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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The author reviews the association between Parkinson's disease and depression and presents evidence to support the hypothesis that depression may be not only reactive but biochemically related to the disease. A psychotically depressed patient with parkinsonism responded positively to ECT as shown by improvement on a depression rating scale, two extrapyramidal rating scales, and handwriting samples. The beneficial effect on parkinsonian signs occurred before the improvement in depression, which suggests that ECT has a specific antiparkinsonian effect. Possible explanations for this observation based on biochemical theories of depression are discussed.
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PMID:Parkinson's disease, depression, and ECT: a review and case study. 83 44

The efficacy of ECT in the treatment of depression is well recognized. In mania its efficacy is less well acknowledged. This report compares ECT, chlorpromazine, and no active treatment in mania. Twenty-eight control patients diagnosed as manic were selected from consecutive admissions to the University of Iowa Psychiatric Hospital in the period 1935-1941 when there was no active treatment given. Twenty-eight patients treated with ECT were selected from the period 1945-1949, and 28 chlorpromazine-treated patients were selected from the period 1958-1964. Symptoms sufficient to fulfill a research diagnosis of mania had to be documented in the record for all patients. Results compare symptomatology, duration of hospital admission, discharge condition, discharge category, social recovery, and follow-up. Both ECT and chlorpromazine were superior to no active treatment for outcome measures considered. Ten chlorpromazine-treated patients did not respond satisfactorily to the chlorpromazine treatment but recovered with ECT treatment.
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PMID:ECT versus chlorpromazine in mania. 87 95

The influence of age and number of treatments on memory impairment was studied in depressed patients after a series of convulsive treatments: bilateral ECT, unilateral ECT on the nondominant hemisphere, and fluorothyl convulsive therapy. Before and after the completed convulsive therapy course the patients were tested with a memory test battery and the symptoms rated with a depression scale. Before treatment older age-groups had decreased ability to learn, but their post-treatment forgetting score was not significantly higher than in other age-groups. An increase in the number of ECTs did not seem to correlate with the degree of memory impairment. The conclusion of the present study is that age (up to 65) and the number of ECTs (up to 10) have no apparent influence on memory impairment after electroconvulsive therapy.
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PMID:Memory impairment after convulsive therapy. Influence of age and number of treatments. 88 90

Although ECT as the treatment of choice for psychotic depression has been in use for many years, little is known about the neocortical residual of such treatments inferred from behavioral measures. The major portion of the literature has been concerned with inferred or observed changes in affective state. The present study compared pre- and posttreatment performances on the Halstead-Reitan neuropsychological battery of 20 patients who were receiving ECT from two different machines. Most Ss gave indicators of cerebral impairment prior to treatment when performance of one side of the body was contrasted with performance of the other side. After treatment, there was an increased number of Ss who evidenced signs consistent with damage to the right cerebral hemisphere. Some concern was raised that a large number of patients who eventually are subject ot ECT because of depression behave in this way because of an undiagnosed neocortical dysfunction. There is some suggestion that the effect of the procedure is to either create or intensify a right hemisphere focus as inferred from behavioral measures.
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PMID:Neuropsychological effects of electroconvulsive therapy. 89 15

The author discusses the myths of the ECT process--that shock and the convulsion are essential, memory loss and brain damage are inescapable, and little is known of the process--and assesses the fallacies in these ideas. Present views of the ECT process suggest that its mode of action in depression may best be described as a prolonged form of diencephalic stimulation, particularly useful to affect the hypothalamic dysfunctions that characterize depressive illness. The author emphasizes the need for further study of this treatment modality and for self-regulation by the profession.
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PMID:Myths of "shock therapy". 90 Mar 9

A study of sleep deprivation therapy was made in 62 females and 15 males, aged 20-72, with monopolar (60 patients) and bipolar (17 patients) types of manic-depressive psychosis. Of these patients, 30 had suffered only the current depression, 29 a maximum of five depressions, and 18 more than five depressions before the sleep deprivation therapy. Twenty-five patients had been treated with antidepressant drugs for less than 10 days, 12 patients for 10-24 days, and 36 patients for more than 24 days. Twenty-four patients were treated with one sleep deprivation, 29 patients with one sleep deprivations per week (average 1.59), and 24 patients with two sleep deprivations per week (average 2.5). The effect of the sleep deprivation therapy was evaluated clinically and by means of Cronholm-Ottosson's rating scale. The effect was found good and lasting in 29%, good but temporary in 38%, and poor in 32% of the cases. The best results were achieved with twice-weekly treatments, the poorest results with once-weekly treatment. The results were equal in monopolar and bipolar cases and were independent of the number of previous depressions as well as antidepressant drug treatment. No side effects have been observed, in particular no conversion to mania. The results of the present investigation indicate that depression and sleep disturbances are symptoms produced by a common factor which, however, it as yet unknown. Sleep deprivation therapy is seen to have at least some effect on all cases of endogenous depression. Sleep deprivation therapy has no side effects and is more quick-acting than any other treatment procedure hitherto known. It should therefore be considered the first treatment offer to all endogenously depressed patients in whom immediate ECT is not necessitated.
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PMID:Sleep deprivation therapy in depression. 97 Jan 95

The authors analyze a series of 20 patients seen over the past 4 years who have shown a dramatic improvement following the introduction of lithium carbonate to their therapy. The results indicate that these patients showed a consistent syndrome with the following features: a) anergic endogenous depression; b) positive family history in first degree probands; c) obsessional personality traits and symptoms; d) hypochondriasis and somatic symptoms; e) failure to respond to previous antidepressant therapy with tricyclic and MAOI compounds as well as ECT. A previous study by Gittleson showed that one third of a series of psychotic depressives admitted to the Maudsley Hospital, London, also displayed obsessional symptoms and hypochondriasis. These patients, however, seemed to do as well with standard antidepressant treatment as a control group of psychotic depressives without obsessional features. However, in this series, there was a 7 per cent residue whose obsessional symptoms worsened, even after recovery from their depression. The authors' group of patients represented approximately 3 per cent of all psychotic depressives seen over the 4-year period and could, therefore, coincide with Gittleson's residue. The mean age of onset of illness in the authors' depressive group was 45.5 years, and this finding, coupled with the high incidence of psychotic depression in first degree relatives, indicates that these patients were suffering from a psychotic depression modified by personality traits, rather than an atypical obsessional neurosis. The consistency of clinical features and specificity of response to lithium therapy appear to indicate that this is a clearly definable clinical syndrome worthy of further investigation.
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PMID:A depressive syndrome responsive to lithium. An analysis of 20 cases. 97 30

One hundred and three patients treated for endogenous depression with unilateral, non-dominant ECT, half with two, half with four treatments weekly, were examined to determine the effect of the treatment on memory functions. Th first-mentioned group was studied with double-blind technique in connection with an earlier study while the latter group was investigated under open conditions. Tests were made before the first treatment, after the sixth treatment, and after the final treatment (the Wechsler Memory Scale Forms I and II) and at the same times, ratings were made of the depressive state. No significant differences were found between the results of the two groups either with regard to the total results or the sub-test results in WMS. This was true for changes between and the first and the sixth treatment and between the first and the final treatment. On the whole, both groups showed improved results during the course of treatment; a memory reduction to an equal degree in both groups evident before treatment, and thus due to the depression, was eliminated concurrently with the improvement in the depressive condition. With reference to delayed reproduction a comparison made after the sixth treatment showed that the high-frequency treatment group scored significantly higher than the other group. This can only be ascribed to a better therapeutic effect resulting from accelerated treatment. Likewise these improved therapeutic results in the high-frequency treatment group must be responsible for the fact that this group does not show poorer test results than the group treated at the customary frequency-rate in spite of an expected deteriorating effect of accelerated treatment on memory functions and in spite of a larger number of treatments per series in this group. Neither in the higher nor in the lower frequency treatment group were any age-related variations in memory found.
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PMID:The effects of unilateral brief-interval ECT on memory. 100 37

Improvement in signs of parkinsonism and symptoms of depression was observed in a patient with Parkinson's disease who underwent a course of ECT for depression. Empirically this patient was observed by a blind rater to show a pattern of improvement in parkinsonian signs similar to that observed in parkinsonian patients treated with L-dopa. The time course of improvement of this patient's depression was also seen to parallel improvement in his Parkinson's disease. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that ECT increases catecholamine synthesis and more specifically would be evidence that ECT improves depression by increasing norepinephrine synthesis.
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PMID:Improvement of depression and parkinsonism during ECT: a case study. 101 51

A double-blind, intra-individual cross-over comparison of the effect of piracetam on retrograde memory impairement as measured by the KS memory test battery was performed in connection with second and third Bi-ECT in 18 patients diagnosed as suffering from depression. The seizure duration and the post-ECT EGG patterns were examined visually and the post-ECT confusion time was measured. Piracetam was given orally in the dose of 4.8 g/day for 3 days. No significant effects were obtained on memory scores, electrical stimulus duration, EEG pattern or post-ECT confusion time. The findings may indicate that the protective effect of piracetam shown in animal electroconvuslive stimulation (ECS) is due to a counteraction of the disturbing effect of hypoxia on memory functions. It is concluded that more information is needed as regards the pharmacokinetics and the mode of action of the drug.
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PMID:Does piracetam counteract the ECT-induced memory dysfunctions in depressed patients? 109 38


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