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Department of Defense and HHS officials on Wednesday announced a program under which the departments will send 200 psychiatrists, social workers and other mental health care professionals to military facilities to treat the increased number of soldiers who have post-traumatic stress disorder, the Washington Times reports.
Adm. Joxel Garcia, assistant secretary for health at HHS, said that the program will coordinate scientific research for the mental health care needs of soldiers and improve treatment and prevention efforts for PTSD. Garcia said, "We are very proud that this is an effort to essentially serve not only the veterans that are coming from war, but also their families."
S. Ward Casscells, assistant DOD secretary for health affairs, said, "The cavalry riding to the rescue is the public health service." He added that the departments might decrease the number of mental health care professionals sent under the program to 100, as the current number assumes "that there would be a surge of people asking for mental counseling and psychological counseling" because of efforts to "reduce the stigma of asking for help, to assure people that this won’t adversely impact their career" (Hudson, Washington Times, 6/5).
Reprinted with kind permission from You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.
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More people suffer from being overweight and have high blood pressure and metabolic disturbances in East Germany than in West Germany. This is the result of a study with almost 36 000 patients, published in the current edition of the Deutsches ?

"Depression may increase the risk of developing Alzheimer’s", The Daily Telegraph says. It reports on a study that followed more than 900 Catholic clergy for up to 13 years. The study found that those who developed the disease had more symptoms of depression at the beginning of the study.
The main aim of the research was to look at changes in depressive symptoms in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. There is a known association between dementia and depression. However, there are different theories as to whether depression causes Alzheimer’s or whether they both develop because of a separate cause. By investigating changes in the severity of depression around the time that dementia develops, the researchers hoped to shed some light on the debate.
Their study found no increase in depressive symptoms before Alzheimer’s became evident. This suggests that depression is not an early sign of the same processes that cause dementia. The researchers say that this therefore implies that depressive symptoms are a risk factor for Alzheimer’s.
This study challenges the theory that depression and dementia are caused by another factor. It therefore adds weight to, but does not prove, the theory that depression is a risk factor for dementia. However, this study has shortcomings, and further research that is free of these should provide a clearer picture. Until more is known, depression sufferers should not be overly worried that they will develop dementia.
Where did the story come from?
Dr Robert Wilson and colleagues from the Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, and the Center for Neurobiology and Behaviour at the University of Pennsylvania carried out the research. The study was funded by the National Institute of Aging. It was published in Archives of General Psychiatry, a peer-reviewed medical journal.
What kind of scientific study was this?
This was a cohort study designed to investigate the theory that depressive symptoms increase during the early stages of Alzheimer’s.
The researchers used participants from the Religious Orders Study, which has been investigating ageing and Alzheimer’s in a group of Catholic nuns, priests and brothers since 1994. The researchers excluded those who already had dementia by giving the participants a clinical assessment to identify those with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s.
The researchers then identified those with depression using a recognised scale and gave them a score that related to the number of symptoms reported. They also asked about certain personality characteristics and looked at past medical history.
Each year, the participants completed a depression scale to score their symptoms, and underwent a complete neurological examination to identify any mild cognitive impairment or onset of dementia.
When the researchers analysed their results, 917 people were available who had been in the study for an average of eight years. Alzheimer’s was the only form of dementia that the researchers were interested in, so people who developed other types of dementia were excluded.
The researchers were particularly interested in how depressive symptoms changed once Alzheimer’s had developed while taking into account other factors that could affect depression, such as age, sex, level of education, personality and vascular conditions. They also considered whether the number of symptoms at the start of the study was associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
What were the results of the study?
The main finding from this study was that depressive symptoms did not change prior to the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease being made, or following diagnosis.
During follow up, 190 participants went on to develop Alzheimer’s after an average of four years of follow up. They tended to be older and had poorer mental state scores as well as greater problems with memory and cognition at the beginning of the study.
The researchers confirmed the findings of previous studies by noting an association (not necessarily causal) between the measure of depression at the start of the study and incidence of Alzheimer’s disease. Those who developed Alzheimer’s were also older, had lower levels of cognitive function, were more concerned about their memory and had different personalities.
What interpretations did the researchers draw from these results?
The authors conclude that there is no increase in depressive symptoms during the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. They say that these results do not support the ‘reverse causality’ theory about depression and Alzheimer’s, i.e. that depression is an early sign of the processes leading to dementia. The study therefore implies that depression may be a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
Buy generic cialis What does the NHS Knowledge Service make of this study?
This study was set up to investigate whether symptoms of depression increased prior to dementia becoming established. It was carefully conducted and included a large number of medical assessments using recognised clinical criteria for diagnosing disease.
However, it should be noted that the participants were all older members of a religious order whose lifestyle and health behaviour may differ significantly from the general population. The participants also reported their symptoms themselves. Self reporting can introduce some error, particularly in people with cognitive impairment. Additionally, despite being a relatively large study, the number of people who went on to develop Alzheimer’s was quite small. Much larger numbers would be useful to draw more meaningful results. Finally, although the researchers tried to account for factors associated with the condition, such as age and family history, it is unclear whether their analysis has accomplished this fully.
Rather than investigating whether depression causes Alzheimer’s, this study was actually set up to investigate the theory that depression is an early indicator of the processes that cause dementia. It did not find evidence to support this theory.
It is often difficult to unpick the complexities of causation and association. Studies such as this add to the body of evidence behind the different theories. With the current level of knowledge, sufferers of depression should not be overly worried that they are at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s.
Links to the headlines
Depression linked to Alzheimer’s. BBC News, April 09 2008
This news comes from NHS Choices
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Stretching exercises may be more effective at reducing the risk of preeclampsia than walking is for pregnant women who have already experienced the condition and who do not follow a workout routine, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing.
Preeclampsia, or pregnancy-induced hypertension, is a condition that affects up to 8 percent of pregnancies every year and is among the leading causes of maternal and fetal illness and death worldwide.
The finding is contrary to existing studies and literature that suggest that rigorous exercise is the most effective way to reduce the risk of preeclampsia, said SeonAe Yeo, Ph.D., an associate professor with a specialty in women’s health at the UNC School of Nursing and the study’s lead researcher.
Yeo will present the findings Thursday (May 29) at the annual meeting of the American College of Sports Medicine in Indianapolis, Ind. The results will be published in the spring issue of the journal Hypertension in Pregnancy.
Preeclampsia is characterized by a marked increase in blood pressure during pregnancy and may be accompanied by swelling and kidney problems. generic clomid online buy It is diagnosed when blood pressure readings taken twice in six hours read 140/90 or higher.
"These results seemingly contradict the conventional wisdom that walking is the best protection pregnant women have against developing preeclampsia," Yeo said. "But for women who were not physically active before becoming pregnant and who have experienced preeclampsia with a previous pregnancy, that might not be the case."
From November 2001 to July 2006, 79 women with a previous preeclampsia diagnosis and a sedentary lifestyle participated in this National Institute of Nursing Research-funded study. Women were randomly assigned to either the walking group (41 women) or the stretching group (38 women) during the 18th week of pregnancy.
The walking group was asked to exercise for 40 minutes five times a week at moderate intensity, following the program recommended by the Surgeon General and the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Stretchers were also asked to perform slow, non-aerobic muscle movements with a 40-minute video fives times a week. Frequency and duration of exercise decreased in both groups as the pregnancy progressed.
At the end of pregnancy, almost 15 percent of women in the walking group had developed preeclampsia. Less than 5 percent of the stretching group developed the condition. While the incidence of preeclampsia in the walking group was similar to that reported in high-risk pregnancies, the frequency among the stretching group was similar to rates seen among the general population.
"Clearly, walking does not have a harmful effect during pregnancy," Yeo said. "But for women who are at high risk for preeclampsia, our results may suggest that stretching exercises may have a protective effect against the condition."
Stretching could provide protection against preeclampsia because stretchers produced more transferrin than walkers did, Yeo said. Transferrin is a plasma protein that transports iron through the blood and protects against oxidative stress on the body.
Yeo said these results could help prenatal care providers recommend different exercise plans based on an individual pregnant woman’s needs and abilities. Following an active exercise plan is good, she said, but only if a pregnant woman is truly able to do it. For some who already have a risk of preeclampsia, stretching might be a better option.
Co-authors of the study include Sandra Davidge, Ph.D., University of Alberta; David L. Ronis, Ph.D., University of Michigan School of Nursing and Veterans Administration Hospital in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Cathy L. Antonakos, Ph.D., University of Michigan School of Nursing; Robert Hayashi, M.D., University of Michigan School of Medicine; and Sharon O’Leary, M.D., St. Joseph Mercy Health Systems, Ypsilanti, Mich.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
210 Pittsboro St. Campus Box 6210
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
United States

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With the war in Iraq in its sixth year and a new generation of veterans requiring care, Geisinger Health System will host a conference May 13 that brings together military and civilian experts to better understand and meet the unique challenges faced by rural soldiers and their families.
The goal of the conference, Combat Stress Injuries/Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Implications for Rural Veterans and Their Families, is to encourage regional healthcare workers to work together to triage vulnerable rural soldiers to the VA and other community agencies.
"We can improve the dissemination of behavioral healthcare in rural areas through partnerships and shared resources," said Geisinger President and CEO Glenn Steele Jr., MD, PhD. "This is an approach that could work nationally."
Today, rural soldiers returning from a deployment - and eager to get home - often find themselves miles away from the closest government facility. As a result, many postpone needed behavioral care.
The conference will focus on making sure rural soldiers receive timely care from the appropriate source. Attendees will include doctors, nurses, social workers, mental health counselors and veterans.
Florida State University Traumatology Institute Director Charles Figley, PhD is the keynote speaker. Buy fosamax without prescription Retired U.S. Army officer and former Wilkes-Barre television news anchor Keith Martin will serve as the conference moderator.
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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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The Geisinger Rural Health Policy Institute and Florida State University Traumatology Institute are sponsoring the conference.
About Geisinger Health System
Founded in 1915, Geisinger Health System (Danville, PA) is one of the nation’s largest integrated health services organizations. Serving more than two million residents throughout central and northeastern Pennsylvania, the physician-led organization is at the forefront of the country’s rapidly emerging electronic health records movement. Geisinger is comprised of three medical center campuses, a 700-member group practice, a not-for-profit health insurance company and the Center for Health Research - dedicated to creating innovative new models for patient care, satisfaction and clinical outcomes. For more information, visit
Source: Patti Urosevich
Geisinger Health System
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