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Lithium is the most effective, most extensively studied, and best-documented antisuicide medication now available. It has been used since 1949 to stabilize the dangerous mood swings and erratic behavior associated with manic-depressive illness and, by Europeans particularly, to prevent recurrent depressions.
It is a rare person who remains unmoved by a first snowfall. Snow is magic: it draws us in, jostles memory, and stirs desire. It enchants. For Snowflake Bentley, snow cast a lifelong spell. Like John Muir and Theodore Roosevelt, whose contemporary he was, Bentley was incapable of indifference to the world around him.
Medical Mailbox
Dear Dr. SerVaas: My 13-year-old grandson has been diagnosed with bipolar. Here was a boy who was an A/B student--loved school. Now it has all gone down the tubes. I am 76 years old, and my life is also going down the tubes. I love this child more than life itself.
Medical Mailbox
Recent findings suggest that boosting your intake of folic acid, also called folate or vitamin B9, may reverse depression and boost the effectiveness of antidepressant therapy. According to a study in Finland, men with the lowest dietary folate intake had a 67 percent greater risk of depression than those with the highest consumption.
Medical Mailbox
Promising developments offer hope to those struggling with depression. Researchers at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center have found that exercise helps reduce symptoms of mood disorders.
Medical Mailbox
The FDA has approved an extended-release drug to reduce manic episodes in bipolar patients. Clinical trials of the prescription medicine Equetro (carbamazepine extended-release capsules) demonstrate a low incidence of clinically significant weight gain, an adverse effect of some bipolar medications.
Medical Mailbox
Dear Dr. SerVaas: My sister was just diagnosed with a case of hypomania and bipolar disease. She is 45 years old and had never known she had bipolar disease. However, she was given steroid medications for arthritic pain.
Medical Mailbox
Dear Dr. SerVaas: What do you think of using Prozac for depressed teenagers? What about young people who have bipolar illness and don't know it? Are they apt to be made worse by Prozac or Zoloft?
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