As depression eases, patients often want to stop treatment. But are they better? Will they relapse?PEOPLE come into Andrew Leuchter's office, saying they're better, saying they want to stop. "Oh, gosh, it happens all the time," says Leuchter, a psychiatrist at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. "They say they feel OK, that they don't need drugs or any other help, and that they've recovered. On one hand that's very encouraging, but on the other hand we have to be very careful, because the cost of being wrong -- if they are not ready -- can be very high."

  There's no single way to decide how, when and why to wrap up talk treatment. But doing it well may solidify gains.You've been in psychotherapy for awhile, and you're feeling better. Much better. Is it time to quit?

  The antioxidant seems to work wonders in the rodents, but there's little research in humans.This antioxidant can protect against cancer, heart disease and diabetes. It can lower cholesterol, reduce inflammation and ease pain. Best of all, perhaps, it can help users live 30% longer than they would without it.

  Some scientists look at the meager data about resveratrol use in humans and ask, why take it? Others look at the mountainous data about resveratrol use in animals and ask, why not?

  In the 'Grey's Anatomy' spinoff, Addison Montgomery performs an emergency operation without the typical resources for surgery."Private Practice," series premiereSept. 26, ABC, 9 p.m.

  Some conditions -- such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and aggression -- may be easier to study in animals.For months, Dr. Nicholas Dodman, head of the animal behavior clinic at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, has been in doggie heaven.

  Separating drug side effects such as depression from nicotine withdrawal can be tricky.The story about the person who became depressed on Chantix caught my eye. My husband and I wereboth on Chantix to quit smoking back in June. Neither of us has a history of depression, but after he was on it, he tried (with no warning) to take his own life.

  Scrupulous people appear less likely to suffer from the disease.PEOPLE who are purposeful, self-disciplined and scrupulous about doing what they think is right -- in other words, are conscientious -- appear less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease.

  Jenny McCarthy is the latest to advocate a wheat- and milk-free diet, although hard evidence to support the theory is lacking.Parents with autistic kids often go to great lengths to help their children develop their social skills and improve their ability to communicate. They might work with them for hours every day or pursue little-known but potentially promising therapies dismissed by the medical mainstream. Some put their children on a gluten- and casein-free diet, on the theory that their children have gastrointestinal problems that can be eased by a food regimen free of wheat and milk proteins.

  Using MRIs, PET scans and spinal fluid analysis, scientists are becoming increasingly adept at spotting the illness long before symptoms appear.EFFECTIVE treatments for Alzheimer's disease appear several years away at best. But, in what could be considered a painful irony, scientists have become increasingly adept at spotting the illness in its earliest stages. Magnetic resonance imaging, PET scans, spinal fluid analyses and other techniques have enabled physicians to reliably detect the disease -- often years before symptoms appear.