Prime Time Living 6.18.25 - Flipbook - Page 4
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A Special Advertising Section of Baltimore Sun Media Group | Wednesday, June 18, 2025
METAL HEALTH
It doesn’t have to
be this way
Depression on the rise
with older adults
By Margit B. Weisgal, Contributing Writer
F
redrika Mesirow, 82, experienced a series of events that caused her to go
into a deep depression. Her daughter, with whom she was very close, moved
across the country. She then got Bell’s Palsy, a nerve condition that causes
facial weakness. And then her husband of over 50 years died. In all, Fredrika suffered several psychological and physical stressors in a short period of time.
“Depression is a prison
where you are both the suffering
prisoner and the cruel jailer”
– Dorothy Rowe,
Australian-British psychologist and author,
whose area of interest was depression
Depression in older adults is more
common than we realize. According
to the National Council on Aging, “If
you’re experiencing intense feelings
of hopelessness or sadness that don’t
seem to go away, you may be clinically
depressed. In recognition of National
Older Adult Mental Health Awareness
Day in May, we’re shining a spotlight on
the issue of depression – a disorder that
affects more than 8% (21 million) of U.S.
adults each year.”
Grief and isolation are major stressors that may predispose someone to
develop clinical depression. There’s also
a lack of purpose in life, a reason to get
out of bed in the morning, another trigger caused by retirement. Add physical
deterioration, chronic pain, and a medical
system that doesn’t work well, and you
have all the ingredients for MDD (major
depressive disorder).
Those who are experiencing MDD
tend to have poor concentration and
memory. Gwenn Smith, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and radiology and radiological sciences at The Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, has been studying
the neurobiology of depression in order
to improve quality of life for older adults
for almost 30 years. She has started
a new study, working with Dr. Milap
Nowrangi, M.D., M.S., assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences
at The Johns Hopkins University School
of Medicine.
“We are doing scans of the brain during antidepressant treatment to better
understand the neurobiology of changes
in mood and memory when a person is
on antidepressants,” explains Smith. “We
relate the changes in the brain scans to
improvement in mood and cognition.”
Utilizing PET scans of the brain, Smith
and Nowrangi can measure serotonin, a
brain chemical that influences our mood,
as well as memory, sleep and appetite.
Low levels of serotonin may be associated with depression. Positron emission
tomography (PET) is a specialized radiology procedure that uses molecular imaging to track and trace changes in brain
chemistry in both normal and abnormal
conditions.
Says Psychology Today, “cognition
is the broad term for thinking, learning,
and reasoning.” We experience cognitive decline when our brains develop
dementia. We can increase serotonin
through the foods we eat or by taking
antidepressants that target serotonin.
The antidepressants enhance the activity
of serotonin in specific pathways of the
brain, which is how they relieve depression.
The PET scans mentioned above
are among the reasons advancements
in understanding cognitive decline and
depression are taking place, helping
researchers have a better understanding
of how dementias form. Depression can
prevent us from fighting off illnesses or
diseases effectively, including dementia.
Smith and Nowrangi are now recruiting patients for a new study that will
look at increasing the serotonin levels
with the first antidepressant that has
been approved by the FDA to treat both
depressed mood and cognitive problems.
“Symptoms of depression are common yet often go undetected or not
addressed,” Smith states. “Symptoms
could include feelings of sadness or
hopelessness, loss of energy, inability
to enjoy pleasurable activities, changes
Depression, continued on page 24
