Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Study suggests Risperidone long-acting injection combined with standard treatment helped delay time to relapse in patients with bipolar disorder

Patients with frequently relapsing bipolar disorder had a significant delay in the time to an initial relapse when risperidone long-acting injection (RLAI) was combined with standard treatment, according to a new study. The study compared patients who received RLAI and standard treatment to those who received standard treatment combined with placebo.

4 Feb 2008

Participants recruited for VCU study on premenstrual dysphoric disorder

The Virginia Commonwealth University Mood Disorders Institute is recruiting participants for a national study of a new treatment method for premenstrual dysphoric disorder, a severe and debilitating form of premenstrual syndrome, or PMS.

4 Feb 2008

Breaking down Huntington's disease one protein at a time

Hoping to piece together the intricate series of interactions that lead to Huntington's disease, Indiana University Bloomington scientists have determined the shape and structure of a binding site that may prove useful in combating the neurodegenerative disease

4 Feb 2008

Nano scaffold to rebuild nerve damage

A Monash University PhD student has developed a new technique that could revolutionise stem cell treatment for Parkinson's disease and spinal cord injury.

4 Feb 2008

How risky are social networking sites?

Despite the recent focus on restricting access to social networking Web sites to protect children, researchers have found that victimization online is more likely to occur through instant messaging and in chat rooms.

4 Feb 2008

Certain genetic variations protect against depression triggered by childhood stress

Certain variations in a gene that helps regulate response to stress tend to protect adults who were abused in childhood from developing depression, according to new research funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health.

4 Feb 2008

New Parkinson's disease research points to serotonin

For most people with Parkinson's disease, the only relief from the tremors, rigidity and impaired movement associated with the progressive loss of their motor skills is a drug called L-DOPA. But as the disease progresses, L-DOPA can cause prominent side effects that counteract its effectiveness.

4 Feb 2008

Effects of prostate removal

Men with prostate cancer who have their prostate removed cite sexual dysfunction as the most common side effect after surgery, but urinary dysfunction troubles these patients most, reports a University of Florida researcher. What's more, many aren't emotionally prepared to face these complications.

4 Feb 2008

Allergies linked to irritable bowel syndrome

Adults with allergy symptoms report a high incidence of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), suggesting a link between atopic disorders and IBS according to a study published on January in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American Collegeof Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

31 Jan 2008

U.S. mental health survey of people with schizophrenia and providers

Mental Health America has released results of the first national online survey to examine overall healthcare in mental health settings from the perspective of both people with schizophrenia and psychiatrists.

31 Jan 2008

Antidepressants might be worthless for treating low back pain

The review appears in the latest issue of The Cochrane Library, a publication of The Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. Systematic reviews draw evidence-based conclusions about medical practice after considering both the content and quality of existing medical trials on a topic.

30 Jan 2008

Smaller pancreatic tumors greatly increase survival odds

The odds of surviving cancer of the pancreas increase dramatically for patients whose tumors are smallest, according to a new study by researchers at Saint Louis University and the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston - the first study to specifically evaluate the link between tumor size and survival rates for one of the most common and deadly cancers.

28 Jan 2008

Sex, drugs and diet top issues parents want doctors to discuss with kids

When parents bring their children in for routine check-ups many are hoping the doctors and nurse practitioners caring for them will do more than just check blood pressure, listen to their heart and provide any necessary vaccinations.

28 Jan 2008

Medical Research Council and GSK to identify new therapeutic targets from genetic association studies

The Medical Research Council (MRC) and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have announced the creation of a jointly funded programme seeking to identify and validate genes associated with common human diseases. A key aim of the programme will be to translate these observations into new drug targets and biomarkers of disease.

28 Jan 2008

Mental and physical stimulation delays dementia in Huntington's disease

Scientists at Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute have discovered that mental and physical stimulation delays the onset of dementia in the fatal genetic disease, Huntington's disease.

25 Jan 2008

No clear evidence that antidepressants assist in the management of chronic low back pain

Doctors commonly prescribe antidepressants for patients with low back pain for three main reasons; to relieve pain; reduce mild depression and improve a person's mood; and improve sleep.

24 Jan 2008

New method enables design, production of extremely novel drugs

A new chemical synthesis method based on a catalyst worth many times the price of gold and providing a far more efficient and economical method than traditional ones for designing and manufacturing extremely novel pharmaceutical compounds is described by its University at Buffalo developers in a review article in the current issue of Nature.

24 Jan 2008