Psychiatry News and Research

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Psychiatry is the treatment, study and prevention of mental disorders.

Misdiagnosed bipolar depression has subtle clinical features

Increased appetite, sleep, and weight gain, among other clinical features, can be used to help identify patients with bipolar disorder who have been misdiagnosed with major depressive disorder.

5 Mar 2013

Schizophrenic people with MIR137 tend to develop illness at younger age

Some of the dramatic differences seen among patients with schizophrenia may be explained by a single gene that regulates a group of other schizophrenia risk genes. These findings appear in a new imaging-genetics study from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).

5 Mar 2013

KMO gene variant associated with increased production of kynurenic acid

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have found an explanation for why the level of kynurenic acid (KYNA) is higher in the brains of people with schizophrenia or bipolar disease with psychosis. The study, which is published in the scientific periodical Molecular Psychiatry, identifies a gene variant associated with an increased production of KYNA.

5 Mar 2013

Study shows publicly reported quality of care measures leads to improved care for patients

Public reporting of how physicians and hospitals perform in quality of care measures leads to improved care for patients.

5 Mar 2013

Cognitive behavioral therapy brings relief to people with diabetic neuropathies, researchers find

Researchers at Boston University School of Medicine and VA Boston Healthcare System have found that cognitive behavioral therapy can help relieve pain for people with painful diabetic neuropathies.

5 Mar 2013

Study identifies two gene mutations that lead to death of nerve cells in ALS

A study led by St. Jude Children's Research Hospital has discovered mutations in two genes that lead to the death of nerve cells in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease, and related degenerative diseases.

4 Mar 2013

Melanoma tumours deliberately create conditions that knock out body's premier immune defence

New research in the Journal of Clinical Investigation reveals that tumours in melanoma patients deliberately create conditions that knock out the body's 'premier' immune defence and instead attract a weaker immune response unable to kill off the tumour's cancerous cells.

2 Mar 2013

CPOE systems ‘cut drug errors by half’

The use of computerized provider order entry systems in US hospitals approximately halves the number of medication errors, research shows.

1 Mar 2013

Otsuka receives FDA approval for ABILIFY MAINTENA to treat schizophrenia

Otsuka Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (Otsuka) and H. Lundbeck A/S (Lundbeck) announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved ABILIFY MAINTENA (aripiprazole) for extended- release injectable suspension, an intramuscular (IM) depot formulation indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia.

1 Mar 2013

Bipolar disorder associated with increased hypertension risk

Taiwanese individuals with bipolar disorder are at an increased risk for hypertension when compared with the general population, research shows.

28 Feb 2013

Autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia share common genetic risk factors

For the first time, scientists have discovered that five major psychiatric disorders—autism, attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia—share several common genetic risk factors.

28 Feb 2013

Einstein researchers to investigate consequences of soccer heading on the brain

Sports-related concussion is an increasingly recognized public health problem. At least 1.6 million sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries occur in the United States annually. While the primary focus has been on football, soccer has come under greater scrutiny.

28 Feb 2013

Symptom profile changes between first-episode and chronic schizophrenia

First-episode schizophrenia patients have more positive and fewer negative symptoms than chronic schizophrenia patients, and are more likely to report childhood sexual abuse, a team of researchers has discovered.

27 Feb 2013

Cognitive impairments in bipolar disorder 'stable'

Impaired cognitive function among bipolar disorder patients seems to be stable over time, suggesting it is an enduring feature of the condition, show the results of a longitudinal study.

26 Feb 2013

One in three ventilated people with ALI shows substantial PTSD symptoms

One in three people who survived stays in an intensive care unit (ICU) and required use of a mechanical ventilator showed substantial post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms that lasted for up to two years, according to a new Johns Hopkins study of patients with acute lung injury.

26 Feb 2013

Research roundup: Patients hesitant to focus on costs; Increase in primary care demand is uneven

One way to contain health care spending is to get patients involved in weighing costs of treatment options with their doctors. Researchers recruited 211 medically insured participants to assess their willingness to consider costs when choosing treatments. The authors found that participants generally "preferred better care, even when the relative benefit it offered was marginal, and even when told that the second-best choice still met the threshold of 'good enough' care from a clinician's perspective.

26 Feb 2013

Adjustable shunt effectively alleviates hydrocephalus pressure

Using a shunt with an adjustable Strata valve that is initially set at the highest setting so it can be titrated down is a worthwhile approach to treat idiopathic normal pressure hydrocephalus.

25 Feb 2013

Opioids are main contributor to fatal overdoses

The number of deaths from drug overdoses in the United States in 2010 rose for the 11th consecutive year, show data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

25 Feb 2013

Substance use increased in teens with ADHD

Adolescents with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have significantly higher rates of substance abuse and cigarette use than their peers without the condition, US research shows.

25 Feb 2013

Next generation deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy to be developed by Sapiens

Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation B.V. (Sapiens), an emerging medical technology company developing brain stimulation products, today announced that it has raised €7.5 m from the Dutch investment group INKEF Capital, in a further extension of their Series A financing round. The proceeds will be used for the development of its Steering Brain Stimulation implant and procedure solutions to treat Parkinson's disease (PD) and other functional brain disorders.

25 Feb 2013