Psychiatry News and Research

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

African study finds link between difficult childhood and teenage drinking

An African study has found a link between a difficult childhood and alcohol consumption as a teenager. Researchers writing in BioMed Central's open access journal Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Mental Health studied the association between adverse childhood experiences and drunkenness among 9,189 adolescents aged 12-19 years living in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda.

5 Jul 2010

Psychiatrist shortage may soon reach crisis levels

Demand for psychiatrists is growing faster than for any other medical specialty, according to a new survey by national physician search firm Merritt Hawkins, an AMN Healthcare Company.

3 Jul 2010

Dogs help soldiers recover from PTSD

The Army is using dogs "much more" to help soldiers recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) according to the Army Surgeon General's special assistant for mental health, Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, M.D., who spoke today at the annual convention of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

3 Jul 2010

Sun Pharma introduces generic rivastigmine capsules in U.S. market

Sun Pharma announced launch of generic Exelon, rivastigmine tartrate capsules for the US market. Earlier, USFDA had granted final approval for the Company's ANDA to market these products.

2 Jul 2010

Imbalance in neuroendocrine system linked to depression in MS patients: Study

Now, in the first such study in living humans, researchers at UCLA suggest a cause, and it's not psychological, but physical: atrophy of a specific region of the hippocampus, a critical part of the brain involved in mood and memory, among other functions.

2 Jul 2010

Behavioral intervention program can reduce incidence of HIV, STIs among female sex workers: Researchers

A team of researchers from the University of California San Diego and Mexico has found that even a modest behavioral intervention program averaging just 35 minutes can measurably reduce the incidence of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in the U.S.-Mexico border region - and that the program succeeds at comparatively little expense.

1 Jul 2010

Research findings open new ways to enhance memory function and treat catastrophic brain diseases

For the first time, scientists have linked a brain compound called kynurenic acid to cognition, possibly opening doors for new ways to enhance memory function and treat catastrophic brain diseases, according to a new study from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. When researchers decreased the levels of kynurenic acid in the brains of mice, their cognition was shown to improve markedly, according to the study, which was published in the July issue of the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

1 Jul 2010

New hope for patients with drug-resistant depression

New research shows that a unique strain of laboratory mice characterized at Penn State University has behavioral, hormonal, and neurochemical characteristics that are similar to those of human patients with drug-resistant forms of depression.

30 Jun 2010

New tool could aid in diagnosing Alzheimer's, track disease progression

A trial of a novel radioactive compound readily and safely distinguished the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients from healthy volunteers on brain scans and opens the doors to making such imaging available beyond facilities that can manufacture their own radioactive compounds.

29 Jun 2010

Combination therapy for severe depression

Severe depression is life threatening. So it is worth every effort to get depression under control and make life more manageable. For most people, that means some combination of antidepressant drugs and talk therapy.

29 Jun 2010

New therapy for people suffering from body dysmorphic disorder

A nose job to treat a mental health problem? Teeth whitening to overcome a severe anxiety disorder? These are just two procedures that people with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD) have traditionally turned to in order to deal with body-related concerns.

29 Jun 2010

Older adults spend more time watching TV, but find it less enjoyable

We usually scold our children and teenagers for watching too much TV. It turns out that their grandmas and grandpas spend even more of their time watching TV, and it is not good for them either, according to researchers at the Stein Institute for Research on Aging and Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine.

29 Jun 2010

Psychiatry and Pediatrics seeks volunteer families to participate in vitamin D study

Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry and Pediatrics (OHSU, Portland, Oregon) is seeking roughly 50-100 volunteer families to participate in a vitamin D study. The goal of the study is to find out whether giving Vitamin D to the pregnant mother, who already has had at least one previous child with autism, can prevent the recurrence of autism in the newborn sibling.

29 Jun 2010

Increased follow-up care proves key to helping depressed patients feel better

New data released by two non-profit health care organizations, MN Community Measurement and the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, indicate that Minnesota providers only slightly improved their quality of care for patients with depression from a year ago, but that new programs that increase clinic contact with the patient demonstrate the potential for much better results moving forward.

28 Jun 2010

New findings could lead to simple dietary solutions, possible therapeutics for gestational diabetes

The cause of diabetes during pregnancy is directly controlled by serotonin, a chemical produced by the body and normally known as a neurotransmitter, and is influenced by the amount of protein in the mother's diet early in pregnancy, according to new findings of an international team led by researchers at UCSF.

28 Jun 2010

CHMP adopts positive opinion on pending MAA for SYCREST sublingual tablets

Merck announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use adopted a positive opinion on the pending Marketing Authorization Application for SYCREST (asenapine) sublingual tablets. The CHMP has recommended that the European Commission grant a marketing authorization for SYCREST for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults. The CHMP did not support an indication for the treatment of schizophrenia.

25 Jun 2010

JZP-6 to be reviewed at joint meeting for treatment of fibromyalgia

Jazz Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Arthritis Advisory Committee and Drug Safety and Risk Management Advisory Committee will review JZP-6 (sodium oxybate) for the treatment of fibromyalgia at a joint meeting on August 20, 2010.

25 Jun 2010

Brain scanning study has implications for advertising and public health campaigns

In a study with implications for the advertising industry and public health organizations, UCLA neuroscientists have shown they can use brain scanning to predict whether people will use sunscreen during a one-week period even better than the people themselves can.

25 Jun 2010

Abusive attachments during infancy have negative consequences in social behavior development

In a new Biological Psychiatry article, Dr. Regina Sullivan and colleagues have dissected the behavior of mother rats and their infant pups, modeling nurturing by stroking and abuse with electric shock. In this animal model of infant abuse, they took into consideration the unique infant neurobehavioral learning attachment system that ensures infant rats' attachment to their caregiver regardless of the quality of care received.

23 Jun 2010

Regular and long enough intake of EGb 761 protects against Alzheimer's disease: GuidAge study

For the very first time, a medicine has been shown to protect against the development of Alzheimer's disease. French scientists were able to demonstrate that taking 240 mg of Ginkgo extract EGb 761 per day regularly over a period of at least 4 years can cut the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease by nearly 50%.

23 Jun 2010