Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

New, multidisciplinary Senior Adult Oncology Center established at Kimmel Cancer Center

The odds of developing some type of cancer increase with age; sixty percent of cancer in the United States occurs in persons aged 65 and older. At the same time, senior patients may have acute or chronic diseases that make treating their cancer challenging. That's why the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson has established a new, multidisciplinary Senior Adult Oncology Center to provide a comprehensive consultation for senior patients in order to meet those special challenges.

12 Oct 2010

NCQA recertifies Lilly's online Health Education Answers program

Lilly's Health Education Answers program, an interactive online health and wellness tool, has received Health Information Product Recertification from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

11 Oct 2010

Valeant announces Alexza's receipt of FDA CRL for AZ-004 NDA

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, Inc. announced today that Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding Alexza's New Drug Application (NDA) for AZ-004 (Staccato® loxapine) submitted as Adusuve™ Staccato® (loxapine) inhalation aerosol, 5 mg and 10 mg.

11 Oct 2010

FDA issues CRL for AZ-004 NDA application

Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has received a Complete Response Letter (CRL) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA or Agency) regarding its New Drug Application (NDA) for AZ-004 (Staccato loxapine), submitted as Adusuve Staccato (loxapine) inhalation aerosol, 5 mg and 10 mg.

11 Oct 2010

American Specialty Health named to fastest-growing company list on 2010 Inc. 5000

Health and wellness company American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH) was recently named to Inc. magazine's fourth annual list of the 5,000 fastest growing privately-held companies in the United States for a second consecutive year. The list is a comprehensive look at one of the most important segments of the economy—America's independent-minded entrepreneurs—and serves as a unique illustration of the profound changes taking place in the U.S. economy.

11 Oct 2010

Doctors, med students face higher risks of suicide

News outlets report on workforce issues for doctors, including elevated suicide risk and hesitance to e-mail with patients.

11 Oct 2010

Takeda, Envoy enter three-year research alliance to develop schizophrenia drug

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, a global pharmaceutical company, and Envoy Therapeutics Inc., a recently formed drug discovery company, today announced that they have formed a three-year research alliance aimed at discovering drugs for schizophrenia that will have greater efficacy and safety compared to current therapies.

11 Oct 2010

Abbott to withdraw Meridia medicine from the U.S. market

Abbott will voluntarily withdraw Meridia (sibutramine) from the U.S. market at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

11 Oct 2010

Some herbal remedies for anxiety disorders effective

Two herbal remedies from passion flower extract and kava have shown to be effective in alleviating anxiety say scientists. The results came from an analysis of 24 studies involving more than 2,000 participants which also showed that combinations of the amino acids L-lysine and L-arginine may be useful anxiety remedies.

10 Oct 2010

Experts meet on ESMO Congress to bring new hope to cancer patients

"A congress of records," is how Professor David J. Kerr, President of the European Society for Medical Oncology described the 35th ESMO Congress, at the opening press conference for the biggest medical oncology event in Europe. "We have had record numbers of submitted and accepted abstracts and are expecting a record number of attendees." The ESMO meeting brings together cancer specialists, patients, industry representatives and members of the media. The 35th ESMO Congress takes place at Fiera Milano City, in Milan, Italy, from 8 to 12 October 2010.

8 Oct 2010

HHS, PEPFAR to invest $130 million to transform African medical education

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is partnering with the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) to invest $130 million over five years to transform African medical education and dramatically increase the number of practicing health care workers.

8 Oct 2010

IMNG relaunches websites for Internal Medicine News, Hospitalist News

International Medical News Group, an Elsevier company that provides medical news to physicians, today announced the relaunch of its websites for Internal Medicine News (www.internalmedicinenews.com) and Hospitalist News.

8 Oct 2010

Hard combat can devastate veterans until old age

The trauma from hard combat can devastate veterans until old age, even as it influences others to be wiser, gentler and more accepting in their twilight years, a new University of Florida study finds.

8 Oct 2010

New instrument to determine anxiety level

A new instrument developed by a Washington and Lee University psychologist is designed to help clinicians determine more objectively a patient's level of anxiety.

8 Oct 2010

Pfizer announces tasocitinib Phase 2 data for plaque psoriasis

Pfizer Inc. today announced that data from a Phase 2 efficacy and safety study of tasocitinib the company's investigational oral JAK inhibitor, met its primary endpoint of a statistically significant greater proportion of patients achieving at least a 75 percent reduction from baseline in PASI (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index) at week 12 in individuals with chronic moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

8 Oct 2010

Childhood abuse may lead to physiological consequences later in life

Seemingly healthy adults, if they were abused or neglected during childhood, may suffer physiological consequences decades later. In research published online last week by the journal Neuropsychopharmacology, a team led by psychiatrists at Brown University and Butler Hospital found that healthy adults who reported being mistreated as kids appear to have an elevated inflammatory response to stress compared to adults who had happier childhoods.

8 Oct 2010

Patient personality can cause missed diagnoses of depression

Patient personality affects the accuracy of reports by friends and family members of mood history and symptoms and can cause missed diagnoses of depression, according to research published online by the journal International Psychogeriatrics.

8 Oct 2010

Parkinson’s disease pathology breakthrough

Researchers have found that brain cells of people with early Parkinson's disease have damaged powerhouses. In a new study they have identified 10 groups of gene sets related to the energy production problems in the brain cells of these people.

8 Oct 2010

Mass. attorney general recommends approval of Caritas sale; Calif. will require students to get whooping cough vaccine

Attorney General Martha Coakley yesterday recommended approval of the proposed sale of Caritas Christi Health Care to a New York private equity firm, a deal that would bring for-profit health care on a large scale to a state long dominated by nonprofit hospitals.

8 Oct 2010

WHO releases new guidelines for simplified treatment of common mental disorders

Millions of people with common, but untreated, mental, neurological and substance use disorders can now benefit from new simplified diagnosis and treatment guidelines released today by WHO. The guidelines are designed to facilitate the management of depression, alcohol use disorders, epilepsy and other common mental disorders in the primary health-care setting.

7 Oct 2010