This is actually pretty old news. I heard these reports going back several years. Granted, this is a meta-analysis that includes studies that go back several years, I'd imagine (it was an orally presented paper presentation and I assume is not yet in print? Or was rejected for publication?)
You can also read about it here: http://www.botoxfordepression.com/research-botox-for-depression/ and here: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/health/Botox-May-Help-Alleviate-Depression-116730639.html The latter goes back to 2011. So, if this is so effective why is treatment with botox not far more widespread? But what struck me in the link provided below is this set of sentences: For botulinum patients versus placebo patients, the odds ratio for a response was 8.3, with a 95% confidence interval from 3.4 to 20.3. Similarly, the odds ratio for a remission was 4.6, with a 95% confidence interval from 1.6 to 13.1. Now, if I'm a lay person, or even a modestly educated person about statistics--I've had the one class required for the major in psych, for example, I have no idea what this is telling me. I know the move is towards using CIs to report stats but I'd still want to see something more than this as a result. How would a stats expert interpret these two sentences? (Certainly not me!) I think it's pretty meaningless to a lay person who might think it's very important just because it's couched in such scientific sounding language. Annette ps: I favor the facial feedback hypothesis ;-) Annette Kujawski Taylor, Ph. D. Professor, Psychological Sciences University of San Diego 5998 Alcala Park San Diego, CA 92110-2492 tay...@sandiego.edu ________________________________________ From: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) digest [tips@fsulist.frostburg.edu] Sent: Monday, June 01, 2015 10:00 PM Holy cow, Batman. Bob Zajonc theory may have more relevance than we knew. And by extension, perhaps the James-Lange theory as well............................... Analyses support theory that Botox might alleviate depression http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/APA/51696 Injections of botulinum toxin A into the forehead worked better than placebo at reducing depression symptoms, according to a systematic review and an analysis of three randomized trials. The studies were small and more research is needed to confirm the findings, but the treatment might be useful in some refractory disease cases, said Julio Licinio of the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, who was not involved in the studies. Edward I. Pollak, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus of Psychology West Chester University of Pennsylvania Home page: http://home.comcast.net/~epollak/ Editor of "Ed's Bluegrass Newsletter" at http://home.comcast.net/~epollak/bgnews.htm Husband, father, grandfather, bluegrass fiddler & biopsychologist............... in approximate order of importance ________________________________ This e-mail message was sent from a retired or emeritus status employee of West Chester University. --- END OF DIGEST --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: tay...@sandiego.edu To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13534.4204dc3a11678c6b1d0be57cfe0a21b0&n=T&l=tips&o=45182 or send a blank email to leave-45182-13534.4204dc3a11678c6b1d0be57cfe0a2...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@mail-archive.com. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=45194 or send a blank email to leave-45194-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
