Introduction: Postpartum depression (PPD) occurs in the first 6 months after delivery in 10% to 20% of mothers. Despite the availability of screening tools, there is a general consensus that PPD is underdiagnosed. A number of risk factors contributing to PPD have been investigated, but role of seasonal variability in PPD is unclear. Our purpose was to assess whether seasonal variation is another risk factor for PPD.Methods: This cross-sectional pilot study was conducted at 2 family medicine clinics and an obstetrics/gynecology clinic over 24 months. During their postpartum visit, mothers who gave consent were asked to fill out a survey requesting demographic data, followed by the Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS). The EPDS is a well-validated tool shown to be highly effective in detecting postnatal depression. A score >12 on the EPDS indicated a likely risk of PPD.Results: Of the 556 patients approached, 530 completed the EPDS. Mean (؎SE) patient age was 24.9 ؎ 0.2 years; 71% were African Americans; 74% were single mothers; and 39% had at least some college education. On the EPDS, 17.8% scored >13. Of the depressed patients, 18.1% had babies born during the winter, 19.2% had babies born during the spring, 13.4% during the summer, and 21.5% during autumn (

We discuss a case of a 79-year-old Caucasian male with a multifactoral etiology of failure to thrive. Without having any significant past medical problems, the patient's failure to thrive condition initiated following an acute stroke. Over the course of this and future hospitalizations, as well as inpatient care, numerous factors contributing to his failure to thrive were identified. These included: malnutrition, post stroke debility, dysphagia, anemia, depression and malignancy. This report serves to document a complicated case of failure to thrive in a geriatric patient with focused discussion of some etiological contributions to a failure to thrive condition. Additionally, we will describe some salient features pertaining to the clinical management of such cases.