Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Self-care tips for hemorrhoids from Mayo Clinic

By about age 50, more than half of adults have dealt with hemorrhoids. The November issue of Mayo Clinic Health Letter covers home treatments that can relieve symptoms of this common and embarrassing problem.

16 Nov 2009

SPOT: A one-stop HIV and sexually transmitted diseases testing center for youth

In the last 10 years, the St. Louis area has seen an alarming increase in new diagnoses of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among 13-24 year-olds. Between 1997-2007, more than 50 new diagnoses of HIV were made each year among adolescents and young adults, who are often disconnected from the health-care system or support services. Nationwide, St. Louis has among the highest rates of sexually transmitted diseases in this age group.

16 Nov 2009

HealthPartners' health plans ranked top in Minnesota

HealthPartners is among the top 25 best private health plans in the nation and the top ranked plan in Minnesota according to U.S. News & World Report/NCQA “America's Best Health Insurance Plans 2009-10.” The report measures how well health plans perform on 50 measures of health care and member satisfaction. Two hundred thirty nine health plans from across the nation are included in the report. The top 50 health plans, including HealthPartners, are listed in the Nov. 16, 2009 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.

16 Nov 2009

Study finds striking similarities in people with schizophrenia across 37 different countries

An international study of more than 17,000 people with schizophrenia has found striking similarities in symptoms, medication, employment and sexual problems, despite the fact that it covered a diverse range of patients and healthcare systems in 37 different countries.

16 Nov 2009

Chronic pain patients with depression three times more likely to receive opioid medications

Chronic pain patients with a history of depression are three times more likely to receive long-term prescriptions for opioid medications like Vicodin compared to pain patients who do not suffer from depression, according to new research.

16 Nov 2009

NIDA awards $17 million to University of California to establish TMARC

Igor Grant, MD, professor of psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues have been awarded a $17 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to establish the Translational Methamphetamine AIDS Research Center (TMARC) at UC San Diego. Grant is director of the HIV Neurobehavioral Research Center (HNRC), a clinical research center designated and funded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

16 Nov 2009

Doctors face image problems; patients deal with shortages, are urged to question care

Doctors must not only face the fading image of primary care providers, but also physician shortage issues. Meanwhile, some experts suggest patients consider saying "no" to their doctor to control health care costs.

13 Nov 2009

Study confirms that people with severe mental disorders more at risk of dying from heart disease

A large new study confirms that people with severe mental disorders — such as schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders — are 25 percent to 40 percent more prone to die from heart disease than people without mental illness are.

13 Nov 2009

Veterans' health: Measuring the scope of mental health challenges

NPR profiles retired General Eric Shinseki, the head of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and his efforts to measure the scope of veterans' mental health issues. In his first nine months in this position, he "has spent hours just listening to veterans talk. Shinseki tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that he feels a strong obligation to 'give back' to the men and women he once served with." NPR reports on the task Shinseki faces: "Since 2001, more than 1 million new veterans have come into a system that is being stretched thin." One of Shinseki's missions to improve the care and resources available to these vets is to work with the Department of Defense to "create a computer-driven system that will track service personnel through their careers — including when they become veterans.

13 Nov 2009

Poor mental health in children and teenagers impacts on the length of time they will stay in school: Study

"Our study shows that poor mental health in children and teenagers has a large impact on the length of time they will stay in school," says Dr. Lehrer. He notes a large number of school-based programs have recently been introduced to prevent childhood obesity through lifestyle changes, but suggests the net should be cast more widely. "It's important for policymakers to target health conditions that are not the easiest to identify - like inattention - but may have larger impacts on one's future."

13 Nov 2009

PKCI/HINT1 gene associated with mood regulation

Removing the PKCI/HINT1 gene from mice has an anti-depressant-like and anxiolytic-like effect. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Neuroscience applied a battery of behavioral tests to the PKCI/HINT1 knockout animals, concluding that the deleted gene may have an important role in mood regulation.

13 Nov 2009

Health Canada approves ONGLYZA for type 2 diabetes treatment

Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada and AstraZeneca Canada today announced that Health Canada has approved ONGLYZA(TM) (saxagliptin) which improves all three key measures of glycemic control - hemoglobin A1c (A1c), fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and post-prandial glucose (PPG) - when taken in combination with other commonly used oral anti-diabetic agents (metformin or a sulfonylurea).

13 Nov 2009

New and effective medicines underway for treating a wide range of diseases affecting women

Women's Health Weekly recently reported that America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are working on nearly 1,000 life-changing medicines for diseases affecting women, according to a new report released by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). The medicines are awaiting approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or are in human clinical trials.

13 Nov 2009

Mithridion reports progress with its potential oral small-molecule drugs for AD and schizophrenia

Mithridion, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing drugs for serious Central Nervous System (CNS) disorders, announced today progress with its pipeline of potential oral small-molecule drugs for Alzheimer's disease (AD) and schizophrenia.

13 Nov 2009

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

After months of discussion and debate, the House has passed its version of health care reform. But as many observers, including me, have already noted, health care reform has primarily become health insurance reform over the course of the year (Gail Wilensky, 11/12).

12 Nov 2009

Mental Health America and Prescription Audio team up to provide free sound therapy

Mental Health America today announced it is partnering with Prescription Audio, a Philadelphia-area based firm (Voorhees, N.J.), to make the company's scientifically based sound therapy available without charge as a download to veterans, active duty servicemen and women, their family members and health care providers.

12 Nov 2009

Results from an analysis emphasizes the financial burden of SMI on the criminal justice and HHS systems

Results from a large, retrospective analysis of inmates with a serious mental illness (SMI) underscores the financial burden of mental illness on the criminal justice and health and human services (HHS) systems, and may provide useful information to policy makers.

12 Nov 2009

Psychiatrist delivers high-risk meds, poor care in Chicago nursing homes

ProPublica/The Chicago Tribune examine the case of a controversial psychiatrist who delivered an anti-psychotic medication to thousands of Medicaid patients in Chicago's nursing homes. "Dr. Michael Reinstein is one of the most prolific providers of psychiatric care in Chicago-area nursing homes and mental health facilities. But he is trailed by lawsuits and complaints while getting government reimbursement for seeing a large number of patients."

12 Nov 2009

Malfunctioning circadian clock genes may be associated with bipolar disorder in children

Malfunctioning circadian clock genes may be responsible for bipolar disorder in children. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry found four versions of the regulatory gene RORB that were associated with pediatric bipolar disorder.

11 Nov 2009

Post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans on the rise, reveals survey

Recent survey results reveal that the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has increased 4 to 7 times following the invasion of Iraq.

11 Nov 2009

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Self-care tips for hemorrhoids from Mayo Clinic

SPOT: A one-stop HIV and sexually transmitted diseases testing center for youth

HealthPartners' health plans ranked top in Minnesota

Study finds striking similarities in people with schizophrenia across 37 different countries

Chronic pain patients with depression three times more likely to receive opioid medications

NIDA awards $17 million to University of California to establish TMARC

Doctors face image problems; patients deal with shortages, are urged to question care

Study confirms that people with severe mental disorders more at risk of dying from heart disease

Veterans' health: Measuring the scope of mental health challenges

Poor mental health in children and teenagers impacts on the length of time they will stay in school: Study

PKCI/HINT1 gene associated with mood regulation

Health Canada approves ONGLYZA for type 2 diabetes treatment

New and effective medicines underway for treating a wide range of diseases affecting women

Mithridion reports progress with its potential oral small-molecule drugs for AD and schizophrenia

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

Mental Health America and Prescription Audio team up to provide free sound therapy

Results from an analysis emphasizes the financial burden of SMI on the criminal justice and HHS systems

Psychiatrist delivers high-risk meds, poor care in Chicago nursing homes

Malfunctioning circadian clock genes may be associated with bipolar disorder in children

Post-traumatic stress disorder among veterans on the rise, reveals survey

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Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Mastering RNA extraction for plant and fungal research – eBook eBook

The Proteoform Puzzle: Unlocking the Next Frontier

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

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