Psychiatry News and Research

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

Documented prevalence of autism on the rise in New Jersey

Newly published research led by Walter Zahorodny, PhD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), shows that over a four year period in the past decade, the documented prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rose substantially in a sampling of four New Jersey counties.

19 Dec 2012

Views on Conn. shootings: Mental illness doesn't generally lead to violence; Need for more treatment options; Helping the survivors

It's possible that preventing people with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other serious mental illnesses from getting guns might decrease the risk of mass killings. Even the Supreme Court, which in 2008 strongly affirmed a broad right to bear arms, at the same time endorsed prohibitions on gun ownership "by felons and the mentally ill." But mass killings are very rare events, and because people with mentally illness contribute so little to overall violence, these measures would have little impact on everyday firearm-related killings.

19 Dec 2012

Lymphocyte clue to multiple sclerosis drug response

Patients with rapid recovery of CD4-positive T cells after alemtuzumab treatment for multiple sclerosis are at risk for disease progression or relapse, research suggests.

18 Dec 2012

Mental disorders more prevalent among adolescents with food insecurity

A study published in the December 2012 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry found that adolescents who experienced food insecurity in the past year have a higher prevalence of mental disorders than adolescents whose families have reliable access to food.

18 Dec 2012

Bullying among children may be a threat to their future mental health

A recent study by a researcher at the Centre for Studies on Human Stress (CSHS) at the H-pital Louis-H. Lafontaine and professor at the Universit- de Montr-al suggests that bullying by peers changes the structure surrounding a gene involved in regulating mood, making victims more vulnerable to mental health problems as they age.

18 Dec 2012

University of Leicester autism expert contributes to international global health study

A leading international expert on autism at the University of Leicester has been involved in contributing to a major new study of global health.

18 Dec 2012

Study sheds light on how new treatments could be more effective in early stages of bipolar disorder

A North West clinical trial of people who have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder for less than five years will be the first study of its kind to shed light on how new treatments could be more effective in the early stages of the condition.

17 Dec 2012

Roundup: Some medical students forced to change course after Sandy; N.C. patients pay for more when docs employed by hospital

After completing a medical rotation in pediatrics, Hannah Kirsch was looking forward to starting another one in psychiatry at New York City's Bellevue Hospital -- but then Hurricane Sandy hit. Kirsch is among about 170 third-year and fourth-year medical students at New York University who were required to change their plans after two of NYU's academic training hospitals, NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue, temporarily closed due to extensive flood damage.

17 Dec 2012

Long-term antiviral HBV treatment advocated

Study results support the long-term use of tenofovir disoproxil fumarate for chronic hepatitis B virus, showing that it can suppress the virus and lead to regression of fibrosis and cirrhosis in patients after 5 years’ treatment.

17 Dec 2012

Naurex announces completion of $38M Series B financing

Naurex Inc., a clinical-stage company developing innovative treatments to address unmet needs in psychiatry and neurology, today announced the completion of a $38 million Series B financing led by new investor Baxter Ventures.

17 Dec 2012

First Edition: December 17, 2012

Today's headlines include weekend updates regarding the fiscal cliff negotiations as well as news regarding states' decisions on health exchanges.

17 Dec 2012

Paternal exposure to cocaine can impair gene expression and behavior in their offspring

Research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) reveals that sons of male rats exposed to cocaine are resistant to the rewarding effects of the drug, suggesting that cocaine-induced changes in physiology are passed down from father to son.

17 Dec 2012

Glutamate linked to suicidal behavior

Researchers have found the first proof that a chemical in the brain called glutamate is linked to suicidal behavior, offering new hope for efforts to prevent people from taking their own lives.

15 Dec 2012

FDA approves Novartis Signifor injection for treatment of Cushing's disease

Novartis announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Signifor (pasireotide) injection for the treatment of adult patients with Cushing's disease for whom pituitary surgery is not an option or has not been curative.

14 Dec 2012

Definitions, responsibilities are crucial to medication reconciliation

To implement effective medication reconciliation, a definition of what the term means, as well as identification of who is responsible for the process, is necessary, show the results of a focus group-based study.

14 Dec 2012

Continue support of GAVI Alliance and childhood disease prevention

"Last week a global health event took place in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, to foster greater political will and explore ways to accelerate results, innovation, sustainability, and equity in the field of immunization," Baroness Hollins, emeritus professor of psychiatry of disability at St George's University of London, writes in the BMJ Group Blog about the GAVI Partners Forum.

14 Dec 2012

Scientists discover FAIM molecule as potential biomarker for bone marrow cancer

Singapore scientists have identified FAIM, a molecule that typically prevents cell death, as a potential biomarker to identify an incurable form of cancer in the bone marrow.

14 Dec 2012

Social cognition impaired in bipolar disorder patients

Results from a Canadian study show that social cognitive ability is impaired in patients with bipolar disorder.

13 Dec 2012

Bumetanide could treat children with severe autism or Asperger's syndrome

Although this therapy is not curative, it nevertheless reduced the autistic disorders' severity in three-quarters of the children. The researchers have filed a request for authorisation to perform a multi-centre European clinical trial in order to determine more precisely the population concerned by this therapy.

13 Dec 2012

AZD6765 briefly improves treatment-resistant patients' depression symptoms in minutes

A drug that works through the same brain mechanism as the fast-acting antidepressant ketamine briefly improved treatment-resistant patients' depression symptoms in minutes, with minimal untoward side effects, in a clinical trial conducted by the National Institutes of Health. The experimental agent, called AZD6765, acts through the brain's glutamate chemical messenger system.

13 Dec 2012