Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Newer atypical antipsychotic medications no better than older drug in treating child and adolescent schizophrenia

Two newer atypical antipsychotic medications were no more effective than an older conventional antipsychotic in treating child and adolescent schizophrenia and may lead to more metabolic side effects, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

15 Sep 2008

New cannabis-like drugs could block pain without affecting brain

A new type of drug could alleviate pain in a similar way to cannabis without affecting the brain, according to a new study published in the journal Pain on Monday 15 September.

15 Sep 2008

30 years on from Alma-Ata and the pendulum is swinging back to primary health care

Thirty years on from the signing of the historic Alma-Ata declaration, the famous rallying call to the global health community, the concept of Primary Health Care, which lay at its heart, is back on the global agenda.

15 Sep 2008

Neuroscientists discover a critical early step of memory formation

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine report in the July issue of Neuron how nerve cells in the brain ensure that Arc, a protein critical for memory formation, is made instantly after nerve stimulation. Paradoxically, its manufacture involves two other proteins - including one linked to mental retardation - that typically prevent proteins from being made.

14 Sep 2008

Depressed dialysis patients more likely to be hospitalized or die, researcher finds

Dialysis patients diagnosed with depression are nearly twice as likely to be hospitalized or die within a year than those who are not depressed, a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher has found.

14 Sep 2008

Untapped potential of antidepressants for cancer

A comprehensive review of current scientific literature, published in the peer-reviewed journal ecancer, has suggested that antidepressants can help the human body fight cancer by boosting its own immune response, amongst other mechanisms.

11 Sep 2008

Depression common among youth in Rwanda orphaned by AIDS, genocide, survey finds

Depression is common among teenage and young adult orphans in Rwanda who head households and provide care for younger children, according to a survey conducted by researchers at Tulane University that was published last month in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, the New York Times reports.

11 Sep 2008

Senate Finance Committee members push for compromise on mental health parity legislation

The Senate Finance Committee has begun discussing potential funding offsets for a compromise on mental health parity legislation passed by the House and Senate earlier in the 110th Congress, CongressDaily reports.

11 Sep 2008

The underdevelopment of a specific brain region may cause schizophrenia

The underdevelopment of a specific region in the brain may lead to schizophrenia in individuals. According to research published today in BioMed Central's open access journal Molecular Brain, dentate gyrus, which is located in the hippocampus in the brain and thought to be responsible for working memory and mood regulation, remained immature in an animal model of schizophrenia.

10 Sep 2008

Abuse of painkillers can predispose adolescents to lifelong addiction

No child aspires to a lifetime of addiction. But their brains might. In new research to appear online in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology today, Rockefeller University researchers reveal that adolescent brains exposed to the painkiller OxyContin can sustain lifelong and permanent changes in their reward system - changes that increase the drug's euphoric properties and make such adolescents more vulnerable to the drug's effects later in adulthood.

10 Sep 2008

Suicide rate among young male veterans reaches record high in 2006

The suicide rate among young male veterans who served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reached a record high in 2006, the latest year for which records are available, according to data released on Tuesday by the Department of Veterans Affairs, USA Today reports.

10 Sep 2008

Toll of war seen in increased suicide rates among young male veterans

According to the American Department of Veterans Affairs, the suicide rate among young male veterans who served during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan reached a record high in 2006.

10 Sep 2008

Twice as many 'mentally ill' end up in custody rather than a hospital

According to a report by a police watchdog group in Britain, the number of people held in police cells suspected of being mentally ill, rather than a hospital is "intolerable".

10 Sep 2008

Mother's stress may contribute to her young children being overweight

A mother's stress may contribute to her young children being overweight in low income households with sufficient food, according to a new Iowa State University study published in the September issue of Pediatrics, the professional journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

9 Sep 2008

Receptor activation protects retina from diabetes destruction

A drug known for it pain-relieving power and believed to stimulate memory appears to prevent this retinal damage that leads to vision loss, researchers say.

9 Sep 2008

Congressional Democrats will not vote on SCHIP expansion legislation this session amid veto threats, increased cost estimates

Congressional Democrats said they will not hold a vote on legislation to renew and expand SCHIP this year, citing an inability to override a promised veto by President Bush, among other issues, the New York Times reports.

9 Sep 2008

Children born prematurely are four times more likely to have behavioural disorders

Children born prematurely are four times more likely to have emotional problems or behavioural disorders, according to research led by the University of Warwick.

8 Sep 2008

Depression and autism are subjects of public forum on research

The University of Rochester Medical Center will present a forum on the progress of mental health research Sunday Sept. 14.

8 Sep 2008

Prenatal behavioral counseling can reduce some health risk factors among low-income black women

Pregnant black women who participate in a few sessions of behavioral counseling are more likely to reduce certain risky behaviors than those who participate in standard prenatal care, according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, Reuters Health reports.

7 Sep 2008

Vietnamese-Americans have high risk for mental health problems, study finds

Vietnamese-Americans ages 56 and older are twice as likely as whites to report needing mental health care and also less likely to discuss such issues with a professional, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the Los Angeles Times reports.

7 Sep 2008

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Newer atypical antipsychotic medications no better than older drug in treating child and adolescent schizophrenia

New cannabis-like drugs could block pain without affecting brain

30 years on from Alma-Ata and the pendulum is swinging back to primary health care

Neuroscientists discover a critical early step of memory formation

Depressed dialysis patients more likely to be hospitalized or die, researcher finds

Untapped potential of antidepressants for cancer

Depression common among youth in Rwanda orphaned by AIDS, genocide, survey finds

Senate Finance Committee members push for compromise on mental health parity legislation

The underdevelopment of a specific brain region may cause schizophrenia

Abuse of painkillers can predispose adolescents to lifelong addiction

Suicide rate among young male veterans reaches record high in 2006

Toll of war seen in increased suicide rates among young male veterans

Twice as many 'mentally ill' end up in custody rather than a hospital

Mother's stress may contribute to her young children being overweight

Receptor activation protects retina from diabetes destruction

Congressional Democrats will not vote on SCHIP expansion legislation this session amid veto threats, increased cost estimates

Children born prematurely are four times more likely to have behavioural disorders

Depression and autism are subjects of public forum on research

Prenatal behavioral counseling can reduce some health risk factors among low-income black women

Vietnamese-Americans have high risk for mental health problems, study finds

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

From Puberty to Menopause: Clue’s CEO, Audrey Tsang on the Power of Femtech

Newsletters you may be interested in