Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Aquilent awarded new IT contracts by the HHS

Aquilent, the recognized leading provider of Web-based solutions shaping the next generation of technology for the federal government, today announced it has been awarded more than a dozen new contracts within the past several months supporting numerous operating divisions and programs within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

24 Jan 2012

Accompanying older adults to physician offices can improve care

Family companions who routinely accompany older adults to physician office visits could be helpful to health care quality improvement efforts, according to a new study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

24 Jan 2012

Medical marketplace trends: Hospitals, doctors explore strategies that could alter the health care delivery system

The New York Times reports that hospitals are competing for rich patients from all over the world. The Boston Globe reports on a strategy catching on in Massachusetts. And CNN notes that physicians are increasingly looking to the government for loans.

24 Jan 2012

Possible link between vascular lesions and Alzheimer's disease

Approximately 20 percent of all stroke survivors will develop cognitive problems later in life, including vascular dementia. Experts with the Methodist Neurological Institute in Houston say recent research showing a possible link between vascular lesions and Alzheimer's disease is yet another reason to be more vigilant in our efforts to prevent a stroke.

24 Jan 2012

State news: Rate hikes approved in Mass., Va. families still wait for autism coverage, health IT booming

State regulators have approved premium increases averaging 2.3 percent for health insurance covering hundreds of thousands of residents, the most modest hikes in at least a decade and a sign that years of efforts to control costs may be working. The new rates are in Massachusetts' "small group'' market, which includes tens of thousands of small businesses as well as self-employed and formerly uninsured individuals.

24 Jan 2012

Potential role of omega-3 fatty acid in preventing psychological consequences of accidents

A report in the 5th 2011 issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics suggests the potential role of omega-3 fatty acid in preventing the psychological consequences of an accident.

23 Jan 2012

Alexithymia associated with depression in de novo PD patients

Alexithymia has been found to be strongly associated with depression in both general and clinical populations. Alexithymic and depressive symptoms may be partially overlapping, but not all are correlated with depressive symptoms, thus underlining the relative independence of the two disorders. Parkinson's disease (PD) is a clinical condition often characterized by depression and an altered emotional processing. In medicated PD patients alexithymia has a prevalence of 21% and is related to depression.

23 Jan 2012

Genes may predict maintenance of intelligence over lifetime: Study

A Scottish study that began 80 years ago has shown that genes may play a role in maintaining intelligence till old age. The study participants joined when they were 11 years old. Researchers have long been interested in understanding how cognition changes with age, and why these changes are more rapid in some people than in others. But, in the past, studies of age-related intelligence changes were often performed when the subjects were already elderly.

22 Jan 2012

SSRI use raises risk of fall among elderly with dementia: Study

A new study reveals that nursing home residents with dementia who use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) have an increased risk of having a fall that causes injury compared with those who do not use SSRIs. Additionally those using average doses have 3 times the risk compared with nonusers, the authors, led by Carolyn S. Sterke, from Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, report. Authors write, “Even at low doses, SSRIs are associated with increased risk of an injurious fall in nursing home residents with dementia.”

22 Jan 2012

Sex declared safe for heart patients

A doctors’ group on Thursday suggested that sex may be safe for most heart patients. The American Heart Association added that having sex only slightly raises the chance for a heart attack. And that’s true for people with and without heart disease. Despite the higher risk for a heart patient to have a second attack, there’s no evidence that they have more sex-related heart attacks than people without cardiac disease. The updated advice was released online Thursday in the heart association journal, Circulation.

22 Jan 2012

Study evaluates whether PWB predicts negative affectivity in fibromyalgia

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a stress-related functional somatic syndrome consisting of musculoskeletal pain and tenderness, and additional symptoms such as fatigue and difficulty concentrating. Factors such as ill-being, often assessed as negative affectivity, may follow, increasing the risk of unhealthy and dysfunctional lifestyles.

21 Jan 2012

Simplest, reinforced FDA warnings found effective

The impact of efforts by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to notify the general public and health care providers about unanticipated risks from approved medications has been "varied and unpredictable," according to a systematic review of published studies about FDA warnings and alerts over the last 20 years.

20 Jan 2012

In states, questions swirl about Medicaid contracts, costs, waiting lists

Florida's unfolding plan to keep elderly and disabled Medicaid patients out of nursing homes through the use of HMOs faces a huge obstacle: The state already has a long waiting list for the kinds of home- and community-based services those patients need. And there is no state money on the table to address it.

20 Jan 2012

First lady praises academic institutions for dedication to America's warriors

As part of a White House effort to ensure that America's military heroes receive care worthy of their service, the UCLA Health System and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA have pledged to mobilize their uniquely integrated missions in education, research and clinical care to help train physicians to meet the special needs of veterans, active service members and their families.

20 Jan 2012

Study aims to help adult men and women with SAD

If winter's long nights and cold weather have you feeling depressed, a new research study could lift your spirits. The study, lead by Janis Anderson, PH.D., an associate psychologist in the Brigham and Women's Hospital Department of Psychiatry, aims to help adult (ages 21-64) men and women with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) by comparing two new types of light technologies to determine which one works better.

20 Jan 2012

Roundup: State lawmakers urge deficit reduction

On Wednesday, the National Conference of State Legislatures, which represents lawmakers from across the country, sent President Barack Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid a letter urging them to "examine all possible avenues for deficit reduction, including discretionary spending, entitlement reform and revenue-related options."

20 Jan 2012

Report reveals 45.9M American adults suffered from mental illness in the past year

A new national report reveals that 45.9 million American adults aged 18 or older, or 20 percent of this age group, experienced mental illness in the past year. The rate of mental illness was more than twice as high among those aged 18 to 25 (29.9 percent) than among those aged 50 and older (14.3 percent). Adult women were also more likely than men to have experienced mental illness in the past year (23 percent versus 16.8 percent).

20 Jan 2012

Psychiatric Times focuses on helping clinicians treat people with personality disorders

UBM Medica today announced that Psychiatric Times features special coverage focused on helping mental health professionals treat people with various types of personality disorders.

20 Jan 2012

UTHealth's Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addictions opens outpatient clinic

An outpatient clinic founded on evidence-based treatments has opened at the Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addictions (CNRA) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

20 Jan 2012

Health experts call for U.N. special session on mental illness, illicit drug use

"Mental illness and drug abuse can wreak havoc in global societies and economies, and the U.N. General Assembly should devote a special session to the matter, global health experts said" in a PLoS Medicine article published on Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports (1/17).

19 Jan 2012

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Aquilent awarded new IT contracts by the HHS

Accompanying older adults to physician offices can improve care

Medical marketplace trends: Hospitals, doctors explore strategies that could alter the health care delivery system

Possible link between vascular lesions and Alzheimer's disease

State news: Rate hikes approved in Mass., Va. families still wait for autism coverage, health IT booming

Potential role of omega-3 fatty acid in preventing psychological consequences of accidents

Alexithymia associated with depression in de novo PD patients

Genes may predict maintenance of intelligence over lifetime: Study

SSRI use raises risk of fall among elderly with dementia: Study

Sex declared safe for heart patients

Study evaluates whether PWB predicts negative affectivity in fibromyalgia

Simplest, reinforced FDA warnings found effective

In states, questions swirl about Medicaid contracts, costs, waiting lists

First lady praises academic institutions for dedication to America's warriors

Study aims to help adult men and women with SAD

Roundup: State lawmakers urge deficit reduction

Report reveals 45.9M American adults suffered from mental illness in the past year

Psychiatric Times focuses on helping clinicians treat people with personality disorders

UTHealth's Center for Neurobehavioral Research on Addictions opens outpatient clinic

Health experts call for U.N. special session on mental illness, illicit drug use

Innovation in neuroscience drug discovery - eBook eBook

Fluidics in Modern Healthcare & Medical Device Innovation

Scaling 3D biology: Automation, imaging, and the future of high-throughput research

How does norepinephrine influence anxiety-related behaviours?

Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Innovation in neuroscience drug discovery - eBook eBook

Fluidics in Modern Healthcare & Medical Device Innovation

Scaling 3D biology: Automation, imaging, and the future of high-throughput research

How does norepinephrine influence anxiety-related behaviours?

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