Psychiatry News and Research

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

New target found for asthma

An enzyme released by mast cells in the lungs appears to play a key role in the tightening of airways that is a hallmark of asthma -- pointing to a potential new target for treatment against the illness.

29 Jan 2008

Medical Research Council and GSK to identify new therapeutic targets from genetic association studies

The Medical Research Council (MRC) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have announced the creation of a jointly funded programme seeking to identify and validate genes associated with common human diseases. A key aim of the programme will be to translate these observations into new drug targets and biomarkers of disease.

28 Jan 2008

New approach to detect autism earlier

A new way of understanding autistic disorders, incorporating both psychological and biological factors, could lead to the conditions being picked up earlier, research from UNSW has found.

25 Jan 2008

Quitting marijuana as hard as quitting cigarettes

Research by a group of scientists studying the effects of heavy marijuana use suggests that withdrawal from the use of marijuana is similar to what is experienced by people when they quit smoking cigarettes.

25 Jan 2008

UCLA study questions diagnosis, medical treatment of ADHD

A new UCLA study shows that only about half of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, exhibit the cognitive defects commonly associated with the condition.

23 Jan 2008

Researchers find neurological basis of depression following sports concussion

Researchers at the Montreal Neurological Institute of McGill University have identified the neurological basis of depression in male athletes with persisting post-concussion symptoms.

21 Jan 2008

Matters of the mind can affect matters of the heart

A new study by McGill University and Université de Montréal researchers has found that major anxiety and/or depression, can double a coronary artery disease patient's chances of repeated heart ailments.

21 Jan 2008

Sleep plays a critical role in the brain's ability to learn

Most people know it from experience: After so many hours of being awake, your brain feels unable to absorb any more-and several hours of sleep will refresh it.

21 Jan 2008

Selective publication means unfavorable drug studies rarely get published

A new report claims that almost a third of the research done on antidepressant drugs is never published in medical literature and most of those unpublished reports are unfavorable.

20 Jan 2008

Selective reporting of antidepressant trials exaggerates drug effectiveness

Selective publication in reporting results of antidepressant trials exaggerates the effectiveness of the drugs, according to a report in the January 17 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

17 Jan 2008

International congress on gait and mental function

There is a widespread misunderstanding that stance and gait are automatic processes, i.e. not controlled by the human brain. However, the fact that many patients with brain disorders are no longer able to walk and engage in simple conversation at the same time makes it abundantly clear that our consciousness and our thinking do indeed control such apparently simple actions.

17 Jan 2008

Study finds most psychiatric patients have more than one diagnosis

A new study by Rhode Island Hospital researchers reports that the majority of 2,300 psychiatry outpatients had more than one disorder when seeking treatment, and more than one-third had at least three disorders.

15 Jan 2008

Important new finding for people with anorexia

People given a biological and genetics-based explanation for the causes of anorexia nervosa were less likely to blame people with anorexia for their illness than those given a sociocultural explanation, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study found.

15 Jan 2008

New Sleep and Breathing Disorders Center at UT Southwestern

UT Southwestern Medical Center has assembled a comprehensive team of experts in pulmonary medicine, neurology, psychiatry, pediatrics, otolaryngology, surgery and rehabilitation medicine to work together in a new Sleep and Breathing Disorders Center.

10 Jan 2008

Important finding for people with anorexia

10 Jan 2008

Sixty percent of psychotherapy clients felt therapy didn't end on time

Sixty percent of private practice dynamically oriented psychotherapy clients felt that their therapy either lasted too long or ended too soon, according to recent research conducted by Prof. David Roe, Head of the Department of Community Mental Health, Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences at the University of Haifa.

10 Jan 2008

Heavy smokers most likely to turn to treatment

Smokers who seek out treatment to give up the habit are less successful at quitting than smokers who try to snuff the habit without help, according to a new study.

9 Jan 2008

Genetic variant predicts antipsychotic response for schizophrenia patients by ethnicity

Schizophrenia is a developmental disorder with a large genetic component contributing to increased risk.

9 Jan 2008

Scientists can predict psychotic illness in up to 80 percent of high-risk youth

Youth who are going to develop psychosis can be identified before their illness becomes full-blown 35 percent of the time if they meet widely accepted criteria for risk, but that figure rises to 65 to 80 percent if they have certain combinations of risk factors, the largest study of its kind has shown.

8 Jan 2008

9/11 stress increases risk of heart problems

Stress and fear in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks may be making Americans sicker, according to a groundbreaking new study by UC Irvine researchers.

8 Jan 2008