Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Intimate partner abuse before or during pregnancy linked to higher postpartum mental health problems

Ashley Pritchard, a Simon Fraser University doctoral student, is among four authors of a new research paper calling for closer monitoring of new mothers for mental health problems in light of their findings.

29 Apr 2014

Neuropathic and psychogenic pain contribute to chronic musculoskeletal pain

A lack of appropriate treatment for neuropathic and psychogenic pain may cause patients with musculoskeletal pain to suffer a more chronic pain course, according to the latest results of an ongoing Japanese epidemiological study.

28 Apr 2014

Deprivation–schizophrenia link accounted for by crime, low education

Study results indicate that the association between area deprivation and first-onset schizophrenia could be accounted for by high crime and low education levels.

28 Apr 2014

First Edition: April 28, 2014

Today's headlines include a number of stories examining the impact of the health law in various states.

28 Apr 2014

Scientists use analysis of epigenetic marks on DNA to measure baby's development in womb

An international study, involving scientists at the University of Southampton, has used an analysis of epigenetic marks on DNA to measure how much a baby's development in the womb is determined by the genes inherited from the parents, as compared with the mother's nutrition, mental health and lifestyle.

28 Apr 2014

Life stressors may activate neurological disorders

When mothers are exposed to trauma, illness, alcohol or other drug abuse, these stressors may activate a single molecular trigger in brain cells that can go awry and activate conditions such as schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder and some forms of autism.

26 Apr 2014

Study: Depression affects more than one out of three critical care survivors

Depression affects more than one out of three survivors of critical illness, according to a Vanderbilt study released in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, and the majority of patients experience their symptoms physically rather than mentally.

26 Apr 2014

HHS calls health care providers to expand use of medications to treat opioid addiction, reduce overdose deaths

A national response to the epidemic of prescription opioid overdose deaths was outlined yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine by leaders of agencies in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

26 Apr 2014

Researchers identify genetic factors that contribute to ADHD in humans

The 60 trillion cells that comprise our bodies communicate constantly. Information travels when chemical compounds released by some cells are received by receptors in the membrane of another cell.

26 Apr 2014

Novel technique tests brain waves as external stimuli are processed

Have you ever accidently missed a red light or a stop sign? Or have you heard someone mention a visible event that you passed by but totally missed seeing?

26 Apr 2014

State highlights: Home care workers' pay and Medicaid budgets; Calif. mental health grants; NYU ER reopens

A new rule from the Obama administration designed to provide better pay and working conditions to 2 million home care workers is forcing many states to rethink how they look at Medicaid payments and may result in higher Medicaid costs. Starting Jan. 1, home care workers in 29 states will, for the first time, be eligible for the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour and overtime pay, under a new regulation from the U.S. Department of Labor. These workers go to homes of the elderly and the disabled to help with cooking, bathing and other daily tasks, and are paid by the clients or through Medicaid (Prah, 4/25).

26 Apr 2014

UTMB awarded $6.6 million grant to establish Translational Addiction Sciences Center

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has awarded a five-year, $6.6 million grant to the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston to establish the Translational Addiction Sciences Center. The center will investigate the mechanisms underlying addiction with the goal of discovering and validating novel treatment options.

26 Apr 2014

Most men suffered TBI before becoming homeless

Almost half of all homeless men who took part in a study by St. Michael's Hospital had suffered at least one traumatic brain injury in their life and 87 per cent of those injuries occurred before the men lost their homes.

26 Apr 2014

Johns Hopkins research may help manage the disruptive effects experienced by shift workers

Johns Hopkins researchers report that they have identified a protein essential to the formation of the tiny brain region in mice that coordinates sleep-wake cycles and other so-called circadian rhythms.

26 Apr 2014

Methadone safety: New clinical practice guideline from American Pain Society

Improved physician education and patient counseling about methadone safety and ECG monitoring to identify patients at high risk for cardiac problems will lead to safer use of the medication, according to the American Pain Society's Clinical Practice Guideline on Methadone Safety, published this week in The Journal of Pain.

26 Apr 2014