Psychosomatic Medicine News and Research

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Psychosomatic medicine (PM) is a newly licensed subspecialty in the field of psychiatry; it is also known as consultation-liaison (C-L) psychiatry. C-L psychiatry provides knowledge, practice, and instruction in the relation between mental and physical illness. This field is associated with services like diagnosis, therapeutics and research of illnesses in this area. Hence it connects psychiatry and other medical specialties, so that physicians and psychiatrists can discuss how to best manage patients with psychosomatic illness.

Racial discrimination associated with unhealthy cortisol patterns in adolescents

Scientists already know that the stress caused by racial discrimination is related to a host of chronic health conditions, but less is known about which types of discrimination are most harmful.

27 Sep 2023

Sleep deprivation affects cardiovascular health even when caught up on weekends

Whether it's work or play that prevents us from getting enough shut-eye during the week, assuming we can make up for it by sleeping in over the weekend is a mistake.

9 Aug 2023

Fibromyalgia causes structural brain changes

Pain-processing regions are particularly affected by changes in brain volume. The good news is that these changes may be reversible.

26 May 2023

Brain areas involved in processing pain show altered activity in fibromyalgia patients

Feeling like we have a degree of control makes us tolerate pain better. In the case of fibromyalgia, however, this simply doesn’t work. A study provides clues as to why.

5 Apr 2023

Loneliness, social isolation, and living alone linked to premature death for people with cardiovascular disease

New research from University of Limerick in Ireland has revealed that loneliness, social isolation, and living alone is associated with premature death for those with cardiovascular disease.

19 Dec 2022

Prenatal mindfulness intervention may improve health outcomes in offspring, study shows

Infants whose mothers participated in a mindfulness-based program during pregnancy had healthier stress responses at 6 months old, a new UC San Francisco study found.

10 Mar 2022

Mental health consequences of the pandemic for medical personnel

Physicians, nursing staff, medical technical assistants, and pastoral workers in hospitals: they have all been placed under severe strain by the Covid-19 pandemic.

28 Jul 2021

Exercise may be the most effective treatment for depression in coronary heart disease patients

A study by RCSI indicates that exercise is probably the most effective short-term treatment for depression in people with coronary heart disease, when compared to antidepressants and psychotherapy or more complex care.

8 Jun 2021

Computer training in addition to psychotherapy can potentially reduce PTSD symptoms

Trauma patients experience intrusive and distressing memories of their traumatic event. A team from Bochum is examining new ways to strengthen the effects of psychotherapy.

25 Feb 2021

Diminished biological arousal before global pandemic may predict PTSD symptoms

People who did not have a large heart rate response to a stress task surprised researchers later -- after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic -- when they showed more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder related to the crisis than others who also did the stress task and COVID-19 stress ratings.

1 Sep 2020

Study shows effects of wartime stressors and mental health conditions among women veterans

Vietnam-era women veterans suffer with stress-related mental health conditions, including posttraumatic stress disorder, major depression and generalized anxiety disorder, more than four decades after their service.

18 Nov 2019

Addictive online shopping prevalent among treatment-seeking patients with BSD

A new study in Comprehensive Psychiatry, published by Elsevier, found that one third of a group of patients seeking treatment for buying-shopping disorder also reported symptoms of addictive online shopping.

14 Nov 2019

Overweight adolescents actually eat less when exposed to stressful events

People often react to stress by binging on sweets or fattening comfort foods, cravings fueled by the appetite-stimulating stress hormone cortisol.

3 Sep 2019

Teenagers exposed to air pollution show greater autonomic reactivity to social stress

Adolescents exposed to higher levels of fine-particle air pollutants have heightened autonomic nervous system reactions to social stress, reports a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society.

31 Aug 2019

Experimental pilot study identifies possible causes of functional dizziness

Many patients with functional dizziness look back on a long odyssey to numerous doctors, because no organic causes could be found.

5 Aug 2019

Poor sleep associated with high blood pressure

A bad night's sleep may result in a spike in blood pressure that night and the following day, according to new research led by the University of Arizona.

4 Jun 2019

Ethical and social implications of embodied AI in mental health care

Interactions with artificial intelligence will become an increasingly common aspect of our lives. A team at the Technical University of Munich has now completed the first study of how "embodied AI" can help treat mental illness.

15 May 2019

Research suggests wisdom is linked to happiness and mental health

New research suggests that wisdom is a direct contributor to psychological well-being and happiness.

15 May 2019

Alterations in brain functional connectivity associated with somatic symptom disorder

Alterations in functional connectivity of the brain may help in understanding the neurobiological changes leading to somatic symptom disorder, reports a study in Psychosomatic Medicine: Journal of Biobehavioral Medicine, the official journal of the American Psychosomatic Society.

4 Apr 2019

Stressed IBS sufferers exhibit a distinctive microbial signature in the gut

People who suffer from stress-related Irritable Bowel Syndrome have a distinctive microbial signature in their gut.

5 Mar 2019