Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Couples cope in different ways following death of premature baby

Most parents who have lost a premature baby still hold the baby in a central place in their lives two to six years after the baby's death, physicians report in a new small study.

22 Apr 2009

Anxiety increases pain intensity, disability

British researchers writing in The Journal of Pain , the peer-review publication of the American Pain Society, found that individuals with high levels of anxiety due to chronic pain exhibit more emotional distress and disability, but the use of pain coping strategies can mediate this effect.

21 Apr 2009

8.5 percent of youth gamers addicted to video games

Parents have been saying for years that their kids are "addicted" to video games, but a new study by an Iowa State University psychology professor is the first to actually report that pathological patterns of video game addiction exist in a national sample of youth, aged 8 to 18.

20 Apr 2009

First compound for receptors in schizophrenia and Alzheimer's holds promise

For almost 20 years, pharmacological companies have known that certain compounds that activate two specific CNS receptors, causing them to release the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, are effective in treating the cognitive and motor problems related to both schizophrenia and Alzheimer's disease (AD).

20 Apr 2009

Discovery of key processes in the brain that control perception of emotional events

Research performed by Nicole Lauzon and Dr. Steven Laviolette of the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at The University of Western Ontario has found key processes in the brain that control the emotional significance of our experiences and how we form memories of them.

20 Apr 2009

Researchers investigate link between gastroesophageal reflux diseases and coronary heart diseases

It is well known that non-cardiac chest pain is closely related to gastroesophageal reflux diseases (GERD).

20 Apr 2009

Star Scientific reports on patent application for Zero-Nitrosamine tobacco curing process

Star Scientific and its wholly-owned subsidiary, Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals ("Rock Creek"), have reported on their continuing efforts to lessen the harm linked with tobacco use.

16 Apr 2009

Shedding some light on Parkinson's treatment

A research team lead by Karl Deisseroth in the bioengineering department at Stanford University has developed a technique to systematically characterize disease circuits in the brain.

16 Apr 2009

Chronic pelvic pain syndrome as prevalent in teens as older males

A Queen's University research team has found that a painful pelvic affliction associated with adult men occurs as frequently in adolescent boys.

16 Apr 2009

NIH grants will strengthen fight against HIV/AIDS-tuberculosis

The Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health today announced it will award $11.75 million over five years in grants to institutions to strengthen the fight against HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in Haiti, Uganda and China and establish a new program in Tanzania.

16 Apr 2009

Cognitive behavioral therapy helps alleviate nonepileptic seizures

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital have found that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can reduce the frequency of seizures in patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES), along with improving their overall quality of life.

15 Apr 2009

Non-drug treatment of Alzheimer's disease: Long-term benefit not proven

Whether people with Alzheimer's disease benefit in the long term from non-drug treatment interventions remains an unanswered question.

15 Apr 2009

Simple method to monitor sleep and potentially diagnose sleep disorders

Sleep is such an essential part of human existence that we spend about a third of our lives doing it -- some more successfully than others.

15 Apr 2009

Stressed pregnant women more likely to have asthmatic children

Pregnant women who are stressed, particularly late in pregnancy, have an increased risk of their child going on to develop asthma, according to the latest research from Children of the 90s.

15 Apr 2009

Vaccine for Coeliac disease could mean the end of gluten free diets

Australian scientists have developed an experimental vaccine to treat coeliac disease. The team at the Walter and Eliza Hall (WEHI) Institute in Melbourne are hoping a phase 1 clinical trial of the vaccine, due to begin this month, will eventually lead to an effective clinical treatment for the disease.

15 Apr 2009

New AIDS research training grants awarded for projects in 15 countries

The Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health has awarded seven grants totaling almost $2.7 million to train HIV/AIDS researchers in 15 low- and middle-income countries.

14 Apr 2009

Exercise programmes reduce falls in seniors

Exercise programmes are an effective option for preventing falls among older people living in the community.

14 Apr 2009

Cognitive behaviour therapy and behaviour therapy helps chronic pain sufferers

Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) and Behaviour Therapy (BT) show some effect in helping the disability associated with chronic pain, according to a Cochrane Systematic Review.

14 Apr 2009

Geographic patterns of frequent mental distress

Frequent Mental Distress (FMD), defined as having 14 or more days in the previous month when stress, depression and emotional problems were not good, is not evenly distributed across the United States.

13 Apr 2009

Researchers show how PCBs may alter in utero, neonatal brain development

In three new studies - including one appearing online in the Public Library of Science - Biology (PLoS - Biology) - UC Davis researchers provide compelling evidence of how low levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) alter the way brain cells develop.

13 Apr 2009