| Simple blood test could show whether an antidepressant is working
Researchers in the United States have discovered that a single protein in the brain changes its location within a cell membrane when an antidepressant is working. They say a simple blood test will establish whether an antidepressant is working. The researchers at the University of Illinois in Chicago have found that the change in location of the protein occurs within days of taking the drug. At present people suffering from depression wait weeks before they learn whether the drug they are taking will bring relief. But researchers say the possibility exists that blood from a patient on day zero and day four or five, will show whether the antidepressant is effective. Lead author Dr. Mark Rasenick and his team compared the brains of 16 clinically depressed people who committed suicide to the brains of cadavers with no history of psychiatric disorders and found a key difference in the location of a signaling protein known as Gs alpha.
Antidepressants no better than placebos: study
Antidepressant medications appear to help only severely depressed people, a new analysis has found. For most patients, the medications work no better than placebos, the study found. Researchers led by Irving Kirsch of the University of Hull in Britain reviewed 47 studies, both published and unpublished, on four antidepressants from a class of drugs called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs: Prozac, (also known as fluoxetine) Paxil (also called Seroxat or paroxetine) Effexor (also called venlafaxine or Novo-Venlafaxine) Serzone (also called nefazodone; no longer available in Canada but is available in the U.K.) The researchers wanted to know whether a patient's response to the antidepressant depended on how badly depressed they were to start out with.
Gas Chambers Used in West Virginia to Kill Homeless Animals
Some animal lovers want the law to be changed. Story by Nicky Walters
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CHARLESTON -- Every year in West Virginia, thousands of animals are put to sleep because shelters and pounds are overcrowded. But some animal lovers in the Mountain State are concerned about the way the animals are being killed. Rescuing dogs is a passion for Jane Siers. She adopted her two dogs Ellie and Scarlet. But she is concerned about the fate of other dogs and cats who aren't as lucky. In West Virginia, it is still legal to use carbon monoxide chambers and firearms as a means of killing unwanted animals at shelters and pounds. "I was just sick at heart because it never occurred to me this was going on," Siers said.
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