Major depressive disorder affects nearly 340 million people worldwide and as many as 20% of those patients are resistant to treatment. A team of psychiatrists at the University of California, San Diego Medical Center is studying two novel approaches, one utilizing a drug and one a procedure, to better help those affected by depression. In the first study, an investigational medicine is administered by intravenous infusion, which may be more powerful than many of the oral antidepressants currently available and works on a common neurotransmitter in the brain called glutamate, instead of on serotonin or noradrenalin.

The Daily Telegraph has reported that the number of children taking anti-obesity drugs has risen 15 times over the last decade. A study of data from GPs between 1999 and 2006 indicates that up to 1,300 children and teenagers are being prescribed the drugs every year, even though they are not licensed for use by children. The newspaper said that most prescriptions “were for 14-year-olds, although 25 prescriptions were written for children under the age of 12”.

Vivus will apply for approval from the FDA by the end of the year to introduce a new diet drug that has impressive potential. The drug, called Qnexa, has more than met FDA requirements in two late stage clinical trials. The drug is made up of two medications already approved by the FDA. One is phentermine, the non-lethal component of the controversial drug Fen-Phen, which was ultimately taken off the market due to reported heart complications. Phentermine, which is of the amphetamine class, is the most prescribed obesity drug in the nation and is typically given to patients who are manifesting weight related illnesses.

The FDA said its regulators are assessing at least 32 reports of liver problems occurred in patients between 1999 and 2008 by taking the weight-loss drug orlistat, sold as a prescription drug Xenical and more recently, as an over-the-counter medication called Alli. Of the 32 reports of liver problems the FDA has in hand, 27 patients were hospitalized and six suffered liver failure. In an “early communication” of a drug safety review, the FDA said it will also review additional data on “suspected cases of liver injury” submitted by drug firms that make and market orlistat in its branded and generic forms.

A study conducted by Doctors at Britain’s University of Bristol on nearly one-thousand moms-to-be reveals that eating Omega-Three-rich seafood may help decrease symptoms of depression in pregnant women. As compared to women who ate three or more servings of seafood a week, those who didn’t eat any were 50% more likely to feel symptoms of depression.