Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Study: Kinship caregivers receive fewer support services than foster parents

Children who are placed with a relative because of mistreatment at home fare better in some areas than those placed in foster care, but they may have a higher risk of substance use and teenage pregnancy.

28 Feb 2011

Study may help explain link between education and lower risk of heart disease

Freshmen on the eve of finals and graduate students staring down a thesis committee may not feel this way, but the privilege of obtaining an advanced education correlates with decades of lower blood pressure, according to a study led by a public health researcher at Brown University. The benefit appears to be greater for women than for men.

27 Feb 2011

New study: Immune molecules can regulate synaptic connections in brain

The number of connections between nerve cells in the brain can be regulated by an immune system molecule, according to a new study from UC Davis. The research, published Feb. 27 in the journal Nature Neuroscience, reveals a potential link between immunity, infectious disease and conditions such as schizophrenia or autism.

27 Feb 2011

Nation wide aged care deficits surface in report

According to an Access Economics study parts of the country have the worst projected shortfalls in aged care beds and community care packages. The study has predicted that a nationwide shortfall of 279,000 places needed to care for the elderly and infirm in 40 years’ time, with the lack concentrated on the most populous states of NSW and Victoria.

27 Feb 2011

Well-being in adolescence linked to life satisfaction in adulthood

Being a 'happy' teenager is linked to increased well-being in adulthood, new research finds.

25 Feb 2011

State News: Ga. Senate oks insurance mandates bill; Va. Assembly says abortion clinics should be regulated as hospitals

State agencies, county prosecutors, insurance companies, and health care employers and associations are mandatory reporters — they're required to report potentially dangerous and unprofessional doctors to medical regulators, who can bar the doctors from practicing and keep patients out of harm's way. But the mandatory reporters sound few alarms, and when they do, regulators rarely take action, the Tribune found.

25 Feb 2011

First Edition: February 25, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about developments in New York's Medicaid program and other state-level news.

25 Feb 2011

Most patients 'want to be listened, informed and considered by family doctor'

A study conducted at the University of Granada reveals that patients have greater expectations of their family doctor listening actively to them, keeping them informed and considering their opinions than in getting involved in decision making. For the purpose of this study, researchers took a sample of 360 patients aged 16-47 years, assisted at the Health Center Gran Capitán in Granada

25 Feb 2011

Bristol-Myers Squibb awards $1 million grant to reduce hepatitis-related health disparities in Asia

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation has awarded four new grants to help improve awareness, prevention and care of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in China and India.

25 Feb 2011

Unigene accelerates UGP281 anorexigenic peptide to treat obese patients

Unigene Laboratories, Inc. announced today that the Company is accelerating the development of its lead proprietary anorexigenic peptide, UGP281.

25 Feb 2011

Survey: 72% of locked-in syndrome patients are happy

Most "locked-in syndrome" patients say they are happy, and many of the factors reported by those who say they are unhappy can be improved, suggest the results of the largest survey of its kind, published in the launch issue of the new online journal BMJ Open.

25 Feb 2011

Study: Rare genetic mutations may provide clues to improve treatment for schizophrenia

Scientists are eyeing a rare genetic glitch for clues to improved treatments for some people with schizophrenia - even though they found the mutation in only one third of 1 percent of patients.

25 Feb 2011

New research: Significant number of HCV patients in the U.S. does not have health insurance coverage

New research has determined that patients in the U.S. with hepatitis C virus are twice as likely to not have health insurance coverage compared with those without the disease.

24 Feb 2011

Lack of health insurance limits Hepatitis C patients' access to latest antiviral therapy

New research has determined that patients in the U.S. with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are twice as likely to not have health insurance coverage compared with those without the disease. In fact researchers found only a third of HCV infected Americans have access to antiviral therapy; the remaining are either uninsured or not candidates for therapy due to treatment contraindications. Details of this study are published in the March issue of Hepatology, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD).

24 Feb 2011

Erik Parens to speak on behavioral genetics at Presidential Commission meeting

Hastings Center Scholar Erik Parens, PhD, will speak about behavioral genetics to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues on Monday, February 28. The meeting kicks off the Commission’s examination of the ethical and policy issues raised by genetics and neuroscience. Topics will include the use of genetics, neuroscience, and neuroimaging for testing, research, diagnosis, risk identification, and health promotion. Parens was invited to discuss what he considers the most pressing ethical and social issues that behavioral genetics research raises.

24 Feb 2011

Steroid administration may impact immune system in children with asthma

Children experiencing an asthma attack who are treated with a short burst of oral steroids may have a transient depression of immune response according to a new study led by Universit- de Montr-al.

24 Feb 2011

Scientists suggest that lateral habenula can be a prime locus of human depression

A team of neuroscientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory and UC San Diego has collected evidence suggesting that a previously overlooked portion of the brain could be a prime locus of human depression.

24 Feb 2011

Research: Gene mutation linked to schizophrenia may aid in new drug development

In a major advance for schizophrenia research, an international team of scientists led by the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and involving Trinity College Dublin researchers has identified a gene mutation strongly linked to schizophrenia that may be an important new target for the development of drug therapies.

24 Feb 2011

BHI: People with untreated hearing loss lose income annually

People with untreated hearing loss lose as much as $30,000 in income annually, depending on their degree of hearing loss, according to the latest national study by the Better Hearing Institute. And the cost to society is estimated to be as high as $26 billion in unrealized federal taxes.

24 Feb 2011

Bunion deformity more frequent in women, greatly reduces general, foot-specific HRQOL

New research determined that an increase in the severity of hallux valgus, or bunion deformity, progressively reduced both general and foot-specific health related quality of life. Bunion deformity was found in 36% of the study population and occurred more frequently in women and older individuals. Pain in other parts of the body beyond the foot was associated with increased bunion severity.

24 Feb 2011