| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
NISHIKAWA Toru National Center of Neuroscience, NCNP Div. Mental Disorder Research, Laboratory, 神経センター神経研究所・第三部, 室長 (00198441)
MIKUNI Masahiko National Center of Neuroscience, NCNP Div. Mental Disorder Research, Laboratory, 神経センター神経研究所・第三部, 室長 (00125353)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥2,100,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,100,000)
Fiscal Year 1990: ¥400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000)
Fiscal Year 1989: ¥1,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,700,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Head investigator has organized a multi-center study on seasonal affective disorder (SAD) from the autumn of 1988 to the winter of 1990 in cooperation with 17 facilities in Japan. We followed Rosenthal criteria to identify the SAD patients, although we adopted DSM-IIIR instead of Research Diagnostic Criteria.
Sixty-five SAD patients were identified among 1890 responders to our adviertisements in mass media, or patients seen at the out patients clinics of the study facilities. Essentially similar findings to other previous reports were obtained in terms of onset age of the first episode, duration of episode, high proportion of depression in first-degree relatives and atypical vegetative symptoms.
However, a nearly equal sex ratio, together with a high proportion of unipolar depression, is characteristic of the present study. Moreover, no dependency on latitude was found in the present study, as almost equal number of patients were identified between the northern part of Japan, Hokkaido district, and the southern part, Kyushu districts. Increased appetite and carbohydrate craving were predominant only in female patients, whereas hypersomnia was prominent in both sexes. The difference in sex ration between Japan and other countries reported is to be clarified, although it might be due to the cultural difference. Effective response to light therapy was found in 22 nonmedicated SAD patients, when the standard procedure of light treatment with 2500 lux was performed during two hours in the early morning. Average Hamilton score for depression decreased from 15.7 to 8.0 in male, and from 20.2 to 8.9 in female patients, respectively.
However, a controlled study on a large number of patients is required to allow final conclusion on the efficacy of light therapy in Japanese SAD patients.
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