Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Viewpoints: Debating P4P; ‘Tactical retreat' by GOP; The virtues of across-the-board spending cuts

Instead of granting automatic pay increases, N.Y. City's public hospital system will pay them based on how well they reduce costs, increase patient satisfaction and improve the quality of care. The Health and Hospitals Corporation, which runs the city's 11 public hospitals, deserves praise for an ambitious proposal that will need to be refined as it is put into practice.

28 Jan 2013

Some states reconsider funding for mental health care

In the wake of the Sandy Hook Elementary School killings in Connecticut, state lawmakers and governors talk about boosting mental health care.

28 Jan 2013

Senate hearing urges action on Obama mental health care agenda

Democrats and Republicans expressed concerns about gaps in the system at the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

28 Jan 2013

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in children: an interview with Donna Gillies

Children with PTSD suffer significant distress or negative impacts on their daily lives. Estimates of the prevalence of PTSD in children and adolescents experiencing trauma are generally very high, at 30% to 40%.

28 Jan 2013

ED visits involving ADHD stimulant medications are on the rise

A new report shows that the number of emergency department visits involving attention deficit /hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) stimulant medications more than doubled from 13,379 visits in 2005 to 31,244 in 2010.

28 Jan 2013

Health law's Medicaid expansion raises possibilities, problems for states

California Gov. Jerry Brown describes implementing the expansion as "incredibly complex," while Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder sees it an opportunity to address gaps in the mental health system. In Arizona, meanwhile, the expansion is framed as an immigration issue.

28 Jan 2013

Study sheds new light on learning and memory-making

In experiments on rats outfitted with tiny goggles, scientists say they have learned that the brain's initial vision processing center not only relays visual stimuli, but also can "learn" time intervals and create specifically timed expectations of future rewards.

28 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: Medicare obligation is heavy future obligation; Mental health's 'elephant in the room'

A growing body of empirical evidence points to increasing dependency on state largess. The evidence documents as well a number of perverse and disturbing changes that this entitlement state is imposing on society. ... Social Security and Medicare have already made tens of trillions of dollars in future promises that are not covered by their expected funding streams. If and when outside resources are required to honor their promises, these entitlements become transfer programs, not insurance programs.

28 Jan 2013

UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine to develop blood test that can diagnose MCI

The Biomarker Discovery Center at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine has been awarded a three-year, $799,800 grant from the Osteopathic Heritage Foundation to develop a blood test that can diagnose mild cognitive impairment (MCI) caused by early-stage Alzheimer's disease.

28 Jan 2013

Certain forms of abuse negatively influence women cancer patients' quality of life

A new study by University of Kentucky researchers shows evidence that certain forms of abuse negatively influence women cancer patients' quality of life.

28 Jan 2013

First Edition: January 25, 2013

Today's headlines include various state-level reports about how budget issues are impacting health policy decisions.

28 Jan 2013

Leading-edge Masimo medical devices to be displayed at Arab Health

Masimo returns to Arab Health Jan. 28-31, the world's longest running healthcare exhibition and congress held each year in Dubai, UAE, to showcase advanced, noninvasive patient monitoring technologies – including breakthrough SET Measure-Through Motion pulse oximetry and rainbow Pulse CO-Oximetry – that are becoming the standard-of-care across the Middle East.

28 Jan 2013

Undetected comorbidities linked to increased mortality in schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia have elevated mortality, the leading causes of which appear to be ischemic heart disease and cancer, a Swedish national cohort study shows.

25 Jan 2013

FDA updates metal-on-metal hip replacement advice

The US Food and Drug Administration has updated its advice on the use of metal-on-metal hip replacement prostheses.

25 Jan 2013

Adolescent declines in cognitive performance predict later psychosis

Adolescents and young adults experiencing relative declines in cognitive performance have an increased risk for later psychosis, with a decline in verbal ability between 13 and 18 years of age a strong predictor, conclude researchers.

25 Jan 2013

Semantic priming abnormalities differ between bipolar disorder and schizophrenia

Patients with bipolar disorder have decreased semantic priming, the results of a preliminary study indicate.

25 Jan 2013

Orbitofrontal cortex abnormality characteristic of deficit schizophrenia

The orbitofrontal cortex appears to play an important role in the development of severe negative symptoms in people with deficit schizophrenia, researchers suggest.

25 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: GOP's hope to end deficits in 10 years will mean 'dramatic cuts' in entitlements; Mass. health overhaul brings need for more taxes

Ryan has a daunting new assignment that may make that message even more difficult to sell. He's been charged by House Speaker John A. Boehner with drawing up a new budget that will erase the federal deficit within 10 years (the first Ryan budget, written in 2011, needed 30 years) solely through spending cuts

25 Jan 2013

Prenatal inflammation associated with increased risk of autism in children

Maternal inflammation during early pregnancy may be related to an increased risk of autism in children, according to new findings supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. Researchers found this in children of mothers with elevated C-reactive protein (CRP), a well-established marker of systemic inflammation.

25 Jan 2013

Reuters reports on obesity talks at World Economic Forum

Reuters reports on discussions taking place at the World Economic Forum (WEF), taking place in Davos, Switzerland, this week, writing, "Obesity, a major factor in diabetes and heart disease, imposes costs on both public and private sectors and is a drag on economic growth, but business leaders meeting in Davos can't agree on what they can or should do to address it."

25 Jan 2013