Childbirth Pain and Post-Partum Depression: Does Labor Epidural Analgesia Decrease This Risk?

Post-partum depression (PPD) is a common complication of pregnancy worldwide with a prevalence as high as 15% in some countries. Pain has been identified as a risk factor for major depression; however, the relationship between labor-related pain and PPD is less understood. This article sought out to examine the relationship between pain and PPD, examining whether there is a correlation that reducing pain through epidural analgesia can lower the risk for PPD.

Zinc in schizophrenia: A meta-analysis.

Objective: The role of zinc homeostasis in various psychopathologies is an emerging area of interest. Zinc is strongly implicated in depressive disorders but is inadequately studied in schizophrenia, despite growing evidence of abnormal zinc transporters associated with schizophrenia. A meta-analysis of serum zinc concentrations in persons with schizophrenia was conducted to address this gap.

Serum zinc levels in acute psychiatric patients: A case series.

Zinc dysregulation is linked to neuropsychiatric disorders and a beneficial response to zinc supplementation has been demonstrated for depression. In this case series, we examined serum zinc levels with respect to clinical factors among 20 acutely ill psychiatric cases admitted to a large urban public hospital. The results showed frank clinical zinc insufficiency in a quarter of the subjects.

The Emerging Role for Zinc in Depression and Psychosis.

Zinc participation is essential for all physiological systems, including neural functioning, where it participates in a myriad of cellular processes. Converging clinical, molecular, and genetic discoveries illuminate key roles for zinc homeostasis in association with clinical depression and psychosis which are not yet well appreciated at the clinical interface. Intracellular deficiency may arise from low circulating zinc levels due to dietary insufficiency, or impaired absorption from aging or medical conditions, including alcoholism.