Oxford study aims to lower sadness after brain injury

A study has been started to discover if a mild anti-depressant can cut depression rates in patients with a traumatic brain injury.

The study, called STOP-D, is a collaboration between Oxford University Hospitals and Kings College London.

Patients will receive either the light anti-depressant sertraline or a dummy for a full year.

The study's aim is to track the possible impacts of sertraline on depression and life quality.

It will recruit patients from nine of England’s top trauma centres, covering a wide range of socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds.

Dr Vanessa Raymont, co-chief investigator on the study from the University of Oxford's Psychiatry department said: "Given that the risk of developing depression for those patients with a traumatic brain injury is so great, this study is a crucial step in supporting those patients to receive the best possible outcome for their long-term recovery and wellbeing.

"The risk of post-traumatic depression emerging so soon after a traumatic brain injury suggests that initiation of an anti-depressant within a few weeks of the traumatic brain injury could greatly reduce the incidence of post-traumatic depression.

"Our findings will inform whether - and how - to integrate the screening and management for depression in traumatic brain injury patients within major trauma centres nationally."

Up to half of people who suffer a traumatic brain injury develop some type of depression within 10 years of their injury.

Comments

Cutting calories may reduce cellular ageing and increase lifetime.

State College, Pennsylvania — Penn State researchers are presenting fresh persuasive data linking diets to ageing. Their study focused on telomeres, the genetic "end caps" that protect our chromosomes, and how calorie restriction impacts them. The scientists studied data from a two-year trial of caloric restriction in humans and published their findings in the journal Ageing Cell. They discovered that those who restricted their calories lost telomeres at different rates than the control group. Despite this, both groups concluded the research with roughly identical telomere lengths. Previous research found that reducing calories by 20 to 60 percent resulted in prolonged life for a variety of species. When a person's cells split, some telomeres are lost as chromosomes are copied to a new cell. The cell's telomeres are then shortened in total. The telomere cap eventually disappears as cells divide. The genetic information on the chromosome becomes more vulnerable to de...

DUI without alcohol? A rare syndrome in the intestines may be the culprit.

Imagine you are a police officer. You see a car swerving all over the road. You pull over the driver, and they are plainly inebriated. They insist, with slurred speech, that they haven't consumed any alcohol all day. Do you believe them? In 2024, a Belgian man was acquitted after being arrested three times for DUI in four years. Though his position at a brewery raised suspicions, he asserted that he had not been drinking. Three doctors confirmed that he had auto-brewery syndrome and was ignorant. People with this illness have microorganisms in their intestines that produce abnormally high levels of alcohol when they break down sugars and carbs. Though it is an uncommon condition, a lady was acquitted of a DUI conviction in 2016 after being diagnosed with the same syndrome. Her blood alcohol level was four times the legal limit. I am a microbiologist who is fascinated by how the gut microbiome influences human health. As the author of the book "Pleased to Meet Me: Genes, G...

A study reveals serious side effects from common dementia medications.

Several antipsychotic medications used to treat dementia patients have been linked to dangerous side effects such as heart failure, according to a study released Thursday. A study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) found that using antipsychotics in persons with dementia can lead to major adverse outcomes such as stroke, blood clots, heart attack, heart failure, fracture, pneumonia, and acute kidney injury. Scientists discovered that the greatest hazards arise when therapy begins, "underscoring the need for increased caution in the early stages of treatment". Risperidone, quetiapine, haloperidol, and olanzapine are common antipsychotic medications used to treat psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia. They are also used to treat depression that has proven resistant to other drugs, as well as those suffering from dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. Antipsychotics are not designed to heal these conditions, but rather to alleviate certain symptoms such ...

DOCSTUDYZONE

Search This Blog