times of hormonal flux or reproductive cycle “events,” women become increasingly vulnerable to mood swings, anxiety and depression. And while this is certainly not news for many women, it still requires some attention because among the many windows that women may go through, the menopausal transition is evidently one of the most complex. The reason? This is a time when hormones interact with aging, sexuality, life stressors, self-esteem and general health issues.

The subject of depression and menopause is not new to this blog, nor are statistics suggesting that as many as 20% to 40% of women are believed to suffer major depression or at the very least, depressive symptoms during the peri/postmenopausal years. Moreover, women may have as much as a two- to four-times increased risk of developing depression as they transition from pre- to perimenopausal status. Among the multiple factors at play, estrogen is one of the most important; estrogen has been shown to promote the amount of the mood neurotransmitter serotonin available to the body, thereby providing an important antidepressant effect. However, a recent review suggests that the role that hormones like estrogen play in depression is directly related to their wide fluctuations rather than the fact that they are becoming deficient.

So, why is this important? For one, it highlights that hormone replacement is not the only answer for depression during menopause but rather, that it’s critical to pay attention to timing, i.e. when preventive strategies, including exercise, behavioral therapy and antidepressants might yield the greatest long-term benefits. Yet, it also suggests that estrogen-based therapies may indeed have a role in depression during menopause. And, since estrogen alone therapy has been shown to up the risk for ovarian cancer except for in women who’ve had hysterectomies, it also helps supports the need to explore the role plant-based estrogens in treating menopausal depression; fortunately, S-equol has already shown promise in this regard.

Feeling the window of vulnerability? There’s no time like the present to insure that you aren’t simply looking through the window but actually seeing that there’s hope and help on the other side. There are a lot of resources and strategies available to address depression during this time of life. While depression may be a “menopause-associated risk,” like others, it can be successfully ameliorated.

Thank you to Dr. Claudio Soares from McMaster University for an excellent review of depression in menopause and the inspiring, succinct “windows of vulnerability” terminology.

Omega-3s and depression

Posted by Liz on Nov 12, 2010 in depression | 4 comments

According to recent estimates, more than 20% of women undergoing menopause have major depressive disorder. In fact, mood disorders and depression affect a disproportionate amount of women in the peri- and postmenopausal stages compared to women in pre-menopause. Moreover, these mood disorders tend to occur in conjunction with hot flashes.

While researchers have yet to discover the cause of the depression/mood surge during menopause, they continue to explore therapeutic strategies that might help to take the edge off. And surprisingly, numerous studies actually point to the value of omega-3 fatty acids — eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) — for alleviating depression. Besides wellbeing, one of the reasons this is so important is that research has linked depression with other serious conditions including heart disease and stroke. The one thing that all these conditions have in common is that they are believed to be caused, at least in part, by an inflammatory response by the body. One particular action of omega-3 fatty acids is that they have been shown to lower inflammation, which makes them potentially useful in treating disease.

So, can omega-3s help stave off depression in menopausal women? In a very small study published in the online edition of Menopause, peri- or postmenopausal taking daily omega-3 fatty acids  (Lovaza, 2 g daily) for 8 weeks had significant declines in depression scores, number of daily hot flashes and hot flash interference scores.  During the course of the study, 70% of women responded, and those whose depressive symptoms declined also experienced declines in hot flashes, indicating both a connection between the two and a possible role for omega-3s in menopause.

However, this study was very small, enrolling only 20 women and more evidence is needed with larger numbers of women before omega-3s can be recommended as a treatment for mood and hot flashes during menopause. Moreover, it’s essential to note that a thorough analysis of scientifically sound studies has recently pointed to the EPA component as driving as much as a 56% reduction in depressive symptoms, that is, if the supplements used contain more than 50% of standardized EPA or pure EPA. Therefore, when it comes to fish oils, the ratio of EPA to DHA may play an important role.

I’m excited because this study brings us another step closer towards demonstrating that menopausal symptoms can indeed, be effectively alleviated without hormonal therapy.

Little Girl Blue

Posted by Liz on Apr 26, 2010 in depression | 0 comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVpDOIPx_sY]

Depression in the perimenopause and postmenopausal years is no joke. I’ve written about it several times on this blog and will continue to do so until experts figure out an effective, acceptable strategy for combating the blues.

As I’ve noted before, researchers are not quite sure of the exact reasons for the depression surge during the transition,  (e.g. dramatic surge and declines in hormones, vasomotor issues, sleep issues, life stress and prior history). However, they do acknowledge that many women tend to suffer the blues during this time.

In the latest bit of research, published in the online edition of the journal Menopause, researchers found that over 40% of women studied (out of a pool of 685) suffered from symptoms of depression. What was more interesting, however, is that depression was almost twice as likely to develop in the peri/post menopausal stages than before menopause. (Note that other studies have found this likelihood to be as high as 4 times during the perimenopause). Moreover:

• Women who reported having had experienced some sort of negative event in their were 3.6 times likelier than those who hadn’t to develop depression
• Weight appeared to play a role, with obese women twice as likely as those of normal weight to develop depressive symptoms

Although I’ve discussed some potentially effective strategies for combatting the menopausal blues (e.g., exercise, chamomile, antidepressants, red clover, St. John’s Wort, soy isoflavones), none are a quick fix or a ‘one size fits all.’

Personally, I’ve noticed that fluctuating hormones coupled with elevated stress tends to heighten depression at specific times, while at other times, it’s easier to deal with. Pile it on and well, I become a pile of mush. My strategy entails an insane amount of physical activity, deep breathing, therapy and admittedly, some medication. Still, I’ve found that while I can usually keep the blues at bay, they do tend to crop up at the most inopportune moments.

What do you do to chase the blues away? Have they gotten worse or stayed the same during your transition? What advice do you have to offer for other readers? I’d love to hear!