A recent University of Iowa study reveals a biological link between pain and fatigue and may help explain why more women than men are diagnosed with chronic pain and fatigue conditions like fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome.Working with mice, the researchers, led by Kathleen Sluka, Ph.D., professor in the Graduate Program in Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Science in the UI Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine, found that a protein involved in muscle pain works in conjunction with the male hormone testosterone to protect against muscle fatigue.
Chronic pain and fatigue often occur together — as many as three in four people with chronic, widespread musculoskeletal pain report having fatigue; and as many as 94 percent of people with chronic fatigue syndromes report muscle pain. Women make up the majority of patients with these conditions. [continue reading…]
Depression affects more than six percent of the working population. When people with bipolar disorder and other forms of depression are included, the true rate is even higher. But only half of workers suffering from depression receive any form of treatment, and less than half of these receive care consistent with current treatment guidelines according to new studies released by the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) in its April Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. This special issue of JOEM, the official publication of ACOEM, presents an update on workplace depression, highlighting the need for an integrated, evidence-based approach to managing this common, chronic, and often recurrent disorder. [continue reading…]
Although individuals with depression may be more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease, symptoms of depression do not appear to increase in the years before a diagnosis is made, according to a report in the April issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This suggests that depression is not a consequence of developing Alzheimer’s disease but may instead be a risk factor for dementia. [continue reading…]
People who have had depression are more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than people who have never had depression, according to a study published in the April 8, 2008, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology [continue reading…]
