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Excercise works just as well as antidepressants, according to new study

You may have noticed that exercise boosts your mood.

And you may have heard of “endorphins” and “runner’s high.”

Not surprisingly, in the last couple decades, there has been great interest in looking at the mental health value of exercise. Until recently, however, most studies investigating exercise in the treatment of depression have not been conducted with the same level of scientific rigor as the clinical trials used to bring anti-depressant medications to the market.

Limitations of previous studies have included the absence of a control group, individuals not randomly assigned to study groups, and testing the effects of exercise on individuals who were not suffering from a mood disorder. But now there is very interesting news.

A recent placebo-controlled study published in the September issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine compared exercise to a common antidepressant medication in a group of individuals diagnosed with major depressive disorder, and found that exercise was as effective as the drug at alleviating symptoms of the disorder.

In this study, 202 depressed adults were randomly assigned to one of four groups: one that received the antidepressant sertraline, one that worked out in a supervised group setting three times a week, one that worked out at home, and one that received a placebo pill.

After 4 months of treatment, 41% of the participants achieved remission, defined as no longer meeting the criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD) and a HAM-D score of <8. Patients receiving active treatments tended to have higher remission rates than the placebo controls: supervised exercise = 45%; home-based exercise = 40%; medication = 47%; placebo = 31% (p = .057). All treatment groups had lower HAM-D scores after treatment; scores for the active treatment groups were not significantly different from the placebo group (p = .23).

Conclusions: The efficacy of exercise in patients seems generally comparable with patients receiving antidepressant medication and both tend to be better than the placebo in patients with depression.

Placebo response rates were high, suggesting that a considerable portion of the therapeutic response is determined by patient expectations, ongoing symptom monitoring, attention, and other nonspecific factors.

Source:

Psychosomatic Medicine, September 2007; Calm Energy: How People Regulate Mood with Food and Exercise. Robert E. Thayer, Ph.D., Oxford University Press, 2001.

Is Michael Moore Lying? The Wall Street Journal doesn't think so. Watch WSJs mini-Sicko!

As Medical Costs Soar, The Insured Face Huge Tab

Jim Dawson Hit Cap After Hospital Padding; The $1.2 Million Bill

By JOHN CARREYROU November 29, 2007; Page A1

MERCED, Calif. -- One day in late July, Jim Dawson happily returned home. He had spent the previous five months in the hospital battling an infection that nearly killed him. The phone rang shortly after Mr. Dawson and his wife, Loretta, entered their house.

It was the hospital. California Pacific Medical Center was calling to remind the Dawsons that they owed it $1.2 million.

Jim Dawson survived a catastrophic illness only to face a $1.2 million medical bill.

Mr. Dawson, 61 years old, had health insurance through his employer, but had maxed out his plan's $1.5 million lifetime cap halfway through his long hospital stay. In addition to the bill from CPMC, Mr. Dawson owed tens of thousands of dollars more to scores of doctors who were involved in his care. Mr. Dawson and his wife's combined assets totaled a fraction of their medical debt.

"I had never thought in a million years that anything like that could ever happen," says Mrs. Dawson.

Continue reading here.

Scary image of obesity in the U.S.

Keep watching and see what happens!

Female hormones in beer and male chauvinism in news rooms.

Scientists at Europe's annual human reproduction conference said that "the results or a recent analysis revealed the presence of female hormones in beer," and suggested that "men should take a look at their beer consumption."

This may be an appropriate warning irrespective of hormone content, however, BrandweekNRX feels the conclusions at the end of the newspaper article below are inappropriate and sexist.

Just as a reminder, it wasn't long ago since advertising involving women looked like this . . . apparently not much has changed in some news rooms.

Boom! goes bust when enriched with Viagra.

The Star Ledger today reported that two men are scheduled to appear in federal court today, charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

They marketed a herbal supplement used to enhance sexual performance, one that was less expensive and "probably far safer" than prescription Viagra.

They called it Boom! and now they're going bust.

Turns out the formula for Boom! contains the active ingredient of Viagra, according to federal authorities in Manhattan, who arrested the men yesterday.

As part of the FBI investigation, a representative from Pfizer, which makes Viagra, purchased Boom! and determined it contained the active ingredient in their trademarked product.

Pfizer also determined Boom! is being distributed through Web sites in England, Russia, Argentina, Japan and elsewhere, the criminal complaint said.

Sounds like the person who really did the work was John Theriault. He is a 25-year veteran of the FBI, and is now Pfizer's vice president of global security. He heads a team of former FBI and US Customs agents that break cases for government law enforcement.

The web site for Boom, however, is still up and running.

Quote of the day: "They don't seem to agree that they are liable"

Settlement talks over alleged injuries and deaths of children in Nigeria, involved in a drug study by Pfizer Inc. have stalled.

Mariam Uwais, the Nigerian government attorney was quoted saying, "In terms of liability, they don't seem to agree that they are liable," she said.

Really? We're surprised.

The case was launched by Nigeria's federal government and is seeking $7 billion in damages, while a separate case stemming by the Nigerian state Kano is seeking $2 billion.

Pfizer officers who worked for the company at the time of the study, among them former CEO Bill Steere, are also subject to criminal charges, according to Nigerian lawyers.

Associated Press has the story.

Street dentists!

Don't like the cost of dentists in the U.S.?

Check out these street-dentists and their tools in Bangalore, India. Watch all images.

BrandweekNRX loves great commercials

Here is one. Check the visuals carefully . . .

We just wish we could find a drug ad like this one . . . instead of old Elvis songs or butterflies landing on people in the night.

Disability Awareness Day

I didn't think I'd post this, but . . . the video convinced me . . . it was Disability Awareness day and a guy with autism sings the National Anthem and started laughing in the middle . . . check out what the audience does to support him.