Psychosomatic Medicine News and Research

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Psychosomatic medicine (PM) is a newly licensed subspecialty in the field of psychiatry; it is also known as consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry. C-L psychiatry provides knowledge, practice, and instruction in the relation between mental and physical illness. This field is associated with services like diagnosis, therapeutics and research of illnesses in this area. Hence it connects psychiatry and other medical specialties, so that physicians and psychiatrists can discuss how to best manage patients with psychosomatic illness.

Anxiety disorders can have protective effect after a heart attack

Fear protects people from danger. A team from the Technical University of Munich and Helmholtz Zentrum München has discovered that this applies even to pathological anxiety disorders. Patients who generally suffer from severe anxiety are likely to heed the symptoms of a heart attack earlier and seek medical treatment sooner, thus improving their chance of survival.

1 Mar 2018

Elderly women take longest time to arrive at the hospital after myocardial infarction, study reveals

It takes women aged over 65 the longest to arrive at the emergency department after the onset of myocardial infarction symptoms. As a consequence, valuable time is lost to reopen the occluded blood vessels and limit the damage to the myocardium.

9 Feb 2018

Specialized cellular structures may hold clues to health effects of psychological stress

How does psychological stress translate into physical health effects? A key piece of the puzzle may be found in specialized cellular structures known as mitochondria, according to a pair of articles in the January issue of Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society.

2 Feb 2018

People with depressive symptoms before disaster may experience increase in inflammation

People who exhibit even a few depressive symptoms before a major life stressor, such as a disaster, may experience an increase in inflammation -- a major risk factor for heart disease and other negative health conditions -- after the event, according to new research from Rice University.

23 Oct 2017

Psychosocial factors play major role in well-being of older people, study says

"Ageing itself is not inevitably associated with a decline in mood and quality of life," says Prof. Karl-Heinz Ladwig, summarizing the results.

7 Jul 2017

Scientists identify link between gut microbiota and mood, behavior

Researchers have identified gut microbiota that interact with brain regions associated with mood and behavior. This may be the first time that behavioral and neurobiological differences associated with microbial composition in healthy humans have been identified.

29 Jun 2017

Greater engagement in leisure activities linked to lower blood pressure of Alzheimer's caregivers

Going for a walk outside, reading, listening to music - these and other enjoyable activities can reduce blood pressure for elderly caregivers of spouses with Alzheimer's disease, suggests a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

23 Jun 2017

Narrative expressive writing after divorce could improve cardiovascular health

Journaling after divorce could improve your cardiovascular health -- but only if you do it in a way that tells a story, new University of Arizona research suggests.

8 May 2017

Scientists find evidence for gene that may be linked to social phobia

People with social anxiety avoid situations in which they are exposed to judgment by others. Those affected also lead a withdrawn life and maintain contact above all on the Internet.

9 Mar 2017

Psychosomatic research findings may provide insights into unexplained and difficult to treat disorders

In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatic Dr. Giovanni A. Fava and collaborators describe research findings that may shed new light on unexplained and difficult to treat medical disorders.

28 Jan 2017

Discrimination in daily life linked to high rates of sleep problems

People who perceive more discrimination in daily life have higher rates of sleep problems, based on both subjective and objective measures, reports a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

22 Dec 2016

Bullied children nearly twice as likely to be overweight as young adults

Children who are bullied in primary and secondary school are nearly twice as likely to be overweight at the age of 18 than non-bullied children, according to a new study by researchers from King's College London.

11 Nov 2016

Investigators provide data on status of psychosomatic medicine in Germany

In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics a group of German investigators headed by Prof. Stefan Zipfel brings data on the status of psychosomatic medicine in Germany.

22 Sep 2016

Noninvasive brain stimulation may curb cravings for appetitive foods

Available research suggests that noninvasive stimulation of a specific brain area can reduce food cravings—particularly for high-calorie, "appetitive" foods, according to a review in the Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

20 Jul 2016

Could artificial intelligence help to combat stress? An interview with Davide Morelli

Stress is actually a bit of a buzzword. The initial definition was “the reaction to changes”, which is why you get stressed also when good things happen, hence the distinction between good stress, eustress, and bad stress, distress.

23 Jun 2016

Reacting to stressful events decides your overall health

How you perceive and react to stressful events is more important to your health than how frequently you encounter stress, according to health researchers from Penn State and Columbia University.

27 Feb 2016

Exercise helps smokers with high-anxiety sensitivity kick the habit

Exercise helps smokers with a high risk for cessation failure due to emotional distress finally kick the habit, according to psychologists at The University of Texas at Austin.

24 Feb 2016

Stress-related gene affects post-concussive symptoms after car crashes

Variations in a gene that affect the body's responses to stress influence the risk of developing so-called post-concussive symptoms (PCS) after car crashes, reports a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.

25 Nov 2015

Simple self-rating of health accurately predicts susceptibility to common cold

New research from Carnegie Mellon University psychologists shows that a simple self-rating of health accurately predicts susceptibility to the common cold in healthy adults aged 18-55 years. Published in Psychosomatic Medicine, the study - led by CMU's Sheldon Cohen - indicates that low self-rated-health is associated with poorer immune system competence.

10 Nov 2015

Positive emotions may make your heart healthier

People with heart disease may benefit from maintaining positive emotions, according to health researchers. Over the course of five years the researchers tracked more than 1,000 patients with coronary heart disease. Patients who reported higher positive psychological states were more likely to be physically active, sleep better and take their heart medications and were also less likely to smoke, compared to patients with lower levels of positive states.

6 Oct 2015