Diabetic Adults and Depression

Information which was released during the 69^th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association in 2009 reveals that adults diagnosed with type 1 diabetes are more likely to suffer from clinical depression than adults without the disease.  Diabetic adults also take more anti-depressant medicine
, being almost two times as likely to take prescription antidepressants as non-diabetics. Diabetics struggles with depression are receiving growing awareness by the medical community. Many physicians are now regularly screening patients with diabetes for symptoms of depression, especially those with other health issues related to their diabetes.

A diagnosis of type 1 diabetes usually occurs in children or young adults and is the fourth leading cause of mortality around the world. It is an incurable disease which can bring about many serious health complications.  Also called juvenile diabetes (or insulin-dependent diabetes), the disease develops when the pancreas is unable to produce sufficient amounts of insulin to stabilize the body's blood sugar levels. Over time, the pancreatic cells which manufacture insulin are completely destroyed and the body is rendered incapable of any insulin production. Without insulin replacement or other diabetes medication, a patient with diabetes will become severely sick and even die.

Diabetes can cause other health problems such as retinopathy, blindness, amputation, cardiovascular disease, neuropathy, and kidney or pancreas failure. People with type 1 diabetes who are experiencing such medical complications are most likely to have anxiety and depression. Such patients say that they have constant concerns over their health, are less able to maintain regular employment, and may experience significant physical pain or discomfort.Most patients can control their diabetes but often need the help from a thorough team of medical professionals which consists of: a primary care doctor, eye doctor, nutritionist, podiatrist, kidney specialist, cardiologist, and dentist.  Since depression is common among diabetics, a psychologist or psychiatrist is often necessary. Many type 1 diabetics can successfully manage their disease with insulin and other supplemental diabetes medicines. They do need to closely monitor their health but can expect to live longer and healthier than ever before. In recent years, antidepressant medicines
are now also being given to such patients.  They are helping them better cope with their condition and enjoy a better quality of life.

Miracle Medicine for a Migraine

Almost everyone has experienced a headache at some point in their life. In fact, ninety-nine percent of people have them at least once per year. Most of the time they just forget about it or take a common pain reliever, like aspirin or ibuprofen, and feel better soon. However, some headaches are so painful that they are completely incapacitating. They can prevent someone from working, driving, or generally participating in their life. These headaches can bring with them other nasty symptoms like diarrhea, nausea, and hypersensitivity to light and sound. Some people with these kinds of severe headaches will notice their limbs grow cold, their face is pale, and even simplest of movement causes their pain to intensify. These headaches are called migraines. The World Health Organization estimates that twenty million people have a migraine attack a day and they affect people of every race and in all countries.


Migraines have been around for a long time. There are people throughout history who are believed to suffer from this kind of head pain, such as Julius Caesar, Thomas Jefferson, Joan of Arc, Ulysses S. Grant, and Sigmund Freud. Some theorists believe that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was actually inspired by Lewis Carroll’s symptoms of a migraine aura. Vincent Van Gogh is another famous figure whose work is believed to have been derived in part by his migraine headaches.

Migraines are considered to be a “vascular headache” and, common as they are, doctors still don’t know exactly what causes them. The prevailing medical belief is that blood vessels in the brain swell until they press on nerve fibers, which give off chemicals that cause feelings of pain. The tendency to have migraines could be hereditary and may also be linked to changing hormone levels in women, who are more likely to suffer from migraines than men. They can occur as an isolated headache or happen in clusters, where someone may experience severe, reoccurring head pain that may continue for hours, days, or even weeks at a time! Since the pain from a migraine can be so bad; it’s commonly referred to as an “attack.”

People that are in the throes of a severe migraine can feel desperate for relief. In years past, patients with migraines suffered in silence. They went into a dark room, applied cold clothes to their heads, and lie still while waiting for the pain to subside. In time, people attempted to manage their migraine pain with aspirin and later analgesics like acetaminophen (Tylenol) or ibuprofen. However, most patients found these methods didn’t offer sufficient pain relief or they weren’t able to take such medication. For many migraine-sufferers, the advent of migraine-abortive medication was the equivalent of a pharmaceutical miracle. These drugs don’t just treat the pain but go right to the cause – the swollen arteries. Triptans are one type of migraine medicine which brings down the swelling of the blood vessels and reduces the amount of chemical substances which cause pain. Among those most commonly prescribed by doctors are Imitrex® (Imigran), Zomig®, and Rizatriptan (Maxalt®). Flunarizine (Sibelium®) is part of another class of drugs which can be used for migraines called channel blocking agents, which relax the blood vessels and encourage a better blood-flow. These medicines can all be purchased at reduced prices at http://www.pacificonlinepharmacy.com/ by both physicians and patients. Frequent migraine sufferers can also be treated with prophylactic medications such as beta blockers and calcium channel blockers. Even tricyclic antidepressants and anticonvulsant medications can be employed to help thwart a migraine While it is very good for the creative world that Vincent Van Gogh couldn’t take Imitrex® (Imigran) or any of other of today’s migraine-abortive medications, I’m sure at times the artist really wished he could have.

Why is U.S. Antidepressant Drug Use on the Rise?

There are many more people in the United States taking antidepressants. The good news is that it's not necessarily because they are more depressed. Recent studies show that the use of antidepressant drugs is definitely on the rise in the United States.  The usage rate has been steadily climbing over the past ten years. A study which was published in August, within the Archives of General Psychiatry, analyzed the frequency of antidepressant drugs and antipsychotic medicines prescribed specifically during the years 1996 – 2005.  The results showed that use of various types of such drugs  increased substantially – up almost seventy-five percent, by both males and females of all ages and races (with the exception being African Americans). Use of  antidepressants continued to build in the years following the study.  In 2008, over 164 million prescriptions were given to patients for antidepressant drugs, which IMS Health adds up to $9.6 billion in United States pharmaceutical sales.

While the facts speak for themselves, they lead to the question, "Why are Americans taking more medication to treat depression?"  While on the surface it seems as if more people in the U.S. are just growing more and more depressed, when taking a closer look that's not necessarily true. Currently in America, there are reasons people are feeling anxious and unhappy.  People in the United States are dealing with an ongoing economic recession and a national increase in unemployment. There is also generalized social anxiety related to domestic terrorism and a year of political change. However, social and economic conditions were always variable and fluctuations are not new to people.  While these things may cause some to worry or feel disheartened, that is not the same as clinical depression. It could be that there's an increase in antidepressant drug use because more patients are seeking medical care for their condition. In the past, there was something of a social stigma for those suffering from depression and people were ashamed to admit they suffered from the disease. It wasn't publically perceived as a medical condition and people felt those with ongoing depression should just be able to "snap out of it" themselves.  This made many of those afflicted feel ashamed and they tried to hide their mental and emotional struggles.  Sadly, patients who failed to seek help, either through talking or drug therapy, often saw their psychological state deteriorate. However, now that there is more main-stream awareness of depression, people are less reticent to reach out for treatment. Among their treatment options, pharmaceutical therapy has proved to be one of the most effective methods of controlling this disease and their use is now widespread among people with depression and other mental health conditions.

Other contributing factors to the increase in such drug use are the amount of antidepressant medicines which are now available, the improvements in such medication, and the more frequent drug advertising which is direct-to-consumer.  People are learning from television and print ads that depression is frequently diagnosed and told that they have pharmaceutical options which can help.  The medical community has also approved the use of antidepressant drugs to treat an expanded range of mental health afflictions so such medicine is more widely used in general. Among the most commonly prescribed antidepressant drugs are those which affect the neurotransmitter serotonion, such as Paroxetine (Paxil®, Aropax®), Fluoxetine hydrochloride (Prozac®), Escitalopram oxalate (Lexapro®), Citalophram (Celexa®), or Sertraline (Zoloft®, Lustral®). However, use of almost all antidepressant medication has been documented to be on the increase. Tricyclic antidepressants such as Doxepin (Sinequan®), Dothiepin (Prothiaden®) and  Imipramine (Tofranil®) are prescribed to help stabilize certain brain chemicals and improve the mood of affected patients, as are norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor drugs such as Reboxetine (Edronax®).  Reboxetine (Edronax®) can be given to people suffering from clinical depression, generalized panic disorder, or conditions such as ADD/ADHD.   Some mental disorders are treated with more than just one drug, so patients can be seen taking antidepressant or other medications in conjunction with each other.

Antidepressant medication is being taken more by people who have another disease, apart from their depression, as adjunctive drug therapy. This can happen when a patient's diagnosis, symptoms, or treatment is contributing to a generally depressed state of mind. Patients being diagnosed with progressive, incurable conditions such as Alzheimer's disease, Cancer, or Parkinson's disease may also be given antidepressant medicine to help them cope.  Under these circumstances, such patients may only use the medicine short-term, while they come to terms with their prognosis, or long-term to ensure a more consistent and positive state of mental wellbeing.

Antidepressant medication is also more affordable now, through alternative means online.  Instead of having to visit a traditional drugstore, people can purchase medication through an online pharmacy.  Such pharmacies carry an extensive supply of these medicines and offer them at a substantial price discount.  Since patients can more easily afford their antidepressant medicine, they are more willing to use it. Online pharmacies ship mental health medication to people directly and discreetly to their homes.  This more private alternative helps those people who may still be embarrassed about their condition to obtain their medication without the worry about being observed. After looking at the rise in the use of antidepressant drugs by Americans, when considering all the contributing reasons, it's good to realize it's not just because of their state of mind.