Light May Lift Pregnancy Depression
Light May Lift Pregnancy Depression
April 22, 2002 -- Pregnant women battling depression may get a mental boost from bright morning light. A new study shows that bright-light therapy can improve depression symptoms by about 50% among pregnant women.
Researchers say around 5% of pregnant women suffer from major depression. But most doctors are reluctant to prescribe antidepressants because little is known about how the drugs may affect the developing fetus.
The researchers say this is the first study to look at light therapy as a way to treat depression in pregnant women. Their findings are published in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Previous studies have already shown that exposure to bright light can ease the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or winter depression -- a form of depression where symptoms strike during dark winter days. But only a few small studies have examined light's impact on treating patients with depression that's not related to the time of year.
For this study, Yale University researchers monitored 16 pregnant women with depression who sat under a specially designed fluorescent light box for one hour each morning within 10 minutes of waking up. After three weeks of light therapy, symptoms of depression improved by 49%. And the benefits increased the longer the women followed the therapy. Those who continued the treatment for five weeks had a 59% improvement in symptoms.
No major side effects to the pregnancy were seen. Researchers say the mood-lifting effect of the light therapy among the pregnant women was similar to improvements found in studies of people with winter depression.
Although researchers say more studies are still needed, they suggest light therapy may be an important treatment alternative for pregnant women with major depression, with few side effects.
Light May Lift Pregnancy Depression
April 22, 2002 -- Pregnant women battling depression may get a mental boost from bright morning light. A new study shows that bright-light therapy can improve depression symptoms by about 50% among pregnant women.
Researchers say around 5% of pregnant women suffer from major depression. But most doctors are reluctant to prescribe antidepressants because little is known about how the drugs may affect the developing fetus.
The researchers say this is the first study to look at light therapy as a way to treat depression in pregnant women. Their findings are published in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Previous studies have already shown that exposure to bright light can ease the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) or winter depression -- a form of depression where symptoms strike during dark winter days. But only a few small studies have examined light's impact on treating patients with depression that's not related to the time of year.
For this study, Yale University researchers monitored 16 pregnant women with depression who sat under a specially designed fluorescent light box for one hour each morning within 10 minutes of waking up. After three weeks of light therapy, symptoms of depression improved by 49%. And the benefits increased the longer the women followed the therapy. Those who continued the treatment for five weeks had a 59% improvement in symptoms.
No major side effects to the pregnancy were seen. Researchers say the mood-lifting effect of the light therapy among the pregnant women was similar to improvements found in studies of people with winter depression.
Although researchers say more studies are still needed, they suggest light therapy may be an important treatment alternative for pregnant women with major depression, with few side effects.
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