Psychiatry News and Research

RSS

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

Ecstasy does not impair cognitive performance: Study

Today the journal Addiction published online the results of a neuroscience study finding no evidence of impaired cognitive performance in users of Ecstasy, the street name for the chemical known as MDMA.

16 Feb 2011

BCVI offers multidisciplinary approach to treat patients with atrial fibrillation

More than 2.6 million Americans suffer from atrial fibrillation —an erratic heartbeat. If left untreated, the condition can lead to stroke or heart failure. For three decades, 58 year old David Ryan was one of the millions of Americans suffering from the disease.

16 Feb 2011

New study finds peer support greatly reduces symptoms of depression

Peer support offers promise as an effective, low-cost tool for fighting depression, a new study by the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and University of Michigan Health System finds.

16 Feb 2011

AML patient raises awareness in community about national stem cell registry

By the age of 28, Dana Severson was already an Iraq war veteran, an accomplished clinical engineer, a wife and mother. Days following her daughter Genevieve's first birthday, Severson was faced with a reality that would turn her life upside down. After several weeks of experiencing severe headaches and extreme exhaustion, the young mother was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.

16 Feb 2011

Non-specialist mental health staff can treat depression with psychotherapy

Depression can be treated effectively with psychotherapy by mental health nurses with minimal training, according to new preliminary research findings.

16 Feb 2011

Virginia Tech's director receives Don Hake Translational Research Award

Warren K. Bickel, director of the Center for Substance Abuse at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, has been selected as the 2011 recipient of the American Psychological Association Don Hake Translational Research Award. Sponsored by the Association for Behavior Analysis International, the award recognizes individuals whose work spans basic and applied research.

15 Feb 2011

Novel technology to diagnose Alzheimer's disease before symptoms appear

UT Southwestern Medical Center scientists have helped develop a novel technology to diagnose Alzheimer's disease from blood samples long before symptoms appear.

14 Feb 2011

Indiana University creates Institute for Personalized Medicine

Indiana University has announced a major commitment to research in one of health care's most promising fields with the creation of the Indiana Institute for Personalized Medicine.

10 Feb 2011

Scientists generate beating heart cells from skin cells of young patients with severe genetic heart defect

Using skin cells from young patients who have a severe genetic heart defect, Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have generated beating heart cells that carry the same genetic mutation. The newly created human heart cells - cardiomyocytes - allowed the researchers for the first time to examine and characterize the disorder at the cellular level.

10 Feb 2011

L-methylfolate in combination with antidepressant drug helps major depressive disorder patients

Data published in the January issue of Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience, www.psychiatrymmc.com, suggest when L-methylfolate, a medical food available commercially as Deplin®, and by prescription, is used for dietary management of depression in combination with an antidepressant drug at the start of depression therapy, it results in significantly more patients experiencing major improvement and more rapid improvement than antidepressant monotherapy alone.

10 Feb 2011

New study: Testosterone administration leads to significant reduction in mind reading

A new study from Utrecht and Cambridge Universities has for the first time found that an administration of testosterone under the tongue in volunteers negatively affects a person's ability to 'mind read', an indication of empathy. The findings are published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

9 Feb 2011

Over 45 telemedicine networks under management of InTouch Health

InTouch Health® today announced that more than 45 telemedicine networks are currently under management. In total, these networks represent 475 contracted hospital locations where 375 are delivering telemedicine clinical services and the remaining 100 are undergoing pre-installation planning. InTouch Health provides complete telemedicine solutions that allow physicians to remotely perform real-time consults with hospital patients.

9 Feb 2011

CeNeRx announces FDA approval of CXB909 IND for neuroprotection and neurodegenerative disorders

CeNeRx BioPharma, Inc., a clinical-stage company developing and commercializing innovative treatments for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS), today announced FDA approval of its IND and reported the first clinical results in humans for CXB909, a novel agent that has demonstrated utility in preclinical models of neuroprotection and neurodegenerative disorders.

9 Feb 2011

Specific gene variation linked to late-onset Alzheimer's

A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has found evidence suggesting that a variation of a specific gene may play a role in late-onset Alzheimer's, the disease which accounts for over 90% of Alzheimer's cases. This innovative study has combined genetics and brain imaging to determine who may be at risk for developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease long before symptoms appear.

9 Feb 2011

Researchers link brain's neural networks to specific cognitive functions

The human brain operates as a highly interconnected small-world network, not as a collection of discrete regions as previously believed, with important implications for why many of us experience cognitive declines in old age, a new study shows.

9 Feb 2011

New study finds income-related inequalities impact mental health

Due to the recent economic crisis, an increase of health inequalities between socio-economic groups has been noticed in both developed and developing countries.

9 Feb 2011

Specific gene variation may play a role in late-onset Alzheimer's disease: New study

A new study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has found evidence suggesting that a variation of a specific gene may play a role in late-onset Alzheimer's, the disease which accounts for over 90% of Alzheimer's cases. This innovative study has combined genetics and brain imaging to determine who may be at risk for developing late-onset Alzheimer's disease long before symptoms appear.

9 Feb 2011

New study: Cannabis use significantly hastens onset of psychotic illness

A new study has provided the first conclusive evidence that cannabis use significantly hastens the onset of psychotic illnesses during the critical years of brain development - with possible life-long consequences.

9 Feb 2011

Cannabis use accelerates psychosis in the young: Study

A new study has shown that cannabis use can hasten the onset of schizophrenia by several years. The study included data from 20,000 patients with a psychotic illness and found those who smoked cannabis were diagnosed almost three years ahead of those who did not use the drug. The research is published in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

8 Feb 2011

Individuals exposed to criminal justice system appear to have higher rate of suicide

Men and women who have had contact with the criminal justice system—even if they have never received a jail or prison sentence or a guilty verdict—appear to have a significantly higher rate of suicide than the general population, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the June print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Feb 2011