Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

FDA approves roflumilast to treat COPD

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved roflumilast, a pill taken daily to decrease the frequency of flare-ups or worsening of symptoms from severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

1 Mar 2011

High blood pressure medications useful even in those without hypertension: Study

Researchers have studied existing evidence to suggest that people who have had a stroke or a heart attack might benefit from taking blood pressure medications, even if they do not have high blood. They noted that for every 1,000 people taking the drugs in clinical trials, on average 15 fewer died from heart disease than when the patients got dummy treatment. The study however could not explain the cause for this benefit. The study, which was funded by Tulane University and the National Institutes of Health, was published in the March 2 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

1 Mar 2011

Think positive for a healthy heart: Study

Researchers suggest that heart disease patients are more likely to survive if they have a positive outlook. The study was published Feb. 28 in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.

1 Mar 2011

New drug approved for COPD by the FDA

The U.S. FDA has approved a new treatment for people with worsening symptoms of severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD affects smokers and the elderly and leads to severe difficulty in breathing, chronic cough and excessive mucus production. An exacerbation can last up to several weeks and result in a decline in lung function and increased risk of death, and it may be associated with severe anxiety, the FDA says.

1 Mar 2011

Tenofovir gel more effective than oral tablet for HIV treatment: Study

In the first study to make head-to-head comparisons between tenofovir gel and oral tenofovir - two promising approaches for preventing HIV in women - researchers found that daily use of the vaginal gel achieved a more than 100-times higher concentration of active drug in vaginal tissue than did the oral tablet, while, compared to the gel, the tablet used daily was associated with a 20-times higher active drug concentration in blood.

1 Mar 2011

Depression negatively impacts outcomes of care in patients with CRS: New research

Depression is a common problem in patients with chronic rhinosinusitis and negatively impacts patients' symptom burden, ability to function, and quality of life, according to new research published in the March 2011 issue of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery.

1 Mar 2011

Social networking websites can increase risky sexual behaviors in homeless youth: New study

A new UCLA AIDS Institute study suggests that the use of social networking websites by homeless youth can lead to an increase in risky sexual behaviors. But interestingly, homeless kids who used these sites were also more likely to have been tested for sexually transmitted infections and to be better informed about preventing such infections and HIV.

1 Mar 2011

New GuLF STUDY to look at health effects of oil spill on 55,000 cleanup workers, volunteers

A new study that will look at possible health effects of the Gulf of Mexico's Deepwater Horizon oil spill on 55,000 cleanup workers and volunteers begins today in towns across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

1 Mar 2011

AFFiRiS AG - Alzheimer's vaccines generate further cash flow

AFFiRiS AG announced today significant progress in their collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals (GSK) for the development of an active vaccination programme against Alzheimer´s disease. While the lead vaccine candidate AD02 is currently in phase II clinical testing, two additional preclinical programmes have been completed successfully. The second programme was related to alternative vaccine candidates generated by AFFiRiS´ AFFITOME® technology, including candidate AD03. Based on the promising preliminary results of this programme, GSK exercised its option for the alternative vaccine candidates which triggered a EUR 2.5 million payment to AFFiRiS. An additional EUR 1 million payment became due simultaneously for the successful completion of tests of alternative vaccine formulations.

28 Feb 2011

Deal to avert gov't shutdown appears within reach

A recent short-term spending plan that emerged from the House Appropriations Committee includes millions of dollars in cuts to federal health programs. Meanwhile, congressional efforts to reach agreement on a long-term spending plan may be getting more complicated.

28 Feb 2011

Viewpoints: Judge Kessler's decision; Utah is role model; Malpractice system flaws

The Republican strategy is to split the vast middle and working classes -- pitting unionized workers against nonunionized, public-sector workers against nonpublic, older workers within sight of Medicare and Social Security against younger workers who don't believe these programs will be there for them and the poor against the working middle class.

28 Feb 2011

Tenofovir gel may help reduce risk of HIV from anal sex

A gel developed to protect against HIV during vaginal sex produced a strong antiviral effect when used in the rectum, according to an early-phase study presented today at the 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI). The results, based on rectal tissue biopsies sampled from HIV-negative men and women who used the product daily for one week, provide the first-ever evidence that tenofovir gel could help reduce the risk of HIV from anal sex, even though the vaginal gel formulation may not be optimal for rectal use.

28 Feb 2011

Endo fourth quarter total revenues increase 31% to $511 million

Endo Pharmaceuticals today reported financial results for the fourth quarter 2010.

28 Feb 2011

Investing in adolescents can help reduce poverty, improve health, UNICEF report says

Additional investment in the world's 1.2 billion adolescents - 88 percent of whom live in the developing world - has the potential to help alleviate inequality and poverty, UNICEF said in its annual State of the World's Children report released on Friday, IRIN reports.

28 Feb 2011

Preliminary top-line results from cariprazine 8-week Phase II trial against major depressive disorder

Forest Laboratories, Inc. and Gedeon Richter Plc. today announced preliminary top-line results from an 8-week Phase II clinical trial of the novel, investigational antipsychotic agent cariprazine as adjunctive therapy in major depressive disorder.

28 Feb 2011

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