Psychiatry News and Research

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Psychiatry is the treatment, study and prevention of mental disorders.

Study reveals striking brain similarities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Researchers from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and Beaumont Hospital have conducted a study which has found striking brain similarities in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. The research has also pinpointed for the first time that a process which controls how information is transmitted from neuron to neuron in the brain is altered in both conditions and may potentially contribute to the developments of improved treatments in the future.

25 Aug 2011

Researchers discover how antipsychotic drugs manage symptoms of schizophrenia

The classic symptoms of schizophrenia - paranoia, hallucinations, the inability to function socially-can be managed with antipsychotic drugs. But exactly how these drugs work has long been a mystery.

25 Aug 2011

Free Alzheimer's disease conference to take place on Sept. 17

University of Louisville faculty researchers and clinicians with expertise in polypharmacy, caregiving and more will join with a Washington-based geriatric researcher at a free conference examining Alzheimer's disease.

25 Aug 2011

Successful aging, quality of life linked with sexual satisfaction in older women

A study by researchers at the Stein Institute for Research on Aging at the University of California, San Diego finds that successful aging and positive quality of life indicators correlate with sexual satisfaction in older women.

25 Aug 2011

Daily exercise can work as well as second antidepressant drug

Exercise can be as effective as a second medication for as many as half of depressed patients whose condition have not been cured by a single antidepressant medication.

24 Aug 2011

Only 20.6% of Medicaid-covered Ohio youths complete full six month antidepressant treatment

About half of Medicaid-covered children and adolescents in Ohio who are in treatment for depression complete their first three months of prescribed antidepressants, and only one-fifth complete the recommended minimum six-month course of drugs to treat depression, new research suggests.

24 Aug 2011

PerOral Endoscopic Myotomy holds promise for patients with esophageal achalasia

Jorge Sobenes is a husband and father who loves to cook for his family. In a nine month period however, he went from enjoying his favorite foods to not being able to eat or drink due to a tightening in his throat and difficulty swallowing. He lost 40 pounds and was desperate for answers. Sobenes was diagnosed with achalasia, a condition where the esophagus is unable to move food into the stomach, and was told he would need surgery. Historically, the procedure requires several incisions in the abdomen in order to access the blocked esophageal pathway.

24 Aug 2011

Obesity a brain condition, not just a lifestyle disorder, research confirms

New Australian research has confirmed that obese individuals often perform poorly in reasoning and planning tasks and, likewise, those with poor cognitive function are more vulnerable to excessive weight gain.

23 Aug 2011

Scientists identify brain-circuit defect that triggers absence seizures

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have identified a brain-circuit defect that triggers absence seizures, the most common form of childhood epilepsy.

23 Aug 2011

Risk of depression in formerly depressed people

Depression is increasingly recognized as an illness that strikes repeatedly over the lifespan, creating cycles of relapse and recovery. This sobering knowledge has prompted researchers to search for markers of relapse risk in people who have recovered from depression. A new paper published in Elsevier's Biological Psychiatry suggests that when formerly depressed people experience mild states of sadness, the nature of their brains' response can predict whether or not they will become depressed again.

22 Aug 2011

Harnessing the brain’s capacity to adapt and regenerate

Understanding the brain’s capacity to adjust to physical and mental trauma and injury – and how to exploit this therapeutically to help patients – is the focus of a major international symposium at the University of New South Wales next month (8 Sept).

22 Aug 2011

Insights into how ruminations are represented in the brains of depressed persons

All of us, at times, ruminate or brood on a problem in order to make the best possible decision in a complex situation. But sometimes, rumination becomes unproductive or even detrimental to making good life choices. Such is the case in depression, where non-productive ruminations are a common and distressing symptom of the disorder.

22 Aug 2011

Brain's reaction to sadness can predict risk of future depression

22 Aug 2011

Winter airway infections appear to trigger narcolepsy: Study

The onset of narcolepsy appears to follow seasonal patterns of H1N1 and other upper airway infections, according to a new study of patients in China that was led by Stanford University School of Medicine narcolepsy expert Emmanuel Mignot, MD.

22 Aug 2011

High cigarette price, economic factors appear to reduce smoking rates among African-American youth

A new report in the American Journal of Public Health suggests that increasing cigarette prices combined with other social and economic factors appear to be behind the steep decline in smoking rates among African-American youth that occurred between 1970s and the mid-1990s.

20 Aug 2011

FDA accepts Alexza ADASUVE NDA, assigns PDUFA action date

Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has accepted the ADASUVE New Drug Application (NDA) as a complete, class 2 response to the FDA's action letter, with an indicated Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) goal date of February 4, 2012.

20 Aug 2011

Conference to discuss latest research on gender disparities in cardiovascular disease

Heart disease has sometimes been considered a men's health issue, but the statistics prove otherwise. In the US alone, more than 42 million women live with the problem. Heart disease is responsible for more than one-third of deaths among American women each year, making it the number one killer of females older than 20.

19 Aug 2011

More kids being diagnosed with ADHD

A new study revealed that number of children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity disorder or ADHD has risen sharply over the last decade.

18 Aug 2011

SAMHSA-funded project to develop a Prescriber's Clinical Support System

Medical professionals will gain access to free clinical support in the use of opioid medications through a new grant announced by SAMHSA today. SAMHSA awarded $1.5 million to the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry to develop a Prescriber's Clinical Support System.

18 Aug 2011

Herbal supplements may weaken the effect of chemotherapy drugs

Acai berry, cumin, herbal tea, turmeric and long-term use of garlic - all herbal supplements commonly believed to be beneficial to your health - may negatively impact chemotherapy treatment according to a new report presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago this summer.

18 Aug 2011