Psience Quest

Quote:As things returned to normal, the pressure to stay happy nagged at me. When a disagreement came up about childcare or schedules or finances, I caught myself watching him like a specimen and filing any marital complaints quietly to myself. Any potential conflict was quickly ceded, usually by me, because he was cured, so we were happy, so everything had to be fine, forever. But no marriage can rely on biology alone. We had to remember and relearn that it was normal for us to have fights, even stormy blowups.

It’s been eight months since the surgery, and the lightness and laughter between us remains. I still wonder about how neat and tidy this has all been, if it’s possible we both rallied around the same narrative of a blood test saving our marriage, and in doing so made it truer than it actually was.

But maybe that doesn’t matter. Maybe he feels better now, and we were given a gift to offload all the blame, frustration and resentment onto a disease no one was responsible for. Maybe the therapy and all the other efforts came together at the same time. But when I glimpse his scar across the bottom of his neck it makes me smile with gratitude. Paris wouldn't have been the magic pill we needed. It took sweat and tears to reset us, but mostly a blood test.

Quote:The results showed that prior to the operations, severe depression was seen in 20% of patients with pHPT, compared to only 9% of the control group. Moderate to severe levels of depression were seen in 17% of people with pHPT and 7% of people in the control group. Additionally, the pHPT group showed higher mean anxiety scores and lower physical and mental health scores than the control participants.

However, the operations resulted in a 98% cure rate, and a year after the procedures, levels of depression and anxiety had decreased in patients with pHPT. Additionally, suicidal thoughts decreased more than half from the baseline levels, and the HRQoL scores improved in patients with pHPT.

The study authors argue that their findings demonstrate an association between pHPT and depression, lowered HRQoL, and anxiety. However, a successful parathyroidectomy may help these patients improve their HRQoL and reduce depression and anxiety.