Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Study: One in every 200 Ontarians diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease

One in every 200 Ontarians has been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), with the number of people living with the disease increasing by 64 per cent between 1999 and 2008, according to a study by researchers at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute.

29 Aug 2014

Changes in ADNP gene may provide further insight into causes of autism

A new study from Bradley Hospital has identified a genetic change in a recently identified autism-associated gene, which may provide further insight into the causes of autism. The study, now published online in the Journal of Medical Genetics, presents findings that likely represent a definitive clinical marker for some patients' developmental disabilities.

29 Aug 2014

Obama's plans for vets include development of computer chips to stop pain

The novel effort will be spearheaded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Also, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., tells an American Legion convention that Congress will continue to revamp the VA.

29 Aug 2014

State highlights: Heroin deaths rise in N.Y.; TennCare computer system delay; Colo. races to win $87M to integrate care;

A heroin crisis gripping communities across the country deepened in New York last year, with more people in the city dying in overdoses from the drug than in any year since 2003. In all, 420 people fatally overdosed on heroin in 2013 out of a total of 782 drug overdoses, rising to a level not seen in a decade in both absolute numbers and as a population-adjusted rate, according to preliminary year-end data from the city's health department (Goodman, 8/28).

29 Aug 2014

Longer looks: A new kind of abortion war; foster kids and psychotropic drugs

While pro-life activists fight to rescue IVF embryos from the freezer, pregnant women in their third trimester with catastrophic fetal anomalies have nowhere to turn. ... Perhaps there is no other issue that touches on so many core dimensions of American society-;legal, medical, scientific, theological, political, philosophical, biological, ethical, and ecological. What some on one side of the debate call reproductive justice, others call taking a life. What some call a person, others call a cluster of cells.

28 Aug 2014

Health law provision seeks to rein in executive compensation at insurance companies

News outlets report that this little-noticed provision puts in place stricter limits regarding the amount companies can deduct from their federal tax bills. Also in the news, The Associated Press reports on ways health plans discourage sick people from enrolling and The New York Times examines the health law's efforts to expand mental health coverage.

28 Aug 2014

Childhood inflammation linked to adult psychosis

Elevated levels of the inflammatory marker interleukin -6 in childhood are associated with an increased risk of psychosis and depression in adulthood, research shows.

28 Aug 2014

Optimal personalised treatment improves bipolar life quality, functioning

Optimal personalised treatment improves quality of life and functioning of patients with bipolar disorder type I or II, suggests research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

28 Aug 2014

Schizophrenia treatment improved with ACCESS

Patients treated for schizophrenia or bipolar I disorder under the ACCESS model have low levels of service disengagement, high levels of medication adherence and improvements in clinical outcomes, researchers report.

28 Aug 2014

Aberrant reward processing likely to precede bipolar symptom onset

Healthy children who have a parent with bipolar disorder show altered brain activation during reward processing, research shows.

28 Aug 2014

Cancer patients require better treatment for depression

Findings from three research studies have shown that around three quarters of cancer patients who suffer from major depression do not receive treatment for their depression and that a newly developed medical programme has proven more effective than standard care at reducing depression in these patients.

28 Aug 2014

Millions of women suffering in silence with hot flashes

The steep decline in the use of hormone therapy has spawned a prevalent but preventable side effect: millions of women suffering in silence with hot flashes, according to a study by a Yale School of Medicine researcher and colleagues.

28 Aug 2014

Simple colour test could detect early onset of nAMD in the UK

A simple colour test that could detect the early onset of a condition which accounts for over half of visual impairment certifications in the UK is being researched by scientists at Aston University.

28 Aug 2014

Obama vows better health care, other initiatives, for vets, military

Addressing the American Legion's national convention, the president announced steps to expand access to mental health care and an initiative to lower home loan costs for military families. He also promised a new "culture of accountability' at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

28 Aug 2014

New Coalition helps prevent abuse, misuse, diversion of ADHD drug

Today is the official launch of a newly formed Coalition of medical, mental health, higher education, student and pharmaceutical organizations that will work together to help prevent misuse, abuse and diversion of ADHD prescription stimulant medication. The Coalition will initially focus its efforts on college students.

28 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 28, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Congressional Budget Office's latest projections regarding Medicare and Medicaid spending.

28 Aug 2014

Scientists alter emotional associations of specific memories

By manipulating neural circuits in the brain of mice, scientists have altered the emotional associations of specific memories.

28 Aug 2014

Young adults who experienced depression have hyper-connected networks in the brain

Depression may be better predicted and understood now that University of Illinois at Chicago researchers have discovered that young adults who previously experienced the mental illness have hyper-connected emotional and cognitive networks in the brain.

28 Aug 2014

New evidence puts into doubt the long-held depression belief

New evidence puts into doubt the long-standing belief that a deficiency in serotonin - a chemical messenger in the brain - plays a central role in depression. In the journal ACS Chemical Neuroscience, scientists report that mice lacking the ability to make serotonin in their brains (and thus should have been "depressed" by conventional wisdom) did not show depression-like symptoms.

28 Aug 2014

Minn. home health care workers vote to unionize

The Service Employees International Union will represent about 27,000 home health care workers -- many of whom care for relatives -- who are paid through Medicaid.

28 Aug 2014