Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0020505 (hyperphagia)
 6,116 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

In winters 1990-1991 and 1991-1992 women with and without seasonal affective disorder, winter type, were treated by light at 2500 lux either in the morning (0800h-1000h) or afternoon (1600h-1800h). In winter before light treatment, melatonin levels in serum in daytime (1200h and 1600h) were higher in patients compared to controls (p < 0.05). This difference disappeared in the summer or after light treatment in the winter. Also, light treatment and change in season resulted in a phase advance shift of melatonin rhythm in patients. The decline in melatonin levels correlated with the decline in specific SAD symptoms of hyperphagia and carbohydrate craving. In winter, neither patients nor controls showed significant diurnal variations in levels of whole blood serotonin. In both patients and controls, levels of serotonin were higher in summer as compared with winter, especially at 2000h. Our data suggest that elevated daytime melatonin can be a state marker of winter depression, and that seasonal change of photoperiod may also affect the circadian amplitude and daytime levels of blood serotonin.
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PMID:Diurnal and seasonal variations of melatonin and serotonin in women with seasonal affective disorder. 798 18

Winter depression (seasonal affective disorder, SAD) is characterised by a seasonal major depressive episode in the last 2 years. Hypersomnia, carbohydrate-craving and weight-gain are specific traits. These patients preferentially seek help from their General Practitioner. Current research on the aetiology of SAD covers fields such as retinal deficiency, phase-disturbance of the internal circadian rhythms given by internal oscillators and neuro-endocrinologically expressed disorders, assuming that melatonin is the main mediator of human circadian systems in the CNS. Disorders of neurotransmitters (serotonin) are another cue. Recent longitudinal studies show a prevalence of seasonal depressive symptoms in up to 10% of the general population. Among patients treated for depression, the prevalence of SAD is even higher. The SAD sex-ratio of women to men of 3 to 1 is found repeatedly. SAD becomes rare above the age of 50. Effectiveness of phototherapy is showed in nearly all controlled studies. Bright light appears to be most effective for patients with mild SAD. Hypersomnia and hyperphagia seem to be predictors of response to bright light therapy. To enable evaluation of unspecific therapeutic factors in phototherapy a true placebo for bright light-studies is still to be found. Possible new indications for photo therapy are currently being explored. Bright light for non- seasonal depression has been tested with encouraging results; panic disorders seem to have features in common with SAD; effectiveness in bulimia has been suggested and recently sleep disorders in elderly patients have been successfully and substantially diminished.
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PMID:[Winter depression and phototherapy. The state of the art]. 952 84

Reliability and validity of direct visual analogue scale (VAS) ratings of improvement were assessed in 162 patients with Seasonal Affective Disorder, Winter Depression type (W-SAD), after light treatment for 6 consecutive days. The patients were rated with the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) and a scale for the 'atypical' symptoms hypersomnia, hyperphagia and carbohydrate craving (the ATYP scale) before and after treatment. After treatment the patients also self-rated their global improvement on a 10-cm VAS, with anchoring points of 'No improvement' and 'Complete improvement'. VAS ratings were repeated several times, with 1-4 weeks between assessments, in a follow-up period, always referring to improvement in relation to baseline, and accompanied by a statement whether there had been any change since the former VAS rating. Shortly after treatment there was a mean reduction of 59.8% on the MADRS and 57.1% on the ATYP score, and 58.4% improvement as measured by the VAS. VAS rating correlated highly with percentage reduction of MADRS scores (r=0.85) and somewhat less with reduction of ATYP scores (r=0.64). VAS ratings in the follow-up period showed an extremely high test-retest reliability (r=0.96) for two consecutive ratings between which the patient stated that there had been no definite change. The results support the use of VAS ratings for assessment of global improvement after light treatment in patients suffering from W-SAD; use in other kinds of depression and with other types of treatment remains to be explored.
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PMID:Direct assessment of improvement in winter depression with a visual analogue scale: high reliability and validity. 992 90