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Research roundup: Access to care in Mass.; Mental health spending; Gender and medical debt: How much do Americans know about health law?

Health Affairs: Lack Of Access Due To Costs Remains A Problem For Some In Massachusetts Despite The State's Health Reforms - Based on an analysis of state data, the authors found that the percentage of people without insurance fell "to twelve-year lows in Massachusetts, from 11.5 percent (SE 0.91) in 1996 to 3.5 percent (SE 0.33) in 2008.

11 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

Kinship caregivers more likely to have low socioeconomic status, need greater support services

Children placed with a relative after being removed from their home for maltreatment have fewer behavioral and social skills problems than children in foster care, but may have a higher risk for substance use and pregnancy as teenagers, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Feb 2011

Schizophrenia patients who consume antipsychotics appear to lose small amount of brain tissue

Patients with schizophrenia who take antipsychotic medications appear to lose a small but measurable amount of brain tissue over time, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

8 Feb 2011

Family mealtimes with ABC guidelines can improve quality of life in asthma children

A University of Illinois scientist reports that family mealtimes that contain three ingredients in the right amounts can improve the quality of life in children who have chronic asthma.

5 Feb 2011

Mental health, substance abuse spending grew more slowly than all other health spending: Study

Spending on psychiatric drugs grew by 5.6 percent from 2004 to 2005, down from the 27.3 percent growth from 1999 to 2000 according to a study published today in the February issue of Health Affairs.

5 Feb 2011

Waismann Method examines link between chronic pain and Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia

Results from a recent study issued by the Substance Abuse & Mental Health Services Administration revealed that treatment admissions for prescription painkiller abuse rose 345 percent over a 10 year period extending from 1998 to 2008.

5 Feb 2011

New study finds link between mealtime family interactions and children's health

The amount of time families spend eating meals together has been linked to the health and well-being of children and teens, with families who eat together regularly reporting declines in substance abuse, eating disorders, and unhealthy weight in their children. Now, a new study that looks at children with asthma has found that the quality of family interactions during mealtime affected the children's health.

4 Feb 2011

Study finds increased prescription drug abuse among teens

Illicit drugs like marijuana, cocaine and heroin have always been a parent's nightmare. But perfectly legal and easily accessible prescription medications are now the recreational drugs of choice for many teenagers, prompting physicians at Johns Hopkins Children's Center to urge pediatricians to screen specifically for their abuse during routine visits.

4 Feb 2011

UT Southwestern leads national effort to find effective treatments for drug addiction

UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatry researchers are leading the Texas arm of a national network that conducts clinical trials aimed at finding effective treatments for drug addiction.

3 Feb 2011

Current prevention efforts delay but do not prevent HCV among injection drug users

A recent 20-year study of injection drug users (IDUs) in Baltimore found a significant decline in new cases of HIV infection but only a slight decline in new cases of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The findings suggest that efforts to curb blood-borne transmission of these viral infections have had success but must be expanded against the highly transmissible HCV.

1 Feb 2011

U.S. Senators urge Army to help National Guard troops for mental health support

U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy and Lindsey Graham, the co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus, are urging the U.S. Army to do more to help National Guard troops cope with the stresses of combat.

29 Jan 2011

Amity engages Rick Engineering for development plans of new Children and Family Reunification center

Amity Foundation announced that it engaged Rick Engineering of Tucson, Arizona for the development plans of their new State-of-the-Art Family and Children's Center 'Dragonfly Village'.

29 Jan 2011

Roundup: Florida considering major cuts to mental health programs; Texas patient groups fight back on Medicaid plans; Calif. weighs limiting Medicaid patients' trips to doctors

In the committee rooms and corridors of the state Capitol, lobbyists are looking for clues about which programs will get slashed. On Wednesday, mental-health and substance-abuse programs got more than a clue. In fact, it looked like a bulls-eye (Saunders, 1/27).

28 Jan 2011

New insight on rehabilitating brain function in addicts

People with addictions to stimulants tend to choose instant gratification or a smaller but sooner reward over a future benefit, even if the future reward is greater. Reduced value of a future reward, called "delay discounting" by neuroscientists, is the major challenge for treatment of addiction. A new study in the February 2011 (Vol. 69, Issue 3) Biological Psychiatry appears to present a strategy for increasing the value of future rewards in the minds of addicts.

28 Jan 2011

Cognitive training may help end hijacking of imagination by drugs of abuse

The growing numbers of new cases of substance abuse disorders are perplexing. After all, the course of drug addiction so often ends badly. The negative consequences of drug abuse appear regularly on TV, from stories of celebrities behaving in socially inappropriate and self-destructive ways while intoxicated to dramatization of the rigors of drug withdrawal on "Intervention" and other reality shows.

28 Jan 2011

Teen brains react with erratic excitement during reward-driven tasks

University of Pittsburgh researchers have recorded neuron activity in adolescent rat brains that could reveal the biological root of the teenage propensity to consider rewards over consequences and explain why adolescents are more vulnerable to drug addiction, behavioral disorders, and other psychological ills.

27 Jan 2011

Six key points to tackle substance abuse, addiction problems among nurses

As many as ten to 20 per cent of nurses and nursing students may have substance abuse and addiction problems, but the key to tackling this difficult issue - and protecting public safety - is support and treatment, not punishment. That is the key message in a paper in the February issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

27 Jan 2011

AHRQ finds 30% increase in Medicaid-covered patient hospital admissions

Hospital admissions of patients covered by Medicaid jumped by 30 percent between 1997 and 2008, compared to a 5 percent growth in those of patients with private health insurance, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

21 Jan 2011

Australia’s child abuse rates fall but foster care rates rise: Report

Statistics show that the total number of Tasmanian children in state care has risen by 60% in six years. This is the second highest number of children per 1,000 in child protection in the Australia. This means more children are being removed from their families for issues such as substance abuse, mental health and family violence.

20 Jan 2011

Substance Abuse News and Research

Research roundup: Access to care in Mass.; Mental health spending; Gender and medical debt: How much do Americans know about health law?

Cannabis use accelerates psychosis in the young: Study

Kinship caregivers more likely to have low socioeconomic status, need greater support services

Schizophrenia patients who consume antipsychotics appear to lose small amount of brain tissue

Family mealtimes with ABC guidelines can improve quality of life in asthma children

Mental health, substance abuse spending grew more slowly than all other health spending: Study

Waismann Method examines link between chronic pain and Opioid-Induced Hyperalgesia

New study finds link between mealtime family interactions and children's health

Study finds increased prescription drug abuse among teens

UT Southwestern leads national effort to find effective treatments for drug addiction

Current prevention efforts delay but do not prevent HCV among injection drug users

U.S. Senators urge Army to help National Guard troops for mental health support

Amity engages Rick Engineering for development plans of new Children and Family Reunification center

Roundup: Florida considering major cuts to mental health programs; Texas patient groups fight back on Medicaid plans; Calif. weighs limiting Medicaid patients' trips to doctors

New insight on rehabilitating brain function in addicts

Cognitive training may help end hijacking of imagination by drugs of abuse

Teen brains react with erratic excitement during reward-driven tasks

Six key points to tackle substance abuse, addiction problems among nurses

AHRQ finds 30% increase in Medicaid-covered patient hospital admissions

Australia’s child abuse rates fall but foster care rates rise: Report

Achieving and maintaining ISO 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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