Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Nearly one in five patients experiences chest pain one year after having a heart attack

One of the main goals of in-hospital treatment and outpatient care after heart attack is to relieve angina (or episodic chest pain), according to background information in the article. The prevalence and treatment of chest pain one year after heart attack are largely unknown.

24 Jun 2008

Hunger hormone ghrelin increases during stress, may have antidepressant effect

New research at UT Southwestern Medical Center may explain why some people who are stressed or depressed overeat.

24 Jun 2008

Why depression and diabetes often go together ...but which comes first?

While researchers have long been aware that type-2 diabetes and depression often go together, which develops first has always been unclear.

19 Jun 2008

Pregnant mums on a high fat diet put daughters at risk later in life

According to new research mothers who eat a high fat diet while pregnant increase their daughters risk of obesity and breast cancer.

17 Jun 2008

The 'chicken-and-egg' problem with diabetes and depression

Researchers have long known that type-2 diabetes and depression often go hand in hand. However, it's been unclear which condition develops first in patients who end up with both. Now, a new study led by Johns Hopkins doctors suggests that this chicken-and-egg problem has a dual answer: Patients with depression have an increased risk of developing type-2 diabetes, and patients with type-2 diabetes have an increased risk of developing depression.

17 Jun 2008

Warning about use of psychiatric drugs with the elderly

Health officials in the U.S. are warning doctors that prescribing certain psychiatric drugs to elderly people suffering from dementia can increase their risk of death.

17 Jun 2008

Prenatal nutrition and nutrition during childhood interact to alter puberty

A high-fat diet during pregnancy and nursing may lead to the child having an early onset of puberty and subsequent adulthood obesity, according to a new animal study. The results were presented Monday, June 16, at The Endocrine Society's 90th Annual Meeting in San Francisco.

16 Jun 2008

Discovery of mechanisms that direct cholinergic synapse assembly between neurons in vivo

Rapid information processing in the nervous system requires synapses, specialized contact sites between nerve cells and their targets. One particular synapse type, cholinergic, uses the chemical transmitter acetylcholine to communicate between nerve cells. Cholinergic synapses are essential for normal learning and memory, arousal, attention, and all autonomic (involuntary) nervous system functions.

16 Jun 2008

Alcohol and drug misuse fuels Scottish suicide and homicide rates

Alcohol and drug misuse mean Scots are almost twice as likely to kill or take their own life compared to people living in England and Wales, research published Monday, June 16 reveals.

From The University of Manchester 16 Jun 2008

Antipsychotic drugs get FDA label changes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today exercised its new authority under the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007 (FDAAA) to require manufacturers of "conventional" antipsychotic drugs to make safety-related changes to prescribing information, or labeling, to warn about an increased risk of death associated with the off-label use of these drugs to treat behavioral problems in older people with dementia.

16 Jun 2008

Children need psychiatric help to kick mobile phone habit

A mental health institution in Spain is said to be treating two children for addiction to their mobile phones.

16 Jun 2008

UT Southwestern investigators test groundbreaking depression research in real-world setting

UT Southwestern Medical Center psychiatry researchers have taken what they learned from their groundbreaking research on treating depression and are applying it to real-world clinical settings.

15 Jun 2008

Rural, unmarried women at higher risk for depression

Mayo Clinic research suggests unmarried women living in rural areas have lower self-rated health status than their married counterparts.

11 Jun 2008

Good sleep patterns paramount to health in older men

It appears that disrupted rest and activity rhythms are associated with increased mortality rates among older men, according to new University of Minnesota research.

11 Jun 2008

Penn researcher finds high recidivism rate is due to few transitional services for ex-offenders

The lack of organized transitional services often leads ex-convicts straight back into the prison system, according to a researcher from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy and Practice.

10 Jun 2008

Irritable bowel syndrome linked to chilli pepper pain receptor

People with irritable bowel syndrome have a higher than usual number of chilli pepper pain receptors, according to a new study published tomorrow (Wednesday 11 June).

10 Jun 2008

CQ's Carey discusses Democratic, GOP Medicare proposals, VA mental health bill, health care IT measure

Mary Agnes Carey, associate editor of CQ HealthBeat, discusses Senate Democratic and Republican measures to halt a 10.6% reduction to Medicare physician fees; Senate legislation involving veterans' mental health; and a House bill that encourages greater adoption of electronic health records in this week's "Health on the Hill from kaisernetwork.org and CQ."

10 Jun 2008

Researchers show brain can protect against cancer

Scientists have been aware for many years that if cancer patients are not able to deal with the stress associated with being sick, the cancer will progress faster than in calmer patients.

9 Jun 2008

Mylan announces final FDA approval for Zaleplon capsules, generic version of Sonata

Mylan Inc. has announced that its subsidiary, Genpharm ULC, has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Zaleplon Capsules, 5 mg and 10 mg.

9 Jun 2008

Marital happiness lowers risk of sleep problems

Marital happiness may lower the risk of sleep problems in Caucasian women, while marital strife may heighten the risk, according to a research abstract that will be presented on Monday at SLEEP 2008, the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies (APSS).

9 Jun 2008