A therapy used to brighten the moods of folks experiencing the winter blues is being studied to see if it can ease other types of depression.

	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Laura Stinson of Cecil sits with daughter Sarah, 9 months, in front of a light box that eased her depression during pregnancy. Click photo for larger image.

Two studies are under way at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic that will test the use of bright light to ease depression during pregnancy as well as for those affected by bipolar disorder.

Researchers already know how time in front of a light box can benefit people who suffer from seasonal affective disorder, or SAD.

Production of melatonin, a sleep-related hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain, is linked to a seasonal depression that occurs in some people when days are shorter and sunlight dimmer. The hormone is produced at increased levels in the dark, and bright light has been found to suppress its secretion.

But could light benefit other conditions of depression that aren't tied to the seasons?

"What immediately struck me and a group of my colleagues is, if there's ever a time to use a treatment that does not involve drugs, it's during pregnancy," said Dr. Katherine Wisner, professor of psychiatry who is leading both trials at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center.

In small, pilot studies involving pregnant women, light has lifted the moods in 60 percent of participants -- about the same percentage helped by antidepressants that work by altering brain chemicals.

So Western Psych is embarking on a larger, multicenter trial with Yale and Columbia universities that will involve more than 300 women, including 84 in the Pittsburgh region.

Those women will sit each morning for about an hour in front of a light box that emits the intensity roughly the strength of the noon sun at the beach on a clear June day. (The light does not contain the harmful ultraviolet rays that can increase risk of developing skin cancer.) Usually the women are in front of that light box within 10 to 20 minutes of waking. Sessions in the morning, rather than at other times of the day, have been found to have the greatest effect on adjusting the body's circadian rhythms.

"Depression is a disregulation disorder," Wisner said. "When we think beyond psychotherapy and medications, we ask, 'How does one re-regulate the body?' Light is one of the biggest regulators."

Researchers suspect that the light therapy also can benefit the notorious effects of postpartum depression -- the time after birth during which some women can slide into a devastating funk. About 10 percent of women suffer major depression during pregnancy; 13 percent after the birth.

This hasn't been studied much because most women with depression problems resume taking antidepressants after birth because they don't have time to sit in front of a light box while meeting the endless demands of a newborn. The medications at that time also pose little risk to the baby, even if the mother is breast-feeding.

Laura Stinson, 33, of Cecil, found success working with Wisner on light therapy when she was pregnant with her fourth child, who is now 9 months old. Following two previous deliveries, she developed postpartum depression and took antidepressants. But with her latest child, the blue moods surfaced during pregnancy.

"I didn't want to take medication during pregnancy," she said. Many of her symptoms were similar to those of seasonal affective disorder -- irritability, sleep disturbances, lack of interest in things she enjoyed -- so Wisner thought light therapy might help.

Stinson, a systems analyst who works from home, put the light box on her desk. She'd have it on for 45 minutes each morning while she worked on the computer, read, sewed or ate breakfast.

"I'd say I noticed a pretty big difference within the first week," she said. "I felt pretty much symptom-free after two weeks."

She continued using the box even after symptoms disappeared to keep her mood stable. When she missed her light sessions for three days while on a business trip, "I definitely noticed a difference."

Since the birth of her baby girl she's been back on antidepressants. But as soon as her daughter is sleeping through the night, she hopes to resume the light therapy.

"I was very skeptical [about its success] because I really thought that depression was something you really needed a medication for. I didn't realize light would have the same effect.''

Like medication, the light needed some adjustments. Thirty minutes a day wasn't enough for her; an hour was too much to the point where it kept her from falling asleep at night. Forty-five minutes was just right.

With the larger study, Wisner also hopes to uncover how and why women respond to this light therapy. Interested participants must be between the ages of 18 and 45 and from 6 to 24 weeks pregnant and be experiencing symptoms of depression.

In the other study, Pitt is among the first to look at the therapy for bipolar disorder, also known as manic depression.

All participants must be on a mood stabilizer or antimanic drug such as lithium. The light would be used to prevent or ease the severe symptoms of the depressive cycle.

Typically, patients are on antimanic drugs and then are given an antidepressant when they swing into depression. But getting the correct dosage is tricky, and too much or too little can trigger rapid cycling, in which the patient experiences wide mood swings over a short time. Once this starts, it takes time for the body to metabolize the medication in order to make adjustments.

But with light, there is low risk of side effects, less interaction with medications and a low chance of inducing mania, Wisner said.

Light therapy also spurs a more rapid response -- in one to three weeks -- in mood improvement, she said.

In this study, researchers are looking for women ages 18 to 65 who have been diagnosed with this disorder and are taking such mood stabilizers as lithium, Zyprexa or Depakote. Women cannot be taking an antidepressant.

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To enroll or for more information on both these studies, call Stacy Stull at Womens Behavioral Health Care at 412-246-6562.