Guidance in Anxiety Symptoms and Treatments

ScienceDaily (Aug. 26, 2010) — Clinical depression and anxiety during pregnancy results in smaller babies that are more likely to die in infancy, according to new research published in the open access journal BMC Public Health. The study, which focused on women living in rural Bangladesh, provides the first finding of its kind in a non-Western population.

The research indicates that mental health issues are likely to be a primary contributor to infant mortality and poor child health, above poverty, malnutrition or low socio-economic status.

A collaboration between researchers at the Karolinska Instituet in Sweden and the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) assessed the mental health of 720 women in the third trimester of pregnancy from two rural sub-districts of Bangladesh for symptoms of antepartum depression (Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale) and antepartum anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Inventory) and followed them until 6-8 months postpartum.

Infant birth weight of 81% babies born at term was measured within 48 hours of delivery and baseline data provided socio-economic, anthropometric, reproductive, obstetric and social support information. Lead researcher Hashima-E- Nasreen explains, “18% of the women we studied in two rural areas of Bangladesh were diagnosed as having depression and one-quarter as having anxiety during pregnancy, and these women were much more likely to give birth to very small babies. This is a worrying problem, since low birth weight is strongly associated with infant death, which may in turn perpetuate the cycle of mental health problems and underdevelopment.”

The study raises awareness of the significance of depression and anxiety leading to poor health in South Asian countries. It suggests that one way to reach the internationally-agreed Millennium Development Goal to reduce child mortality in the developing world would be to invest in mental health support services in this area.

Editor’s Note: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited, via AlphaGalileo.

Journal Reference:

Hashima-E Nasreen, Zarina N Kabir, Yvonne Forsell and Maigun Edhborg. Low birth weight in offspring of women with depressive and anxiety symptoms during pregnancy: Results from a population based study in Bangladesh. BMC Public Health, 2010; (in press) [link]

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

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Main Category: Smoking / Quit Smoking
Also Included In: Anxiety / Stress; Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 26 Oct 2010 – 2:00 PDT window.fbAsyncInit = function() { FB.init({ appId: ‘aa16a4bf93f23f07eb33109d5f1134d3′, status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: true, channelUrl: ‘http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/scripts/facebooklike.html’}); }; (function() { var e = document.createElement(‘script’); e.async = true; e.src = document.location.protocol + ‘//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js’; document.getElementById(‘fb-root’).appendChild(e); }()); email to a friend printer friendly opinions
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Researchers may have pinpointed a reason many smokers struggle to quit. According to new research published in the journal Addiction, smokers with a history of anxiety disorders are less likely to quit smoking. The study, conducted by the University of Wisconsin Center for Tobacco Research and Intervention (UW-CTRI), offered free coaching and medications to smokers in Madison and Milwaukee.

While overall quit rates for the study were high, participants with anxiety diagnoses were much less likely to quit smoking..

Study results also showed that anxiety diagnoses were very common among participants more than a third of them met criteria for at least one anxiety diagnosis in their lifetime. Out of all 1,504 study participants, 455 had had a panic attack in the past, 199 social anxiety disorder, and 99 generalized anxiety disorder (some reported having more than one diagnoses). Other research has shown that up to 25 percent of the more than 50 million smokers in the U.S. had at least one anxiety disorder in their lifetime. And yet, very little research has addressed smoking in this population..

Lead author Megan Piper says it surprised her that the nicotine lozenge and patch alone or in combination failed to help patients with an anxiety history to quit smoking. In the general population, the lozenge and patch especially when combined have been very effective in helping patients quit smoking. Bupropion (Zyban) alone, or in combination with the nicotine lozenge, also did not increase cessation rates among patients with a history of anxiety disorders..

“Further research is needed to identify better counseling and medication treatments to help patients with anxiety disorders to quit smoking,” Piper says..

Smokers in the study with anxiety disorders also reported higher levels of nicotine dependence and withdrawal symptoms prior to quitting. Smokers often experience craving, negative feelings and difficulty concentrating in the minutes or hours after finishing a cigarette, and those feelings can be heightened simply because the smokers know they’re about to attempt to quit. In addition, participants with a history of panic attacks or social-anxiety disorder experienced more negative feelings on their quit day than did smokers in the study without this history..

These findings suggest that clinicians should assess anxiety-disorder status when helping patients quit smoking. While anxiety medications alone haven’t boosted cessation rates, Piper is planning further research to test other quit-smoking counseling interventions and medications with patients who have had an anxiety diagnosis..

Source: University of Wisconsin-Madison

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Guidance in Anxiety Symptoms and Treatments

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