Postpartum Treatment Key for (preventing) Depression - U of T Study

[HuckleB]

Postpartum Treatment Key for Depression - U of T Study

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=27108

"The key to preventing postpartum depression may be individual support provided after birth by a health professional and tailored to a mother's needs, says a University of Toronto researcher.

"Health professionals want to identify pregnant women who may be at risk for postpartum depression in hopes of initiating preventive strategies," says U of T nursing professor Cindy-Lee Dennis. "But in my review of studies from around the world, I found no preventive effect of any strategy initiated before birth, including prenatal classes specifically targeting postpartum depression. It's not because the interventions are theoretically weak, but it's because compliance is low - women are busy and don't attend the classes."

After sifting through hundreds of studies, Dennis conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 15 randomized control trials focusing on prevention of postpartum depression. The trials involved 7,697 women. Her study is published in the July 2 issue of the British Medical Journal.

The evidence suggests postpartum depression may be preventable, says Dennis. In analyzing the prevention strategies used, Dennis found an overall 19 per cent reduction in postpartum depression. Individual assessment and intensive support provided by a health professional to at-risk women after they give birth was the most successful approach to preventing postpartum depression; group-based strategies weren't as effective. Risk factors for postpartum depression include past psychiatric history, a significant number of life stressors and lack of support.

..."


The caveat that the report doesn't state, is that the evidence actually indicates that postpartum depression may be preventable FOR SOME, but not all cases. That doesn't mean that this isn't valuable information. This should be followed up with further research.

[HawkerHurricane]

1. Well, the obvious thing to do is contact your local Operational Thetan

and 'clear' them.

(Scientology joke, ok? Sarcasm.)

[HysteryDiagnosis]

2. Why not do what some do..... I mean, what could it hurt to do some

trials and see what happens??? Wait, they already have. Nevermind.



1: J Affect Disord. 2002 May;69(1-3):15-29. Related Articles, Links


Seafood consumption, the DHA content of mothers' milk and prevalence rates of postpartum depression: a cross-national, ecological analysis.

Hibbeln JR.

Laboratory of Membrane Biophysics and Biochemistry, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Park 5, Room 150, 12420 Parklawn Drive, Rockville, MD 20892, USA. [e-mail]

BACKGROUND: Mothers selectively transfer docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) to their fetuses to support optimal neurological development during pregnancy. Without sufficient dietary intake, mothers become depleted of DHA and may increase their risk of suffering major depressive symptoms in the postpartum period. We postulated that the DHA content of mothers' milk and seafood consumption would both predict prevalence rates of postpartum depression across countries. METHODS: Published prevalence data for postpartum depression were included that used the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (n=14532 subjects in 41 studies). These data were compared to the DHA, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and arachidonic acid (AA) content in mothers' milk and to seafood consumption rates in published reports from 23 countries. RESULTS: Higher concentrations of DHA in mothers' milk (r=-0.84, p<0.0001, n=16 countries) and greater seafood consumption (r=-0.81, p<0.0001, n=22 countries) both predicted lower prevalence rates of postpartum depression in simple and logarithmic models, respectively. The AA and EPA content of mothers' milk were unrelated to postpartum depression prevalence. LIMITATIONS: These findings do not prove that higher omega-3 status cause lower prevalence rates of postpartum depression. Data on potentially confounding factors were not uniformly available for all countries. CONCLUSIONS: Both lower DHA content in mothers' milk and lower seafood consumption were associated with higher rates of postpartum depression. These results do not appear to be an artifact of cross-national differences in well-established risk factors for postpartum depression. Interventional studies are needed to determine if omega-3 fatty acids can reduce major postpartum depressive symptoms.

PMID: 12103448

1: J Lipid Res. 2005 Mar;46(3):516-25. Epub 2004 Dec 16. Related Articles, Links


Comparison of bloodstream fatty acid composition from African-American women at gestation, delivery, and postpartum.

Stark KD, Beblo S, Murthy M, Buda-Abela M, Janisse J, Rockett H, Whitty JE, Martier SS, Sokol RJ, Hannigan JH, Salem N Jr.

Laboratory of Membrane Biochemistry and Biophysics, Division of Intramural Clinical and Biological Research, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA.

Our aim was to examine the docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n-3) status of pregnant African-American women reporting to the antenatal clinic at Wayne State University in a longitudinal study design. Fatty acid compositions of plasma and erythrocyte total lipid extracts were determined and food frequency surveys were administered at 24 weeks of gestation, delivery, and 3 months postpartum for participants (n = 157). DHA (mean +/- SD) in the estimated total circulating plasma was similar at gestation (384 +/- 162 mg) and delivery (372 +/- 155 mg) but was significantly lower at 3 months postpartum (178 +/- 81 mg). The relative weight percentage of DHA and docosapentaenoic acid n-6 (DPAn-6; 22:5n-6) decreased postpartum, whereas their respective metabolic precursors, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA; 20:5n-3) and arachidonic acid (AA; 20:4n-6), increased. Similar results were found in erythrocytes. Dietary intake of DHA throughout the study was estimated at 68 +/- 75 mg/day. The relative amounts of circulating DHA and DPAn-6 were increased during pregnancy compared with 3 months postpartum, possibly via increased synthesis from EPA and AA. The low dietary intake and blood levels of DHA in this population compared with others may not support optimal fetal DHA accretion and subsequent neural development.

PMID: 15604519

[tosca_veritas]

3. excellent information!!

I suffered from a long period of post partum depression and since have worked in the OB/GYN field! I will pass this on to my friend, who is an OB/GYN physician (no, not an AMA/FDA puppet, she doesn't practice in the USA! LOL )

the wonderful effects of EFA is just now coming out-- thank you very much for posting this!

tosca