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What Do Sex Therapists Do? (Hint: It’s Not What You Think)
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Rachel S. Rubin, MD: We are here at the Harvard Continuing Medical Education Course in Orlando, Florida. It’s all about testosterone therapy and sexual medicine. I have with me today the wonderful Dr. Marianne Brandon, who is an amazing sex therapist. Could you introduce yourself?
Marianne Brandon, PhD: I am a clinical psychologist and sex therapist. I’ve been in practice for more than 25 years. I’m currently located in Sarasota. I have a Psychology Today blog called The Future of Intimacy, which I have a lot of fun with.
Dr. Rubin: It’s very important, when taking care of patients, that we work in a biopsychosocial model. Yes, we can fix erectile dysfunction. We can help with menopause symptoms and that helps sexual function. But what I find makes my patients able to live their best lives is when they have a team, including a mental health professional — often a sex therapist or a couples’ therapist — where they can learn communication skills. Why is it important for primary care doctors to talk to their patients about sex? My primary care doctor has never asked me about sex.
Dr. Brandon: People have more struggles than you realize. Sexual dysfunction correlates with emotional issues such as depression and anxiety, with medical problems, and with medication use. Chances are that your patients have some kind of sexual concern, even if that’s not to the degree that it would be classified as a sexual dysfunction.
But sexual concerns wreak havoc. Believing they have a sexual problem, they stop touching, they stop relating to their partner. It becomes a really big deal in their lives. If you can open the door for a conversation about sex with your patients, it could do them a great deal of good. It’s also good for the practitioner, because if your patients think they can talk with you about anything, that’s going to establish your relationship with them. Practitioners avoid these conversations because they don’t have the time or the training to offer help.
Dr. Rubin: You don’t have to know all the answers. You just have to show empathy and compassion and say, “I hear you.” That’s the magic in the doctor-patient relationship. We refer patients to specialists when we don’t know what to do. What happens when I send a patient to a sex therapist? Do they watch them have sex? Of course not, but everyone thinks that is what sex therapists do.
Dr. Brandon: Sex therapy is just like any other type of therapy, but we discuss sexual issues. And because just about anything that’s happening in your patient’s life can trickle down into the bedroom, we end up talking about a lot of stuff that’s not directly related to sex but ultimately impacts the patient’s sex life.
Dr. Rubin: It’s true. Most medical conditions that we treat — from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity to depression and anxiety — are strongly correlated with sexual health. We treat the underlying condition, but our patients don’t care about their A1c levels. They care about the fact that they cannot get aroused; their genitals don’t feel the same way they used to.
Dr. Brandon: I love that point because people make meaning out of their sexual concerns and dysfunction. Suddenly their body isn’t responding the way it used to. They think something’s wrong with them, or maybe they are with the wrong partner. This meaning becomes very powerful in their mind and perpetuates the sexual problem.
Dr. Rubin: First and foremost, we are educators. We can say, “You have pretty out-of-control diabetes,” or, “You’re a smoker, which can affect the health of your genitals. Have you noticed any issues going on there?” If you don’t ask, patients will not bring up their concerns with their doctors.
So how do people find a sex therapist?
Dr. Brandon: There are a few fabulous organizations that provide on their websites ways to find a therapist: the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and Sex Therapy and Research (STAR). Giving patients this information is a huge intervention.
Other places to find a therapist include the International Society for Sexual Medicine, and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.
Since COVID, many therapists have gone virtual. Encourage your patients to look within their states to find options for therapists and psychologists. Recent legislation allows psychologists who have signed up for PSYPACT to practice almost throughout the entire United States. We used to think if we didn’t have a therapist in the community, we couldn’t make a referral. That›s not the case anymore.
Dr. Rubin: All doctors are really sexual medicine doctors. We can change the whole world by giving our patients a better quality of life.
Dr. Rubin, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Urology, Georgetown University, Washington, disclosed ties to Sprout, Maternal Medical, Absorption Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, and Endo.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Rachel S. Rubin, MD: We are here at the Harvard Continuing Medical Education Course in Orlando, Florida. It’s all about testosterone therapy and sexual medicine. I have with me today the wonderful Dr. Marianne Brandon, who is an amazing sex therapist. Could you introduce yourself?
Marianne Brandon, PhD: I am a clinical psychologist and sex therapist. I’ve been in practice for more than 25 years. I’m currently located in Sarasota. I have a Psychology Today blog called The Future of Intimacy, which I have a lot of fun with.
Dr. Rubin: It’s very important, when taking care of patients, that we work in a biopsychosocial model. Yes, we can fix erectile dysfunction. We can help with menopause symptoms and that helps sexual function. But what I find makes my patients able to live their best lives is when they have a team, including a mental health professional — often a sex therapist or a couples’ therapist — where they can learn communication skills. Why is it important for primary care doctors to talk to their patients about sex? My primary care doctor has never asked me about sex.
Dr. Brandon: People have more struggles than you realize. Sexual dysfunction correlates with emotional issues such as depression and anxiety, with medical problems, and with medication use. Chances are that your patients have some kind of sexual concern, even if that’s not to the degree that it would be classified as a sexual dysfunction.
But sexual concerns wreak havoc. Believing they have a sexual problem, they stop touching, they stop relating to their partner. It becomes a really big deal in their lives. If you can open the door for a conversation about sex with your patients, it could do them a great deal of good. It’s also good for the practitioner, because if your patients think they can talk with you about anything, that’s going to establish your relationship with them. Practitioners avoid these conversations because they don’t have the time or the training to offer help.
Dr. Rubin: You don’t have to know all the answers. You just have to show empathy and compassion and say, “I hear you.” That’s the magic in the doctor-patient relationship. We refer patients to specialists when we don’t know what to do. What happens when I send a patient to a sex therapist? Do they watch them have sex? Of course not, but everyone thinks that is what sex therapists do.
Dr. Brandon: Sex therapy is just like any other type of therapy, but we discuss sexual issues. And because just about anything that’s happening in your patient’s life can trickle down into the bedroom, we end up talking about a lot of stuff that’s not directly related to sex but ultimately impacts the patient’s sex life.
Dr. Rubin: It’s true. Most medical conditions that we treat — from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity to depression and anxiety — are strongly correlated with sexual health. We treat the underlying condition, but our patients don’t care about their A1c levels. They care about the fact that they cannot get aroused; their genitals don’t feel the same way they used to.
Dr. Brandon: I love that point because people make meaning out of their sexual concerns and dysfunction. Suddenly their body isn’t responding the way it used to. They think something’s wrong with them, or maybe they are with the wrong partner. This meaning becomes very powerful in their mind and perpetuates the sexual problem.
Dr. Rubin: First and foremost, we are educators. We can say, “You have pretty out-of-control diabetes,” or, “You’re a smoker, which can affect the health of your genitals. Have you noticed any issues going on there?” If you don’t ask, patients will not bring up their concerns with their doctors.
So how do people find a sex therapist?
Dr. Brandon: There are a few fabulous organizations that provide on their websites ways to find a therapist: the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and Sex Therapy and Research (STAR). Giving patients this information is a huge intervention.
Other places to find a therapist include the International Society for Sexual Medicine, and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.
Since COVID, many therapists have gone virtual. Encourage your patients to look within their states to find options for therapists and psychologists. Recent legislation allows psychologists who have signed up for PSYPACT to practice almost throughout the entire United States. We used to think if we didn’t have a therapist in the community, we couldn’t make a referral. That›s not the case anymore.
Dr. Rubin: All doctors are really sexual medicine doctors. We can change the whole world by giving our patients a better quality of life.
Dr. Rubin, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Urology, Georgetown University, Washington, disclosed ties to Sprout, Maternal Medical, Absorption Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, and Endo.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
Rachel S. Rubin, MD: We are here at the Harvard Continuing Medical Education Course in Orlando, Florida. It’s all about testosterone therapy and sexual medicine. I have with me today the wonderful Dr. Marianne Brandon, who is an amazing sex therapist. Could you introduce yourself?
Marianne Brandon, PhD: I am a clinical psychologist and sex therapist. I’ve been in practice for more than 25 years. I’m currently located in Sarasota. I have a Psychology Today blog called The Future of Intimacy, which I have a lot of fun with.
Dr. Rubin: It’s very important, when taking care of patients, that we work in a biopsychosocial model. Yes, we can fix erectile dysfunction. We can help with menopause symptoms and that helps sexual function. But what I find makes my patients able to live their best lives is when they have a team, including a mental health professional — often a sex therapist or a couples’ therapist — where they can learn communication skills. Why is it important for primary care doctors to talk to their patients about sex? My primary care doctor has never asked me about sex.
Dr. Brandon: People have more struggles than you realize. Sexual dysfunction correlates with emotional issues such as depression and anxiety, with medical problems, and with medication use. Chances are that your patients have some kind of sexual concern, even if that’s not to the degree that it would be classified as a sexual dysfunction.
But sexual concerns wreak havoc. Believing they have a sexual problem, they stop touching, they stop relating to their partner. It becomes a really big deal in their lives. If you can open the door for a conversation about sex with your patients, it could do them a great deal of good. It’s also good for the practitioner, because if your patients think they can talk with you about anything, that’s going to establish your relationship with them. Practitioners avoid these conversations because they don’t have the time or the training to offer help.
Dr. Rubin: You don’t have to know all the answers. You just have to show empathy and compassion and say, “I hear you.” That’s the magic in the doctor-patient relationship. We refer patients to specialists when we don’t know what to do. What happens when I send a patient to a sex therapist? Do they watch them have sex? Of course not, but everyone thinks that is what sex therapists do.
Dr. Brandon: Sex therapy is just like any other type of therapy, but we discuss sexual issues. And because just about anything that’s happening in your patient’s life can trickle down into the bedroom, we end up talking about a lot of stuff that’s not directly related to sex but ultimately impacts the patient’s sex life.
Dr. Rubin: It’s true. Most medical conditions that we treat — from diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, and obesity to depression and anxiety — are strongly correlated with sexual health. We treat the underlying condition, but our patients don’t care about their A1c levels. They care about the fact that they cannot get aroused; their genitals don’t feel the same way they used to.
Dr. Brandon: I love that point because people make meaning out of their sexual concerns and dysfunction. Suddenly their body isn’t responding the way it used to. They think something’s wrong with them, or maybe they are with the wrong partner. This meaning becomes very powerful in their mind and perpetuates the sexual problem.
Dr. Rubin: First and foremost, we are educators. We can say, “You have pretty out-of-control diabetes,” or, “You’re a smoker, which can affect the health of your genitals. Have you noticed any issues going on there?” If you don’t ask, patients will not bring up their concerns with their doctors.
So how do people find a sex therapist?
Dr. Brandon: There are a few fabulous organizations that provide on their websites ways to find a therapist: the American Association of Sex Educators, Counselors and Therapists (AASECT) and Sex Therapy and Research (STAR). Giving patients this information is a huge intervention.
Other places to find a therapist include the International Society for Sexual Medicine, and the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health.
Since COVID, many therapists have gone virtual. Encourage your patients to look within their states to find options for therapists and psychologists. Recent legislation allows psychologists who have signed up for PSYPACT to practice almost throughout the entire United States. We used to think if we didn’t have a therapist in the community, we couldn’t make a referral. That›s not the case anymore.
Dr. Rubin: All doctors are really sexual medicine doctors. We can change the whole world by giving our patients a better quality of life.
Dr. Rubin, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Urology, Georgetown University, Washington, disclosed ties to Sprout, Maternal Medical, Absorption Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, and Endo.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
Can Treating Depression Mitigate CVD Risk?
TOPLINE:
Depression is linked to a significantly increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly in women, new data from a large retrospective cohort study show.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed health insurance claims from more than 4 million Japanese patients filed between 2005 and 2022.
- Participants were 18-75 (median age, 44) without a history of CVD or stroke, heart failure, or atrial fibrillation.
- Investigators followed participants for a mean period of 2.5-3.5 years to observe the number of CVD events in those who had a diagnosis of depression.
- During the follow-up period, there were 119,000 CVD events in men (14 per 10,000 person-years) and 61,800 CVD events in women (111 per 10,000 person-years).
TAKEAWAY:
- Compared with women without depression, those with depression had a 64% higher risk for CVD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.64), while men with depression had a 39% higher risk for CVD vs their counterparts without depression (HR, 1.39; P < .001).
- This association was significant even after controlling for various factors such as body mass index, diabetes, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity.
- Investigators offered several theories about the increased risk for CVD in women with depression, including how depression during hormonal shifts can contribute to a greater impact on cardiovascular health.
IN PRACTICE:
“Healthcare professionals must recognize the important role of depression in the development of CVD and emphasize the importance of a comprehensive, patient-centered approach to its prevention and management,” study author Hidehiro Kaneko, MD, said in a press release. “Assessing the risk of CVD in depressed patients and treating and preventing depression may lead to a decrease of CVD cases.”
SOURCE:
Keitaro Senoo, MD, of the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, led the study, which was published online on March 12 in JACC: Asia.
LIMITATIONS:
The study is observational, so causality between depression and subsequent CVD events cannot be established. In addition, depression severity is unknown.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan. There were no disclosures reported.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
TOPLINE:
Depression is linked to a significantly increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly in women, new data from a large retrospective cohort study show.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed health insurance claims from more than 4 million Japanese patients filed between 2005 and 2022.
- Participants were 18-75 (median age, 44) without a history of CVD or stroke, heart failure, or atrial fibrillation.
- Investigators followed participants for a mean period of 2.5-3.5 years to observe the number of CVD events in those who had a diagnosis of depression.
- During the follow-up period, there were 119,000 CVD events in men (14 per 10,000 person-years) and 61,800 CVD events in women (111 per 10,000 person-years).
TAKEAWAY:
- Compared with women without depression, those with depression had a 64% higher risk for CVD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.64), while men with depression had a 39% higher risk for CVD vs their counterparts without depression (HR, 1.39; P < .001).
- This association was significant even after controlling for various factors such as body mass index, diabetes, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity.
- Investigators offered several theories about the increased risk for CVD in women with depression, including how depression during hormonal shifts can contribute to a greater impact on cardiovascular health.
IN PRACTICE:
“Healthcare professionals must recognize the important role of depression in the development of CVD and emphasize the importance of a comprehensive, patient-centered approach to its prevention and management,” study author Hidehiro Kaneko, MD, said in a press release. “Assessing the risk of CVD in depressed patients and treating and preventing depression may lead to a decrease of CVD cases.”
SOURCE:
Keitaro Senoo, MD, of the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, led the study, which was published online on March 12 in JACC: Asia.
LIMITATIONS:
The study is observational, so causality between depression and subsequent CVD events cannot be established. In addition, depression severity is unknown.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan. There were no disclosures reported.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
TOPLINE:
Depression is linked to a significantly increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly in women, new data from a large retrospective cohort study show.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers analyzed health insurance claims from more than 4 million Japanese patients filed between 2005 and 2022.
- Participants were 18-75 (median age, 44) without a history of CVD or stroke, heart failure, or atrial fibrillation.
- Investigators followed participants for a mean period of 2.5-3.5 years to observe the number of CVD events in those who had a diagnosis of depression.
- During the follow-up period, there were 119,000 CVD events in men (14 per 10,000 person-years) and 61,800 CVD events in women (111 per 10,000 person-years).
TAKEAWAY:
- Compared with women without depression, those with depression had a 64% higher risk for CVD (hazard ratio [HR], 1.64), while men with depression had a 39% higher risk for CVD vs their counterparts without depression (HR, 1.39; P < .001).
- This association was significant even after controlling for various factors such as body mass index, diabetes, smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity.
- Investigators offered several theories about the increased risk for CVD in women with depression, including how depression during hormonal shifts can contribute to a greater impact on cardiovascular health.
IN PRACTICE:
“Healthcare professionals must recognize the important role of depression in the development of CVD and emphasize the importance of a comprehensive, patient-centered approach to its prevention and management,” study author Hidehiro Kaneko, MD, said in a press release. “Assessing the risk of CVD in depressed patients and treating and preventing depression may lead to a decrease of CVD cases.”
SOURCE:
Keitaro Senoo, MD, of the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan, led the study, which was published online on March 12 in JACC: Asia.
LIMITATIONS:
The study is observational, so causality between depression and subsequent CVD events cannot be established. In addition, depression severity is unknown.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded by the Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare, Japan, and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, Japan. There were no disclosures reported.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
Paid Parental Leave: Impact on Maternal Mental Health and Child Wellbeing
Maternal mental health has a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of the child. Since the onset of the pandemic, rates of postpartum depression have increased, affecting an estimated 1 in 5 women.1 Numerous studies show the impact of postpartum depression on the newborn child across multiple domains, from bonding to healthy weight gain to meeting developmental milestones.
While new medications are being studied and approved to specifically target postpartum depression, these treatments are inaccessible to many because of high costs and long wait lists. Beyond medication, structural changes such as paid parental leave have been shown to have a substantial impact on maternal mental health, thus impacting the health of children as well.
Implications for Mothers and Children
Psychiatric diagnoses such as postpartum depression are on the rise.1,2 This is likely attributable to a combination of factors, including increased isolation since the start of the pandemic, worsening health inequities across race and socioeconomic status, and difficulty accessing mental health care.3-5 The effect that postpartum depression has on the family is significant for the newborn as well as other children in the home.
Data suggest that postpartum depression impacts both the physical and mental health of the child. Infants of mothers with postpartum depression may experience challenges with weight gain, decreased breastfeeding, sleep disruptions, and delays in achieving developmental milestones.6-9 They may also show decreased maternal infant bonding, challenges with cognitive development including language and IQ, and increased risk of behavioral disturbances.10,11 These effects are likely attributable to a combination of factors, including decreased maternal responsiveness to infant cues.7,12 Many of these effects are mediated by the chronicity and severity of depressive symptoms, suggesting the importance of screening and treatment of postpartum depression.10,11 However, treatment for postpartum depression can be difficult to access, particularly given the increased level of need.
It is therefore critical to consider what structural interventions and policy changes can decrease the risk of developing postpartum depression. Data consistently show that access to paid parental leave improves maternal mental health outcomes. Among patients with access to parental leave, research shows that paid leave of longer duration, at least 2-3 months, is the most protective.13 Studies have identified decreased depressive symptoms, decreased stress, decreased use of mental health services, and decreased hospital admissions among women with longer parental leave.13 The positive effects of paid parental leave on maternal mental health can extend beyond the postpartum period, solidifying its impact on the long-term health outcomes of both mother and child.13
Advocacy Is Imperative
In 2024, the United States is the only high-income country, and one of only seven countries in the world, that does not guarantee access to paid parental leave. The Family Medical Leave Act is a 31-year-old federal law that requires some employers to provide unpaid leave to eligible employees. It is narrow in scope, and it excludes many low-wage workers and LGBTQ+ families. Thirteen states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington — as well as the District of Columbia, have enacted their own paid leave policies. However, there are no federal laws requiring access to paid parental leave. As of 2023, fewer than 30% of workers in the United States have access to paid parental leave, and only 16% of employees in the service industry have access to paid parental leave.14 This disproportionately affects families from lower income backgrounds, and further exacerbates socioeconomic, racial, and gender inequities. From a health systems lens, this increases risk of adverse maternal mental health outcomes among those who already have decreased access to mental health services, worsening health disparities.
Paid parental leave has strong public support across party lines, with polls showing the majority of Americans support comprehensive paid family and medical leave.15 Despite this, the United States has failed to enact legislation on this issue since 1993. Multiple attempts at expanding leave have not come to fruition. In the past year, both the house and the senate have announced bipartisan efforts to expand access to paid parental leave. However, legislative frameworks are still in early stages.
As physicians, it is crucial that we advocate for expanded access to paid parental leave. We must use our expertise to speak to the impact that paid parental leave can have on the mental and physical health of parents, children, and families. By advocating for paid parental leave, we can help create a more just and equitable healthcare system.
Dr. Shannon is a second-year psychiatry resident at University of California, Los Angeles. She attended Stanford University for her undergraduate degree and Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine for medical school. Her interests include perinatal psychiatry, health systems research, and mental health policy advocacy. Dr. Richards is assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences; program director of the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship; and associate medical director of the perinatal program at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles.
References
1. Wang Z et al. Mapping Global Prevalence of Depression Among Postpartum Women. Transl Psychiatry. 2021 Oct 20. doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01663-6.
2. Iyengar U et al. One Year Into the Pandemic: A Systematic Review of Perinatal Mental Health Outcomes During COVID-19. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jun 24. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.674194.
3. World Health Organization. Mental Health and COVID-19: Early Evidence of the Pandemic’s Impact: Scientific Brief. 2022 Mar 2. www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Sci_Brief-Mental_health-2022.1.
4. Masters GA et al. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health, Access to Care, and Health Disparities in the Perinatal Period. J Psychiatr Res. 2021 May. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.02.056.
5. Shuffrey LC et al. Improving Perinatal Maternal Mental Health Starts With Addressing Structural Inequities. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022 May 1. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.0097.
6. Lubotzky-Gete S et al. Postpartum Depression and Infant Development Up to 24 months: A Nationwide Population-Based Study. J Affect Disord. 2021 Apr 15. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.02.042.
7. Saharoy R et al. Postpartum Depression and Maternal Care: Exploring the Complex Effects on Mothers and Infants. Cureus. 2023 Jul 4. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41381..
8. Gress-Smith JL et al. Postpartum Depression Prevalence and Impact on Infant Health, Weight, and Sleep in Low-Income and Ethnic Minority Women and Infants. Matern Child Health J. 2012 May. doi: 10.1007/s10995-011-0812-y.
9. Kim S et al. The Impact of Antepartum Depression and Postpartum Depression on Exclusive Breastfeeding: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Clin Nurs Res. 2022 Jun. doi: 10.1177/10547738211053507.
10. Mirhosseini H et al. Cognitive Behavioral Development in Children Following Maternal Postpartum Depression: A Review Article. Electron Physician. 2015 Dec 20. doi: 10.19082/1673.
11. Grace SL et al. The Effect of Postpartum Depression on Child Cognitive Development and Behavior: A Review and Critical Analysis of the Literature. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2003 Nov. doi: 10.1007/s00737-003-0024-6.
12. Milgrom J et al. The Mediating Role of Maternal Responsiveness in Some Longer Term Effects of Postnatal Depression on Infant Development. Infant Behavior and Development. 2004 Sep 11. doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2004.03.003.
13. Heshmati A et al. The Effect of Parental Leave on Parents’ Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Lancet Public Health. 2023 Jan. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00311-5.
14. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, What Data Does the BLS Publish on Family Leave? 2023 Sept 21. www.bls.gov/ebs/factsheets/family-leave-benefits-fact-sheet.htm.
15. Horowitz JM et al. Americans Widely Support Paid Family and Medical Leave, But Differ Over Specific Policies. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, Pew Research Center. 2017 Mar 23. www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/03/23/americans-widely-support-paid-family-and-medical-leave-but-differ-over-specific-policies/.
Maternal mental health has a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of the child. Since the onset of the pandemic, rates of postpartum depression have increased, affecting an estimated 1 in 5 women.1 Numerous studies show the impact of postpartum depression on the newborn child across multiple domains, from bonding to healthy weight gain to meeting developmental milestones.
While new medications are being studied and approved to specifically target postpartum depression, these treatments are inaccessible to many because of high costs and long wait lists. Beyond medication, structural changes such as paid parental leave have been shown to have a substantial impact on maternal mental health, thus impacting the health of children as well.
Implications for Mothers and Children
Psychiatric diagnoses such as postpartum depression are on the rise.1,2 This is likely attributable to a combination of factors, including increased isolation since the start of the pandemic, worsening health inequities across race and socioeconomic status, and difficulty accessing mental health care.3-5 The effect that postpartum depression has on the family is significant for the newborn as well as other children in the home.
Data suggest that postpartum depression impacts both the physical and mental health of the child. Infants of mothers with postpartum depression may experience challenges with weight gain, decreased breastfeeding, sleep disruptions, and delays in achieving developmental milestones.6-9 They may also show decreased maternal infant bonding, challenges with cognitive development including language and IQ, and increased risk of behavioral disturbances.10,11 These effects are likely attributable to a combination of factors, including decreased maternal responsiveness to infant cues.7,12 Many of these effects are mediated by the chronicity and severity of depressive symptoms, suggesting the importance of screening and treatment of postpartum depression.10,11 However, treatment for postpartum depression can be difficult to access, particularly given the increased level of need.
It is therefore critical to consider what structural interventions and policy changes can decrease the risk of developing postpartum depression. Data consistently show that access to paid parental leave improves maternal mental health outcomes. Among patients with access to parental leave, research shows that paid leave of longer duration, at least 2-3 months, is the most protective.13 Studies have identified decreased depressive symptoms, decreased stress, decreased use of mental health services, and decreased hospital admissions among women with longer parental leave.13 The positive effects of paid parental leave on maternal mental health can extend beyond the postpartum period, solidifying its impact on the long-term health outcomes of both mother and child.13
Advocacy Is Imperative
In 2024, the United States is the only high-income country, and one of only seven countries in the world, that does not guarantee access to paid parental leave. The Family Medical Leave Act is a 31-year-old federal law that requires some employers to provide unpaid leave to eligible employees. It is narrow in scope, and it excludes many low-wage workers and LGBTQ+ families. Thirteen states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington — as well as the District of Columbia, have enacted their own paid leave policies. However, there are no federal laws requiring access to paid parental leave. As of 2023, fewer than 30% of workers in the United States have access to paid parental leave, and only 16% of employees in the service industry have access to paid parental leave.14 This disproportionately affects families from lower income backgrounds, and further exacerbates socioeconomic, racial, and gender inequities. From a health systems lens, this increases risk of adverse maternal mental health outcomes among those who already have decreased access to mental health services, worsening health disparities.
Paid parental leave has strong public support across party lines, with polls showing the majority of Americans support comprehensive paid family and medical leave.15 Despite this, the United States has failed to enact legislation on this issue since 1993. Multiple attempts at expanding leave have not come to fruition. In the past year, both the house and the senate have announced bipartisan efforts to expand access to paid parental leave. However, legislative frameworks are still in early stages.
As physicians, it is crucial that we advocate for expanded access to paid parental leave. We must use our expertise to speak to the impact that paid parental leave can have on the mental and physical health of parents, children, and families. By advocating for paid parental leave, we can help create a more just and equitable healthcare system.
Dr. Shannon is a second-year psychiatry resident at University of California, Los Angeles. She attended Stanford University for her undergraduate degree and Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine for medical school. Her interests include perinatal psychiatry, health systems research, and mental health policy advocacy. Dr. Richards is assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences; program director of the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship; and associate medical director of the perinatal program at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles.
References
1. Wang Z et al. Mapping Global Prevalence of Depression Among Postpartum Women. Transl Psychiatry. 2021 Oct 20. doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01663-6.
2. Iyengar U et al. One Year Into the Pandemic: A Systematic Review of Perinatal Mental Health Outcomes During COVID-19. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jun 24. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.674194.
3. World Health Organization. Mental Health and COVID-19: Early Evidence of the Pandemic’s Impact: Scientific Brief. 2022 Mar 2. www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Sci_Brief-Mental_health-2022.1.
4. Masters GA et al. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health, Access to Care, and Health Disparities in the Perinatal Period. J Psychiatr Res. 2021 May. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.02.056.
5. Shuffrey LC et al. Improving Perinatal Maternal Mental Health Starts With Addressing Structural Inequities. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022 May 1. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.0097.
6. Lubotzky-Gete S et al. Postpartum Depression and Infant Development Up to 24 months: A Nationwide Population-Based Study. J Affect Disord. 2021 Apr 15. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.02.042.
7. Saharoy R et al. Postpartum Depression and Maternal Care: Exploring the Complex Effects on Mothers and Infants. Cureus. 2023 Jul 4. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41381..
8. Gress-Smith JL et al. Postpartum Depression Prevalence and Impact on Infant Health, Weight, and Sleep in Low-Income and Ethnic Minority Women and Infants. Matern Child Health J. 2012 May. doi: 10.1007/s10995-011-0812-y.
9. Kim S et al. The Impact of Antepartum Depression and Postpartum Depression on Exclusive Breastfeeding: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Clin Nurs Res. 2022 Jun. doi: 10.1177/10547738211053507.
10. Mirhosseini H et al. Cognitive Behavioral Development in Children Following Maternal Postpartum Depression: A Review Article. Electron Physician. 2015 Dec 20. doi: 10.19082/1673.
11. Grace SL et al. The Effect of Postpartum Depression on Child Cognitive Development and Behavior: A Review and Critical Analysis of the Literature. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2003 Nov. doi: 10.1007/s00737-003-0024-6.
12. Milgrom J et al. The Mediating Role of Maternal Responsiveness in Some Longer Term Effects of Postnatal Depression on Infant Development. Infant Behavior and Development. 2004 Sep 11. doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2004.03.003.
13. Heshmati A et al. The Effect of Parental Leave on Parents’ Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Lancet Public Health. 2023 Jan. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00311-5.
14. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, What Data Does the BLS Publish on Family Leave? 2023 Sept 21. www.bls.gov/ebs/factsheets/family-leave-benefits-fact-sheet.htm.
15. Horowitz JM et al. Americans Widely Support Paid Family and Medical Leave, But Differ Over Specific Policies. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, Pew Research Center. 2017 Mar 23. www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/03/23/americans-widely-support-paid-family-and-medical-leave-but-differ-over-specific-policies/.
Maternal mental health has a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of the child. Since the onset of the pandemic, rates of postpartum depression have increased, affecting an estimated 1 in 5 women.1 Numerous studies show the impact of postpartum depression on the newborn child across multiple domains, from bonding to healthy weight gain to meeting developmental milestones.
While new medications are being studied and approved to specifically target postpartum depression, these treatments are inaccessible to many because of high costs and long wait lists. Beyond medication, structural changes such as paid parental leave have been shown to have a substantial impact on maternal mental health, thus impacting the health of children as well.
Implications for Mothers and Children
Psychiatric diagnoses such as postpartum depression are on the rise.1,2 This is likely attributable to a combination of factors, including increased isolation since the start of the pandemic, worsening health inequities across race and socioeconomic status, and difficulty accessing mental health care.3-5 The effect that postpartum depression has on the family is significant for the newborn as well as other children in the home.
Data suggest that postpartum depression impacts both the physical and mental health of the child. Infants of mothers with postpartum depression may experience challenges with weight gain, decreased breastfeeding, sleep disruptions, and delays in achieving developmental milestones.6-9 They may also show decreased maternal infant bonding, challenges with cognitive development including language and IQ, and increased risk of behavioral disturbances.10,11 These effects are likely attributable to a combination of factors, including decreased maternal responsiveness to infant cues.7,12 Many of these effects are mediated by the chronicity and severity of depressive symptoms, suggesting the importance of screening and treatment of postpartum depression.10,11 However, treatment for postpartum depression can be difficult to access, particularly given the increased level of need.
It is therefore critical to consider what structural interventions and policy changes can decrease the risk of developing postpartum depression. Data consistently show that access to paid parental leave improves maternal mental health outcomes. Among patients with access to parental leave, research shows that paid leave of longer duration, at least 2-3 months, is the most protective.13 Studies have identified decreased depressive symptoms, decreased stress, decreased use of mental health services, and decreased hospital admissions among women with longer parental leave.13 The positive effects of paid parental leave on maternal mental health can extend beyond the postpartum period, solidifying its impact on the long-term health outcomes of both mother and child.13
Advocacy Is Imperative
In 2024, the United States is the only high-income country, and one of only seven countries in the world, that does not guarantee access to paid parental leave. The Family Medical Leave Act is a 31-year-old federal law that requires some employers to provide unpaid leave to eligible employees. It is narrow in scope, and it excludes many low-wage workers and LGBTQ+ families. Thirteen states — California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington — as well as the District of Columbia, have enacted their own paid leave policies. However, there are no federal laws requiring access to paid parental leave. As of 2023, fewer than 30% of workers in the United States have access to paid parental leave, and only 16% of employees in the service industry have access to paid parental leave.14 This disproportionately affects families from lower income backgrounds, and further exacerbates socioeconomic, racial, and gender inequities. From a health systems lens, this increases risk of adverse maternal mental health outcomes among those who already have decreased access to mental health services, worsening health disparities.
Paid parental leave has strong public support across party lines, with polls showing the majority of Americans support comprehensive paid family and medical leave.15 Despite this, the United States has failed to enact legislation on this issue since 1993. Multiple attempts at expanding leave have not come to fruition. In the past year, both the house and the senate have announced bipartisan efforts to expand access to paid parental leave. However, legislative frameworks are still in early stages.
As physicians, it is crucial that we advocate for expanded access to paid parental leave. We must use our expertise to speak to the impact that paid parental leave can have on the mental and physical health of parents, children, and families. By advocating for paid parental leave, we can help create a more just and equitable healthcare system.
Dr. Shannon is a second-year psychiatry resident at University of California, Los Angeles. She attended Stanford University for her undergraduate degree and Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine for medical school. Her interests include perinatal psychiatry, health systems research, and mental health policy advocacy. Dr. Richards is assistant clinical professor in the department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences; program director of the child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship; and associate medical director of the perinatal program at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, Los Angeles.
References
1. Wang Z et al. Mapping Global Prevalence of Depression Among Postpartum Women. Transl Psychiatry. 2021 Oct 20. doi: 10.1038/s41398-021-01663-6.
2. Iyengar U et al. One Year Into the Pandemic: A Systematic Review of Perinatal Mental Health Outcomes During COVID-19. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Jun 24. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.674194.
3. World Health Organization. Mental Health and COVID-19: Early Evidence of the Pandemic’s Impact: Scientific Brief. 2022 Mar 2. www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-2019-nCoV-Sci_Brief-Mental_health-2022.1.
4. Masters GA et al. Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health, Access to Care, and Health Disparities in the Perinatal Period. J Psychiatr Res. 2021 May. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.02.056.
5. Shuffrey LC et al. Improving Perinatal Maternal Mental Health Starts With Addressing Structural Inequities. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022 May 1. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2022.0097.
6. Lubotzky-Gete S et al. Postpartum Depression and Infant Development Up to 24 months: A Nationwide Population-Based Study. J Affect Disord. 2021 Apr 15. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2021.02.042.
7. Saharoy R et al. Postpartum Depression and Maternal Care: Exploring the Complex Effects on Mothers and Infants. Cureus. 2023 Jul 4. doi: 10.7759/cureus.41381..
8. Gress-Smith JL et al. Postpartum Depression Prevalence and Impact on Infant Health, Weight, and Sleep in Low-Income and Ethnic Minority Women and Infants. Matern Child Health J. 2012 May. doi: 10.1007/s10995-011-0812-y.
9. Kim S et al. The Impact of Antepartum Depression and Postpartum Depression on Exclusive Breastfeeding: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Clin Nurs Res. 2022 Jun. doi: 10.1177/10547738211053507.
10. Mirhosseini H et al. Cognitive Behavioral Development in Children Following Maternal Postpartum Depression: A Review Article. Electron Physician. 2015 Dec 20. doi: 10.19082/1673.
11. Grace SL et al. The Effect of Postpartum Depression on Child Cognitive Development and Behavior: A Review and Critical Analysis of the Literature. Arch Womens Ment Health. 2003 Nov. doi: 10.1007/s00737-003-0024-6.
12. Milgrom J et al. The Mediating Role of Maternal Responsiveness in Some Longer Term Effects of Postnatal Depression on Infant Development. Infant Behavior and Development. 2004 Sep 11. doi.org/10.1016/j.infbeh.2004.03.003.
13. Heshmati A et al. The Effect of Parental Leave on Parents’ Mental Health: A Systematic Review. Lancet Public Health. 2023 Jan. doi: 10.1016/S2468-2667(22)00311-5.
14. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, What Data Does the BLS Publish on Family Leave? 2023 Sept 21. www.bls.gov/ebs/factsheets/family-leave-benefits-fact-sheet.htm.
15. Horowitz JM et al. Americans Widely Support Paid Family and Medical Leave, But Differ Over Specific Policies. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project, Pew Research Center. 2017 Mar 23. www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2017/03/23/americans-widely-support-paid-family-and-medical-leave-but-differ-over-specific-policies/.
RA Outcomes Worsened by Depression and Anxiety, Signaling Need for Multidisciplinary Action
Patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and co-occurring anxiety or depression are less likely to achieve low disease activity (LDA) and better symptom control after 3 months of treatment, according to new research presented at the at the annual meeting of the Canadian Rheumatology Association.
The findings emphasized the importance of taking a multidisciplinary approach to RA treatment, said presenter Susan Bartlett, PhD, a professor in the Divisions of Clinical Epidemiology, Rheumatology, and Respiratory Epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
“In the absence of directly addressing anxiety and depression, people are not going to improve to the same extent we hope that they will,” she told this news organization.
Symptom Clusters in RA
In her research, presented on February 29, Dr. Bartlett explored how certain symptom clusters in RA predicted prognosis.
Symptom clusters are related symptoms that occur together and can be associated with worse outcomes than one symptom alone. Symptom science has been a growing interest in precision medicine, particularly for cancer, Dr. Bartlett noted, and this same approach could help pinpoint RA subtypes, disease trajectories, and personalized treatment.
In the study, Dr. Bartlett and colleagues used data from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH), a multisite prospective research study following individuals with new-onset RA. They identified patients starting methotrexate (MTX) therapy who also had clinical and patient-reported outcome measures available. Individuals included in the analysis may have also been taking additional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs beyond MTX.
Across the 310 selected individuals, researchers identified four key symptoms: Pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Pain and fatigue were defined as physical symptoms, while anxiety and depression were classified as emotional symptoms. Results showed that the patients could be sorted into four distinct symptom clusters: Minimal symptoms (12%), mild physical and emotional symptoms (11%), moderate to severe pain and fatigue (40%), and moderate to severe physical and emotional symptoms (37%).
Researchers then followed patients during the first 6 months of treatment to evaluate if patients’ symptoms improved.
Symptom improvement mostly occurred during the first 3 months of treatment and remained consistent at 6 months. Overall, patients with moderate to severe emotional symptoms had a worse prognosis and were less likely to achieve milder symptoms than those who had only pain and fatigue or mild emotional symptoms. While 64% of patients in the moderate to severe physical symptoms group achieved minimal symptoms after 3 months of treatment, only 13% of patients with moderate to severe physical and emotional systems reported minimal symptoms during this same time frame.
The study builds on previous work that “suggests that there are different factors that we can identify around the time of diagnosis that point to how well a person is likely to respond,” Dr. Bartlett added. “What our work is showing pretty clearly [is that] the presence of anxiety and depression is one of those important markers.”
Patients With Depression Report Worse Disease Activity
In a related study, researchers from the University of Ottawa explored how depression in RA affected subjective and objective disease measures.
The study included patients from the Ottawa Rheumatology Comprehensive Treatment and Assessment (ORCHESTRA) clinic at The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, which sees patients with inflammatory arthritis who are starting biologic therapy or switching to another biologic. The clinic is designed to take a more comprehensive approach to managing inflammatory arthritis, including addressing comorbidities such as cardiac disease, depression, and cancer. Patients seen at the clinic can opt to be included in the ORCHESTRA cohort to be a part of ongoing research.
From this cohort, researchers identified 98 patients with RA. At enrollment, patients were screened for depression using patient health questionnaire scores and asked about duration of morning stiffness and tender joint counts. Swollen joint counts, ultrasound, and clinical scores were used to evaluate disease activity.
In the study group, 47 patients had no depression, 21 patients had mild depression, and 30 patients had moderate to severe depression. Researchers found that subjective disease measures, including visual analog pain scale, health assessment questionnaire, and disease activity score in 28 joints were all higher in patients with depression; however, depression did not appear to affect objective disease measures, such as the Global OMERACT-EULAR Synovitis Score or Doppler scores.
While there is a known link between inflammation and depression, these findings suggest that depression is “a concomitant comorbidity just like cardiovascular disease, just like fibromyalgia, just like some other comorbidity that also needs to be addressed in its own right to improve the outcomes,” noted Elliot Hepworth, MD, a rheumatologist and ORCHESTRA clinic lead at The Ottawa Hospital, in an interview.
Dr. Hepworth presented the findings on March 1.
The data also suggested that patients with depression had poorer outcomes. For the 79 patients who had 3-month follow-up visit data, 43.9% of patients with no or mild depression achieved LDA and remission compared with 21.7% of patients with moderate to severe depression, though this difference was not statistically significant (P = .064). There was a similar trend for the 39 patients with 6-month follow-up data: Only 20% of patients with moderate to severe depression had reached LDA and remission compared with 37.9% of patients with no or mild depression (P = .445). The researchers noted this could be an issue with a smaller sample size.
“Every time more patients get added we approach closer to significance,” Dr. Hepworth added.
Some Disagreement, Same Takeaway
Commenting on the Ottawa study, Dr. Bartlett was skeptical of the conclusion that depression may not directly influence disease activity. “There’s just too much good evidence these days that [depression] very much coexists with worse disease activity,” she said. “It is not in the person’s head.”
Dr. Hepworth added that patient-reported outcomes are important for clinicians to address during treatment.
“There’s the tender joints, there’s the pain, there’s the fatigue, there’s the patient global assessment, which are subjective,” he said, “but that does not mean that they are not important. Those are important to the patient: That is how they’re living their life, and that is how they’re experiencing their disease.”
This is why efforts to treat depression in patients with RA such as cognitive behavioral therapy are so important, he said, to which Dr. Bartlett agreed.
“A comprehensive approach is required, which includes addressing depression,” she said. Otherwise, data show “that people just never make it to remission.”
The studies looked at different patient populations but ultimately complement each other, added Sibel Aydin, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and senior author of the Ottawa study.
“Two different cohorts with different patient populations still reached the same result,” she said. “If you don’t address the emotional aspect, you are not going to achieve the good outcomes.”
“It’s remarkable when you have two independent researchers coming to the same conclusion without ever talking to each other,” added Dr. Hepworth. “That really shows that this is something that’s pervasive, and it’s not just within our patient population.”
CATCH is funded by unrestricted research grants from programs with Pfizer, AbbVie, Roche, Sandoz, Fresenius Kabi, Organon, Viatris, JAMP, and Celltrion. Dr. Bartlett is president of the PROMIS Health Organization. She is a member of speakers bureaus or has consulted for Pfizer, Sandoz, Merck, Janssen, and Organon. Dr. Hepworth and Dr. Aydin declared no conflicts of interest.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com .
Patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and co-occurring anxiety or depression are less likely to achieve low disease activity (LDA) and better symptom control after 3 months of treatment, according to new research presented at the at the annual meeting of the Canadian Rheumatology Association.
The findings emphasized the importance of taking a multidisciplinary approach to RA treatment, said presenter Susan Bartlett, PhD, a professor in the Divisions of Clinical Epidemiology, Rheumatology, and Respiratory Epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
“In the absence of directly addressing anxiety and depression, people are not going to improve to the same extent we hope that they will,” she told this news organization.
Symptom Clusters in RA
In her research, presented on February 29, Dr. Bartlett explored how certain symptom clusters in RA predicted prognosis.
Symptom clusters are related symptoms that occur together and can be associated with worse outcomes than one symptom alone. Symptom science has been a growing interest in precision medicine, particularly for cancer, Dr. Bartlett noted, and this same approach could help pinpoint RA subtypes, disease trajectories, and personalized treatment.
In the study, Dr. Bartlett and colleagues used data from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH), a multisite prospective research study following individuals with new-onset RA. They identified patients starting methotrexate (MTX) therapy who also had clinical and patient-reported outcome measures available. Individuals included in the analysis may have also been taking additional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs beyond MTX.
Across the 310 selected individuals, researchers identified four key symptoms: Pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Pain and fatigue were defined as physical symptoms, while anxiety and depression were classified as emotional symptoms. Results showed that the patients could be sorted into four distinct symptom clusters: Minimal symptoms (12%), mild physical and emotional symptoms (11%), moderate to severe pain and fatigue (40%), and moderate to severe physical and emotional symptoms (37%).
Researchers then followed patients during the first 6 months of treatment to evaluate if patients’ symptoms improved.
Symptom improvement mostly occurred during the first 3 months of treatment and remained consistent at 6 months. Overall, patients with moderate to severe emotional symptoms had a worse prognosis and were less likely to achieve milder symptoms than those who had only pain and fatigue or mild emotional symptoms. While 64% of patients in the moderate to severe physical symptoms group achieved minimal symptoms after 3 months of treatment, only 13% of patients with moderate to severe physical and emotional systems reported minimal symptoms during this same time frame.
The study builds on previous work that “suggests that there are different factors that we can identify around the time of diagnosis that point to how well a person is likely to respond,” Dr. Bartlett added. “What our work is showing pretty clearly [is that] the presence of anxiety and depression is one of those important markers.”
Patients With Depression Report Worse Disease Activity
In a related study, researchers from the University of Ottawa explored how depression in RA affected subjective and objective disease measures.
The study included patients from the Ottawa Rheumatology Comprehensive Treatment and Assessment (ORCHESTRA) clinic at The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, which sees patients with inflammatory arthritis who are starting biologic therapy or switching to another biologic. The clinic is designed to take a more comprehensive approach to managing inflammatory arthritis, including addressing comorbidities such as cardiac disease, depression, and cancer. Patients seen at the clinic can opt to be included in the ORCHESTRA cohort to be a part of ongoing research.
From this cohort, researchers identified 98 patients with RA. At enrollment, patients were screened for depression using patient health questionnaire scores and asked about duration of morning stiffness and tender joint counts. Swollen joint counts, ultrasound, and clinical scores were used to evaluate disease activity.
In the study group, 47 patients had no depression, 21 patients had mild depression, and 30 patients had moderate to severe depression. Researchers found that subjective disease measures, including visual analog pain scale, health assessment questionnaire, and disease activity score in 28 joints were all higher in patients with depression; however, depression did not appear to affect objective disease measures, such as the Global OMERACT-EULAR Synovitis Score or Doppler scores.
While there is a known link between inflammation and depression, these findings suggest that depression is “a concomitant comorbidity just like cardiovascular disease, just like fibromyalgia, just like some other comorbidity that also needs to be addressed in its own right to improve the outcomes,” noted Elliot Hepworth, MD, a rheumatologist and ORCHESTRA clinic lead at The Ottawa Hospital, in an interview.
Dr. Hepworth presented the findings on March 1.
The data also suggested that patients with depression had poorer outcomes. For the 79 patients who had 3-month follow-up visit data, 43.9% of patients with no or mild depression achieved LDA and remission compared with 21.7% of patients with moderate to severe depression, though this difference was not statistically significant (P = .064). There was a similar trend for the 39 patients with 6-month follow-up data: Only 20% of patients with moderate to severe depression had reached LDA and remission compared with 37.9% of patients with no or mild depression (P = .445). The researchers noted this could be an issue with a smaller sample size.
“Every time more patients get added we approach closer to significance,” Dr. Hepworth added.
Some Disagreement, Same Takeaway
Commenting on the Ottawa study, Dr. Bartlett was skeptical of the conclusion that depression may not directly influence disease activity. “There’s just too much good evidence these days that [depression] very much coexists with worse disease activity,” she said. “It is not in the person’s head.”
Dr. Hepworth added that patient-reported outcomes are important for clinicians to address during treatment.
“There’s the tender joints, there’s the pain, there’s the fatigue, there’s the patient global assessment, which are subjective,” he said, “but that does not mean that they are not important. Those are important to the patient: That is how they’re living their life, and that is how they’re experiencing their disease.”
This is why efforts to treat depression in patients with RA such as cognitive behavioral therapy are so important, he said, to which Dr. Bartlett agreed.
“A comprehensive approach is required, which includes addressing depression,” she said. Otherwise, data show “that people just never make it to remission.”
The studies looked at different patient populations but ultimately complement each other, added Sibel Aydin, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and senior author of the Ottawa study.
“Two different cohorts with different patient populations still reached the same result,” she said. “If you don’t address the emotional aspect, you are not going to achieve the good outcomes.”
“It’s remarkable when you have two independent researchers coming to the same conclusion without ever talking to each other,” added Dr. Hepworth. “That really shows that this is something that’s pervasive, and it’s not just within our patient population.”
CATCH is funded by unrestricted research grants from programs with Pfizer, AbbVie, Roche, Sandoz, Fresenius Kabi, Organon, Viatris, JAMP, and Celltrion. Dr. Bartlett is president of the PROMIS Health Organization. She is a member of speakers bureaus or has consulted for Pfizer, Sandoz, Merck, Janssen, and Organon. Dr. Hepworth and Dr. Aydin declared no conflicts of interest.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com .
Patients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and co-occurring anxiety or depression are less likely to achieve low disease activity (LDA) and better symptom control after 3 months of treatment, according to new research presented at the at the annual meeting of the Canadian Rheumatology Association.
The findings emphasized the importance of taking a multidisciplinary approach to RA treatment, said presenter Susan Bartlett, PhD, a professor in the Divisions of Clinical Epidemiology, Rheumatology, and Respiratory Epidemiology at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
“In the absence of directly addressing anxiety and depression, people are not going to improve to the same extent we hope that they will,” she told this news organization.
Symptom Clusters in RA
In her research, presented on February 29, Dr. Bartlett explored how certain symptom clusters in RA predicted prognosis.
Symptom clusters are related symptoms that occur together and can be associated with worse outcomes than one symptom alone. Symptom science has been a growing interest in precision medicine, particularly for cancer, Dr. Bartlett noted, and this same approach could help pinpoint RA subtypes, disease trajectories, and personalized treatment.
In the study, Dr. Bartlett and colleagues used data from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort (CATCH), a multisite prospective research study following individuals with new-onset RA. They identified patients starting methotrexate (MTX) therapy who also had clinical and patient-reported outcome measures available. Individuals included in the analysis may have also been taking additional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs beyond MTX.
Across the 310 selected individuals, researchers identified four key symptoms: Pain, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. Pain and fatigue were defined as physical symptoms, while anxiety and depression were classified as emotional symptoms. Results showed that the patients could be sorted into four distinct symptom clusters: Minimal symptoms (12%), mild physical and emotional symptoms (11%), moderate to severe pain and fatigue (40%), and moderate to severe physical and emotional symptoms (37%).
Researchers then followed patients during the first 6 months of treatment to evaluate if patients’ symptoms improved.
Symptom improvement mostly occurred during the first 3 months of treatment and remained consistent at 6 months. Overall, patients with moderate to severe emotional symptoms had a worse prognosis and were less likely to achieve milder symptoms than those who had only pain and fatigue or mild emotional symptoms. While 64% of patients in the moderate to severe physical symptoms group achieved minimal symptoms after 3 months of treatment, only 13% of patients with moderate to severe physical and emotional systems reported minimal symptoms during this same time frame.
The study builds on previous work that “suggests that there are different factors that we can identify around the time of diagnosis that point to how well a person is likely to respond,” Dr. Bartlett added. “What our work is showing pretty clearly [is that] the presence of anxiety and depression is one of those important markers.”
Patients With Depression Report Worse Disease Activity
In a related study, researchers from the University of Ottawa explored how depression in RA affected subjective and objective disease measures.
The study included patients from the Ottawa Rheumatology Comprehensive Treatment and Assessment (ORCHESTRA) clinic at The Ottawa Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, which sees patients with inflammatory arthritis who are starting biologic therapy or switching to another biologic. The clinic is designed to take a more comprehensive approach to managing inflammatory arthritis, including addressing comorbidities such as cardiac disease, depression, and cancer. Patients seen at the clinic can opt to be included in the ORCHESTRA cohort to be a part of ongoing research.
From this cohort, researchers identified 98 patients with RA. At enrollment, patients were screened for depression using patient health questionnaire scores and asked about duration of morning stiffness and tender joint counts. Swollen joint counts, ultrasound, and clinical scores were used to evaluate disease activity.
In the study group, 47 patients had no depression, 21 patients had mild depression, and 30 patients had moderate to severe depression. Researchers found that subjective disease measures, including visual analog pain scale, health assessment questionnaire, and disease activity score in 28 joints were all higher in patients with depression; however, depression did not appear to affect objective disease measures, such as the Global OMERACT-EULAR Synovitis Score or Doppler scores.
While there is a known link between inflammation and depression, these findings suggest that depression is “a concomitant comorbidity just like cardiovascular disease, just like fibromyalgia, just like some other comorbidity that also needs to be addressed in its own right to improve the outcomes,” noted Elliot Hepworth, MD, a rheumatologist and ORCHESTRA clinic lead at The Ottawa Hospital, in an interview.
Dr. Hepworth presented the findings on March 1.
The data also suggested that patients with depression had poorer outcomes. For the 79 patients who had 3-month follow-up visit data, 43.9% of patients with no or mild depression achieved LDA and remission compared with 21.7% of patients with moderate to severe depression, though this difference was not statistically significant (P = .064). There was a similar trend for the 39 patients with 6-month follow-up data: Only 20% of patients with moderate to severe depression had reached LDA and remission compared with 37.9% of patients with no or mild depression (P = .445). The researchers noted this could be an issue with a smaller sample size.
“Every time more patients get added we approach closer to significance,” Dr. Hepworth added.
Some Disagreement, Same Takeaway
Commenting on the Ottawa study, Dr. Bartlett was skeptical of the conclusion that depression may not directly influence disease activity. “There’s just too much good evidence these days that [depression] very much coexists with worse disease activity,” she said. “It is not in the person’s head.”
Dr. Hepworth added that patient-reported outcomes are important for clinicians to address during treatment.
“There’s the tender joints, there’s the pain, there’s the fatigue, there’s the patient global assessment, which are subjective,” he said, “but that does not mean that they are not important. Those are important to the patient: That is how they’re living their life, and that is how they’re experiencing their disease.”
This is why efforts to treat depression in patients with RA such as cognitive behavioral therapy are so important, he said, to which Dr. Bartlett agreed.
“A comprehensive approach is required, which includes addressing depression,” she said. Otherwise, data show “that people just never make it to remission.”
The studies looked at different patient populations but ultimately complement each other, added Sibel Aydin, MD, a professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and senior author of the Ottawa study.
“Two different cohorts with different patient populations still reached the same result,” she said. “If you don’t address the emotional aspect, you are not going to achieve the good outcomes.”
“It’s remarkable when you have two independent researchers coming to the same conclusion without ever talking to each other,” added Dr. Hepworth. “That really shows that this is something that’s pervasive, and it’s not just within our patient population.”
CATCH is funded by unrestricted research grants from programs with Pfizer, AbbVie, Roche, Sandoz, Fresenius Kabi, Organon, Viatris, JAMP, and Celltrion. Dr. Bartlett is president of the PROMIS Health Organization. She is a member of speakers bureaus or has consulted for Pfizer, Sandoz, Merck, Janssen, and Organon. Dr. Hepworth and Dr. Aydin declared no conflicts of interest.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com .
FROM CRA 2024
Screening Tests for Depression
Is Adrenal Fatigue a Real Condition?
While TikTok overflows with images of influencers making “adrenal cocktails” to combat what they call adrenal fatigue, the Endocrine Society says “no scientific proof exists to support adrenal fatigue as a true medical condition.”
Even before influencers began touting it on social media, a 2016 systematic review concluded that there is “no substantiation that adrenal fatigue” is an actual medical condition. Therefore, adrenal fatigue is still a myth.
Lynette Nieman, MD, Senior Investigator and Chief of the Endocrinology Consultation Service at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, concurs.
“There is no scientific evidence that adrenal fatigue exists or causes [general] fatigue, depression, or the many common symptoms that are said to result from this condition,” she told this news organization via email.
Still, the term has gained currency among not only social media influencers who blame it for everything from cortisol surges to estrogen imbalances but also functional and integrative medical practitioners as an explanation for chronic dysfunction related to stress.
Adrenal Fatigue, Burnout, or Adrenal Insufficiency?
Rather than “adrenal fatigue,” Marcelo Campos, MD, a primary care doctor at Atrius Health, said he prefers the medical term “burnout.”
Use of “burnout” shifts attention to the brain’s role in stress-related chronic dysfunction rather than the adrenal glands, said Dr. Campos, who also teaches at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
More specifically still, the focuses might shift to the stress-response via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and its role in reducing levels of these cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate.
He points out that part of the reason for the misuse of the term adrenal fatigue arises from the fact that burnout is often only associated with work stress.
“Recently, the ICD-11 [International Classification of Diseases-11] recognized burnout as a disease but focused only on work stress as a cause. The truth is that people can be burned out for many other reasons,” said Dr. Campos.
The Endocrine Society notes on their webpage dedicated to the topic that “adrenal fatigue” as a term, relates to long-term mental, emotional, or physical stress.
“The problem is not the adrenals — it is the exposure to stress in the brain. The brain — only one organ — is responsible for 40% of energy consumption in the body. As you can imagine, if you are under constant stress, you run out of gas very quickly and cannot function well,” he explained.
Adrenal fatigue theory suggests that, under stress, the adrenal glands produce too many short bursts of cortisol resulting in overall reduced cortisol levels and a feeling of being drained.
“As with many other psychiatric diseases, we do not have a way to measure biomarkers in the brain. The testing for cortisol does not work because it fluctuates too much from time to time. So, it is not reliable or reproducible,” Dr. Campos said.
This leads to the ongoing question of the best way to test and diagnose adrenal fatigue, whether it should be via blood, urine and/or saliva. And even if that is determined, there are still questions about the best time to test, how often, what the normal ranges are and how reliable the tests are.
While adrenal fatigue is not a recognized condition, adrenal insufficiency is medically recognized, resulting from an inability of the adrenal glands to make the life-essential hormones aldosterone and/or cortisol, with symptoms that include fatigue, belly pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and joint aches.
“Adrenal cocktails are not an effective treatment for adrenal insufficiency because they do not replace the missing hormones,” Dr. Nieman stated, pointing out that anyone with symptoms of adrenal insufficiency needs to see an endocrinologist.
Pratibha Rao, MD, MPH, an endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, and medical director of the Adrenal Center at Cleveland Clinic, agreed, advising that if people continue to feel exhausted beyond their normal exertion, then they should get checked for signs of adrenal insufficiency.
“In primary adrenal insufficiency, you can actually start seeing darkening of the gums and of the skin on the palms of the hands or the soles of your feet. Sometimes people can feel dizzy or experience some loss of consciousness,” she said. “If it’s sudden and severe, you may crave salt or have extreme heat or cold intolerance.”
Recognizing and Managing Patient Frustration
The lack of formal diagnostic criteria and medical evidence, however, doesn’t mean that such symptoms as fatigue and depression don’t present, often causing significant distress for patients. While the symptoms might not be associated with the adrenal glands, they still need addressing — but how that is done is, in essence, a bone of contention.
Dr. Rao empathizes with the situation that many people, often young women, find themselves in.
“Patients are frustrated. They’ve gone to multiple doctors across the country, and they feel convinced they have adrenal fatigue, but no medical doctor has endorsed it. They end up coming to us with a cry that has so often gone unanswered.”
This issue also highlights that there are millions of people experiencing mental, emotional, and physical distress of unknown cause who seek help, many of whom believe it is related to their adrenal gland function.
But rather than turning to a social media cure, Dr. Rao stresses that people would benefit more from paying greater attention to following a healthy lifestyle than regularly consuming sugar-rich drinks claimed to offer a solution. Adrenal cocktails are energy-rich, frothy blends of orange juice, coconut milk, cream of tartar, and Himalayan salt.
“We truly are what we eat, and we are what we think,” she noted.
The body is a miraculous machine, but “we forget that it does need maintenance,” Dr. Rao said. “Up to age 30, the body is so forgiving with drugs, alcohol, or whatever insult we do to it, but after the third decade, slowly every cell starts to degenerate instead of growing. We start to see the ill or beneficial effects of lifestyle habits.”
“We insult the body, and then we say, ‘oh, I have fatigue’ and seek a quick fix,” she added. “Everyone wants instant gratification.”
Dr. Rao cautioned that adrenal cocktails could be dangerous for someone who has other medical conditions.
“If someone has kidney disease, uncontrolled hypertension, or diabetes, for example, then adrenal cocktails are definitely not safe,” Dr. Rao said. “Loading up with potassium and sodium, which is found in high quantities in adrenal cocktails, will actually worsen any kidney damage, while consuming so much sugar will cause an unregulated rise in blood sugar and further damage in someone with diabetes.”
Dr. Rao also stressed that nonprofessional advice given on social media could take patient people down the wrong path with associated danger.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
While TikTok overflows with images of influencers making “adrenal cocktails” to combat what they call adrenal fatigue, the Endocrine Society says “no scientific proof exists to support adrenal fatigue as a true medical condition.”
Even before influencers began touting it on social media, a 2016 systematic review concluded that there is “no substantiation that adrenal fatigue” is an actual medical condition. Therefore, adrenal fatigue is still a myth.
Lynette Nieman, MD, Senior Investigator and Chief of the Endocrinology Consultation Service at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, concurs.
“There is no scientific evidence that adrenal fatigue exists or causes [general] fatigue, depression, or the many common symptoms that are said to result from this condition,” she told this news organization via email.
Still, the term has gained currency among not only social media influencers who blame it for everything from cortisol surges to estrogen imbalances but also functional and integrative medical practitioners as an explanation for chronic dysfunction related to stress.
Adrenal Fatigue, Burnout, or Adrenal Insufficiency?
Rather than “adrenal fatigue,” Marcelo Campos, MD, a primary care doctor at Atrius Health, said he prefers the medical term “burnout.”
Use of “burnout” shifts attention to the brain’s role in stress-related chronic dysfunction rather than the adrenal glands, said Dr. Campos, who also teaches at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
More specifically still, the focuses might shift to the stress-response via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and its role in reducing levels of these cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate.
He points out that part of the reason for the misuse of the term adrenal fatigue arises from the fact that burnout is often only associated with work stress.
“Recently, the ICD-11 [International Classification of Diseases-11] recognized burnout as a disease but focused only on work stress as a cause. The truth is that people can be burned out for many other reasons,” said Dr. Campos.
The Endocrine Society notes on their webpage dedicated to the topic that “adrenal fatigue” as a term, relates to long-term mental, emotional, or physical stress.
“The problem is not the adrenals — it is the exposure to stress in the brain. The brain — only one organ — is responsible for 40% of energy consumption in the body. As you can imagine, if you are under constant stress, you run out of gas very quickly and cannot function well,” he explained.
Adrenal fatigue theory suggests that, under stress, the adrenal glands produce too many short bursts of cortisol resulting in overall reduced cortisol levels and a feeling of being drained.
“As with many other psychiatric diseases, we do not have a way to measure biomarkers in the brain. The testing for cortisol does not work because it fluctuates too much from time to time. So, it is not reliable or reproducible,” Dr. Campos said.
This leads to the ongoing question of the best way to test and diagnose adrenal fatigue, whether it should be via blood, urine and/or saliva. And even if that is determined, there are still questions about the best time to test, how often, what the normal ranges are and how reliable the tests are.
While adrenal fatigue is not a recognized condition, adrenal insufficiency is medically recognized, resulting from an inability of the adrenal glands to make the life-essential hormones aldosterone and/or cortisol, with symptoms that include fatigue, belly pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and joint aches.
“Adrenal cocktails are not an effective treatment for adrenal insufficiency because they do not replace the missing hormones,” Dr. Nieman stated, pointing out that anyone with symptoms of adrenal insufficiency needs to see an endocrinologist.
Pratibha Rao, MD, MPH, an endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, and medical director of the Adrenal Center at Cleveland Clinic, agreed, advising that if people continue to feel exhausted beyond their normal exertion, then they should get checked for signs of adrenal insufficiency.
“In primary adrenal insufficiency, you can actually start seeing darkening of the gums and of the skin on the palms of the hands or the soles of your feet. Sometimes people can feel dizzy or experience some loss of consciousness,” she said. “If it’s sudden and severe, you may crave salt or have extreme heat or cold intolerance.”
Recognizing and Managing Patient Frustration
The lack of formal diagnostic criteria and medical evidence, however, doesn’t mean that such symptoms as fatigue and depression don’t present, often causing significant distress for patients. While the symptoms might not be associated with the adrenal glands, they still need addressing — but how that is done is, in essence, a bone of contention.
Dr. Rao empathizes with the situation that many people, often young women, find themselves in.
“Patients are frustrated. They’ve gone to multiple doctors across the country, and they feel convinced they have adrenal fatigue, but no medical doctor has endorsed it. They end up coming to us with a cry that has so often gone unanswered.”
This issue also highlights that there are millions of people experiencing mental, emotional, and physical distress of unknown cause who seek help, many of whom believe it is related to their adrenal gland function.
But rather than turning to a social media cure, Dr. Rao stresses that people would benefit more from paying greater attention to following a healthy lifestyle than regularly consuming sugar-rich drinks claimed to offer a solution. Adrenal cocktails are energy-rich, frothy blends of orange juice, coconut milk, cream of tartar, and Himalayan salt.
“We truly are what we eat, and we are what we think,” she noted.
The body is a miraculous machine, but “we forget that it does need maintenance,” Dr. Rao said. “Up to age 30, the body is so forgiving with drugs, alcohol, or whatever insult we do to it, but after the third decade, slowly every cell starts to degenerate instead of growing. We start to see the ill or beneficial effects of lifestyle habits.”
“We insult the body, and then we say, ‘oh, I have fatigue’ and seek a quick fix,” she added. “Everyone wants instant gratification.”
Dr. Rao cautioned that adrenal cocktails could be dangerous for someone who has other medical conditions.
“If someone has kidney disease, uncontrolled hypertension, or diabetes, for example, then adrenal cocktails are definitely not safe,” Dr. Rao said. “Loading up with potassium and sodium, which is found in high quantities in adrenal cocktails, will actually worsen any kidney damage, while consuming so much sugar will cause an unregulated rise in blood sugar and further damage in someone with diabetes.”
Dr. Rao also stressed that nonprofessional advice given on social media could take patient people down the wrong path with associated danger.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
While TikTok overflows with images of influencers making “adrenal cocktails” to combat what they call adrenal fatigue, the Endocrine Society says “no scientific proof exists to support adrenal fatigue as a true medical condition.”
Even before influencers began touting it on social media, a 2016 systematic review concluded that there is “no substantiation that adrenal fatigue” is an actual medical condition. Therefore, adrenal fatigue is still a myth.
Lynette Nieman, MD, Senior Investigator and Chief of the Endocrinology Consultation Service at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, concurs.
“There is no scientific evidence that adrenal fatigue exists or causes [general] fatigue, depression, or the many common symptoms that are said to result from this condition,” she told this news organization via email.
Still, the term has gained currency among not only social media influencers who blame it for everything from cortisol surges to estrogen imbalances but also functional and integrative medical practitioners as an explanation for chronic dysfunction related to stress.
Adrenal Fatigue, Burnout, or Adrenal Insufficiency?
Rather than “adrenal fatigue,” Marcelo Campos, MD, a primary care doctor at Atrius Health, said he prefers the medical term “burnout.”
Use of “burnout” shifts attention to the brain’s role in stress-related chronic dysfunction rather than the adrenal glands, said Dr. Campos, who also teaches at Harvard Medical School, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
More specifically still, the focuses might shift to the stress-response via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical axis and its role in reducing levels of these cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate.
He points out that part of the reason for the misuse of the term adrenal fatigue arises from the fact that burnout is often only associated with work stress.
“Recently, the ICD-11 [International Classification of Diseases-11] recognized burnout as a disease but focused only on work stress as a cause. The truth is that people can be burned out for many other reasons,” said Dr. Campos.
The Endocrine Society notes on their webpage dedicated to the topic that “adrenal fatigue” as a term, relates to long-term mental, emotional, or physical stress.
“The problem is not the adrenals — it is the exposure to stress in the brain. The brain — only one organ — is responsible for 40% of energy consumption in the body. As you can imagine, if you are under constant stress, you run out of gas very quickly and cannot function well,” he explained.
Adrenal fatigue theory suggests that, under stress, the adrenal glands produce too many short bursts of cortisol resulting in overall reduced cortisol levels and a feeling of being drained.
“As with many other psychiatric diseases, we do not have a way to measure biomarkers in the brain. The testing for cortisol does not work because it fluctuates too much from time to time. So, it is not reliable or reproducible,” Dr. Campos said.
This leads to the ongoing question of the best way to test and diagnose adrenal fatigue, whether it should be via blood, urine and/or saliva. And even if that is determined, there are still questions about the best time to test, how often, what the normal ranges are and how reliable the tests are.
While adrenal fatigue is not a recognized condition, adrenal insufficiency is medically recognized, resulting from an inability of the adrenal glands to make the life-essential hormones aldosterone and/or cortisol, with symptoms that include fatigue, belly pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and joint aches.
“Adrenal cocktails are not an effective treatment for adrenal insufficiency because they do not replace the missing hormones,” Dr. Nieman stated, pointing out that anyone with symptoms of adrenal insufficiency needs to see an endocrinologist.
Pratibha Rao, MD, MPH, an endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, and medical director of the Adrenal Center at Cleveland Clinic, agreed, advising that if people continue to feel exhausted beyond their normal exertion, then they should get checked for signs of adrenal insufficiency.
“In primary adrenal insufficiency, you can actually start seeing darkening of the gums and of the skin on the palms of the hands or the soles of your feet. Sometimes people can feel dizzy or experience some loss of consciousness,” she said. “If it’s sudden and severe, you may crave salt or have extreme heat or cold intolerance.”
Recognizing and Managing Patient Frustration
The lack of formal diagnostic criteria and medical evidence, however, doesn’t mean that such symptoms as fatigue and depression don’t present, often causing significant distress for patients. While the symptoms might not be associated with the adrenal glands, they still need addressing — but how that is done is, in essence, a bone of contention.
Dr. Rao empathizes with the situation that many people, often young women, find themselves in.
“Patients are frustrated. They’ve gone to multiple doctors across the country, and they feel convinced they have adrenal fatigue, but no medical doctor has endorsed it. They end up coming to us with a cry that has so often gone unanswered.”
This issue also highlights that there are millions of people experiencing mental, emotional, and physical distress of unknown cause who seek help, many of whom believe it is related to their adrenal gland function.
But rather than turning to a social media cure, Dr. Rao stresses that people would benefit more from paying greater attention to following a healthy lifestyle than regularly consuming sugar-rich drinks claimed to offer a solution. Adrenal cocktails are energy-rich, frothy blends of orange juice, coconut milk, cream of tartar, and Himalayan salt.
“We truly are what we eat, and we are what we think,” she noted.
The body is a miraculous machine, but “we forget that it does need maintenance,” Dr. Rao said. “Up to age 30, the body is so forgiving with drugs, alcohol, or whatever insult we do to it, but after the third decade, slowly every cell starts to degenerate instead of growing. We start to see the ill or beneficial effects of lifestyle habits.”
“We insult the body, and then we say, ‘oh, I have fatigue’ and seek a quick fix,” she added. “Everyone wants instant gratification.”
Dr. Rao cautioned that adrenal cocktails could be dangerous for someone who has other medical conditions.
“If someone has kidney disease, uncontrolled hypertension, or diabetes, for example, then adrenal cocktails are definitely not safe,” Dr. Rao said. “Loading up with potassium and sodium, which is found in high quantities in adrenal cocktails, will actually worsen any kidney damage, while consuming so much sugar will cause an unregulated rise in blood sugar and further damage in someone with diabetes.”
Dr. Rao also stressed that nonprofessional advice given on social media could take patient people down the wrong path with associated danger.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
Scents May Improve Memory in Major Depression
TOPLINE:
Scents that trigger specific, vivid autobiographical memories (AMs) could improve deficits in memory recall in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), new research suggests.
METHODOLOGY:
- Participants included 32 individuals aged 18-55 years (mean age, 30 years; 26 females) with a diagnosis of MDD recruited from the community.
- Those with psychosis, bipolar I or II, neurological disorders, or drug or alcohol abuse were excluded.
- Participants were presented with a series of 12 words and 12 odors, such as cough syrup, tobacco ash, and Vicks VapoRub, and asked to recall a specific memory in response to each cue.
- AMs were rated in terms of vividness, frequency, and whether they were associated with positive or negative emotions.
TAKEAWAY:
- Although participants only guessed correct stimulus odors 30% of the time, they recalled more specific memories from odor cues than from word cues (68% vs 52%; P < .001).
- Odor-cued recall was more arousing and vivid (P < .001) than recall responses generated by word cues.
- Compared with the population mean for responses to word cues in healthy controls, study participants recalled fewer specific memories in response to words (P < .001), but the percentage of specific memories recalled in response to odor cues did not differ from the healthy control population mean.
- Investigators hoped to further their research by investigating the mechanisms underlying odor-cued AMs, particularly to test if the amygdala and hippocampus are activated during recall.
IN PRACTICE:
“This study suggests the potential for increasing autobiographical memory specificity in individuals with MDD, with the future goal of reducing depression symptoms for this population and informing a better understanding of the neural mechanisms influencing odor-based AM recall,” the authors wrote. “We hope this initial study spurs larger studies in more diverse samples that include healthy control participants to further investigate and explain these associations.”
SOURCE:
Kymberly D. Young, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, led the study, which was published online on February 13, 2024, in JAMA Network Open.
LIMITATIONS:
Study limitations included the lack of a healthy control group and the small sample size.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded internally by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania. No disclosures were reported.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
TOPLINE:
Scents that trigger specific, vivid autobiographical memories (AMs) could improve deficits in memory recall in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), new research suggests.
METHODOLOGY:
- Participants included 32 individuals aged 18-55 years (mean age, 30 years; 26 females) with a diagnosis of MDD recruited from the community.
- Those with psychosis, bipolar I or II, neurological disorders, or drug or alcohol abuse were excluded.
- Participants were presented with a series of 12 words and 12 odors, such as cough syrup, tobacco ash, and Vicks VapoRub, and asked to recall a specific memory in response to each cue.
- AMs were rated in terms of vividness, frequency, and whether they were associated with positive or negative emotions.
TAKEAWAY:
- Although participants only guessed correct stimulus odors 30% of the time, they recalled more specific memories from odor cues than from word cues (68% vs 52%; P < .001).
- Odor-cued recall was more arousing and vivid (P < .001) than recall responses generated by word cues.
- Compared with the population mean for responses to word cues in healthy controls, study participants recalled fewer specific memories in response to words (P < .001), but the percentage of specific memories recalled in response to odor cues did not differ from the healthy control population mean.
- Investigators hoped to further their research by investigating the mechanisms underlying odor-cued AMs, particularly to test if the amygdala and hippocampus are activated during recall.
IN PRACTICE:
“This study suggests the potential for increasing autobiographical memory specificity in individuals with MDD, with the future goal of reducing depression symptoms for this population and informing a better understanding of the neural mechanisms influencing odor-based AM recall,” the authors wrote. “We hope this initial study spurs larger studies in more diverse samples that include healthy control participants to further investigate and explain these associations.”
SOURCE:
Kymberly D. Young, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, led the study, which was published online on February 13, 2024, in JAMA Network Open.
LIMITATIONS:
Study limitations included the lack of a healthy control group and the small sample size.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded internally by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania. No disclosures were reported.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
TOPLINE:
Scents that trigger specific, vivid autobiographical memories (AMs) could improve deficits in memory recall in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), new research suggests.
METHODOLOGY:
- Participants included 32 individuals aged 18-55 years (mean age, 30 years; 26 females) with a diagnosis of MDD recruited from the community.
- Those with psychosis, bipolar I or II, neurological disorders, or drug or alcohol abuse were excluded.
- Participants were presented with a series of 12 words and 12 odors, such as cough syrup, tobacco ash, and Vicks VapoRub, and asked to recall a specific memory in response to each cue.
- AMs were rated in terms of vividness, frequency, and whether they were associated with positive or negative emotions.
TAKEAWAY:
- Although participants only guessed correct stimulus odors 30% of the time, they recalled more specific memories from odor cues than from word cues (68% vs 52%; P < .001).
- Odor-cued recall was more arousing and vivid (P < .001) than recall responses generated by word cues.
- Compared with the population mean for responses to word cues in healthy controls, study participants recalled fewer specific memories in response to words (P < .001), but the percentage of specific memories recalled in response to odor cues did not differ from the healthy control population mean.
- Investigators hoped to further their research by investigating the mechanisms underlying odor-cued AMs, particularly to test if the amygdala and hippocampus are activated during recall.
IN PRACTICE:
“This study suggests the potential for increasing autobiographical memory specificity in individuals with MDD, with the future goal of reducing depression symptoms for this population and informing a better understanding of the neural mechanisms influencing odor-based AM recall,” the authors wrote. “We hope this initial study spurs larger studies in more diverse samples that include healthy control participants to further investigate and explain these associations.”
SOURCE:
Kymberly D. Young, PhD, of the University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, led the study, which was published online on February 13, 2024, in JAMA Network Open.
LIMITATIONS:
Study limitations included the lack of a healthy control group and the small sample size.
DISCLOSURES:
The study was funded internally by the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pennsylvania. No disclosures were reported.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
Lying-in No Longer: Staying Active Key to Healthy Pregnancy
A trio of studies (abstracts 1101, 1079, and 944) presented on February 14 at the meeting sponsored by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine point to the power of staying physically active during pregnancy. The work highlights the beneficial effects of exercise on a variety of outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and reducing the rate of cesarean deliveries.
“Twenty-plus years ago, there were so many recommendations for bed rest in pregnancy,” said Danielle Panelli, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine physician and research scholar at Stanford University in Stanford, California. “We’ve really come full circle on that.” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends pregnant people get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.
Dr. Panelli and colleagues looked at the association of physical activity and anxiety among three groups of pregnant people: 20 outpatients from low-risk obstetric clinics, 20 outpatients from high-risk obstetric clinics, and 19 inpatients. Participants wore accelerometer watches for up to seven days to measure physical activity. The primary outcome was mean daily step count, with secondary outcomes including metabolic equivalent tasks (METs), moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and anxiety as measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.
Low-risk outpatients had an average daily step count of 9090 compared with high-risk outpatients at 8898 and inpatients at 6493. Compared with outpatients, inpatients also had significantly lower METs (adjusted beta, -0.20; 95% CI -0.26 to -0.13; P < .001), and MVPAs (adjusted beta, -43.6; 95% CI, -61.2 to -25.9; P < .001). Over the course of a week, steps progressively decreased for inpatients but not for women in either of the outpatient groups. Among the entire cohort, lower step counts correlated with higher anxiety scores (r = 0.30; P = .02).
“These results highlight the need for physical activity interventions, particularly for hospitalized pregnant people,” Dr. Panelli said. That could be something as simple as asking patients to walk three laps around the unit per day, she suggested.
A second study investigated the effect of physical activity during pregnancy on peripartum depression. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reviewed data from participants in nuMoM2b, a large cohort study of pregnant women who would be delivering for the first time and had at least one medical comorbidity, such as chronic hypertension, asthma, or cardiac disease. The investigators looked at activity logs maintained by study participants and turned in at three study visits: 6-13.6 weeks, 14-21.6 weeks, and 22-29.6 weeks.
Being physically active was associated with 15% lower odds of having an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score (EPDS) > 10 (adjusted odds ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.72-0.99). Nine percent of people in the active group and 12% of people in the nonactive group had an EPDS > 10, which is suggestive of depression. However, a change in EPDS from visit one to three and treatment for perinatal depression did not differ by physical activity.
“One of the interesting findings are that we didn’t see any safety signals [from exercise], so there wasn’t an increase in suspected fetal growth restriction or low fluid or preterm birth, or actual birthweight being low in the people who were active,” said Charlotte McCarley, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who led the research. “A lot of studies have been done that have looked at prospective exercise in pregnancy, but they exclude the cohort that we looked at for concern that there may be a safety issue.”
In a third study, researchers at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, looked at the effect of physical activity on mode of delivery. The prospective observational analysis included 401 women with singleton pregnancies attempting vaginal deliveries.
The researchers tracked the number of daily steps taken during gestation using validated phone apps. They adjusted their findings for age, parity, body mass index, and medical and obstetric history.
The investigators observed a gradual decrease in physical activity as pregnancy progressed (mean of 3184 steps in the first trimester, 2700 steps in mid-pregnancy, and 2152 steps in the third trimester). The overall incidence of cesarean delivery was 10.5%. However, women who were more active during pregnancy had a significantly lower incidence of cesarean delivery.
Area under the ROC curve, with a cut-off of 2093.5 daily steps, was 0.694 (95% CI, 0.615-0.773), resulting in a significant risk reduction in a 78% reduction in the rate of cesarean surgery (odds ratio, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.104-0.465).
More active patients also had a reduced composite outcome of gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia; less use of epidural analgesia during labor; and less postpartum hemorrhage. Preterm birth, labor induction, neonatal weight, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit were not significantly affected, the researchers reported.
“Maintaining an active lifestyle during pregnancy should be strongly encouraged,” they wrote.
The investigators disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
A trio of studies (abstracts 1101, 1079, and 944) presented on February 14 at the meeting sponsored by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine point to the power of staying physically active during pregnancy. The work highlights the beneficial effects of exercise on a variety of outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and reducing the rate of cesarean deliveries.
“Twenty-plus years ago, there were so many recommendations for bed rest in pregnancy,” said Danielle Panelli, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine physician and research scholar at Stanford University in Stanford, California. “We’ve really come full circle on that.” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends pregnant people get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.
Dr. Panelli and colleagues looked at the association of physical activity and anxiety among three groups of pregnant people: 20 outpatients from low-risk obstetric clinics, 20 outpatients from high-risk obstetric clinics, and 19 inpatients. Participants wore accelerometer watches for up to seven days to measure physical activity. The primary outcome was mean daily step count, with secondary outcomes including metabolic equivalent tasks (METs), moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and anxiety as measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.
Low-risk outpatients had an average daily step count of 9090 compared with high-risk outpatients at 8898 and inpatients at 6493. Compared with outpatients, inpatients also had significantly lower METs (adjusted beta, -0.20; 95% CI -0.26 to -0.13; P < .001), and MVPAs (adjusted beta, -43.6; 95% CI, -61.2 to -25.9; P < .001). Over the course of a week, steps progressively decreased for inpatients but not for women in either of the outpatient groups. Among the entire cohort, lower step counts correlated with higher anxiety scores (r = 0.30; P = .02).
“These results highlight the need for physical activity interventions, particularly for hospitalized pregnant people,” Dr. Panelli said. That could be something as simple as asking patients to walk three laps around the unit per day, she suggested.
A second study investigated the effect of physical activity during pregnancy on peripartum depression. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reviewed data from participants in nuMoM2b, a large cohort study of pregnant women who would be delivering for the first time and had at least one medical comorbidity, such as chronic hypertension, asthma, or cardiac disease. The investigators looked at activity logs maintained by study participants and turned in at three study visits: 6-13.6 weeks, 14-21.6 weeks, and 22-29.6 weeks.
Being physically active was associated with 15% lower odds of having an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score (EPDS) > 10 (adjusted odds ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.72-0.99). Nine percent of people in the active group and 12% of people in the nonactive group had an EPDS > 10, which is suggestive of depression. However, a change in EPDS from visit one to three and treatment for perinatal depression did not differ by physical activity.
“One of the interesting findings are that we didn’t see any safety signals [from exercise], so there wasn’t an increase in suspected fetal growth restriction or low fluid or preterm birth, or actual birthweight being low in the people who were active,” said Charlotte McCarley, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who led the research. “A lot of studies have been done that have looked at prospective exercise in pregnancy, but they exclude the cohort that we looked at for concern that there may be a safety issue.”
In a third study, researchers at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, looked at the effect of physical activity on mode of delivery. The prospective observational analysis included 401 women with singleton pregnancies attempting vaginal deliveries.
The researchers tracked the number of daily steps taken during gestation using validated phone apps. They adjusted their findings for age, parity, body mass index, and medical and obstetric history.
The investigators observed a gradual decrease in physical activity as pregnancy progressed (mean of 3184 steps in the first trimester, 2700 steps in mid-pregnancy, and 2152 steps in the third trimester). The overall incidence of cesarean delivery was 10.5%. However, women who were more active during pregnancy had a significantly lower incidence of cesarean delivery.
Area under the ROC curve, with a cut-off of 2093.5 daily steps, was 0.694 (95% CI, 0.615-0.773), resulting in a significant risk reduction in a 78% reduction in the rate of cesarean surgery (odds ratio, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.104-0.465).
More active patients also had a reduced composite outcome of gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia; less use of epidural analgesia during labor; and less postpartum hemorrhage. Preterm birth, labor induction, neonatal weight, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit were not significantly affected, the researchers reported.
“Maintaining an active lifestyle during pregnancy should be strongly encouraged,” they wrote.
The investigators disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
A trio of studies (abstracts 1101, 1079, and 944) presented on February 14 at the meeting sponsored by the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine point to the power of staying physically active during pregnancy. The work highlights the beneficial effects of exercise on a variety of outcomes, including depression, anxiety, and reducing the rate of cesarean deliveries.
“Twenty-plus years ago, there were so many recommendations for bed rest in pregnancy,” said Danielle Panelli, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine physician and research scholar at Stanford University in Stanford, California. “We’ve really come full circle on that.” The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends pregnant people get at least 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity per week.
Dr. Panelli and colleagues looked at the association of physical activity and anxiety among three groups of pregnant people: 20 outpatients from low-risk obstetric clinics, 20 outpatients from high-risk obstetric clinics, and 19 inpatients. Participants wore accelerometer watches for up to seven days to measure physical activity. The primary outcome was mean daily step count, with secondary outcomes including metabolic equivalent tasks (METs), moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA), and anxiety as measured using the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.
Low-risk outpatients had an average daily step count of 9090 compared with high-risk outpatients at 8898 and inpatients at 6493. Compared with outpatients, inpatients also had significantly lower METs (adjusted beta, -0.20; 95% CI -0.26 to -0.13; P < .001), and MVPAs (adjusted beta, -43.6; 95% CI, -61.2 to -25.9; P < .001). Over the course of a week, steps progressively decreased for inpatients but not for women in either of the outpatient groups. Among the entire cohort, lower step counts correlated with higher anxiety scores (r = 0.30; P = .02).
“These results highlight the need for physical activity interventions, particularly for hospitalized pregnant people,” Dr. Panelli said. That could be something as simple as asking patients to walk three laps around the unit per day, she suggested.
A second study investigated the effect of physical activity during pregnancy on peripartum depression. Researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham reviewed data from participants in nuMoM2b, a large cohort study of pregnant women who would be delivering for the first time and had at least one medical comorbidity, such as chronic hypertension, asthma, or cardiac disease. The investigators looked at activity logs maintained by study participants and turned in at three study visits: 6-13.6 weeks, 14-21.6 weeks, and 22-29.6 weeks.
Being physically active was associated with 15% lower odds of having an Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Score (EPDS) > 10 (adjusted odds ratio, 0.85; 95% CI, 0.72-0.99). Nine percent of people in the active group and 12% of people in the nonactive group had an EPDS > 10, which is suggestive of depression. However, a change in EPDS from visit one to three and treatment for perinatal depression did not differ by physical activity.
“One of the interesting findings are that we didn’t see any safety signals [from exercise], so there wasn’t an increase in suspected fetal growth restriction or low fluid or preterm birth, or actual birthweight being low in the people who were active,” said Charlotte McCarley, MD, a maternal-fetal medicine fellow at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who led the research. “A lot of studies have been done that have looked at prospective exercise in pregnancy, but they exclude the cohort that we looked at for concern that there may be a safety issue.”
In a third study, researchers at the Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, Israel, looked at the effect of physical activity on mode of delivery. The prospective observational analysis included 401 women with singleton pregnancies attempting vaginal deliveries.
The researchers tracked the number of daily steps taken during gestation using validated phone apps. They adjusted their findings for age, parity, body mass index, and medical and obstetric history.
The investigators observed a gradual decrease in physical activity as pregnancy progressed (mean of 3184 steps in the first trimester, 2700 steps in mid-pregnancy, and 2152 steps in the third trimester). The overall incidence of cesarean delivery was 10.5%. However, women who were more active during pregnancy had a significantly lower incidence of cesarean delivery.
Area under the ROC curve, with a cut-off of 2093.5 daily steps, was 0.694 (95% CI, 0.615-0.773), resulting in a significant risk reduction in a 78% reduction in the rate of cesarean surgery (odds ratio, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.104-0.465).
More active patients also had a reduced composite outcome of gestational diabetes, gestational hypertension, and preeclampsia; less use of epidural analgesia during labor; and less postpartum hemorrhage. Preterm birth, labor induction, neonatal weight, and admission to the neonatal intensive care unit were not significantly affected, the researchers reported.
“Maintaining an active lifestyle during pregnancy should be strongly encouraged,” they wrote.
The investigators disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
FROM THE PREGNANCY MEETING
Mood Interventions May Reduce IBD Inflammation
, according to a new study.
“IBD is a distressing condition, and current medication that reduces inflammation is expensive and can have side effects,” said Natasha Seaton, first author and a PhD student at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.
“Our study showed that interventions that treat mental health reduce levels of inflammation in the body,” she said. “This indicates that mood interventions could be a valuable tool in our approach to help those with IBD.”
The study was published online in eBioMedicine.
Analyzing Mood Interventions
Ms. Seaton and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in adults with IBD that measured inflammatory biomarker levels and tested a mood intervention, including those aimed at reducing depression, anxiety, stress, or distress or improving emotional well-being.
Looking at data from 28 randomized controlled trials with 1789 participants, the research team evaluated whether mood interventions affected IBD inflammation, particularly IBD indicators such as C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin, and other general inflammatory biomarkers.
The researchers found mood interventions significantly reduced levels of inflammatory biomarkers, compared with controls, corresponding to an 18% reduction in inflammatory biomarkers.
Psychological therapies had the best outcomes related to IBD inflammation, compared with antidepressants or exercise. These therapies included cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction.
Individual analyses of IBD-specific inflammatory markers found small but statistically significant reductions in C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin after a mood intervention. This could mean mood treatments have positive effects on both inflammation and disease-specific biomarkers, the authors wrote.
In addition, interventions that had a larger positive effect on mood had a greater effect in reducing inflammatory biomarkers. This suggests that a better mood could reduce IBD inflammation, they noted.
“We know stress-related feelings can increase inflammation, and the findings suggest that by improving mood, we can reduce this type of inflammation,” said Valeria Mondelli, MD, PhD, clinical professor of psychoneuroimmunology at King’s IoPPN.
“This adds to the growing body of research demonstrating the role of inflammation in mental health and suggests that interventions working to improve mood could also have direct physical effects on levels of inflammation,” she said. “However, more research is needed to understand exact mechanisms in IBD.”
Cost Benefit
Many IBD interventions and medications can be expensive for patients, have significant negative side effects, and have a lower long-term treatment response, the authors noted. Mood interventions, whether psychological therapy or medication, could potentially reduce costs and improve both mood and inflammation.
Previous studies have indicated that psychosocial factors, as well as mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, affect IBD symptom severity and progression, the authors wrote. However, researchers still need to understand the mechanisms behind this connection, including gut-brain dynamics.
Future research should focus on interventions that have been effective at improving mood in patients with IBD, assess inflammation and disease activity at numerous timepoints, and include potential variables related to illness self-management, the authors wrote.
In addition, implementation of mood interventions for IBD management may require better continuity of care and healthcare integration.
“Integrated mental health support, alongside pharmacological treatments, may offer a more holistic approach to IBD care, potentially leading to reduced disease and healthcare costs,” said Rona Moss-Morris, PhD, senior author and professor of psychology at King’s IoPPN.
Medications taken to reduce inflammation can be costly compared with psychological therapies, she said. “Given this, including psychological interventions, such as cost-effective digital interventions, within IBD management might reduce the need for anti-inflammatory medication, resulting in an overall cost benefit.”
The study was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, which is hosted by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London. Ms. Seaton was funded by an MRC Doctoral Training Partnership. No other interests were declared.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
, according to a new study.
“IBD is a distressing condition, and current medication that reduces inflammation is expensive and can have side effects,” said Natasha Seaton, first author and a PhD student at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.
“Our study showed that interventions that treat mental health reduce levels of inflammation in the body,” she said. “This indicates that mood interventions could be a valuable tool in our approach to help those with IBD.”
The study was published online in eBioMedicine.
Analyzing Mood Interventions
Ms. Seaton and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in adults with IBD that measured inflammatory biomarker levels and tested a mood intervention, including those aimed at reducing depression, anxiety, stress, or distress or improving emotional well-being.
Looking at data from 28 randomized controlled trials with 1789 participants, the research team evaluated whether mood interventions affected IBD inflammation, particularly IBD indicators such as C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin, and other general inflammatory biomarkers.
The researchers found mood interventions significantly reduced levels of inflammatory biomarkers, compared with controls, corresponding to an 18% reduction in inflammatory biomarkers.
Psychological therapies had the best outcomes related to IBD inflammation, compared with antidepressants or exercise. These therapies included cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction.
Individual analyses of IBD-specific inflammatory markers found small but statistically significant reductions in C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin after a mood intervention. This could mean mood treatments have positive effects on both inflammation and disease-specific biomarkers, the authors wrote.
In addition, interventions that had a larger positive effect on mood had a greater effect in reducing inflammatory biomarkers. This suggests that a better mood could reduce IBD inflammation, they noted.
“We know stress-related feelings can increase inflammation, and the findings suggest that by improving mood, we can reduce this type of inflammation,” said Valeria Mondelli, MD, PhD, clinical professor of psychoneuroimmunology at King’s IoPPN.
“This adds to the growing body of research demonstrating the role of inflammation in mental health and suggests that interventions working to improve mood could also have direct physical effects on levels of inflammation,” she said. “However, more research is needed to understand exact mechanisms in IBD.”
Cost Benefit
Many IBD interventions and medications can be expensive for patients, have significant negative side effects, and have a lower long-term treatment response, the authors noted. Mood interventions, whether psychological therapy or medication, could potentially reduce costs and improve both mood and inflammation.
Previous studies have indicated that psychosocial factors, as well as mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, affect IBD symptom severity and progression, the authors wrote. However, researchers still need to understand the mechanisms behind this connection, including gut-brain dynamics.
Future research should focus on interventions that have been effective at improving mood in patients with IBD, assess inflammation and disease activity at numerous timepoints, and include potential variables related to illness self-management, the authors wrote.
In addition, implementation of mood interventions for IBD management may require better continuity of care and healthcare integration.
“Integrated mental health support, alongside pharmacological treatments, may offer a more holistic approach to IBD care, potentially leading to reduced disease and healthcare costs,” said Rona Moss-Morris, PhD, senior author and professor of psychology at King’s IoPPN.
Medications taken to reduce inflammation can be costly compared with psychological therapies, she said. “Given this, including psychological interventions, such as cost-effective digital interventions, within IBD management might reduce the need for anti-inflammatory medication, resulting in an overall cost benefit.”
The study was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, which is hosted by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London. Ms. Seaton was funded by an MRC Doctoral Training Partnership. No other interests were declared.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
, according to a new study.
“IBD is a distressing condition, and current medication that reduces inflammation is expensive and can have side effects,” said Natasha Seaton, first author and a PhD student at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London.
“Our study showed that interventions that treat mental health reduce levels of inflammation in the body,” she said. “This indicates that mood interventions could be a valuable tool in our approach to help those with IBD.”
The study was published online in eBioMedicine.
Analyzing Mood Interventions
Ms. Seaton and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials in adults with IBD that measured inflammatory biomarker levels and tested a mood intervention, including those aimed at reducing depression, anxiety, stress, or distress or improving emotional well-being.
Looking at data from 28 randomized controlled trials with 1789 participants, the research team evaluated whether mood interventions affected IBD inflammation, particularly IBD indicators such as C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin, and other general inflammatory biomarkers.
The researchers found mood interventions significantly reduced levels of inflammatory biomarkers, compared with controls, corresponding to an 18% reduction in inflammatory biomarkers.
Psychological therapies had the best outcomes related to IBD inflammation, compared with antidepressants or exercise. These therapies included cognitive behavioral therapy, acceptance and commitment therapy, and mindfulness-based stress reduction.
Individual analyses of IBD-specific inflammatory markers found small but statistically significant reductions in C-reactive protein and fecal calprotectin after a mood intervention. This could mean mood treatments have positive effects on both inflammation and disease-specific biomarkers, the authors wrote.
In addition, interventions that had a larger positive effect on mood had a greater effect in reducing inflammatory biomarkers. This suggests that a better mood could reduce IBD inflammation, they noted.
“We know stress-related feelings can increase inflammation, and the findings suggest that by improving mood, we can reduce this type of inflammation,” said Valeria Mondelli, MD, PhD, clinical professor of psychoneuroimmunology at King’s IoPPN.
“This adds to the growing body of research demonstrating the role of inflammation in mental health and suggests that interventions working to improve mood could also have direct physical effects on levels of inflammation,” she said. “However, more research is needed to understand exact mechanisms in IBD.”
Cost Benefit
Many IBD interventions and medications can be expensive for patients, have significant negative side effects, and have a lower long-term treatment response, the authors noted. Mood interventions, whether psychological therapy or medication, could potentially reduce costs and improve both mood and inflammation.
Previous studies have indicated that psychosocial factors, as well as mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, affect IBD symptom severity and progression, the authors wrote. However, researchers still need to understand the mechanisms behind this connection, including gut-brain dynamics.
Future research should focus on interventions that have been effective at improving mood in patients with IBD, assess inflammation and disease activity at numerous timepoints, and include potential variables related to illness self-management, the authors wrote.
In addition, implementation of mood interventions for IBD management may require better continuity of care and healthcare integration.
“Integrated mental health support, alongside pharmacological treatments, may offer a more holistic approach to IBD care, potentially leading to reduced disease and healthcare costs,” said Rona Moss-Morris, PhD, senior author and professor of psychology at King’s IoPPN.
Medications taken to reduce inflammation can be costly compared with psychological therapies, she said. “Given this, including psychological interventions, such as cost-effective digital interventions, within IBD management might reduce the need for anti-inflammatory medication, resulting in an overall cost benefit.”
The study was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and National Institute for Health and Care Research Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, which is hosted by South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with King’s College London. Ms. Seaton was funded by an MRC Doctoral Training Partnership. No other interests were declared.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
Study Suggests Mind-Body Benefits of GLP-1s
, according to an analysis of millions of people’s health records.
The findings were published this week by researchers from the electronic health record company Epic. Researchers looked for new diagnoses of depression or anxiety among people who started taking drugs from a class called GLP-1 agonists that can help manage blood sugar or treat obesity by mimicking hormone levels in the body that can affect appetite and blood sugar. Many people who take the drugs experience significant weight loss.
The researchers found that people with diabetes who started taking most versions of GLP-1 agonists were between 11% and 65% less likely to be newly diagnosed with depression than people with diabetes who didn’t take one of the drugs. The greatest reduction in likelihood of a new depression diagnosis was observed among people taking tirzepatide, which is sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound.
A reduced likelihood of being diagnosed with anxiety was also observed among people with diabetes after they started taking a GLP-1 agonist, compared to people with diabetes who didn’t take one of the drugs. Again, tirzepatide showed the greatest reduction in odds, with people taking that drug experiencing a 60% reduced likelihood of being newly diagnosed with anxiety.
Similar reductions in the likelihood of new depression or anxiety diagnoses were observed among people who didn’t have diabetes but were taking GLP-1 agonists, such as for weight loss.
The mind-body connection has been well established by research.
“Thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes can affect how healthy your body is,” according to a summary from the CDC about the connection between diabetes and depression. “Untreated mental health issues can make diabetes worse, and problems with diabetes can make mental health issues worse. But fortunately if one gets better, the other tends to get better, too.”
This latest analysis included the drugs dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, semaglutide, and tirzepatide. The medicines, used for weight loss or to manage diabetes, include the brand names Byetta, Ozempic, Mounjaro, Trulicity, Wegovy, and Zepbound. The researchers also looked for links between depression or anxiety diagnoses among people taking liraglutide (sold under brand names Saxenda and Victoza), but found that there was little to no change in the likelihood of being diagnosed with depression or anxiety after starting liraglutide.
The findings are timely as regulators in the U.S. and Europe are investigating reports of suicidal thoughts among people using the drugs. In January, the FDA announced that a preliminary investigation showed no increased risk of suicidal thoughts or actions, but the agency could not “definitively rule out that a small risk may exist; therefore, FDA is continuing to look into this issue.”
This latest analysis from Epic Research only looked at health records, was not published in a peer-reviewed journal, nor could it establish a definitive role the medications may have played in whether or not someone was diagnosed with depression or anxiety. It’s unknown whether people in the study had symptoms of depression or anxiety before starting the medications.
“These results show that these medications may serve a dual purpose for patients, but we do not understand them well enough yet to say these medications should be given as a treatment for anxiety or depression outside of diabetes or weight management,” Kersten Bartelt, a researcher employed by Epic, told ABC News.
A version of this article appeared on WebMD.com.
, according to an analysis of millions of people’s health records.
The findings were published this week by researchers from the electronic health record company Epic. Researchers looked for new diagnoses of depression or anxiety among people who started taking drugs from a class called GLP-1 agonists that can help manage blood sugar or treat obesity by mimicking hormone levels in the body that can affect appetite and blood sugar. Many people who take the drugs experience significant weight loss.
The researchers found that people with diabetes who started taking most versions of GLP-1 agonists were between 11% and 65% less likely to be newly diagnosed with depression than people with diabetes who didn’t take one of the drugs. The greatest reduction in likelihood of a new depression diagnosis was observed among people taking tirzepatide, which is sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound.
A reduced likelihood of being diagnosed with anxiety was also observed among people with diabetes after they started taking a GLP-1 agonist, compared to people with diabetes who didn’t take one of the drugs. Again, tirzepatide showed the greatest reduction in odds, with people taking that drug experiencing a 60% reduced likelihood of being newly diagnosed with anxiety.
Similar reductions in the likelihood of new depression or anxiety diagnoses were observed among people who didn’t have diabetes but were taking GLP-1 agonists, such as for weight loss.
The mind-body connection has been well established by research.
“Thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes can affect how healthy your body is,” according to a summary from the CDC about the connection between diabetes and depression. “Untreated mental health issues can make diabetes worse, and problems with diabetes can make mental health issues worse. But fortunately if one gets better, the other tends to get better, too.”
This latest analysis included the drugs dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, semaglutide, and tirzepatide. The medicines, used for weight loss or to manage diabetes, include the brand names Byetta, Ozempic, Mounjaro, Trulicity, Wegovy, and Zepbound. The researchers also looked for links between depression or anxiety diagnoses among people taking liraglutide (sold under brand names Saxenda and Victoza), but found that there was little to no change in the likelihood of being diagnosed with depression or anxiety after starting liraglutide.
The findings are timely as regulators in the U.S. and Europe are investigating reports of suicidal thoughts among people using the drugs. In January, the FDA announced that a preliminary investigation showed no increased risk of suicidal thoughts or actions, but the agency could not “definitively rule out that a small risk may exist; therefore, FDA is continuing to look into this issue.”
This latest analysis from Epic Research only looked at health records, was not published in a peer-reviewed journal, nor could it establish a definitive role the medications may have played in whether or not someone was diagnosed with depression or anxiety. It’s unknown whether people in the study had symptoms of depression or anxiety before starting the medications.
“These results show that these medications may serve a dual purpose for patients, but we do not understand them well enough yet to say these medications should be given as a treatment for anxiety or depression outside of diabetes or weight management,” Kersten Bartelt, a researcher employed by Epic, told ABC News.
A version of this article appeared on WebMD.com.
, according to an analysis of millions of people’s health records.
The findings were published this week by researchers from the electronic health record company Epic. Researchers looked for new diagnoses of depression or anxiety among people who started taking drugs from a class called GLP-1 agonists that can help manage blood sugar or treat obesity by mimicking hormone levels in the body that can affect appetite and blood sugar. Many people who take the drugs experience significant weight loss.
The researchers found that people with diabetes who started taking most versions of GLP-1 agonists were between 11% and 65% less likely to be newly diagnosed with depression than people with diabetes who didn’t take one of the drugs. The greatest reduction in likelihood of a new depression diagnosis was observed among people taking tirzepatide, which is sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound.
A reduced likelihood of being diagnosed with anxiety was also observed among people with diabetes after they started taking a GLP-1 agonist, compared to people with diabetes who didn’t take one of the drugs. Again, tirzepatide showed the greatest reduction in odds, with people taking that drug experiencing a 60% reduced likelihood of being newly diagnosed with anxiety.
Similar reductions in the likelihood of new depression or anxiety diagnoses were observed among people who didn’t have diabetes but were taking GLP-1 agonists, such as for weight loss.
The mind-body connection has been well established by research.
“Thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and attitudes can affect how healthy your body is,” according to a summary from the CDC about the connection between diabetes and depression. “Untreated mental health issues can make diabetes worse, and problems with diabetes can make mental health issues worse. But fortunately if one gets better, the other tends to get better, too.”
This latest analysis included the drugs dulaglutide, exenatide, liraglutide, semaglutide, and tirzepatide. The medicines, used for weight loss or to manage diabetes, include the brand names Byetta, Ozempic, Mounjaro, Trulicity, Wegovy, and Zepbound. The researchers also looked for links between depression or anxiety diagnoses among people taking liraglutide (sold under brand names Saxenda and Victoza), but found that there was little to no change in the likelihood of being diagnosed with depression or anxiety after starting liraglutide.
The findings are timely as regulators in the U.S. and Europe are investigating reports of suicidal thoughts among people using the drugs. In January, the FDA announced that a preliminary investigation showed no increased risk of suicidal thoughts or actions, but the agency could not “definitively rule out that a small risk may exist; therefore, FDA is continuing to look into this issue.”
This latest analysis from Epic Research only looked at health records, was not published in a peer-reviewed journal, nor could it establish a definitive role the medications may have played in whether or not someone was diagnosed with depression or anxiety. It’s unknown whether people in the study had symptoms of depression or anxiety before starting the medications.
“These results show that these medications may serve a dual purpose for patients, but we do not understand them well enough yet to say these medications should be given as a treatment for anxiety or depression outside of diabetes or weight management,” Kersten Bartelt, a researcher employed by Epic, told ABC News.
A version of this article appeared on WebMD.com.