Traditional Chinese Medicine

A small randomized, double-blind trial suggests that MRI-based measures of brain structure may help predict which patients with major depressive disorder will show early symptom improvement after treatment with the traditional Chinese medicine Yueju Pill. In the four-day study, Yueju Pill and escitalopram were both associated with lower depression rating scores, but only Yueju Pill was linked to a rise in blood levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).