Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

State roundup: Calif. retirees to retain health benefits; Emory, MinuteClinic partner in Ga.; Free services in Md.

Health benefits for government retirees may not be eliminated if state and local governments had clearly promised workers those benefits, the California Supreme Court ruled in an Orange County case Monday. The unanimous ruling is expected to make it more difficult for state and local governments to shave costs by cutting health benefits to retirees if elected officials in previous years made it clear that those benefits would last a lifetime.

23 Nov 2011

Coffee may protect against womb cancer: Study

For the study the researchers looked at coffee consumption and endometrial cancer risk in more than 67,000 women aged between 34 and 59 enrolled in the long-running Nurses' Health Study. The researchers found that women who took more than four cups of coffee a day over a 26-year period were 25 percent less likely to get the cancer.

22 Nov 2011

Alzheimer’s disease progression and body weight may be linked: Study

There have been studies that show that people who are overweight in middle age are more likely to develop Alzheimer's disease decades later than people at normal weight. However some studies also show that people in the earliest stages of Alzheimer's disease are more likely to have a lower body mass index (BMI).

22 Nov 2011

Cognitive-behavioral therapy safe and effective for juvenile fibromyalgia

A recent trial shows cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) reduces functional disability and depressive symptoms in adolescents with juvenile fibromyalgia. The psychological intervention was found to be safe and effective, and proved to be superior to disease management education.

22 Nov 2011

U-M ranks sixth among all medical schools in NIH funding

Research at the University of Michigan Medical School brought hundreds of millions of dollars into the state of Michigan in the last year - and could have a total economic impact of nearly $1.2 billion, new data show.

22 Nov 2011

Decanoic acid can modulate glucose control

A Van Andel Research Institute (VARI) study published recently in the Journal of Biological Chemistry reveals that a natural fatty acid can serve as a regulator of blood sugar levels, which may have important applications in designing better and safer drugs for diabetes treatment.

22 Nov 2011

FDA accepts Otsuka's aripiprazole depot formulation NDA for review

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and H. Lundbeck A/S announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has determined that a new drug application (NDA) for Otsuka's investigational once-monthly aripiprazole depot formulation for the indication of maintenance treatment of schizophrenia in adults is sufficiently complete to permit a substantive review.

22 Nov 2011

Older home health care patients are prescribed PIMs three times higher than others

Older adults receiving home health care may be taking a drug that is unsafe or ineffective for someone their age. In fact, nearly 40 percent of seniors receiving medical care from a home health agency are taking at least one prescription medication that is considered potentially inappropriate to seniors, a new study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine has revealed.

22 Nov 2011

Drug abuse high in West Australian young men: Study

According to a drug expert almost one in 10 men under 30 years of age has regularly used stimulant drugs and West Australians are the worst offenders.

21 Nov 2011

State roundup: Provider groups merging - or not

A selection of health policy stories from California, Illinois, Georgia, Connecticut, Minnesota, Michigan and Massachusetts.

21 Nov 2011

Scientists show that the sense of smell can be improved

In a new study scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have shown that the sense of smell can be improved. The new findings, published online November 20, 2011, in Nature Neuroscience, suggest possible ways to reverse the loss of smell due to aging or disease.

20 Nov 2011

Switching or adding antidepressants does not exacerbate side effects

Patients with major depression who fail to see improvement after taking an antidepressant often have their initial medication switched or combined with a second drug. Many clinicians weigh the possibility of adverse side effects when deciding between strategies. New research in the latest issue of General Hospital Psychiatry now suggests one strategy may not be any more likely to be harmful than the other.

19 Nov 2011

New website helps small business owners to review health insurance plans

A greatly expanded website to give small business owners an unprecedented detailed review of their health insurance plan choices was announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

19 Nov 2011

Republican senators press to repeal health law's insurance fee

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., are battling to undo this annual fee, which is expected to raise $8 billion in 2014 and $14.3 billion by 2018. Also, some Senate Democrats are warning that a provision in the health law could undermine farmers' ability to obtain health insurance and some consumer advocates are warning that a tax rule needs to be re-written.

19 Nov 2011

Shire, Shionogi enter agreement to co-develop and co-commercialize ADHD medicines in Japan

Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces that it has entered into an agreement with Shionogi & Co. Ltd. of Japan to co-develop and co-commercialize certain of Shire's Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) medicines in Japan.

19 Nov 2011

Cyberonics net sales increase 13% to $53.7M for second quarter 2012

Cyberonics, Inc. today announced results for the quarter ended October 28, 2011.

19 Nov 2011

Women with pre-existing hypertension more likely to develop depression during pregnancy

Women with a history of high blood pressure before getting pregnant have a higher risk of depression than women who develop pregnancy-related hypertension, according to a new study.

19 Nov 2011

Senator Klein opens new Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory at Albert Einstein College of Medicine

New York State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein joined administrators and faculty members of Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University last Friday to officially open their new Cognitive Neurophysiology Laboratory.

19 Nov 2011

VA implements spouse telephone support program

The Department of Veterans Affairs is implementing a telephone support program to help the spouses of returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans, after a pilot telephone support program showed significant reduction in stress for spouses.

19 Nov 2011

Deep brain stimulation benefits highly treatment resistant patients with major depressive disorder

Results from the first multi-center pilot study of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for major depressive disorder were published online today by the Journal of Neurosurgery. The study, conducted at three research facilities in Canada, was designed to replicate and build upon an earlier study by Dr. Andres Lozano and Dr. Helen Mayberg which was published in the journal Neuron in 2005.

18 Nov 2011