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    Depression, Disability Can Follow ICU Care: Study

    HealthDay – Fri, Dec 9, 2011

    FRIDAY, Dec. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Depression and new physical problems are common among patients released from the intensive care unit after treatment for a potentially deadly condition called acute lung injury, a new study finds.

    The findings may also apply to ICU patients with other types of disease or injury who get hooked up to breathing machines, according to the researchers.

    "When people are discharged from the ICU, we tend, understandably, to focus on their physical health, but our data tell us we need to focus on their mental health, too," study leader Dr. O. Joseph Bienvenu, an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, said in a Hopkins news release.

    "Depression can make recovery much more difficult. Identifying depressive symptoms early -- and treating them -- could make a real difference in how patients fare physically in the long term," he added.

    The researchers looked at the depression levels and physical abilities of 186 survivors of acute lung injury three, six, 12 and 24 months after they became ill. Physical abilities included whether people could perform basic tasks of daily living such as shopping, preparing food and using the telephone.

    Forty percent of the patients developed depressive symptoms during the two years of follow-up, even though they had not previously experienced such symptoms.

    In addition, 66 percent of the patients developed new physical impairments during the follow-up period.

    The average age of the patients in the study was 49, and they should be in the prime of their lives, the researchers noted. Instead, many had become disabled and unable to return to work.

    The researchers will continue to follow these patients to find out if the depression symptoms and physical impairments persist beyond the initial follow-up of two years.

    The study was published Dec. 9 in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

    More information

    The Society of Critical Care Medicine has more about ICU care.

     

    9 comments

    • sts
      sts  •  5 mths ago
      my brother is an anesthesiologist. he seems to think being hooked up to a respirator for more than a short time, does permanent damage, the older you are the worse it is.
      • marie
        marie 5 mths ago
        Thank you for that "heads up". Makes sense really. We aren't breathing "naturally" so upsets the body's rhythm. And the older we are we don't "adjust" quickly anymore. If we can avoid the respirator for as long as we can sounds like that is for the better.
      • L
        L 4 mths ago
        A doctor wanted me to use a a c pap oxygen mask . I felt like i was suffocating . I don't use anything and i feel fine . It is not the same as a respirator .
    • Sam
      Sam  •  5 mths ago
      Being ill in this country will cause most people to become depressed because most can't afford the bills. Good medical care is NOT available for a large percentage of people in this country.
    • desertmirage
      desertmirage  •  5 mths ago
      i am suffering this right now. 8 weeks ago I spent the weekend in ICU. The bills have completely devastated me.
    • green thumb
      green thumb  •  5 mths ago
      so prescribe them some anti-depressants and send them home like the rest of us.
    • charlie
      charlie  •  5 mths ago
      I had bilateral multiple Pulmonary embolisms about 6 years ago, was not in ICU but the heart unit. Once back home I had a gradual downslide into a total emotional breakdown. It has been over 5 years now and I have a few good days but mostly bad days. Many medicines, psycologist, psychiatrist and Internist and I received almost no acknowledgement from anyone. Totally changed my life forever.Like hell but you are all alone. No one understands an emotional breakdown unless you have had one.
    • ace
      ace  •  5 mths ago
      "NUTS"
    • KG
      KG  •  5 mths ago
      When you can't breathe, you panic. Then you get upset. Then you get depressed. I could have told anyone this. Actually, if you get sick at all you get depressed. A massive life change like that of course brings it on. I'm glad we're spending money on mental health research but my goodness, this is a firm grasp on the obvious.
    • justin k
      justin k  •  5 mths ago
      No way! People who are informed they have a life threatening disease get depressed? You better get these people on a life long prescription anti depressant immediately. Think of the profits you are missing.
    • MSK
      MSK  •  Kernersville, United States  •  5 mths ago
      DR OZ.......DR OZ.......DR OZ....PREVENTION PREVENTION PREVENTION!!!!!
     Post a comment
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