Psychiatry News and Research

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

Genetic risk for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder identified

New research in primates suggests that infants and children who carry a certain gene variant may be more vulnerable to the ill effects of fetal alcohol exposure.

24 Sep 2007

Why some people find it so difficult to stop smoking

Mark Twain boasted that it was easy to quit smoking because he did it every day.

24 Sep 2007

Functional brain imaging shows neural circuits contributing to pedophilia

Pedophilia, the sexual attraction of adults to children, is a significant public health concern and it does not respond well to treatment.

21 Sep 2007

Majority of male to female sex-change patients are happy with results

The majority of patients who undergo male to female sex-change surgery are happy with the results, despite the fact that complications are common, according to a study of over 200 patients in the September issue of the urology journal BJU International.

21 Sep 2007

Genetic variation affects smoking cessation treatment

Mark Twain boasted that it was easy to quit smoking because he did it every day.

21 Sep 2007

Brain controls the way fat is stored and metabolized

A system in the brain already known to regulate food intake also serves as a direct "remote control" for the way fat is stored and metabolized in the body, say University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers.

21 Sep 2007

Weill Cornell Medical College to lead new NYC translational research collaboration

Weill Cornell Medical College has been selected by the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to establish and lead a new Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC), creating an ambitious and innovative network for biomedical collaboration on New York's Upper East Side.

20 Sep 2007

Study looks at Naltrexone for alcoholism

Naltrexone is one of four oral medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of alcoholism.

20 Sep 2007

Maternal depression and controlling behavior associated with increased stress response in infants

Teenage pregnancy is widely recognized to be a major public health concern.

18 Sep 2007

Communication key to cancer survival

For the 10 million Americans who are living with cancer or have survived it, one factor may be most indispensable for keeping their spirits intact: communication.

18 Sep 2007

Chronic stress can steal years from caregivers' lifetimes

The chronic stress that spouses and children develop while caring for Alzheimer's disease patients may shorten the caregivers' lives by as much as four to eight years, a new study suggests.

18 Sep 2007

Women more depressed and men more impulsive with reduced serotonin functioning

Women and men appear to respond differently to the same biochemical manipulation.

18 Sep 2007

Smoking-cessation may be in the genes

Whether a smoking-cessation drug will enable you to quit smoking may depend on your genes, according to new genotyping research from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

18 Sep 2007

How can a medical center foster a culture of ethics in research?

An article published in the September issue of Academic Medicine, titled "Developing a Research Ethics Consultation Service to Foster Responsive and Responsible Clinical Research," argues for the importance of collaboration between researchers and ethicists and describes the establishment of a new Research Ethics Consultation Service at Weill Cornell Medical College.

17 Sep 2007

Attention turns to brain as driver of Chronic Fatigue symptoms

New research from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) has delivered a final blow to the theory that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) is driven by the body's immune system and in particular by its production of cytokines.

14 Sep 2007

Amino acid, N-acetyl cysteine may curb addiction of pathological gamblers

University of Minnesota researchers have discovered that a common amino acid, available as a health food supplement, may help curb pathological gamblers' addiction.

12 Sep 2007

Link between nicotine and atherosclerosis

It's well known that smoking cigarettes increases risk for a host of serious health problems from cancer to heart disease. Now a new study from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City looks at how they do their dirty work by contributing to atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries. The evidence points to nicotine, the addictive chemical in cigarettes.

11 Sep 2007

Link between genetic variant and effectiveness of smoking cessation meds

A genetic variant present in nearly half of Americans of European ancestry is linked to greater effectiveness of the smoking cessation medication bupropion (Zyban), according to research by scientists supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

11 Sep 2007

Antidepressant just as effective as antipsychotic in treating dementia

Research in Canada has revealed that when it comes to treating the aggressive behaviour seen in people with Alzheimer's disease, antidepressants work just as well as a commonly prescribed antipsychotic medication but without the severe side-effects.

11 Sep 2007

Mouse model for schizophrenia

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have developed a mouse model for schizophrenia in which a mutated gene linked to schizophrenia can be turned on or off at will.

11 Sep 2007