Category: Depression

Acupuncture benefits depression, with a statistically significant reduction in symptoms in the short to medium term, according to researchers in York. Patients were recruited from GP practices if they had consulted for depression in the preceding five years, and were known still to be suffering. They were randomised to receive either acupuncture plus usual care, counselling plus usual care, or usual care alone. Acupuncture was usually given weekly for 12 weeks.

Based on patient assessment at baseline, and then at 3, 6, 9 and 12 month points, the researchers concluded, “Our evidence on acupuncture compared with usual care, and counselling compared with usual care, shows that both treatments are associated with a statistically significant reduction in symptoms of depression in the short to medium term, with no reported serious adverse events related to treatment.”

(Acupuncture for chronic pain and depression in primary care: a programme of research. NIHR Journals Library, January 2017.)

A pilot study undertaken in Japan shows acupuncture can significantly help medication-resistant depression and improve autonomic nervous system function. Thirty in-patients received either true acupuncture or sham acupuncture. Treatment was given by the application of small, low-profile press needles for 72 hours. Compared with sham acupuncture, the true acupuncture patients showed significant improvement in depression scores, blood pressure and measures of vagal nerve function. The authors suggest that the latter may be associated with the therapeutic mechanism behind acupuncture’s effect on depression.

(Acupuncture-induced changes of vagal function in patients with depression: A preliminary sham-controlled study with press needles. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, online 6 July 2015.)

A study from Oregon State University in the US suggests a relationship between low levels of vitamin D, and depression in otherwise healthy young women. Those with lower levels of vitamin D were more likely to have clinically significant symptoms over the course of a five-week study. The results were consistent even when researchers took into account other possible explanations, such as time of year, exercise and time spent outside.
A lot of past research has found no association between the two, but much of that research has been based on older adults or special medical populations.

This study focused on young women in the Pacific Northwest because they are at risk of both depression and vitamin D insufficiency. Researchers recruited 185 female college students, aged 18-25, to participate in the study at different times during the academic year. Vitamin D levels were measured from blood samples and participants completed a depression symptom survey over five weeks.

As expected, the women’s vitamin D levels depended on the time of year, with levels dropping during autumn, reaching their lowest in winter, and rising again in the spring. Depression did not show as a clear pattern, prompting the team to conclude that links between vitamin D deficiency and seasonal depression should be studied in larger groups of individuals. They say the study does not conclusively show that low vitamin D levels cause depression, and a clinical trial examining whether vitamin D supplements might help prevent or relieve depression is the logical next step to understanding the link between the two.

(Associations between vitamin D levels and depressive symptoms in healthy young adult women. Journal of Psychiatry Research, 30 May 2015.)

A pragmatic randomised controlled trial conducted by the Medicines Research Group at the University of East London, has found that patients with depression benefit more when they receive acupuncture in addition to taking SSRI antidepressant medication. (SSRIs include citalopram, fluoxetine, Prozac and seroxat.) A total of 76 patients were randomly allocated to one of two groups: one group was given an SSRI but also received acupuncture, whilst the other group was only given the SSRI. Baseline depression scores for the two groups were 22.2 and 22.1 respectively.

After the first week of treatment, the depression score in the acupuncture group had dropped to 15.6, compared to 18.3 for the second group. This significant difference was maintained to the end of the six week trial, when scores were 6.3 for the acupuncture group, and 8.2 for the drug-alone group.

(Acupuncture combined with an antidepressant for patients with depression in hospital: a pragmatic randomised controlled trial. Acupuncture in Medicine, 29 April 2014, epub ahead of print.)