Mental Health News and Research

Latest Mental Health News and Research

Drug therapy may be effective in treating both the manic and depressive phases of bipolar disorder

The condition (bipolar I and II) affects approximately 8 million Americans, who have relied on a combination of drugs to manage their symptoms, and who remain at high risk of committing suicide because of the difficulty in treating the disorder.

6 Jul 2005

Memory aids help people with schizophrenia remember things just as well as healthy people

When encouraged to use memorization strategies commonly employed by healthy individuals, people with schizophrenia can be helped to remember information just as well as their healthy counterparts, a process that in itself seems to spur a normalization of memory-related activities in the brains of people with schizophrenia, suggests new research from Washington University in St. Louis.

6 Jul 2005

Antipsychotic drug risperidone effective in treating autistic children

In a study sponsored by the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health, and conducted over a number of sites, it has been found that the antipsychotic drug risperidone is a safe, effective treatment for children with autism who display tantrums, aggression and often self-injure.

4 Jul 2005

Globalisation affecting children's mental health around the world

A child psychiatrist says that globalisation is affecting children’s mental health around the world, by imposing Western child rearing beliefs and psychiatric practice.

4 Jul 2005

Experts gather in the fields of childhood and adolescent mental-health problems

Renowned experts in the fields of childhood and adolescent mental-health problems will gather in July to discuss new and effective treatments for a wide-range of mental illnesses affecting children and teens.

30 Jun 2005

Studies compare hepatitis B drugs

According to a new study Roche's brand of interferon can help control the potentially deadly liver infection, hepatitis B, better than a competitor's drug.

30 Jun 2005

Bipolar survey indicates how patient satisfaction is achieved

Preliminary results from a large-scale global study of people living with bipolar disorder, presented today at the World Congress of Biological Psychiatry (WCBP), found that patient satisfaction with treatment is achieved through combining broad-based efficacy with a favourable tolerability profile.

30 Jun 2005

Results of global bipolar disorder consumer survey

The World Federation for Mental Health (WFMH) today announced results of a global bipolar disorder consumer survey, Thinking Ahead, at the World Congress of Biological Psychiatry.

29 Jun 2005

Mental health declining in American teenagers

Adolescents in the United States are more likely to suffer from a mental health disorder than ever before, but getting these teens diagnosed and cared for is a challenge that is not being met, a new book warns.

28 Jun 2005

Greater use of evidence-based medicine needed in US outpatient care

Although the quality of outpatient care in the United States has improved over the last decade, greater use of evidence-based medicine is needed, however, and quality of care is not significantly associated with the patient's racial or ethnic background, according to a study in the June 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

27 Jun 2005

OHSU scientists say low FOXP3 means fewer disease-fighting cells, but new drug may help multiple sclerosis

Oregon Health & Science University researchers have measured genetic changes reflecting a drop in the body's ability to suppress inflammatory cells that attack nerve fibers and promote progression of multiple sclerosis.

27 Jun 2005

A blood test for thyroid cancer can detect persistent or recurrent disease even before doctors can find any trace of a tumor

The study, by researchers at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSU CCC – James), examined how well a test for thyroid cancer can predict whether the disease will recur.

27 Jun 2005

Unknown factors make Scots people more prone to heart disease

The findings, which are published in the current edition of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, conclude that although successful campaigns to get Scots to live a healthier lifestyle will reduce rates of heart disease in Scotland, they will not do much to narrow the gap in heart disease rates between Scotland and England.

26 Jun 2005

Sleep studied as potential treatment for depression

Two new studies show that insomnia, far from being a symptom or side effect of depression, may instead precede it, making some patients more likely to become and remain mentally ill.

21 Jun 2005

Danger of mixing mobile phones and motoring

The reason talking on a cell phone makes drivers less safe may be that the brain can't simultaneously give full attention to both the visual task of driving and the auditory task of listening, a study by a Johns Hopkins University psychologist suggests.

21 Jun 2005

No increase in anxiety or depression when children of people with Alzheimer's get genetic testing

Adult children of people with Alzheimer’s disease were satisfied and unharmed by the experience of genetic risk assessment, even when results suggested they might be at risk, according to a new study presented at the first Alzheimer’s Association’s International Conference on the Prevention of Dementia.

21 Jun 2005

New UK Guidance to be issued on Hepatitis C as 'silent epidemic'

Leading medical experts from throughout the UK will be gathering in Edinburgh today and tomorrow (21-22 April 2004) to arrive at a consensus on how best to treat and manage the 'silent epidemic' of hepatitis C - a virus which is estimated to be carried by over 400,000 people in the UK and which continues to spread globally, as the majority of carriers do not realise they have been infected.

21 Jun 2005

Breakthrough in understanding of children's brain development to help parents set kids on path to emotional, intellectual health

A major new research initiative at York University will build on new knowledge of the brain’s development, and help set children --including those with developmental disorders -- on the path towards emotional and intellectual health.

21 Jun 2005

Brain differences in bipolar disorder shown in MRI

Experts in the U.S., in an attempt to define the abnormalities in the brains of people with bipolar disorder, have used used functional MRI to measure levels of metabolic activity in different areas of the brain.

21 Jun 2005