Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Treating 'brain tsunamis' could stop many victims of major head injury from further damage

Treating 'brain tsunamis' or 'killer waves' could stop many victims of major head injury from suffering additional brain damage, a study published in Lancet Neurology has found.

8 Dec 2011

Ecstasy drug associated with chronic changes in human brain

Recreational use of Ecstasy - the illegal "rave" drug that produces feelings of euphoria and emotional warmth - is associated with chronic changes in the human brain, Vanderbilt University investigators have discovered.

8 Dec 2011

Euthymics presents EB-1020 preclinical data on ADHD at ACNP annual meeting

Euthymics Bioscience, Inc. today announced that it has presented preclinical data demonstrating that EB-1020, a next-generation product candidate for adult attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), may be effective for treating ADHD without the burden of drug abuse liability.

8 Dec 2011

New ways to treat overeating in children and adults

Overeating, whether in children or adults, often takes place even in the absence of hunger, resulting in weight gain and obesity. Current methods to treat such overeating in youth focus on therapies that restrict what kids may eat, requiring them to track their food intake and engage in intensive exercise.

8 Dec 2011

CSL partners with NIH to study Cytomegalovirus, a common cause of abnormalities in newborns

CSL Limited announced today that it is partnering with the world’s largest health research agency, the US National Institutes of Health (NIH), to study a potential new treatment for the prevention of congenital CMV infection, one of the most common known causes of congenital (i.e., present at birth) abnormalities in the developed world.

7 Dec 2011

Alzheimer’s vaccine cures memory of mice

A vaccine that slows the progression of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia has been developed by researchers at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Research Institute (BMRI).

7 Dec 2011

Personalized action plans to combat depression

A new book co-authored by the director of the University of Louisville Depression Center recognizes that depression is different for everyone and provides techniques and strategies for each person to develop a personalized action plan to combat depression.

7 Dec 2011

Headache affects one of every two HIV/AIDS patients

A University of Mississippi study of headaches among HIV patients is being hailed as a critical step to improving treatment and reducing unnecessary medical costs among sufferers.

7 Dec 2011

King's College London submits first clinical grade xeno-free hES cell lines to the UKSCB

Stem cell scientists at King's College London will announce they have submitted to the UK Stem Cell Bank (UKSCB) their first clinical grade human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines that are free from animal-derived products, known as 'xeno-free' stem cells.

7 Dec 2011

Biologists discover how fruit flies can provide solutions to human pain, control insect-borne diseases

Studies of a protein that fruit flies use to sense heat and chemicals may someday provide solutions to human pain and the control of disease-spreading mosquitoes.

7 Dec 2011

Women experience intimate partner violence, depression after childbirth

Forty percent of women who report depressive symptoms following birth also reported intimate partner violence finds a new study published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

7 Dec 2011

Roundup: Ariz. examines complaints of prisoners' medical health care; Calif. settles suit on kids' mental health services

To stave off a lawsuit, Arizona's Department of Corrections has agreed to investigate scores of complaints by inmates that they are routinely denied medical care for weeks or months even for severe, life-threatening conditions. Inmates who have lost sight, had body parts amputated or been severely disfigured, among other gruesome examples, say proper medical care could have prevented needless suffering.

6 Dec 2011

Premature kids more likely to have behavioural/emotional problems

Children born just a few weeks too early are significantly more likely to have behavioural and/or emotional problems in the pre-school years, suggests research published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

6 Dec 2011

Scientists identify a pattern that predicts which pregnant women likely to have complications

Poor mental health before pregnancy predicts which pregnant women are most likely to have a pregnancy complication and give birth to a low birth-weight baby, a new nationwide survey reveals.

6 Dec 2011

Exposure to family violence may increase brain activity in children

Children exposed to family violence show the same pattern of activity in their brains as soldiers exposed to combat, new research has shown.

6 Dec 2011

Mental health system problems emerge in Calif.

The U.S. Department of Justice says Napa State Hospital and Norwalk's Metropolitan State Hospital have failed to comply with critical provisions of a sweeping consent judgment imposed in 2006. ... In a filing late Friday night, federal officials detailed key failings: ... preventable suicides, nursing errors leading to unnecessary suffering, improper use of some restraints and a failure to adequately analyze and prevent violence.

6 Dec 2011

Telemedicine can improve depression in nursing home rehab patients

A new pilot study is getting underway in Rhode Island aimed at improving depression in nursing home rehabilitation patients, all through telemedicine. Geriatric mental health specialists from Rhode Island and The Miriam hospitals will work with patients in the Evergreen House Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center in East Providence to test the program.

6 Dec 2011

Bold move by Astra Zeneca to share 22 early stage potential drugs with MRC

Drug maker AstraZeneca will be sharing 22 of its early-stage research compounds with the Medical Research Council as part of a make over of life sciences research. This would speed up patients’ access to breakthrough drugs and arrest the decline of research and development in the UK.

6 Dec 2011

Early stress of separation from biological parent impacts gene expression

Children who experience the stress of separation at birth from biological parents and are brought up in orphanages undergo biological consequences such as changes in their genome functioning, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in a new study.

6 Dec 2011

Child abuse can affect brain functions later life: Study

According to a new research from Yale University, teenagers who were abused as young children show changes in their brains that put them at risk for behavioral problems in adulthood.

6 Dec 2011