How Moms Can Use Their iPhones To Join The Fight Against PPD

One of the biggest questions about postpartum depression (PPD) is what causes it. Why are as many as 1 in 7 mothers affected by debilitating, often long-lasting depression and anxiety? And if experts better understood the causes, how could they improve care and prevention efforts? A major new investigation is poised to find those answers, and moms can help by simply answering a few quick questions on their iPhones.  Researchers with the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and the consortium Postpartum Depression: Action Towards Causes and Treatment, or PACT, have developed a free iPhone app that will allow any woman who has suffered symptoms of postpartum depression, anxiety or psychosis to answer questions about her experience. Investigators will take a look at those answers, and invite many women to donate a saliva sample -- by simply spitting in a tube and mailing it in -- which researchers will then analyze to determine if there are any genetic factors underlying their depression. "Research studies, about anything really, are always so limited. Like, 'If you want to join, you have to live in a certain area, you can't be on any meds, you have to have had symptoms within the last X weeks,'" said Katherine Stone, founder of Postpartum Progress, the popular blog and non-profit, which has committed to help spread awareness of the new study. "Women want to be able to share their information," she continued. "They want to share their stories, and they even ...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news