Serotonin News and Research

Latest Serotonin News and Research

Popular antidepressants may affect fetus

A team from the Ottawa Health Research Institute, the University of Ottawa, and The Ottawa Hospital has found an increased risk of premature delivery, low birth weight, fetal death, and infant seizures among pregnant women who used a popular class of antidepressants during pregnancy.

20 Apr 2006

Scientists gain greater understanding of how embryos differentiate left from right

Researchers at the Forsyth Institute have discovered a new mechanism responsible for early left/right patterning, the process by which organs locate themselves on the left or right side of the body.

19 Apr 2006

Gene variant doubles risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Scientists at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) have identified a previously unknown gene variant that doubles an individual's risk for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

11 Apr 2006

Man takes 40,000 ecstasy pills in nine years

Researchers from London University have revealed details of a man who claims to have taken 40,000 ecstasy pills over nine year period.

5 Apr 2006

Caudal raphe or the hypoglossal nucleus or both together play roles in sleep apnea

The neural pathways between two areas of the brain that control the tongue -- and their interactions with each other -- may hold the key as to why men suffer sleep apnea much more than women.

4 Apr 2006

Gene linked to impulsive violence weakens brain circuits that regulate thinking in humans

A version of a gene previously linked to impulsive violence appears to weaken brain circuits that regulate impulses, emotional memory and thinking in humans, researchers at the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have found.

21 Mar 2006

Long-term treatment effective in preventing future depressive episodes

People age 70 and older who continued taking the antidepressant that helped them to initially recover from their first episode of depression were 60 percent less likely to experience a new episode of depression over a two-year study period than those who stopped taking the medication

20 Mar 2006

Link between genetic variation and outcome of antidepressant treatment

Whether depressed patients will respond to an antidepressant depends, in part, on which version of a gene they inherit, a study led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has discovered.

15 Mar 2006

European research brings us a step closer to a better understanding of psychiatric disorders

About 1 in 10 Europeans has to contend with some form of depression during his or her life. But how people become depressed is still largely a mystery.

15 Mar 2006

Study explains how brain cells die in patients with Alzheimer's Disease

Researchers at Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland (CHRCO) have published a new study that is the first to explain how brain cells die in patients with Alzheimer's Disease.

15 Mar 2006

Disturbance of serotonin can lead to sudden infant death syndrome

University of Chicago researchers and colleagues have found strong support that a disturbance of a specific neurochemical can lead to sudden infant death syndrome, the primary cause of death before age 1 in the United States.

13 Mar 2006

New findings on antidepressants during pregnancy are reason for caution, not alarm

Until recently, antidepressants - especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) - were considered fairly safe for pregnant women.

8 Mar 2006

Some people are more than twice as likely to become depressed as others

The paper, which has just been published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, has found more than a fifth of the population has a genetic predisposition to depression, in response to a series of stressful life events.

7 Mar 2006

Genes play a key role in stress response

Both nature and nurture - genetic makeup and the environment experienced through life - combine to influence health and well-being, Duke University Medical Center researchers and their colleagues have determined in four new studies.

7 Mar 2006

A less active brain serotonin system is associated with early hardening of the arteries

These findings, which are the first to establish a link between serotonin messages in the brain and atherosclerosis, could lead to an entirely new strategy for preventing heart disease and stroke, say the researchers.

7 Mar 2006

SSRI use associated with increased risk for heart patients

In a surprising finding, patients with coronary artery disease who take commonly used antidepressant drugs may be at significantly higher risk of death, Duke University Medical Center researchers have found.

7 Mar 2006

Anti-inflammatory effect of beer

Scientists at Innsbruck Medical University have succeeded in demonstrating the anti-inflammatory effect of beer extracts.

6 Mar 2006

Anabolic steroids flip the adolescent brain's switch for aggression

Anabolic steroids not only make teens more aggressive, but may keep them that way into young adulthood. The effect ultimately wears off but there may be other, lasting consequences for the developing brain.

27 Feb 2006

Antidepressants may affect fetus

A University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine collaborative study with Boston University's Slone Epidemiology Center found an increased risk of persistent pulmonary hypertension (PPHN) in newborns of mothers who used certain commonly prescribed antidepressants in late pregnancy.

20 Feb 2006

Panorama programme lead to significant increase in adverse paroxetine reports

The number of adverse reactions reported by UK doctors to the antidepressant paroxetine - often know by its brand name Seroxat - rose by 61 per cent after three editions of the BBC's award-winning current affairs programme Panorama explored increasing concerns about the drug.

14 Feb 2006