Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Breakthrough on chronic disease management by GPs

Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said today that the Australian Government’s introduction of chronic disease items to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) would deliver a double benefit to GPs and their patients.

9 Jun 2005

Excessive sleepiness in adolescents may indicate more than just lack of sleep

A new technical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH) says that although sleepiness is rather common in this age group, pediatricians should pay special attention to patients who exhibit evidence of excessive sleepiness because it could indicate an underlying medical or mental health condition.

9 Jun 2005

Rheumatoid arthritis costs more to business and industry than almost any other disease

Speaking at a rheumatology congress in Vienna today (Thursday 9 June), USA experts estimated that RA costs employers over $4,000 more per person, per year.

9 Jun 2005

Rituximab provides new hope for people with lupus

Rheumatologists at the Annual European Congress of Rheumatology in Vienna, Austria heard today (Thursday 9 June) that rituximab is the first drug in a quarter of a century that is making a real impact, and an alternative to previous standard treatments of high-dose steroids, and chemotherapy.

9 Jun 2005

Women who drink to excess are more likely to experience depression and anxiety

Work done by Dr Rosa Alati, a research fellow from The University of Queensland's School of Population Health, and colleagues from UQ and the University of Bristol, showed women who have more than 15 drinks a week have an increased risk of experiencing mental illness.

8 Jun 2005

Girls who can't orgasm can blame it on their genes

Scientists have discovered that an inability in some women to acheive an orgasm may have a genetic cause.

8 Jun 2005

Depressed in N.Y. no better off

A watchdog group, says in a new report, that depressed New Yorkers are still getting poor medical care. This complaint comes a year after health management organizations in the city were urged to do better.

7 Jun 2005

Mental health problems in teens go untreated for decades

Researchers in the U.S. say many mental disorders afflicting millions of Americans are often evident in adolescence but usually go untreated for years.

7 Jun 2005

Boring jobs can make your heart bad

British researchers say that dull, steady, boring and unexciting jobs are no good for the heart.

7 Jun 2005

New dopamine transporter gene findings may be relevant for substance abuse, tobacco smoking, and ADHD

Confirming findings in a previous study, Yale researchers observed an altered availability of the dopamine transporter in healthy persons with a genetic variation linked to substance abuse and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

6 Jun 2005

Doctors study surgery to stop epileptic seizures

Melinda Hillyard of Winchester, Va., first had epileptic seizures when she was eight years old. The seizures went away for years, then returned after the birth of her first child. "I never knew when my world would turn upside down," she recalled.

6 Jun 2005

Electroconvulsive therapy not damaging to memory -- early results

Severely depressed elderly Victorians are benefiting from electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) -- and, contrary to popular belief, the treatment is not damaging their memories, a Monash University study has found.

6 Jun 2005

Latest research on men's health issues, treatments and lifestyle practices

Today, leading researchers are gathering at the annual meeting of The Endocrine Society in San Diego to present the latest research on men's health issues, treatments and lifestyle practices. New findings could help doctors identify risks and treat men's conditions more effectively.

6 Jun 2005

Childrens' mental development may be impaired by aircraft noise

A new study is suggesting that exposure to aircraft noise at schools located near major airports may affect the development of children's mental skills in an adverse way, and this applies especially to reading comprehension.

6 Jun 2005

Dutch team shows cost effectiveness of heroin prescriptions

Researchers at the University of Amsterdam say there are strong reasons to support the practice of prescribing heroin to drug misusers.

6 Jun 2005

Chemicals in Cannabis may help mentally ill

Smoking cannabis which has previously been shown to damage mental health, now according to a new study may be useful in relieving the symptoms of severe mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder.

6 Jun 2005

Adolescents who are lethargic, cranky and forgetful may have chronic sleep deprivation

Adolescents who are lethargic, cranky and forgetful may have a common ailment: chronic sleep deprivation. But some tired teens may actually have a medical condition such as depression, insomnia, narcolepsy or sleep apnea, warns a new report in Pediatrics.

6 Jun 2005

Consumption comes with a mental health cost

With consumption comes a cost, says report in the June 2005 issue the Journal of Consumer Research. But, this time it is not just dollars that are at stake, it may be your mental health, too.

3 Jun 2005

Loneliness and hopelessness increase risk of self-harm among older people

The aims of this study, published in the June issue of the British Journal of Psychiatry, were to determine clinical factors that might help to identify those older adults with depression who are most at risk of self-harm and suicide.

2 Jun 2005

Psychiatric casualties from Iraq war - majority due to adjustment difficulties rather than combat stress

In the Iraq war, psychiatric illness among troops took the form mainly of adjustment reactions, rather than combat stress reactions, a new study has found. These adjustment reactions may have been exacerbated by heightened fear associated with non-conventional warfare.

2 Jun 2005