Dietary Supplements to Prevent Postpartum Depression? Proceed with Caution
Over the last few days, there has been a lot of buzz regarding the use of a nutritional supplement to reduce risk of postpartum depression. Quoting one of these articles: "'Women who take the supplement don't get sad [in the early days of motherhood],' said Dr. Jeffrey Meyer, co-author of a study testing this blues-banishing regimen." But before we get too excited about this supplement, we need to take a closer [...]
Stimulants In Pregnancy and Increased Risk of Gestational Hypertension
Our group has noted that we are seeing an increase in the number of consultations for women treated with psychostimulants in combination with an antidepressant. The reasons vary. Some women have depression and comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sometimes a psychostimulant is used to manage residual symptoms and side effects, such as fatigue and cognitive deficits. In other situations, stimulants are used to enhance the effects of the antidepressant. Historically we [...]
Weekly Roundup for MARCH 17, 2017: Recent Publications in Women’s Mental Health
The most interesting article this week is from Dowlati and colleagues assessing the effectiveness of a nutritional supplement to decrease risk for postpartum blues. While intriguing, it is not clear how effective this intervention will prove to be. We will have a post on this paper next week. Dowlati Y, Ravindran AV, Segal ZV, Stewart DE, Steiner M, Meyer JH. Selective dietary supplementation in early postpartum is associated [...]
Synthetic Oxytocin and Its Effect on Postpartum Mood and Anxiety
Often referred to as the “hormone of love," oxytocin plays an important role in childbirth, maternal behavior, lactation, social affiliation, and sexual pleasure. Levels of oxytocin, a neuropeptide produced by the hypothalamus and released into the bloodstream via the pituitary gland, rise around the time of delivery. These levels remain high after delivery, specifically increasing in response to warm social or physical contact. Synthetic oxytocin, also known as Pitocin, is frequently [...]
Effectiveness of Psychological Interventions for Postpartum Depression in Primary Care
Postpartum depression (PPD) has been identified as the “most under-recognized, under-diagnosed, and under-treated obstetrical complication in America”, affecting approximately 10-15% of new mothers. In addition to affecting maternal mental health during a critical time in a woman’s life, there are are a number of downstream effects associated with undiagnosed or untreated PPD such as impaired bonding with the baby, shorter duration of breastfeeding, and marital difficulties. Currently, nearly every state [...]
In Brief: Anxiety Associated with Worse Quality of Life in Postmenopausal Women
In a study including Latin American women 40 to 59 years of age who had not menstruated for more than 1 year (or had undergone a bilateral oophorectomy), 49.1% of the participants were depressed and 61.9% reported anxiety symptoms. Although women with a history of psychiatric illness were excluded, rates of depression and anxiety observed in this study were higher than documented in previous studies. Anxiety was independently associated with severe [...]