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The treatment
of depression in patients with multiple sclerosis may also
modify the MS disease process, according to researchers at
the University of California, San Francisco.
Patients
with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis who are treated
for major depressive disorder may experience a reduction in
interferon-gamma, an immune system substance linked to the
progression of MS.
Researchers
treated 14 MS patients using either individual cognitive behavioral
therapy, group psychotherapy or the antidepressant drug sertraline
(Zoloft) for 16 weeks and measured the patients' blood levels
of interferon-gamma at the beginning, midpoint and end of
the study. A control group of 8 nondepressed healthy subjects
also participated in the study.
In their
study published in the Archives of Neurology, researchers
found that both the patients' depressive symptoms and interferon-gamma
production declined significantly during treatment. No significant
changes were observed in the control group.
Researchers
speculate that immune dysregulation and depression help feed
each other in MS patients. Further research is planned to
use behavior models to change patients' ability to cope with
their disease, then see if that has an impact on the immune
function and disease progression.
Source:
Depression Week
of August 5, 2001
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