Pathophysiology News and Research

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Important insight into association between childhood maltreatment and suicide

Exposure to childhood maltreatment increases the risk for most psychiatric disorders as well as many negative consequences of these conditions. This new study, by Dr. Gustavo Turecki and colleagues at McGill University, Canada, provides important insight into one of the most extreme outcomes, suicide.

4 Jul 2012

Early childhood adversity linked with depression and inflammation

When a person injures their knee, it becomes inflamed. When a person has a cold, their throat becomes inflamed. This type of inflammation is the body's natural and protective response to injury. Interestingly, there is growing evidence that a similar process happens when a person experiences psychological trauma. Unfortunately, this type of inflammation can be destructive.

4 Jul 2012

Treating Sickle Cell Disease with L-Glutamine

By focusing on how best to help patients, researchers can sometimes find solutions that are much simpler than anticipated. That has been the guiding approach to our efforts to develop a treatment for sickle cell disease.

3 Jul 2012

Platelet activation linked to osteoporosis

Elderly, postmenopausal women with osteoporosis have elevated platelet volumes, report researchers.

2 Jul 2012

Study illuminates key step in the journey of inflammation-producing immune cells

Like detectives seeking footprints and other clues on a television "whodunit," science can also benefit from analyzing the tracks of important players in the body's molecular landscape. Klaus Ley, M.D., a scientist at the La Jolla Institute for Allergy & Immunology, has done just that and illuminated a key step in the journey of inflammation-producing immune cells.

2 Jul 2012

Enlightening risk factor findings for REM sleep behavior disorder

Cigarette smoking, head injury, farming, pesticide exposure, and a lower level of education may be risk factors for idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder, researchers report.

29 Jun 2012

Simple blood test may help physicians track progression of RA disease activity

A simple blood test may help physicians track the progression of rheumatoid arthritis disease activity, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

27 Jun 2012

Diabetic Neuropathy: An interview with Dr Brian Callaghan

Diabetes is the number 1 cause of neuropathy, which is a very common condition in itself. In fact, up to half of all neuropathy is caused by diabetes, although other people can get the condition as well.

25 Jun 2012

Amygdala volume reduced in schizophrenia, not psychotic BD

Amygdala volume is reduced in patients with schizophrenia compared with those who have psychotic bipolar disorder, researchers report.

22 Jun 2012

IOF review outlines pathophysiology, diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in young adults

Much of the research defining osteoporosis and fracture risk has focused on older adults, i.e. postmenopausal women and men over the age of 50. While older adults are at highest risk of osteoporosis and related fractures, the disease can also affect younger adults between 20 and 50 years of age. However, the diagnosis and management of osteoporosis in young adults is complicated by special challenges, including a complex pathophysiology and the related fact that there is no clear definition of osteoporosis, or of intervention thresholds, in this age group.

20 Jun 2012

NMDA antibodies increased in mania patients

Patients with bipolar disorder show increased levels of antibodies to the NR2 subunits of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor during periods of acute mania, researchers report.

12 Jun 2012

Pathophysiologic differences evident between schizophrenia, bipolar

Review findings reveal differences in the pathophysiology of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, relating specifically to the medial temporal lobe and associated limbic regions.

7 Jun 2012

D-cycloserine may increase response to PTSD psychotherapy

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is among the most common, distressing, and disabling medical consequences of combat or other extremely stressful life events. The first-line treatment for PTSD is exposure therapy, a type of behavioral therapy where patients confront their fears in a safe environment. Although it is an effective treatment, many patients still experience symptoms after treatment and there is a relatively high drop-out rate.

5 Jun 2012

Regular and moderate exercise most beneficial for cardiovascular health

Micah True, legendary ultra-marathoner, died suddenly while on a routine 12-mile training run March 27, 2012. The mythic Caballo Blanco in the best-selling book, Born to Run, True would run as far as 100 miles in a day. On autopsy his heart was enlarged and scarred; he died of a lethal arrhythmia (irregularity of the heart rhythm). Although speculative, the pathologic changes in the heart of this 58 year-old veteran extreme endurance athlete may have been manifestations of "Phidippides cardiomyopathy," a condition caused by chronic excessive endurance exercise.

4 Jun 2012

Transcranial stimulation technique reduces hallucinations

Transcranial direct-current stimulation is effective for the treatment of auditory hallucinations in patients with schizophrenia, study results show.

30 May 2012

NIH Consortium selects UBM among 11 CoEPEs

With more Americans than ever living with chronic pain, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pain Consortium wants the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) and 10 other health professional schools to teach the next generation of health care providers to be better equipped to manage and treat such patients.

25 May 2012

NIH Pain Consortium selects 11 health professional schools as CoEPEs

The National Institutes of Health Pain Consortium has selected 11 health professional schools as designated Centers of Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPEs).

23 May 2012

New directions and challenges in viral hepatitis care and research

The editors of Gastroenterology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute, are pleased to announce the publication of this year's highly anticipated special 13th issue. Published each May, the 13th issue is devoted to a particular gastroenterological topic of broad interest; this year's topic is viral hepatitis.

16 May 2012

CHDI, KineMed partner to investigate turnover rates of huntingtin protein

KineMed, Inc. and CHDI Foundation, Inc. announced today a collaboration to use KineMed's isotopic labeling and dynamic proteomics platform to investigate the turnover rates of huntingtin protein, a mutant form of which plays a central role in the pathogenesis of Huntington's disease (HD).

15 May 2012

MAGI genes play a role in psychiatric disease

These findings are not about the classic story of gift-giving, although the MAGI genes (officially named membrane associated guanylate kinase, WW and PDZ domain containing proteins) do influence brain function in important ways.

11 May 2012