Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

T. gondii antibodies implicated in mania

Infection with Toxoplasma gondii may confer an increased risk for mania, say researchers.

26 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 26, 2013

Today's headlines include details regarding the ongoing congressional battle over the future of the health law in the context of avoiding a government shutdown, as well as the developments on the ground as the Oct. 1 launch of the health law's insurance marketplace nears.

26 Sep 2013

Michigan's Medicaid expansion could act as model for bipartisan health care reform in other states

Michigan's newly expanded Medicaid program could act as a model for other states to achieve bipartisan health care reform even in a heated national political climate, says the head of the University of Michigan's health policy institute in an article published online today by the New England Journal of Medicine.

26 Sep 2013

Early intermodality dysfunction predicts schizophrenia risk

Researchers have found abnormalities in the way infants of parents with schizophrenia perceive the way they move and how this relates to vision, touch, hearing, and orientation.

25 Sep 2013

Stroke warning for bipolar patients

Patients with bipolar disorder are at an increased risk for having a stroke and for dying soon after their stroke, a study shows.

25 Sep 2013

First Edition: September 25, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about projected health insurance premium costs on the health law's new online marketplaces, as well as news from Capitol Hill and a joint appearance by President Barack Obama and former President Bill Clinton to talk about the overhaul.

25 Sep 2013

Exposure to cocaine during in utero development causes disruptions in normal brain development

Prenatal cocaine exposure affects both behavior and brain. Animal studies have shown that exposure to cocaine during in utero development causes numerous disruptions in normal brain development and negatively affects behavior from birth and into adulthood.

25 Sep 2013

Stem cell lines are ideal research tools for designing models to understand disease progression

Scientists from King's College London have announced that 16 human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines have been approved by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) and placed on their Stem Cell Registry, making them freely available for federally-funded research in the USA.

25 Sep 2013

Greek students have poorer health than Swedish students: Study

Young adults in Greece suffer more from stress and mental health problems and are less optimistic about the future than Swedes of the same age. The grave financial problems in Greece have brought on a social crisis that has probably affected people's health, according to a study from Link-ping University.

25 Sep 2013

Shadow of past highest weight affects eating disorder symptoms and recovery

Dieters and weight loss researchers are familiar with the principle: The more weight you've lost, the harder it is to keep it off. A complex and vicious cycle of biological and behavioral factors make it so.

25 Sep 2013

Appropriate exercise programs can provide benefits to people with asthma

Appropriate exercise programs can provide valuable benefits to people with asthma, helping to reduce the severity of attacks or prevent them entirely, finds a new evidence review in The Cochrane Library.

25 Sep 2013

MGH researchers identify rare gene mutations that appear to cause late-onset AD

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have identified and validated two rare gene mutations that appear to cause the common form of Alzheimer's disease (AD) that strikes after the age of 60.

25 Sep 2013

Majority of underage students get cigarettes and alcohol from friend and family member

A survey conducted by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) shows that a majority of those underage students in Ontario, Canada who smoke or drink are getting cigarettes and alcohol from a friend or family member.

25 Sep 2013

Researchers identify molecular pathway linking ICU ventilation to brain damage

At least 30 percent of patients in intensive care units (ICUs) suffer some form of mental dysfunction as reflected in anxiety, depression, and especially delirium. In mechanically-ventilated ICU patients, the incidence of delirium is particularly high, about 80 percent, and may be due in part to damage in the hippocampus, though how ventilation is increasing the risk of damage and mental impairment has remained elusive.

25 Sep 2013

Prefrontal glutamate abnormalities confined to established psychosis

Abnormalities in glutamate and glutamine levels in the prefrontal cortex are only present in patients with chronic schizophrenia, say researchers.

24 Sep 2013

Inflammation tracks mania course

Markers of inflammation are elevated in patients who are hospitalized for acute mania, a study shows.

24 Sep 2013

NeoTract treats first patient in US with UroLift System

NeoTract, Inc., today announced that the first patient in the United States has been treated with its commercial UroLift System, the first permanent implant to treat symptoms due to urinary outflow obstruction secondary to benign prostatic hyperplasia in men 50 years of age or older.

24 Sep 2013

Combining acupuncture or counselling with usual care may benefit patients with depression

Acupuncture or counselling, provided alongside usual care, could benefit patients with depression, according to a study by researchers at the University of York.

24 Sep 2013

Depression in cancer patients who receive RT can be identified by 2-item questionnaire

Cancer patients receiving radiotherapy (RT) who are potentially suffering from depression can be effectively identified by a two-item questionnaire, according to research presented today at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO's) 55th Annual Meeting.

24 Sep 2013

Marriage improves outcomes among patients with cancer, says oncologist

New results from a large retrospective study of the National Cancer Institute's SEER database show that patients with cancer who were married at the time of diagnosis live markedly longer compared to unmarried patients.

24 Sep 2013