Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Genes determine susceptibility to depression

University of Michigan Health System researchers have found new evidence that our genes help determine our susceptibility to depression.

4 Jan 2011

The Scientist examines how nonprofit, for-profit pharma groups are working together to make drugs more affordable for developing countries

"With philanthropists funneling billions of dollars into biomedical research and traditional drug discovery efforts producing fewer and fewer therapies, the line between for-profit and nonprofit life science companies is beginning to blur as both sides of the divide look for new options," The Scientist magazine writes in an article that examines the rise in collaborations between nonprofit pharmaceutical companies and for-profit groups.

4 Jan 2011

New approach to Alzheimer’s care

Protocols and practices at an Arizona nursing home that allows patients with Alzheimer’s disease freedom to eat and sleep when they want makes appears to make them happier and easier to care for, the New York Times reports. Beatitudes, a ministry of the Church of the Beatitude, has also done away with restraints. Each patient is cared for according to his/her individual needs.

3 Jan 2011

Mediterranean diet helps more than one chronic condition

In a study that was published in the Oct 13, 2001 issue of Diabetes Care, authors had reported that Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of developing diabetes significantly. Those on this diet were 52 percent less likely to develop diabetes, compared with those who adhered least to the diet. Salas-Salvadó J. of Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Reus, Spain and colleagues compared two groups of subjects following two Mediterranean diets, one with nuts at 30 grams per day and the other with olive oil at 1 liter per week, with those on a low-fat diet.

2 Jan 2011

Team care to help multiple chronic conditions

According to a new study patients with multiple chronic diseases like diabetes mellitus and heart disease are at higher risk of depression that can render medication ineffective. Lead researcher Dr. Wayne J. Katon and colleagues at University of Washington in the study found that patients who received care from nurses who worked with patients and physicians to manage the care for depression and diabetes and heart disease had better outcomes. The study was published in the Dec 30, 2010 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Jan 2011

New women’s health policy inadequate

The Gillard government is being criticized for issuing a women’s health policy without announcing more funding for struggling women’s services. This is the first national women’s health policy in 21 years that claims to ensure women “have access to the right healthcare at the right time”.

30 Dec 2010

Teenage autistic boy allowed sex change procedure

A 16 year old autistic schoolboy has been granted approval to begin treatment for a sex change. He will have the provision to have his sperm frozen in case he decides he wants children. The decision came from Family Court judge Justice Linda Dessau on an emergency application from the boy’s parents so that he can begin therapy before his puberty fully sets in.

30 Dec 2010

General anesthesia's similarities with and differences from sleep and coma

The use of general anesthesia is a routine part of surgical operations at hospitals and medical facilities around the world, but the precise biological mechanisms that underlie anesthetic drugs' effects on the brain and the body are only beginning to be understood. A review article in the December 30 New England Journal of Medicine brings together for the first time information from a range of disciplines, including neuroscience and sleep medicine, to lay the groundwork for more comprehensive investigations of processes underlying general anesthesia.

30 Dec 2010

Interaction of light with circadian systems

In a new paper published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aziz Sancar, MD, PhD, the Sarah Graham Kenan Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics in the UNC School of Medicine, and his colleagues have taken an important step in understanding the underlying molecular signals that influence a broad array of biological processes ranging from the sleep-wake cycle to cancer growth and development.

30 Dec 2010

Indoor plants can contribute to patient well-being

Could a plant "intervention" improve the well-being of patients in a difficult rehab process? Scientists from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and Sweden's Uppsala University investigated this question in a recent study of 436 coronary and pulmonary patients at a Norwegian rehabilitation center.

30 Dec 2010

FDA approves Endo's FORTESTA Gel for low testosterone

Endo Pharmaceuticals today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved FORTESTA Gel for the treatment of low testosterone, or 'Low T,' also known as hypogonadism. Symptoms associated with Low T include erectile dysfunction and decreased sexual desire, fatigue and loss of energy, mood depression, regression of secondary sexual characteristics and osteoporosis.

29 Dec 2010

New innovative program to identify and treat combat veterans suffering from PTSD

An innovative program to identify and treat combat veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - but who have not sought treatment - has been started by U.S.VETS, the nation's largest nonprofit devoted to providing housing and other services to homeless and at-risk veterans.

29 Dec 2010

Stress may boost memory: Study

In a new study researchers have found that stress can enhance ordinary, unrelated memories. This may open up new avenues in management of patients of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and related afflictions say experts.

27 Dec 2010

Calif. insurers opt to resume kids' policies; Meanwhile, other plans cut mental health benefits in response to health law

Some California insurers have decided to resume offering children's individual health insurance policies — a step that reverses decisions made last fall to exit this market. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that, as a result of requirements in the new health law, some health plans are opting to cut mental health benefits.

24 Dec 2010

Oxytocin makes individuals feel calmer and dampens effect on fear receptor in the brain

"My husband of thirty-five years passed away seven years ago, and I lost my daughter in a car accident last year, I honestly could no longer find the energy to smile or laugh," recounts sixty-year-old widow Opal Perry. "My son suggested I try a new hormone being touted to help with symptoms of depression, called oxytocin. After the second day I was driving and caught myself smiling in the mirror. I couldn't believe it. I had to do a double take. I hadn't really smiled in seven years! I thought I would never smile again until now."

23 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 23, 2010

Today's headlines include stories that look back and examine the role of the health overhaul in creating the 2010 political climate, as well as reports that look forward to what changes are in store for 2011.

23 Dec 2010

Brain regions that 'fire up' due to suppression of automatic behaviour

Research from York University is revealing which regions in the brain "fire up" when we suppress an automatic behaviour such as the urge to look at other people as we enter an elevator.

23 Dec 2010

Minorities with MS may face risk of developing depressive symptoms

Multiple sclerosis can cause significant physical impairment, including fatigue, pain, muscle spasms, tremors and dizziness. For many with MS, the disease wreaks havoc with emotional well-being, too, and according to a new study, minorities might especially be at risk for developing depressive symptoms.

23 Dec 2010

Ketamine tried on college students in experiments sparks outrage

Department of Psychiatry at Cambridge University designed experiments to investigate treatment methods for schizophrenia. Like schizophrenics who sometimes believe that external objects have become part of their body, injection of ketamine – an anesthetic agent also produces similar feelings. Ketamine is a hallucinogenic drug.

22 Dec 2010

Virtual technology to train social workers to help address mental health needs of veterans

Real-life application of revolutionary virtual technology to train and teach in the classroom will be the focus of the University of Southern California's display and presentations at the Consumers Electronics Show (CES) Jan. 6-10 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

22 Dec 2010