View clinical trials related to Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to investigate whether vitamin D3 (70 micrograms) is better than placebo in preventing depression symptoms among employees in health care
Bright light therapy (BLT) is widely accepted as first-line treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). However, the mechanism of action of BLT is still widely unknown. On the other hand, in mammals, light penetrates the skull bone and reaches the brain, and extra ocular transcranial phototransduction has physiological influences such as changed reproductive cycles and increased brain serotonin levels. Therefore, the investigators run a randomized, placebo controlled, double blind, dose finding study on the putative effect of transcranial bright light in the treatment of SAD.
The investigators are looking for volunteers who have a history of Major Depressive Disorder, the Winter Blues, or Seasonal Affective Disorder or healthy volunteers who do not have a history of these disorders for a research study on genetics.
One of the most frequently investigated hypothesis of the pathophysiology underlying Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD) or so called winter depression is a disturbance of circadian rhythms. Since the circadian system is especially sensitive for the blue portion of the light spectrum, a new light therapy device with more blue light (blue enriched polychromatic light) was tested for its efficacy to treat SAD. In chronobiological terms this light is hypothesized to be more potent in inducing non-visual effects. In the present study fluorescent tubes that emit a high portion of short wavelength light on top of the normal wavelengths are tested for its superiority in treating SAD. This blue-enriched light (colour temperature 17000 ºK) is compared to standard light treatment (5000 º K) in SAD patients.,In a earlier study it was shown that the therapeutic effect of blue enriched light were equal to standard light treatment using light in both conditions with an intensity of 10 000 lux. In the present study, blue enriched light with an intensity of 750 lux was used, because of the possible saturation effect in the former study. The investigators hypothesise that blue- enriched light with a low intensity improve the therapeutic effects of light treatment leading to a higher response or the same response in a shorter time schedule compared to standard light treatment.
One of the most frequently investigated hypothesis of the pathophysiology underlying Seasonal Affective Disorder(SAD) or so called winterdepression is a disturbance of circadian rhythms. Since the circadian system is especially sensitive for the blue portion of the light spectrum, a new light therapy device with more blue light (blue enriched polychromatic light) was tested for its efficacy to treat SAD. In chronobiological terms this light is hypothesized to be more potent in inducing non-visual effects. In the present study fluorescent tubes that emit a high portion of short wavelength light on top of the normal wavelengths are tested for its superiority in treating SAD. This blue-enriched light (colour temperature 17000 ºK) is compared to standard light treatment (5000 º K) in SAD patients., The investigators hypothesise that blue- enriched light improve the therapeutic effects of light treatment leading to a higher response or the same response in a shorter time schedule compared to standard light treatment.
The aim of this study is to investigate the efficacy of bright light therapy in SAD. This is a placebo-controlled, double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT).
This is a randomized, controlled clinical trial of inactivated negative ion generation or light-emitting photodiode therapy for Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD, winter depression), for subjects with a DSM IV diagnosis of Major Depression, with Seasonal Pattern, Winter type, to examine efficacy of treatments for this condition. The trial has a 1 week baseline phase and a 4 week treatment phase.
This study will evaluate a possible tool for predicting future effectiveness of bright light in treating seasonal affective disorder, winter subtype, and will examine secondary effects of bright light on cardiovascular risk factors.
The purpose of this study is to determine whether treating sleep difficulties in patients with seasonal affective disorder also improves their depressive symptoms.
The specific aim of this study is to test the hypothesis that light stimuli concentrated around 468 nm will evoke a significantly stronger therapeutic response in SAD patients compared to light stimuli concentrated around 654 nm at an equal photon density. The secondary objective of this study is to determine the efficacy of different colors and levels of light in order to optimize therapeutic benefit, while also minimizing side effects and maintaining safety of light exposure.