Behavioral Medicine News and Research

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Behavioral medicine (BM) is a newly developing field of study which integrates behavioral, psychosocial, and biomedical concepts and practices to prevent, diagnose, and treat patients with psychosomatic disorders. The practice of BM targets the relation between how both thought and behavior can affect mental and physical health.

Scientists publish guidelines for conversing with children about overweight, obesity

Parents, caregivers and health care professionals are increasingly concerned about childhood obesity. Compounding their concern are fears of inadvertently provoking disordered eating, such as unhelpful dieting, when discussing a child's weight status (i.e. normal weight, overweight or obese).

18 Dec 2020

Expansion of telepsychiatry may outlast the COVID-19 pandemic

Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over, a lot of things will go back to normal. We'll stop wearing masks. We'll crowd into restaurants. We'll walk whatever direction we want to down grocery store aisles. But some changes that the pandemic spurred might be here to stay. Among them: the expansion of telepsychiatry.

11 Dec 2020

Maternal stress may lead to preterm births, accelerate child's biological aging

Why do some people age faster than others? One potential answer, a new UCLA-led study indicates, is that a mother's stress prior to giving birth may accelerate her child's biological aging.

30 Nov 2020

Researchers shed new light on stigma and conspiracy theories about coronavirus

The World Health Organization calls the spread of false information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) an "infodemic," and the results are broadly visible across society.

10 Nov 2020

Researchers receive $1.35 million grant to reduce impact of substance abuse in Appalachia

McDowell County--in the southern coalfields of West Virginia--is the second-most at-risk in the nation for an HIV outbreak related to drug injection. Neighboring Wyoming and Mercer Counties follow close behind. All three have some of the highest rates of acute hepatitis B and hepatitis C in the United States.

14 Oct 2020

WVU receives $1.2 million to bring telehealth capabilities to rural emergency departments

Rural emergency departments often lack the medical specialists who staff larger, urban hospitals. Yet rural patients have the same conditions--and need the same prompt care--that people in cities do.

9 Oct 2020

Smoking linked to frequent substance use and poor mental health in sexual minority population

Cigarette smoking is associated with frequent substance use and poor behavioral and physical health in sexual and gender minority populations, according to Rutgers researchers.

9 Sep 2020

Diminished biological arousal before global pandemic may predict PTSD symptoms

People who did not have a large heart rate response to a stress task surprised researchers later -- after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic -- when they showed more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder related to the crisis than others who also did the stress task and COVID-19 stress ratings.

1 Sep 2020

Online assessment tool helps patients make informed decisions

About one in five U.S. adults, an estimated 47 million people, lives with a mental illness. Fewer than half of them receive treatment, counseling or medication. In recent years, smartphone apps have emerged as potentially cost-effective means of expanding access to mental healthcare.

26 Aug 2020

WVU-led study seeks to identify, treat mental health issues caused by COVID-19

With anxiety and depression on the rise amid the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a West Virginia University-led study seeks to identify mental health issues and test online treatments among West Virginians at home - particularly those in rural areas, where access to clinical services is limited.

25 Aug 2020

In-home portable air cleaners reduce particulate exposure for cardiac patients

Using an in-home portable air cleaner (PAC) can significantly reduce exposure to fine-particle air pollutants - a major risk factor for cardiovascular events in people with pre-existing heart disease, reports a pilot study in the July issue of Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention.

30 Jun 2020

Effects of chronic stress associated with increased inflammatory signaling within brain circuits

Anxiety and depression are significantly heightened during times of great stress such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

4 Jun 2020

Teen vaping study identifies stomach issues and history of substance abuse

A study of teens diagnosed with the vaping-linked respiratory disease EVALI revealed that most also had gastrointestinal symptoms and a history of psychosocial factors, including substance abuse, UT Southwestern researchers found in one of the first clinical reviews of its kind.

3 Jun 2020

A satisfying romantic relationship predicts lower stress, inflammation in breast cancer survivors

Breast cancer survivors in romantic relationships who feel happy and satisfied with their partners may be at lower risk for a host of health problems, new research suggests.

2 Jun 2020

Eating one meal high in saturated fat may hinder our ability to focus

Fatty food may feel like a friend during these troubled times, but new research suggests that eating just one meal high in saturated fat can hinder our ability to concentrate - not great news for people whose diets have gone south while they're working at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

12 May 2020