Drugs aimed at quelling the behavior problems of dementia patients may also hasten their deaths more than previously realized, a new study finds. The research adds more troubling evidence to the case against antipsychotic drugs as a treatment for the delusions, hallucinations and aggression that many people with Alzheimer’s disease experience.
A reformulation of OxyContin that makes it less likely to be abused than the older formulation has curtailed the drug’s illicit use. But researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a significant percentage still abuse the drug despite package labeling that emphasizes its abuse-deterrent properties.
Insomnia symptoms affect the risk of suicide among people who drink alcohol, according to a groundbreaking study led by the director of Mississippi State University’s Sleep, Suicide and Aging Laboratory.
Case Western Reserve University nurse scientist Amy Zhang, who has long examined quality-of-life issues in cancer patients, wondered whether depression in African-American cancer patients has been under-recognized for treatment.
- Individuals who get easily bored, frustrated or impatient are more inclined to develop skin-picking and other body-focused repetitive behaviors, say researchers at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal and the University of Montreal.
Researchers at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System and University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, with colleagues in New York and the United Kingdom, have identified genetic markers, derived from blood samples that are linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The markers are associated with gene networks that regulate innate immune function and interferon signaling.
A history of psychedelic drug use is associated with less psychological distress and fewer suicidal thoughts, planning and attempts, according to new research from Johns Hopkins and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
A new study of Tourette syndrome led by researchers from UC San Francisco and Massachusetts General Hospital has found that nearly 86 percent of patients who seek treatment for TS will be diagnosed with a second psychiatric disorder during their lifetimes, and that nearly 58 percent will receive two or more such diagnoses.
The adolescent and young-adult suicide rate in the United States was almost twice as high in rural settings than in urban areas between 1996 and 2010, and new research suggests that the gap appears to be widening.
A new study by researchers at the Intermountain Medical Center Heart Institute has found that screening for and treating depression could help to reduce the risk of heart disease in patients with moderate to severe depression.
The stigma surrounding people with severe mental illness in India leads to increased poverty among them, especially women, according to new research led by Jean-Francois Trani, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis.
Evaluating military personnel with blast-related mild traumatic brain injuries, researchers have found that early symptoms of post-traumatic stress, such as anxiety, emotional numbness, flashbacks and irritability, are the strongest predictors of later disability. The results were surprising because mental health more closely correlated with disability than assessments typically made after concussions, such as tests of memory, thinking, balance, coordination and severity of headaches and dizziness, according to the study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Penis size nomograms may be useful in clinical and therapeutic settings to counsel men and for academic research.
Mood disorder research suggests that early life stress may cause excess serotonin release, resulting in a serotonin deficit where the brain needs it most. The data suggest a reason why SSRI medications may fail in many patients, and why depressed patients may benefit from strategic SSRI-augmenting treatment approaches.
New research published today in the American Journal of Psychiatry indicates a strong link between subthreshold manic episodes and likelihood of developing bipolar disorder in children of parents with bipolar disorder. The study’s findings could improve clinical assessment and care for these high-risk children by potentially enabling earlier identification, treatment or possible preventive measures.
One-quarter of the health plans being sold on health insurance exchanges set up through the Affordable Care Act offer benefits that appear to violate a federal law requiring equal benefits for general medical and mental health care, according to new research led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
Penn Medicine researchers found that patients who did not respond to cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety in childhood had more chronic and enduring patterns of suicidal ideation at 7 to 19 years after treatment. This study adds to the literature that suggests that successful CBT for childhood anxiety confers long-term benefits. The complete study is available in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.
People with diabetes are more prone to anxiety and depression than those with other chronic diseases that require similar levels of management.
Rejected by a person you like? Just “shake it off” and move on, as music star Taylor Swift says. But while that might work for many people, it may not be so easy for those with untreated depression, a new brain study finds.
Violence during the civil war in Guatemala from 1960 to 1996 resulted in the development of significant mental health problems and conditions for the county’s people, according to a new multi-institution study from researchers under the Guatemala-Penn Partnership.
Genetic factors help to explain the commonly found association between low back pain and depression, suggests a large study of twins in the March issue of PAIN®, the official publication of the International Association for the Study of Pain. The journal is published by Wolters Kluwer.
New initiative provides tools and resources to help suicidal people and concerned observers
A study published in JAMA Psychiatry examines suicidal ideation and psychotic experiences among more than 11,000 adults who were 18 and older. The data were drawn from a large general-population based sample of U. S. households households identified through the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (2001-2003).
Although essential marine omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D have been shown to improve cognitive function and behavior in the context of certain brain disorders, the underlying mechanism has been unclear. In a new paper published in FASEB Journal* by Rhonda Patrick, PhD and Bruce Ames, PhD of Children’s Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI), serotonin is explained as the possible missing link tying together why vitamin D and marine omega-3 fatty acids might ameliorate the symptoms associated with a broad array of brain disorders.
An Iowa State professor has new perspective as to the challenges veterans face when seeking mental health care. It’s an issue Alicia Carriquiry was aware, but she never fully understood the need until listening to veterans testify about their situation.
What the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act really means for veterans seeking mental health care
Stacey C. Cahn, PhD, an associate professor of psychology at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, discusses triggers, treatments and the prevalence of anorexia, the deadliest eating disorder.
The science behind many anti-depressant medications appears to be backwards, say the authors of a paper that challenges the prevailing ideas about the nature of depression and some of the world’s most commonly prescribed medications.
Many mental health therapists use treatments that have little evidence to support them. A new multi-institution study led by Penn Medicine has found that an organization’s culture and climate are better predictors of the use of evidence-based practices than an individual therapist’s characteristics in the treatment of children and adolescents with psychiatric disorders.
Patients who increased doses of opioid medicines to manage chronic pain were more likely to experience an increase in depression, according to Saint Louis University findings in Pain.
Study in the American Journal of Epidemiology found increased risk of suicide associated with short-term air pollution exposure
Latino adolescents who experience discrimination-related stress are more likely to experience anxiety, depression, and issues with sleep, according to research led by NYU. These mental health outcomes were more pronounced among Latino teens born in the U.S. to immigrant parents, as opposed to foreign-born teens.
The study found that extremely low birth weight babies whose mothers received a full course of steroids prior to giving birth are at even greater risk for psychiatric disorders.
Scientists at the University at Buffalo’s Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) are studying chronic stress and depression, with a focus on endocannabinoids, which are brain chemicals similar to substances in marijuana.
Cannabinoids may be involved in the weight gain that occurs in people with schizophrenia who are treated with the antipsychotic olanzapine, according to a pilot study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology by researchers at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal (IUSMM) and Université de Montréal (UdeM).
UNC School of Medicine researchers have shown that brain scans can predict which patients with clinical depression are most likely to benefit from a specific kind of talk therapy.
Sharp and significant increases in suicides followed select financial crisis events and austerity announcements in Greece, from the start of the country’s 2008 recession to steep spending cuts in 2012, Penn Medicine researchers report in a new study published online this week in the British Medical Journal Open, along with colleagues from Greece and the United Kingdom.
Encouraging adversaries to have more interpersonal contact to find common ground may work on occasion, but not necessarily in the U.S. Senate, according to new research.
Psychopathic violent offenders have abnormalities in the parts of the brain related to learning from punishment, according to an MRI study led by Sheilagh Hodgins and Nigel Blackwood.
New Albright College research suggests contour integration impairment is trait-related or a symptom of schizophrenia.
Researchers at the University of South Carolina researchers find that young adults who accumulated higher amounts of debt incurred from student loans reported higher levels of depressive symptoms, even with adjustments for parental wealth, childhood socioeconomic status, and other factors.
Classic psychedelic drugs include LSD, psilocybin and mescaline. This new School of Public Health research is published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute have produced an approach that completely protects animal models against a type of genetic disruption that causes intellectual disability, including serious memory impairments and altered anxiety levels.
As the United States population has doubled since 1955, the number of inpatient psychiatric beds in the United States has been cut by nearly 95 percent to just 45,000, a wholly inadequate equation when considering that there are currently 10 million U.S. residents with serious mental illness. A new viewpoint in JAMA looks at the evolution away from inpatient psychiatric beds, evaluates the current system for housing and treating the mentally ill, and then suggests a modern approach to institutionalized mental health care as a solution.
Postpartum depression (PPD) may have a diverse clinical presentation and this has critical implications for diagnosis, treatment and understanding the underlying biology of the illness, a new study finds.
It’s normal for a very young child to have tantrums and be otherwise disruptive, but researchers have found that if such behavior is prolonged or especially intense, the child may have conduct disorder. The Washington University team, led by senior investigator Joan L. Luby, MD, recommends that children who exhibit these symptoms be referred to mental health professionals for evaluation and possible intervention.
Depression and other behavior changes may show up in people who will later develop Alzheimer’s disease even before they start having memory problems, according to a new study published in the January 14, 2015, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right