The researchers found that depression rates also varied along gender lines. In every country, rates of major depression were higher among women than among men. Read the abstract for this article or go back to the top. Using magnetic resonance imaging, the researchers also found differences among men and women in volume loss in various areas of the brain. For example, men lose more of the frontal lobe which controls speech.
Women lose more of the hippocampus and parietal lobes which control visual recognition and memory.
Researchers say two of the risk factors can be easily modified by quitting smoking and lowering blood pressure. They add that the study indicates the need for public health campaigns to lower the prevalence of hypertension and cigarette smoking in young adults. A derivative of vitamin A called isotretinoin can effectively treat severe acne without damaging stores of bone minerals, according to a study in the July issue of the AMA's Archives of Dermatology. Researchers say that while the study was conducted on only 20 patients, it is still an important finding because severe acne usually appears during the teenage years when bone mineral is actively acquired. Isotretinoin has been associated with several side effects including fetal abnormalities when used during pregnancy.