Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Antidepressant prescriptions are on the rise

A dramatic rise in antidepressant prescriptions issued by GPs has been caused by a year on year increase in the number of people taking antidepressant drugs on a long-term basis, according to researchers from the University of Southampton.

23 Oct 2009

NBCSL lauds the Veterans’ Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act

NBCSL President, Rep. Calvin Smyre (GA), applauds the Obama Administration’s efforts to improve health care for veterans. Today, President Barack Obama signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which provides one year of advance funding for veterans’ medical programs. The VA now has one year to plan how to best allocate funds and deliver care to returning veterans.

23 Oct 2009

Study: General anesthesia can cause brain injury in immature rats

Studies by researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine have shown that blocking the NMDA receptor in immature rats leads to profound, rapid brain injury and disruption of auditory function as the animals mature.

23 Oct 2009

Relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia is controversial

Last year the UK government reclassified cannabis from a class C to a class B drug, partly out of concerns that cannabis, especially the more potent varieties, may increase the risk of schizophrenia in young people. But the evidence for the relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia or psychosis remains controversial.

23 Oct 2009

Study finds link between high levels of pesticide exposure and suicidal thoughts

A new study in China has found that people with higher levels of pesticide exposure are more likely to have suicidal thoughts. The study was carried out by Dr Robert Stewart from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London together with scientists from Tongde Hospital Zhejiang Province.

23 Oct 2009

Report: Quality of care for insured Americans slipped in 2008

CNNMoney reports that for the first time in more than 10 years, the "overall quality of health care" for Americans insured through commercial and public plans appears to have slipped.

23 Oct 2009

Health reform changes could increase costs to states

Today's state news round-up includes the cost of health reform to New York, immigrants in California, a possible new mental health overhaul in Arizona and a delay in expanding the children's health program in Iowa.

22 Oct 2009

Person-centered planning practices to promote organizational change and innovative service delivery

Today the JBFCS Alan B. Siskind Symposium, "Person in the Center: Innovation and Change," with Keynote Speaker Beth Mount, Ph.D., will explore person-centered planning and organizational innovation followed by a panel discussion that features innovative practice at JBFCS.

22 Oct 2009

Caregiving is a major public health issue in the U.S, says expert

The demand for at-home caregiving will increase dramatically in the United States in the years ahead, said Richard Schulz, Ph.D., an internationally known expert on caregiving from the University of Pittsburgh.

22 Oct 2009

Illegal residents' view on healthcare status

The dissertation focuses on how individual non-citizens residing illegally in the country perceive their health status, what wishes they have regarding healthcare, and whether these wishes are fulfilled. The individual perspective is used instead of the more common concepts of health and healthcare needs, which are based more on the care-giver perspective.

22 Oct 2009

Drugs affecting the central nervous system effective against fibromyalgia, study finds

People suffering from fibromyalgia have reduced activity in the parts of the brain that inhibit the experience of pain. Drugs that affect the CNS can be effective against the disease, and are thought to be even more so if administered early in its course. This according to a new thesis from the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet.

22 Oct 2009

GeneNews announces the publication of a paper in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology

GeneNews Limited, a company focused on developing blood-based biomarker tests for the early detection of diseases and personalized health management, today announced the publication of a paper in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology. The paper reports data using GeneNews' proprietary Sentinel Principle(R) platform technology to identify complex changes in blood gene expression patterns that were differentially regulated between active and inactive Crohn's disease.

22 Oct 2009

Schering-Plough announces 2009 third quarter financial results

Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) today reported financial results for the 2009 third quarter.

22 Oct 2009

Study explores aldosterone antagonist usage among US patients hospitalised with heart failure

A study published today in JAMA (October 21) by Nancy M. Albert and colleagues, exploring aldosterone antagonist usage among US patients hospitalised with heart failure, found that only one-third of patients meeting current US Clinical Practice Guidelines criteria were actually being treated.

22 Oct 2009

Research in specific cells and circuitry affected by addiction may help guard against relapse

New research using animal models is enabling a deeper understanding of the neurobiology of compulsive drug addiction in humans - knowledge that may lead to more effective treatment options to weaken the powerful cravings that cause people to relapse.

22 Oct 2009

Constant light at night can increase depressive symptoms

Researchers found that mice housed in a lighted room 24 hours a day exhibited more depressive symptoms than did similar mice that had a normal light-dark cycle.

22 Oct 2009

Sexual dysfunction in cancer survivors rarely addressed by internists

Few internists who care for cancer survivors address issues of sexual dysfunction with their patients, according to a study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers. In their article appearing in a November 2009 cancer survivor supplement to the Journal of General Internal Medicine, now available online, the investigators report that more than half the internists responding to a survey indicated they rarely or never discussed sexual problems with their patients who had survived cancer.

22 Oct 2009

HIV stigma: a barrier for proper care

The feeling of stigmatization that people living with HIV often experience doesn't only exact a psychological toll -new UCLA research suggests it can also lead to quantifiably negative health outcomes.

22 Oct 2009

NIH grants $2.1 million for schizophrenia research

The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a $2.1 million "Grand Opportunity" (GO) grant to a team of researchers - led by Prof. Todd Lencz at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, New York, and Prof.Ariel Darvasi of the Silberman Institute of Life Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem - to conduct a study on the genetic basis of schizophrenia..

22 Oct 2009

UW researchers suggest approaches for treating depression in older cancer patients

Depression in older cancer patients is very common, and has debilitating effects on their quality of life both during and after treatment. University of Washington (UW) researchers are showing that there are ways to better this situation.

21 Oct 2009