Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

BHECN designs new online training modules to treat mental health issues

It's estimated that more than half of all U.S. mental health care takes place at the primary care level and that percentage jumps considerably in rural areas where there often are no mental health practitioners for hundreds of miles. New online training modules have been designed by the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) to help primary care providers better treat patients with mental health issues.

29 Mar 2012

Depression more prevalent among stroke and transient ischemic attack survivors

Depression is more prevalent among stroke and transient ischemic attack survivors than in the general population, researchers reported in the American Heart Association's journal Stroke.

29 Mar 2012

New treatment approach halts spread of cancer cells into normal brain tissue

Treating invasive brain tumors with a combination of chemotherapy and radiation has improved clinical outcomes, but few patients survive longer than two years after diagnosis. The effectiveness of the treatment is limited by the tumor's aggressive invasion of healthy brain tissue, which restricts chemotherapy access to the cancer cells and complicates surgical removal of the tumor.

29 Mar 2012

Researchers design new treatment approach for invasive brain tumors

Researchers from Emory and the Georgia Institute of Technology have designed a new treatment approach that appears to halt the spread of cancer cells into normal brain tissue in animal models.

29 Mar 2012

The American Legion opposes proposed hikes in TRICARE premiums

The leader of the nation's largest veterans service organization, The American Legion, has expressed strong opposition to proposed hikes in premiums being paid by enrollees in TRICARE, the military's health insurance program. The recently released Fiscal Year 2013 federal budget plan calls for dramatically increased TRICARE enrollment fees and pharmacy co-pays.

29 Mar 2012

Meditation decreases depression, anxiety and stress in school teachers

Schoolteachers who underwent a short but intensive program of meditation were less depressed, anxious or stressed - and more compassionate and aware of others' feelings, according to a UCSF-led study that blended ancient meditation practices with the most current scientific methods for regulating emotions.

29 Mar 2012

Mylan receives FDA approval for generic Seroquel ANDA

Mylan Inc. today announced that its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals Inc. has received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Abbreviated New Drug Application (ANDA) for Quetiapine Fumarate Tablets, 25 mg.

29 Mar 2012

People with AN consume more of test meal in vodcast condition

There is uncertainty about the best form of treatment for anorexia nervosa (AN). A report that is published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics introduces a new treatment modality.

29 Mar 2012

Cracking Your Genetic Code raises bioethics issues

Will genetic testing and personalized medicine change the way you think about your life? Should it? What can you really learn about your future from direct-to-consumer genetic tests-or even from whole genome scanning, which is becoming increasingly affordable? And what about your privacy: how well is your genetic information protected?

28 Mar 2012

Researchers identify DNA methylation in patients with schizophrenia

In a new study, researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have identified epigenetic changes - known as DNA methylation - in the blood of patients with schizophrenia.

28 Mar 2012

Placentophagia may offer benefits to human mothers

A paper by neuroscientists at the University at Buffalo and Buffalo State College suggests that ingestion of components of afterbirth or placenta -- placentophagia -- may offer benefits to human mothers and perhaps to non-mothers and males.

28 Mar 2012

Dementia research gets a boost in the UK

The UK has seen a rise in the number of dementia sufferers by 50,000 in the past year, new figures have revealed. There are now more than 800,000 victims in Britain, with three out of four becoming anxious or depressed and six out of 10 feeling lonely, according to a new survey.

27 Mar 2012

Teva, IVAX receive FDA approval for generic Lexapro to treat depression and GAD

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic Lexapro (escitalopram tablets) to treat both depression and generalized anxiety disorder in adults.

27 Mar 2012

Simple placebo pill can track footprints of prior antidepressant use

Individuals with major depressive disorder (MDD) often undergo multiple courses of antidepressant treatment during their lives. This is because the disorder can recur despite treatment and because finding the right medication for a specific individual can take time.

27 Mar 2012

Hospital happenings: Arizona nurse shortage complication, other news

Many hospitals in downtrodden areas of New York City and across the state are faltering, raising concerns that a wave of closings will deprive poor people of badly needed care. A three-month investigation by The New York Times into Wyckoff, based on dozens of interviews and an examination of internal documents, offers a sobering portrait of how one such hospital has been undermined by the very people entrusted to run it.

27 Mar 2012

State roundup: Wash. state exchange bill now law

Gov. Chris Gregoire on Friday signed into law a bill setting rules for insurers preparing for the state's online-insurance exchange. ... The state exchanges for individual and small-group plans are set to go live on Jan. 1, 2014. ... State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler said that his office is committed to getting the exchange in place on schedule. "If we slowed down to be anxious, we'd be in trouble," Kreidler said. "It's the health law, and we're proceeding as quickly and as prudently as we can."

27 Mar 2012

Almost half of women on parole or probation experience mental illness

A new report released at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) Advisory Committee for Women's Services meeting shows that women aged 18 to 49 on probation or parole are nearly twice as likely to experience mental illness as other women.

27 Mar 2012

Protein precursors destined for spiny extensions of neurons travel single file

Protein precursors destined for the spiny extensions of neurons travel single file, according to a study by Sanjay Tyagi, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

27 Mar 2012

Defects in schizophrenia-risk genes and environmental stress lead to abnormal brain development

Working with genetically engineered mice and the genomes of thousands of people with schizophrenia, researchers at Johns Hopkins say they now better understand how both nature and nurture can affect one's risks for schizophrenia and abnormal brain development in general.

27 Mar 2012

DBS allows surgeons to control tremors with brain 'pacemaker'

For nearly 30 years, Tom Rogers' left hand would shake when he tried to use it, making even simple tasks such as drinking a glass of water, writing a check, or making a sandwich challenging. The tremor eventually became so disruptive that he lost use of his dominant hand. Rogers sought care and learned that his tremor was a symptom of Parkinson's disease, yet felt he was suffering from something different.

27 Mar 2012