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What Magic Reveals About Autism
2010-10-28 03:11:00
To trick an audience, magicians often misdirect social cues, drawing attention toward one action and away from another. People with autism, a neural development disorder, have impaired social interactions. Therefore, one would assume that they would be less susceptible to a magician?s social manipulation than people without autism.  However, a new study published in Psychological Science shows that children with autism spectrum disorder may actually be more likely to be fooled by a magic trick than children without autism. As people with autism have trouble interpreting social cues, Gustav Kuhn of Brunel University and his colleagues wanted to compare how teenagers with and without autism spectrum disorder react to the vanishing-ball illusion. In this magic trick, a magician throws a ball in the air a few times and on the last throw, only pretends to throw the ball (making a tossing motion and looking upward), while the ball remains concealed in his hand (see SciVee pubcast b...
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Heavy drinkers consume less over time, but not at ?normal? levels
2010-10-27 14:52:00
Problem drinkers in the general population may reduce the amount of alcohol they consume over a period of years but not to the level of the average adult, according to a new study in the November issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. Given that heavy drinkers often don?t become ?normal? drinkers on their own, the takeaway message for clinicians and family members is to help connect a problem drinker to a community social service agency or Alcoholics Anonymous. Simply telling someone that they had a drinking problem did not seem to be helpful in this study, but being specific about how to get help did. Using a telephone screening program, researchers identified 672 problem and dependent drinkers who had not been in an alcohol treatment program for at least 12 months. Eleven years later, men in the study had reduced their average number of drinks per month by 51%, and women had reduced their average number of drinks by 57%. However, even after this reduction, male ...
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Addiction index updated
2010-10-27 14:50:00
The new version of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) gives health professionals the opportunity to design an integral and personalised plan of assistance for patients suffering disorders due to substance abuse. Developed by the University of Pennsylvania (USA) in the 1980s, the ASI is the most used tool for studying disorders due to substance abuse. After more than 25 years of use, current trends have led ASI creators to update their index and adapt it to the present day reality. The new ASI-6 includes significant structure and content changes in regard to the previous version. However, as Eva María Díaz-Mesa, a researcher at the Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM) and author of the study explained to SINC ?any assessment test must involve mathematical procedures that determine whether or not it is a valid indicator of a particular psychological conduct.?

Follow-ups prove powerful tool for treating depression in primary care
2010-10-27 02:51:00
In the 15 minutes a primary care doctor typically has with a patient, she?s expected to diagnose the current ailment, help manage ongoing health issues and provide preventive care. In this setting, confronting all but the most obvious and immediate mental health needs of patients is an ongoing challenge. A new study by researchers at the University of Michigan Health System, however, points to an encouraging strategy for improving and sustaining mental health results in chronically depressed patients by providing small amounts of flexible, targeted follow-up care ? without overburdening busy doctors? offices. The study, published in the September/October issue of Annals of Family Medicine, shows that patients who received interventions that included self-monitoring tools and follow-up phone calls from a care manager were more likely a year and a half later to have symptoms that were in remission and to have fewer reduced-function days than those receiving usual primary care trea...
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Heavy smoking in midlife may be associated with dementia in later years
2010-10-26 06:18:00
Heavy smoking in middle age appears to be associated with more than double the risk for Alzheimer?s disease and other forms of dementia two decades later, according to a report posted online today that will be published in the February 28 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. Current estimates suggest smoking is responsible for several million deaths per year from causes such as heart disease and cancer, according to background information in the article. Although smoking increases risks of most diseases and of death, some studies have shown a reduced risk of Parkinson?s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions among smokers. ?The link between smoking and risk of Alzheimer?s disease, the most common subtype of dementia, has been somewhat controversial, with some studies suggesting that smoking reduces the risk of cognitive impairment,? the authors write. Minna Rusanen, M.D., of University of Eastern Finland and Kuopio University H...
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Fraud against dementia patients on the rise
2010-10-25 16:10:00
A growing number of dementia patients in Asia are being swindled of their money and assets by relatives and friends, and legal experts on Saturday urged people at risk to protect their wealth when they are still able to. Early diagnosis of the disease, which is expected to afflict more people in fast-ageing Asia in coming decades, is especially important and those who know they are at risk need to draw up wills, enduring powers of attorney while they are still mentally sound, the legal experts told a regional Alzheimer?s disease conference in Kuala Lumpur. Dementia is a fatal brain-wasting disease which affects memory, thinking, behavior and ability to handle daily activities. Patients in Asia are forecast to reach 64.6 million by 2050, more than half the global estimate of 115 million that same year. 
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Study suggests sensitivity to bodily symptoms of anxiety may make a differe
2010-10-25 06:33:00
Levels of anxiety sensitivity may be important in choosing medical treatment for patients with heart failure and atrial fibrillation (AF), Montreal Heart Institute researchers today told the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress 2010, co-hosted by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Canadian Cardiovascular Society. Heart and Stroke Foundation researcher and lead author Nancy Frasure-Smith, PhD explained that anxiety sensitivity is the degree to which a person is frightened by bodily sensations and symptoms, particularly those associated with anxiety. ?For most people, sweaty palms and an increasing heart rate are simply unpleasant symptoms that occur in stressful situations, for others these same symptoms are interpreted as a sign of impending doom,? says Dr. Frasure-Smith. ?People with high anxiety sensitivity tend to magnify the potential consequences of their anxiety symptoms, leading to an increase in anxiety and its symptoms in a spiralling increase of fear and worry.?
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Autism rates stabilize in Wisconsin schools: study
2010-10-25 06:24:00
Autism rates could be leveling off at just above one percent of children, Wisconsin researchers suggest. Between 2002 and 2008, they found the number of kids in the state?s special education autism category nearly doubled. But the increase was only seen in those schools that started out with very few autistic kids, hinting that the statewide rates may be stabilizing. Autism spectrum disorders, which range from mild Asperger?s Syndrome to severe mental retardation and social disability, affect about one in 110 children in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 
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Rapid Rise in Medicaid Expenditures for Autism Spectrum Disorder Treatment
2010-10-24 03:51:00
Autism was described as early as 1940, but a marked increase in the prevalence for the broader class of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) during the past decade highlights the demand for treatment of affected individuals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the prevalence of ASD was one in 110 children in 2006 and increased at an average annual rate of 57% between 2002 and 2006.1 The rising prevalence has heightened concern about the financial impact of treating ASDs in the private and public health care systems.[1] The escalating health care expenditures associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) in state Medicaid programs is the subject of a study by Penn State College of Medicine researchers in the November issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP).[2] In the article titled ?Health Care Expenditures for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Medicaid,? Drs. Li Wang and Douglas Leslie used...
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Geisinger PTSD Researcher to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award
2010-10-24 03:40:00
Joseph Boscarino, Ph.D, M.P.H.,will be recognized by the International Society of Traumatic Stress (ISTSS) with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions to the research of traumatic stress. ISTSS - an international, interdisciplinary professional organization that promotes the advancement and exchange of knowledge about traumatic stress - awards its highest honor to an individual whose work exemplifies excellence in the research, understanding and advocacy of traumatic stress. As an epidemiologist, social psychologist and Vietnam veteran, Dr. Boscarino?s career has been devoted to understanding the psychopathology of post traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), their relationship to medical problems and the development of brief, post-disease mental health interventions. He has built a reputation for cutting-edge research that has theory and practice implications. Following the World Trade Center attack in New York, his research team was funded by the National Institute of H...

Innovative Partnership Provides Important Funding for Mental Disorders and
2010-10-21 15:14:00
Six research projects on co-existing heath problems associated with mental illness and one project on palliative care among First Nations received over $9 million in funding announced today. This amount is provided by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Rx&D Health Research Foundation (HRF). ?Rx&D is proud to partner with CIHR to support research that can lead to the development of new treatments, effective health-care programs and medicines to ensure Canadians live longer and healthier lives,? said Russell Williams from the Rx&D Health Research Foundation. ?We believe that partnerships between the public and private sectors are essential to tackling the most serious health challenges we face in Canada and around the world, and to making Canada a leader in research and innovation.? One of the goals of the partnership between CIHR and Rx&D is to address the social and health costs of co-existing health problems linked to mental disorders by f...
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Use of DHA fish oil capsules does not decrease postpartum depression in mot
2010-10-19 18:12:00
In contrast to the findings of some studies and the recommendations that pregnant women increase their intake of fish oil via dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) because of the possible benefits, a randomized trial that included more than 2,000 women finds that use of DHA supplements did not result in lower levels of postpartum depression in mothers or improved cognitive and language development in their offspring during early childhood, according to a study in the October 20 issue of JAMA. ?Epidemiological investigations from the United States and Europe demonstrate that higher intakes of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFA) from fish and seafood during pregnancy are associated with a reduced risk of depressive symptoms in the postnatal period, as well as improved developmental outcomes in the offspring,? the authors write. ?However, n-3 LCPUFA intervention trials in human pregnancy have reported mixed results and have not been conclusive largely because of methodol...
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Scientists find gene linked to alcoholism
2010-10-19 18:10:00
Researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have discovered a gene variant that may protect against alcoholism. The variant, in a gene called CYP2E1, is associated with a person?s response to alcohol. For the ten to twenty percent of people that possess this variant, those first few drinks leave them feeling more inebriated than the rest of the human population, who harbor a different version of the gene. Previous studies had shown that people who react strongly to alcohol were less likely to become alcoholics later in life, but the genetic basis of this finding was not clear. Now the discovery of CYP2E1?s role hints at a new mechanism of how people perceive alcohol, and further, how alcohol affects the brain. 
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Charity that sterilises addicts to come to UK
2010-10-18 17:40:00
Drug addiction experts have reacted with horror at the revelation that a controversial American charity worker who pays addicts to be sterilised is setting up a franchise in Britain. Project Prevention, which operates out of North Carolina, has stopped more than 3,500 drink and drug addicts from having children by paying them up to £200 to seek long term or permanent forms of contraception such as an IUD implant or full sterilisation. Once the addicts prove that an operation has been carried out they are awarded a cash sum which, even the charity admits, usually goes towards feeding their habits. Barbara Harris, the charity?s founder, believes encouraging drug addicts to seek sterilisation saves thousands of children from growing up within a damaged environment. She has adopted five children who were born to crack-addicted mothers. But critics say her approach automatically stigmatises all addicts as bad parents.
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Should drug addicts be paid to get sterilised?
2010-10-18 17:37:00
Paying drug addicts to be sterilised is exploitative and wrong, say critics of just such a scheme that runs in the US. Jane Beresford talks to the woman behind Project Prevention. If you call Project Prevention?s helpline it?s likely that Barbara Harris, the founder of this US based organisation, will answer the phone. A warm and vivacious grandmother, her aim is to give $300 to as many drug and alcohol addicted women as possible. The deal? That they receive long term contraception or sterilisation to prevent them having children she believes they are unable or unwilling to care for. Funded through private donations, her organisation is non-profit making.
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Kids of mentally ill parents at higher murder risk
2010-10-18 13:52:00
Children of severely mentally ill parents are nearly nine times more likely to be victims of homicide than children of healthy parents, suggests a new study. However, as the Danish researchers note, the tragic event is still extremely rare, and the overwhelming majority of psychiatric patients don?t murder their children. About one out of every 17 adults in the U.S. has a serious psychiatric illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. And parents with psychiatric problems affect children?s health in many ways, lead researcher Thomas M. Laursen of the National Centre for Register-Based Research at Aarhus University, Denmark, told Reuters Health in an email.
More About: Murder , Kids , Risk , Parents

Yale University researchers find key genetic trigger of depression
2010-10-18 03:41:00
Yale University researchers have found a gene that seems to be a key contributor to the onset of depression and is a promising target for a new class of antidepressants, they report Oct. 17 in the journal Nature Medicine. ?This could be a primary cause, or at least a major contributing factor, to the signaling abnormalities that lead to depression,? said Ronald S. Duman, professor of psychiatry and pharmacology at Yale and senior author of the study. Scientists have had a difficult time pinning down the cause of depression, which afflicts almost 16 percent of Americans in any given year and carries an annual economic burden of $100 billion. 
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Magnets Used To Treat Patients With Severe Depression
2010-10-15 15:48:00
John O?Sullivan had struggled with bipolar depression since he was a teen. He has tried numerous types of psychotherapy and medication but nothing seemed to help for long. A salesman whose profession required the constant projection of a positive, upbeat image to be successful, O?Sullivan found that his condition frequently left him feeling listless and restless. He switched jobs often and had difficulties in his family life. ?When you?re in a maniacal state with bipolar, it?s not like you?re often happy. You?re irritable and hard to live with,? said O?Sullivan, a husband and father of five. ?That?s been tough on the family.?
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Addiction treatment in Russia
2010-10-14 18:42:00
A propos your World Report on naltrexone implants and addiction treatment in Russia (July 3, p 13),1 suicide and overdose deaths after detoxification are always a concern, but we know of no evidence that naltrexone treatment increases those risks. In fact, depressive symptoms drop in patients on naltrexone2, 3 and we know of one case in which naltrexone might have prevented a suicide.4 Regarding problems at the implant site, an interim analysis of our current study showed that only four of 66 patients with implants had adverse site reactions and none were serious. Regarding efficacy, patients who continue naltrexone show striking reductions in HIV injecting risk and very little opioid use. Similar positive outcomes were recently reported with Vivitrol?an injectable extended-release naltrexone preparation?at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. The return of problems after naltrexone is stopped is no different from what happens after leaving against medical...
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Understanding the Emotional Distress Facing First Responders
2009-12-17 16:00:00
Professional first responders are prepared, equipped and trained to handle various emergency situations, from car accidents to terrorist attacks and other major disasters. Today, however, this great responsibility can be particularly burdensome on one?s emotions. ?As first responders, part of our job is to run towards a bad or challenging situation to help out, while everyone else runs away,? says Officer Dan Ennenbach, a Kirkwood police officer. ?However, the psychological repercussions of what we may experience in those situations can be overwhelming and, in some cases, even life-changing. In a sense, we also can become victims, simply because we?re affected by what?s happened. ? According to Miggie Greenberg, MD, assistant professor of neurology and psychiatry at Saint Louis University School of Medicine, different people react to traumatic situations differently.

Most antidepressants miss key target of clinical depression
2009-12-08 18:03:00
A key brain protein called monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) - is highly elevated during clinical depression yet is unaffected by treatment with commonly used antidepressants, according to an important study published today in the Archives of General Psychiatry. The study has important implications for our understanding of why antidepressants don?t always work. Researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) used an advanced brain imaging method to measure levels of the brain protein MAO-A. MAO-A digests multiple brain chemicals, including serotonin, that help maintain healthy mood. High MAO-A levels excessively remove these brain chemicals. Antidepressant medications are the most commonly prescribed treatments in North America, yet 50 per cent of people do not respond adequately to antidepressant treatment. Dr. Jeffrey Meyer the lead investigator explains, ?Mismatches between treatment and disease are important for understanding why treatments don?t always work. Rath...
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Can childhood abuse lead to premature aging?
2009-11-24 03:09:00
According to novel research from Butler Hospital and Brown University, children who suffer physical or emotional abuse could possibly be faced with increased cellular aging as adults. For the purpose of better understanding this criterion, researchers were believed to have looked at twenty-two women and nine men between ages 18 and 64. Some of the subjects were noted to have no history of childhood maltreatment, but others said they had suffered either moderate or severe mistreatment as children. Further, the researchers measured DNA extracted from blood samples of these adults. They seem to have found accelerated shortening of telomeres in those who stated to have suffered from maltreatment as children than to study participants who did not. Shorter telomere lengths are known to have been linked to a variety of aging-related medical conditions including heart disease and cancer. Telomeres are known to be the ?caps? on the end of chromosomes that encourage cellular stability. Mo...
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New bipolar disorder research from P.F. Bell et al outlined
2009-11-24 03:05:00
According to recent research published in the journal Postgraduate Medicine, ?Recognition of the prevalence of mood disorders and increased availability of medication options have led to calls for treating bipolar disorders in the primary care setting. Second-generation antipsychotic medications (SGAs) were initially lauded for treating bipolar disorders because of their efficacy and perceived safety relative to first-generation antipsychotic medications.? ?Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes mellitus, which may emerge when treating bipolar disorders with SGAs. We conducted a search of the research literature examining the association between different SGAs and metabolic syndrome,? wrote P.F. Bell and colleagues. The researchers concluded: ?Based on our review, we offer guidelines for monitoring patient status regarding metabolic syndrome and for providing interventions to promote healthy diet and exercise.?
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Shedding Some Light on Depression and Seasonal Affective Disorder
2009-11-24 03:03:00
Summer is over and the days are getting shorter and darker ? changes that can cause people to develop a mild case of the blues. For some, however, feelings of sadness prompted by the change of season can be much more serious. Those experiencing fatigue, difficulty concentrating, weight gain and other symptoms may be suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a mood disorder that affects half a million Americans every year, according to Mental Health America. Add to that the heightened levels of depression in the down economy and the forecast gets even cloudier. Luckily, there are ways to ward off the effects of SAD and other forms of depression, and in some cases it?s as simple as seeing the light. ?We have learned in the past five years that it?s the presence and intensity of light in the blue region of the visible spectrum that suppresses our body?s daytime production of Melatonin, and helps regulate our internal clock known as our circadian rhythm, which signals the bo...
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Sedatives, Mood-Altering Drugs Related to Falls Among Elderly: UBC Study
2009-11-24 03:02:00
Falls among elderly people are significantly associated with several classes of drugs, including sedatives often prescribed as sleep aids and medications used to treat mood disorders, according to a study led by a University of British Columbia expert in pharmaceutical outcomes research. The study, published Nov. 23 in the Archives of Internal Medicine, provides the latest quantitative evidence of the impact of certain classes of medication on falling among seniors. Falling and fall-related complications such as hip fractures are the fifth leading cause of death in the developed world, the study noted. Antidepressants showed the strongest statistical association with falling, possibly because older drugs in this class have significant sedative properties. 
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Mother?s Depression a Risk Factor in Childhood Asthma Symptoms
2009-11-20 19:58:00
Maternal depression can worsen asthma symptoms in their children, according to research from Johns Hopkins Children?s Center published online in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology. Analyzing data from interviews with 262 mothers of African-American children with asthma ? a population disproportionately affected by this inflammatory airway disorder ? the Hopkins investigators found that children whose mothers had more depressive symptoms had more frequent asthma symptoms during the six-months of the study. Conversely, children whose mothers reported fewer depressive symptoms had less frequent asthma symptoms. Researchers tracked ups and downs in maternal depression as related to the frequency of symptoms among children.
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Cognitive Dysfunction Reversed in Mouse Model of Down?s Syndrome
2009-11-18 18:15:00
A study by neuroscientist William C. Mobley, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues at Stanford University Medical School has demonstrated a possible new approach to slowing the inevitable progression of cognitive decline found in Down?s syndrome. The study, published in Science Translational Medicine on November 18, revealed two important new findings about Down?s syndrome in a mouse model: 1) there is evidence that synaptic terminals involved in neurotransmission are damaged long before the cells show degeneration; and 2) while cell signaling is damaged, the receptors are not, but are functioning and still trying to find signals. ?If we focus only on damage to cell bodies, we underestimate the importance of timing and the potential window for treatment of Down?s syndrome,? said Mobley, one of the nation?s leading experts in the disease. He added that this study in mice shows some of the ea...
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UK study warns against anti-psychotics for dementia
2009-11-12 17:21:00
More than 140,000 dementia patients in Britain are given anti-psychotic drugs needlessly and overprescribing of the medicines is linked to an extra 1,800 deaths in elderly people each year, a report said on Thursday. The government-backed review showed that only around 36,000 of around 180,000 dementia patients prescribed anti-psychotics got any benefit from them?findings it said could affect clinical practice in dementia across the world. ?Anti-psychotics are used too often in dementia,? Sube Banerjee, the report?s author and a professor of mental health and ageing at the Institute of Psychiatry at King?s College London, said in a statement. 
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?Invisible Disability? Kids Are Being Left Out
2009-11-11 09:42:00
We are the parents of two children with what are often termed ?invisible disabilities.? Invisible disabilities can include learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorders and Asperger?s syndrome, Tourette?s syndrome and other tic disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other anxiety disorders, mood disorders and behavioral disorders. Why are these disabilities ?invisible?? When you see our children and others similarly diagnosed, you think they are ?typical? children. These kids are often verbal and sometimes highly articulate; they are of average intelligence and even extremely bright, and their ability to maneuver physically, socially and emotionally in the real world seems unimpaired. In reality, these kids are dealing with a lot of complex issues. Many of these children find our loud, smelly, busy world overwhelming and may take refuge by Jewish Theological Seminary shutting the rest of us out. Some seek out even more sensation and have difficulty modulating their voic...
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Your mental health matters
2009-11-11 09:39:00
About a year and a half ago, just before I started my third year at Queen?s, my life changed dramatically. The black cloud of major depressive disorder spread over my life, so slowly and insidiously that I was unaware of its arrival for months. A simple Google search for ?depression? brings you a list of the classic symptoms?most of which I had. But Google doesn?t tell you depression is an elusive illness?sneaking up on you quietly until you?re lost and unable to find a way out.
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