Active clinical trials for "Depression"

Depression carries the largest burden of all medical disorders in middle to high income countries, as determined by the World Health Organization. Despite many antidepressant strategies, only a third of patients get well after their first treatment and a third remain ill after several treatments. Moreover, antidepressant treatments all have a delayed action ranging up to several weeks. Ketamine (KET) has been used for decades as a sedative and anesthetic. In treatment-resistant depressed patients(TRD), an intravenous dose much lower than necessary for anesthesia may produce a robust antidepressant effect and may even abolish suicidal thoughts within hours, peaking within 24 hours. But, its antidepressant effect generally lasts only days.Previous studies examining KET in TRD have been critiqued for lack of an effective placebo measure due to brief perceptual experiences associated with KET. Thus, the current study compares KET against a short-acting sedative. The phases of this study compare response to a single KET injection to 6 injections over 2 weeks. Next, KET responders are given 1 injection a week for 3 weeks of either KET or the sedative agent to determine if beneficial effects of KET are maintained, and to assess duration of its benefits after repeated administration. The genetic profile of patients for a substance promoting contacts between cells and brain will be determined to investigate if response to KET could be predicted with that blood test. This substance, as well as several chemicals that produce inflammation, will also be measured in the blood to investigate their role in the effect of KET. Patients will receive, in total, no more than the equivalent of two to three anesthetic dose of KET. Results from this study will help establish the beneficial effects of a single KET injection as a rapid intervention for major depression, and to investigate the possibility of obtaining a prolonged antidepressant effect with repeated injections.

The present study aims to examine the efficacy and safety of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids for pregnant women with depressive symptoms.

Spinal cord Injury (SCI) is a condition commonly associated with a state of chronic low-grade inflammation due to a variety of factors such heightened risk for infection and development of metabolic disorders. Many disorders which have been demonstrated to have an inflammatory basis have also been found to be at much higher prevalence following SCI. Such conditions include, but are not limited to, depression, cognitive impairment, neuropathic pain, and somatic/autonomic nerve function. The fact that such disorders have an inflammatory basis provides a unique opportunity to treat them with intervention strategies which target the immune system. Natural anti-inflammatory interventions including a diet consisting of foods and supplements with anti-inflammatory properties may be an effective option for treating inflammation in this population. As this treatment strategy will target the inflammatory basis of many disorders it would be expected to lead to a reduction in pro-inflammatory mediators thereby leading to more sustainable long-term immune improvements regarding enzyme function and protein balances. Despite this, surprisingly little research has focused on the use of anti-inflammatory foods for the treatment of chronic inflammatory conditions, and effects specific to SCI have been almost completely neglected. As such, the current study will focus on the daily intake of natural supplements with anti-inflammatory properties over a 3 month intervention and the effects on inflammation and associated disorders will be assessed. It is hypothesized that the supplementation will result in positive alterations in enzyme regulation and protein balances resulting in improvements in each of the outcome measures of interest.

The goal of this open-administration treatment study of citalopram (or duloxetine) is to evaluate the effect of antidepressant medication on treating the syndrome of "frailty" in older adults with depressive symptoms. Patients with significant depressive symptoms (defined as CES-D (Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression scale) > 10) and 1 or more symptoms of the frailty syndrome (exhaustion, decreased energy, weight loss, decreased grip strength, and slow/unsteady gait) will be evaluated and treated with citalopram (or duloxetine) for 8 weeks to test whether antidepressant medication improves both the syndrome of frailty and depressive symptoms. Patients evaluated at the Adult and Late Life Depression clinic and eligible to participate in the study will be treated with an antidepressant medication and assessed on the primary outcome variables (characteristics of frailty, depressive symptoms) as well as on secondary variables which include cognition (global cognition, episodic memory, executive function), and function (physical mobility, instrumental activities of daily living, and social functioning) prior to treatment initiation and following 8-weeks of treatment. The hypotheses for this protocol predict that we will discover a significant improvement on both frailty characteristics and depressive symptoms in this clinical population when treated with antidepressant medication (citalopram or duloxetine).

The goals of this research were to conduct a mental health intervention study for reducing self-reported depression and anxiety among migrant workers in a labor-intensive industry in China and to assess the effectiveness of the integrated mental health interventions aimed at promoting the mental health of migrant workers in labor-intensive industries in China.

A study to evaluate efficacy and safety of flexibly dosed Lurasidone in children and adolescents with bipolar I depression

To investigate the efficacy and safety of flexibly dosed adjunctive brexpiprazole treatment in active adults with MDD, 18 to 35 years old, who are experiencing an inadequate selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)/serotonin norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) response in a school or work environment.

The purpose of this study is to investigate whether citizens experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression will benefit from a self-management training program with respect to: 1) Self-efficacy, and 2) Symptoms of anxiety and depression, and 3) Self reported measures of Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL)

In this study, the investigators will perform an exploratory randomized trial of Positive Psychology (PP). The trial will consist of 50 participants and will compare the impact of a phone-based PP intervention vs. an attentional control condition, in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) patients who are hospitalized for SI or following a suicide attempt. This is a 12 week trial with 6 weeks of intervention and two blinded follow-up assessments at 6 and 12 weeks. Specific Aim #1: To assess the feasibility and acceptability of the phone-based PP intervention in this high-risk population. Hypotheses: The intervention will be feasible (with most patients completing at least 4/6 PP and with follow-up data from at least 80% of subjects). The ratings of ease and subjective helpfulness of the exercise and other mental states as measured before and after each PP exercise will be more than 6 out of 10 and higher than the same ratings obtained from subjects in the control condition. Specific Aim #2: To examine the impact of the six-session PP intervention on positive psychological well-being. Hypothesis: Compared to control subjects, subjects randomized to PP will have greater scores on scales of optimism (measured via the Life Orientation Test-Revised [LOT-R]), gratitude (Gratitude Questionnaire-6 [GQ-6]), and positive affect (Positive Affect Negative Affect Schedule [PANAS]) at 6 and 12 weeks. Specific Aim #3 (primary aim): To assess the impact of the PP intervention on key suicide risk factors. Hypothesis: PP subjects will have greater scores on scales of hopelessness (Beck Hopelessness Scale [BHS]; primary study outcome measure), suicidal ideation (SI) (Concise Health Risk Tracking scale [CHRT]), and depression (Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report [QIDS-SR]) at 6 and 12 weeks. We will also measure impact on readmission and suicide attempts to assess these key outcomes.

Depression is highly prevalent among patients with heart failure (HF) and associated with lower levels of health-related quality of life and physical functioning, and higher risk of rehospitalization and mortality, and higher health costs. This Project will compare the effectiveness of a "blended" telephone-delivered collaborative care intervention for treating both HF and depression to: (1) collaborative care for HF-alone ("enhanced usual care"; eUC); and (2) doctors' "usual care" for depression (UC). If proven effective and cost-effective, the potentially more powerful, scalable, efficient "blended" care approach for treating HF and co-morbid depression could have profound implications for improving chronic illness care and stimulate development of "blended" interventions for treating other clusters of related medical conditions.