Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

State roundup: Indiana's effort to privatize public assistance

(Louise) Cohoon's mother, now suffering from Alzheimer's disease, was one of thousands of Indiana residents who abruptly and erroneously lost their welfare, Medicaid or food stamp benefits after Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels privatized the state's public assistance program — the result of an efficiency plan that went awry from the very beginning, the state now admits.

27 Jun 2011

Yissum, BioLineRx sign license deal to develop and commercialize BL-7040 for IBD

BioLineRx, a biopharmaceutical drug development company, and Yissum Research Development Company Ltd., the Technology Transfer Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, announced today that they have signed a worldwide, exclusive license agreement for BioLineRx to develop and commercialize BL-7040, an orally available Phase II ready molecule for treating Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and other inflammatory diseases.

27 Jun 2011

Anticholinergic medications linked to risk of cognitive impairment, death in older population

A large, long-term study confirms that medications with anticholinergic activity, which include many drugs frequently taken by older adults, cause cognitive impairment. The research is also the first to identify a possible link between these drugs - which include over-the-counter and prescription sleep aids and incontinence treatments - and risk of death.

27 Jun 2011

Video monitors on public buses to help raise HIV testing awareness among African Americans

A University of Pennsylvania study will determine if public transit can convey more than people going from point A to point B. Video displays on public buses in Los Angeles will be used to help determine the efficacy of an innovative soap opera-like video program designed to increase HIV testing among low-income African Americans 14 to 24 years of age.

27 Jun 2011

Department of Defense awards Impel Phase II SBIR grant for blood-brain barrier bypass technology

Impel NeuroPharma, a medical device company whose technology is designed to enable pharmaceutical drugs to bypass the blood-brain barrier and enter the central nervous system (CNS), today announced that it was selected to receive a Phase II Small Business Investigational Research (SBIR) grant from the Department of Defense's Chemical and Biological Defense SBIR Program entitled, "Blood Brain Barrier Drug Delivery of Therapeutics for Chemical Warfare Agents."

24 Jun 2011

As States approach new budget years, many will be cutting Medicaid

States have taken a variety of trims, from stopping payments for circumcisions in Colorado to reducing payments for rehabilitation services in Kansas to increased co-payments in California.

24 Jun 2011

Bodies resist weight loss efforts when food intake is reduced drastically

If you've been trying to lose weight and suspect your body's working against you, you may be right, according to a University of Illinois study published in Obesity.

24 Jun 2011

Stresses can change gene expression without DNA sequence change

None of us are strangers to stress of various kinds. It turns out the effects of all those stresses can change the fate of future generation, influencing our very DNA without any change to the underlying sequence of As, Gs, Ts and Cs. Now, researchers reporting in the June 24th issue of Cell, a Cell Press publication, have new evidence that helps to explain just how these epigenetic changes really happen.

24 Jun 2011

Hormone ghrelin mediates stress-induced food-reward behavior

Many people when stressed turn to high calorie "comfort foods". Despite the contribution this behavior makes to the current obesity epidemic, little is known about the molecules and nervous system circuits that control it. Insight into this could provide new targets for the development of therapeutics to curb this potentially detrimental behavior.

24 Jun 2011

Hunger hormone likely to cause stress-linked complex eating behaviors

We are one step closer to deciphering why some stressed people indulge in chocolate, mashed potatoes, ice cream and other high-calorie, high-fat comfort foods. UT Southwestern Medical Center-led findings, in a mouse study, suggest that ghrelin - the so-called "hunger hormone" - is involved in triggering this reaction to high stress situations.

24 Jun 2011

Anticholinergic drugs might increase risk of cognitive impairment, death in older people

A side effect of many commonly used drugs appears to increase the risks of both cognitive impairment and death in older people, according to new research led by the University of East Anglia.

24 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: McKinsey report contentiousness; Medicare facts vs. beliefs; insurers' HSA 'strategy'

The White House routinely tries to intimidate its health-care critics, but the campaign against McKinsey & Co. is something else. The management consultants attempted to find out how U.S. business will respond to the government restructuring of 17.3% of the economy, Democrats don't like the results, and so McKinsey must pay with its reputation.

24 Jun 2011

‘City slickers’ at increased brain stress: Study

German and Canadian neuroscientists have shown that living in a city or even being raised in one is associated with differences in the way the brain handles stress. They write in Nature that this is the first time researchers have used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to identify specific brain regions that are affected by urban life.

23 Jun 2011

Elderly alcohol and drug abuse support

A report has advised that the British government alter the recommended amount of alcohol older people should consume. The government should cut the recommended drinking limits for older people, according to doctors, in a move likely to affect many looking to find a care home.

23 Jun 2011

Some drug mixtures may be fatal for elderly: study

British scientists warn that well known brands of hay fever tablets, painkillers and sleeping pills pose a previously unknown threat to elderly people’s health when taken together. Many are available over the counter at pharmacies as well as being prescribed by GPs, nurses and chemists they said.

23 Jun 2011

RACGP welcomes Senate Inquiry into mental health funding cuts

The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has welcomed the move yesterday to hold a Senate Inquiry into the Federal Government’s decision to cut the Medicare patient rebates for GP mental health services in the 2011‐2012 Federal Budget. The Senate Inquiry comes after strong and consistent lobbying on the issue by the RACGP and our colleagues within United General Practice Australia (UGPA).

23 Jun 2011

New surprising details about flow of neurotransmitters between brain neurons

Two studies featuring research from Weill Cornell Medical College have uncovered surprising details about the complex process that leads to the flow of neurotransmitters between brain neurons -- a dance of chemical messages so delicate that missteps often lead to neurological dysfunction.

23 Jun 2011

New book aims to help address the issue of long term care and older people

A new book co-edited by Dr Alisoun Milne, Reader in Social Gerontology and Social Work at the University of Kent's School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, aims to help address the issue of long term care and older people.

23 Jun 2011

Urban dwellers at greater risk of mental illness: Study

A new study shows that living in a city increases the risk of developing a mental disorder, including depression and schizophrenia, compared to people who live in non-urban areas. The findings of the has implications for around half of the world's population who live in cities.

23 Jun 2011

Weak neural synchronization could serve as powerful, new biological marker of autism

In a novel imaging study of sleeping toddlers, scientists at the University of California, San Diego Autism Center of Excellence report that a diminished ability of a young brain's hemispheres to "sync" with one another could be a powerful, new biological marker of autism, one that might enable an autism diagnosis at a very young age.

23 Jun 2011