Brief Reports
Curcumin Comparable to Fluoxetine for Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder
By Carrie Decker, ND
Founder and Medical Director, Blessed Thistle, Madison, WI
Dr. Decker reports no financial relationships relevant to this field of study. This article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Integrative Medicine Alert.
Source: Sanmukhani J, et al. Efficacy and safety of curcumin in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. Phytother Res 2013; Jul 6 [Epub ahead of print].
Curcumin, the primary active constituent of curcuma longa, is well known for its antioxidative and anti-inflammatory actions, but also has been used traditionally for conditions including depression and anxiety in Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine. Animal studies have shown curcumin to have an antidepressive effect by promoting neurogenesies in the hippocampus as well as acting as a monoamine oxidase inhibitor. This study is the first known clinical trial of curcumin for the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD).
Sixty individuals diagnosed with MDD (not having other psychiatric disorders or other uncontrolled organic disease) were randomized to treatments with 20 mg of fluoxetine, 1000 mg of curcumin (500 mg twice daily), or these treatments in combination for a period of 6 weeks. There was not a placebo group. The study was observer-masked but participants were not blinded to their treatment regimen. Efficacy of treatment was measured by the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, 17-item version (HAM-D17). Forty-five individuals completed the study, with no significant difference in each group. The mean change in HAM-D17 score was comparable in all three groups (P = 0.77) with a mean change of -14.0 in the fluoxetine group, -12.6 in the curcumin group, and -14.8 in the combination group. A slightly lower tolerability was found in the combination treatment group, but the difference was not significant, with only mild side effects reported.
Religious Deterrence?
By Carol A. Kemper, MD, FACP
Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford University, Division of Infectious Diseases, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center
Dr. Kemper does research for Abbott Laboratories and Merck. The article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Infectious Disease Alert.
Source: Van Wagoner N, et al. Church attendance in men who have sex with men diagnosed with HIV is associated with later presentation for HIV care. Clin Infect Dis 2014;58:295-299.
A cross-sectional analysis of persons newly presenting for HIV care was performed at a university HIV clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, examining risk factors for delayed presentation. Part of the initial intake was an assessment of church attendance, which was compared with self-reported sexual behavior (including men who have sex with men [MSM], men who have sex with women [MSW], and women who have sex with men [WSM] — men who have sex with both were included in MSM). A total of 508 people were included in the survey (60% MSM, 21% MSW, and 18%WSM). The median age was 33 years; and 62% were African American. More than half (56%) attended church on a regular basis. One-third had a CD4 count < 200 cells/mm3 (AIDS by CD4 count) at presentation.
There was a statistically significant correlation observed between church attendance and presentation with AIDS (P = 0.02). Church-going MSM were statistically more likely to present with more advanced disease, as defined by CD4 count < 200 cells/mm3, than non-church goers (34% vs 20%; adjusted odds ratio, 2.2; P = 0.01). Church-going MSM were also statistically less likely to have been previously HIV tested (79% vs 88%; P = 0.041). The opposite was observed in WSM. Non-church going women were less likely to report prior HIV testing than church-going women (41% vs 68%; P = 0.01).
I suspect very different results might be observed if this analysis were performed in a part of the country other than the South, and the type of religion may have some bearing on the results. Nonetheless, I have heard many times from several of my black HIV+ MSM their concerns about being ostracized from their community, should their HIV+ status be revealed.
Average Survival Time of Chocolate: 55 minutes
By Carol A. Kemper, MD, FACP
Dr. Kemper does research for Abbott Laboratories and Merck. The article originally appeared in the February 2014 issue of Infectious Disease Alert.
Source: Gajendragadkar PR, et al. The survival time of chocolates on hospital wards: Covert observational study. BMJ 2013; 347:f7198.
I love being on call for the holidays — it’s not so busy, and there are goodies and boxes of See’s chocolate at every nursing station (despite our infection control provision against having food at the nursing station, which is largely ignored, especially at the holidays). It’s no wonder Warren Buffet bought See’s candies in 1972.
These rascals in the department of cardiology at Bedford Hospital in the United Kingdom surveyed the rate of chocolate consumption on nursing units at three different hospitals. Two different types of boxed chocolates were deployed (a total of 8 boxes, 2 per unit, with a total of 258 chocolates). The boxes were "kept under covert surveillance," and the time to consumption recorded. Three-fourths of the chocolates were observed being eaten.
The medium time to opening the first box of chocolate, once it arrived at the nursing station, was 12 minutes (range, 0-25 minutes). The average survival time of chocolate was 55 minutes. Chocolate consumption was non-linear, with a burst of chocolate eating activity followed by slower ingestion. Using an exponential decay model, the survival half-life for a box of chocolates was 99 minutes. One brand of chocolates survived longer than the other. Nurses and health care assistants consumed most of the chocolates, while only 15% fell victim to physicians.
