Women, Men and Depression: A Market Study OverviewMarket surveys on women, men and depression suggest an estimated 4.4 million Americans are believed to suffer from chronic treatment-resistant depression. Depression is a chronic, disabling disorder and a major worldwide public health problem. Depressive episodes usually recur over time, with risk for further episodes proportional to the number of prior episodes. After three major depressive episodes, the probability of recurrence is 90%. In the U.S. alone, approximately 18 million people suffer from depression over six million of which are receiving some form of medical treatment.
Market studies on women, men and depression also estimate that over 100,000 Americans each year are treated with electro convulsive therapy (ECT) for their depression. Roughly 15% of all people with severe depression that require hospitalization commit suicide. Disorders related to men and depression are also very expensive. Depression is ranked as the second leading cause of disability worldwide in 1990. Depression costs in the U.S. alone are estimated to exceed $50 billion annually, including over $12 billion in direct treatment costs. The total market in the U.S. for anti-depressants is estimated to exceed $6 billion.
Several general factors may be linked to women, men and depression but the exact causes of depressive disorders are unknown, although both biological abnormalities and psychological factors are thought to precipitate this disease. Diminished synaptic concentrations of neurotransmitters, especially serotonin and norepinephrine, are implicated in the pathogenesis of depression. Most current standard therapies regarding men and depression are thought to affect either one or both of these neurotransmitter systems (1) SSRI drugs (serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitors) or (2) MAOI drugs (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) that decrease the breakdown of norepinephrine and serotonin. It is of interest to note that several antiepileptic compounds, such as carbamazepine, valproate and lamotrigine, are used as mood stabilizers and that lamotrigine and gabapentin are also used as antidepressants.
Traditional Depression TherapiesThe medical approach regarding men and depression includes the following ideal goals: achieve remission of symptoms, prevent relapse and recurrence and to improve the quality of life and functional capacity of the patient. Treatment of conditions related to men and depression is typically viewed in terms of acute, continuation and maintenance phases of treatment. The acute treatment phase is considered to be six and 12 weeks, the continuation phase is four to nine months and the maintenance phase is greater than nine to 12 months. Recurrences of depression are expected in 50% of cases within two years after maintenance treatment. For well-established recurrent depressions, the rate of recurrence may approach 75%.
Conventional therapies for conditions related to men and depression include medication, psychotherapy or a combination of both.
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Did You Know That There Is a Potential New Therapy for Treatment Resistant Depression?VNS THERAPY® SYSTEM FOR WOMEN, MEN AND DEPRESSION
VNS Therapy for the treatment of men and depression, as approved in European Union countries and Canada and under current clinical investigation in the U.S., is very similar to VNS Therapy for the treatment of epilepsy. The VNS Therapy System delivers intermittent stimulation in the same location, that is, the left vagus nerve in the neck, under similar programming specifications.
The clinical study of VNS Therapy for the treatment of men and depression in the U.S. is an investigational study, conducted by Cyberonics, subject to clinical outcome and FDA approval. It is conducted for the treatment of depression in patients with unipolar and bipolar depressive disorder. The depression study program includes acute and long-term clinical studies, acute and long-term mechanism of action research and clinical and economic outcome studies in patients with treatment-resistent depression receiving standard medical treatment that does not include VNS. These studies are being conducted to determine the safety, effectiveness and cost effectiveness of VNS Therapy in the treatment of depression, support regulatory approvals and support post-approval psychiatrist, patient and payer acceptance.
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