MORE..University of California, San Francisco: "Older adults with depressive symptoms are more likely than those without depression to develop mild cognitive impairment (MCI) within six years, according to a study conducted by researchers at the San Francisco VA Medical Center and the University of California, San Francisco.The greater the degree of depression, the more likely the impairment, the researchers found.'This is important, because mild cognitive impairment often precedes dementia,' notes lead author Deborah Barnes, PhD, MPH, a mental health researcher at SFVAMC. Approximately 50 percent of patients diagnosed with MCI go on to develop dementia within three years, according to the study authors.The study also found no correlation between depression and vascular disease a significant finding, say the authors, because other researchers have hypothesized that vascular disease might lead to both depression and cognitive impairment by causing inadequate blood flow to different brain structures. 'We found no evidence to support that hypothesis,' reports Barnes, who is also an assistant professor of psychiatry at UCSF."

MOREElderly patients with major depression, who had responded earlier to Paxil (paroxetine) and psychotherapy, were less likely to have a recurrence if given two years of maintenance drug therapy, according to researches here.

However, monthly maintenance psychotherapy alone failed to prevent the return of depression, the researchers reported in the March 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The relative risk of recurrence was more than twice as great for those getting psychotherapy without drug treatment.

MORE: "Heart attack patients who have a certain pattern on an electrocardiogram significantly reduced their risk of death and having another heart attack at 30 days with the medication fondaparinux, without an increased risk of bleeding and strokes, according to a study that will appear in the April 5 issue of JAMA.

MORE: Reuters.com There were no deaths among patients who were taking a placebo, said Eisai, which markets Aricept with Pfizer Inc. (PFE.N: Quote, Profile, Research) The drug treats mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease, but was being tested in patients with vascular dementia, the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease."

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ABC Video: A study published in the archives of neurology found that people taking certain blood pressure medications were less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease.

READ MORE | Reuters.com: "The cholesterol treatment Crestor has been shown to partially reverse the build-up of plaque in coronary arteries, the first time that a statin drug has proved effective in treating the condition, which can lead to a heart attack or stroke, researchers said on Monday."

READ MORE : "Data from a long-term study released
today solidifies aspirin's role as the preeminent antiplatelet therapy in the
prevention of heart attack and stroke. The results of the Clopidogrel for High
Atherothrombotic Risk and Ischaemic Stabilization, Management, and Avoidance
(CHARISMA) trial, which were presented today at the 55th Annual Scientific
Session of the American College of Cardiology in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and
published online in an advance issue of the New England Journal of
Medicine(1), highlight the primacy of aspirin among antiplatelet agents and
add to the robust body of evidence supporting aspirin's role in
cardioprevention.
Overall, the study showed that there was no significant benefit to adding
clopidogrel to aspirin therapy in a wide range of patients. Furthermore,
since patients who took clopidogrel had an increased risk of bleeding, the
long-term use of combination antiplatelet therapy may not be warranted in most
patients. "

READ MORE : "People taking the blood thinner Plavix on top of aspirin to try to prevent heart attacks, as many doctors recommend, now have good reason to stop.The drug combination not only didn't help most people in a newly released study, but it unexpectedly almost doubled the risk of death, heart attack or stroke for those with no clogged arteries but with worrisome conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol.'They actually were harmed,' said Dr. Eric Topol. 'This was a trial to determine the boundaries of benefit, and it did. You don't use this drug for patients without coronary artery disease.'"