Did You Know?

Suicide is more common than homicide in the U.S. its report
Reducing Suicide: A National Imperative, the Institute of Medicine has
called for research that ultimately provides strategies to prevent
suicide.

"We asked some tough questions, like, How, with the social and
economic burdens African-American women bear, do they have such a low
suicide rate?" says Arthur Kleinman, M.D., head of the group that
prepared the report.

10 - 12

Number of suicides per year among the general population, per
100,000

2

Number of suicides per year among African-American women, per
100,000

37

Number of suicides per year among while males age 65 and older, per
100,000

67

Number of suicides per year among American-Indian males in
adolescence and early adulthood, per 100,000

5X

Factor by which rate of suicide among dentists exceeds the national
average

70

Percent of elderly suicide victims seen by their physician within a
month of their death

Talk of the Down

Depression has its own patterns of speech. University of Texas
researchers find that depressed people use more negative words, express
more negative thoughts and th ink and talk more about themselves than the
nondepressed do.

An Eye Opener

In people with age-related macular degeneration, depression
accelerates the decline in visual function. Depression is not normal,
even in persons with visual loss.

Safe Bet?

The same mood stabilizers that help control manic depression
(lithium, divalproex) also help control pathologic gambling, a
preliminary study finds. The drugs reduce gambling urges but not as a
result of mood improvement.

Crossed Swords

While the jury is still out on whether St. John's Wort is effective
against depression, doctors report that the popular herbal agent
interferes with the effectiveness of one anti-cancer drug, irinotecan,
and probably others.