http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Abuse during childhood is different. A study of adult civilians with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) has shown that individuals with a history of childhood abuse have distinct, profound changes in gene activity patterns, compared to adults with PTSD but without a history of child abuse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-ptsd-distinct-gene-patterns-childhood.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 01 May 2013 16:02:40 EST news286642947 "Eat your veggies" has been an admonition of parents through the ages, but newly published brain research from the University of Georgia provides one of the best reasons why. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-pigment-eye-key-obesity-vision.html Health Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:10:01 EST news286180857 (HealthDay)—Eugene King ran away from home at the age of 16, the start of a lifelong pattern of drug abuse, crime and incarceration. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-mental-illness-frequent-cell-bars.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 05 Apr 2013 11:50:01 EST news284380431 Depression may inhibit the anti-inflammatory effects typically associated with physical activity and light-to-moderate alcohol consumption, according to researchers at Duke Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-people-depression-reap-full-benefits.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 26 Mar 2013 12:29:47 EST news283519780 Women who experienced physical, emotional, or sexual abuse as children are more likely to have a child with autism than women who were not abused, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). Those who experienced the most serious abuse had the highest likelihood of having a child with autism—three-and-a-half times more than women who were not abused. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-women-abused-children-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:25:31 EST news283015524 Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants taken by a woman during pregnancy do not impact her infant's growth over the first year, reports a new study from a Northwestern Medicine scientist. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-antidepressants-pregnant-moms-dont-affect.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:10:01 EST news282938698 Heart disease patients who have anxiety have twice the risk of dying from any cause compared to those without anxiety, according to new research in the Journal of the American Heart Association. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-anxiety-depression-heart-disease-patients.html Cardiology Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:00:08 EST news282927238 New research from Harvard School of Public Health (HPSH) shows that one year after the federal government passed a law banning word descriptors such as "light," "mild," and "low" on cigarette packages, smokers can still easily identify their brands because of color-coding that tobacco companies added to "light" packs after the ban. These findings suggest that the companies have, in effect, been able to evade the ban on misleading wording—thus still conveying the false and deceptive message that lights are safer than "regular" cigarettes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-tobacco-industry-evaded-fda-cigarette.html Health Wed, 13 Mar 2013 16:00:09 EST news282404825 (Medical Xpress)—In a surprise breakthrough, researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute and their colleagues have found that microglia remove healthy neural progenitor cells (NPCs) through phagocytosis to control neuron production during brain development. This newly discovered mechanism keeps neuron numbers in check, preventing brain overgrowth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-microglia-neuron-production-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 27 Feb 2013 09:49:44 EST news281180973 Bullied children grow into adults who are at increased risk of developing anxiety disorders, depression and suicidal thoughts, according to a study led by researchers at Duke Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-bullied-children-psychological-adults.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 20 Feb 2013 16:00:02 EST news280598010 (HealthDay)—Treating major depression safely and affordably is a challenge. Now, Brazilian researchers have found that two techniques often used individually produce better results when used together. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-electrical-brain-drug-depression.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 06 Feb 2013 17:20:04 EST news279392682 Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a rare gene mutation in a single family with a high rate of schizophrenia, adding to evidence that abnormal genes play a role in the development of the disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-evidence-mounts-role-mutated-genes.html Genetics Tue, 22 Jan 2013 04:00:01 EST news278012810 Although we profess to hate it, lying is common, useful and pretty much universal. It is one of the most durable threads in our social fabric and an important bulwark of our self-esteem. We start lying by the age of 4 and we do it at least several times a day, researchers have found. And we get better with practice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-lance-armstrong-liars-experts.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 21 Jan 2013 04:40:36 EST news277965605 Among those who suffer from depression, the dual inabilities to experience enjoyment in things once pleasurable and to physically motivate oneself—to meet challenges, or even to get out of bed in the morning—have been documented for decades, though it has been mysterious why these very different kinds of symptoms show up together, and also disappear together when depression is successfully treated. It has been suspected that the brain chemical dopamine could be a key player in the illness. And yet, in the long history of the study of depression, no one has been able to clearly tie these key concepts together, until now. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-scientists-relieve-depression-symptoms-mice.html Neuroscience Wed, 12 Dec 2012 13:00:12 EST news274534134 Researchers at Johns Hopkins Medicine in November surgically implanted a pacemaker-like device into the brain of a patient in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, the first such operation in the United States. The device, which provides deep brain stimulation and has been used in thousands of people with Parkinson's disease, is seen as a possible means of boosting memory and reversing cognitive decline. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-johns-hopkins-surgeons-implant-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 05 Dec 2012 10:49:46 EST news273926978 Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a form of learning that begins at the moment of the exposure to extremely stressful situations and that grows in impact as trauma-related memories are rehearsed and strengthened repeatedly. This somewhat oversimplified view of PTSD yields a powerful prediction: if one could disrupt the rehearsal and strengthening of traumatic memories, a process called reconsolidation of memories, then one might reduce PTSD risk or PTSD severity after potentially traumatic events. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-posttraumatic-stress-disorder-trauma-memories.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 27 Nov 2012 09:54:56 EST news273232483 Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have demonstrated, in a study conducted jointly with researchers at Yale University, that induced-pluripotent stem cells—the embryonic-stem-cell lookalikes whose discovery a few years ago won this year's Nobel Prize in medicine—are not as genetically unstable as was thought. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-insight-subtle-genomic-differences-cells.html Medical research Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:00:32 EST news272462224 Whether you are an apple tree or an antelope, survival depends on using your energy efficiently. In a difficult or dangerous situation, the key question is whether exerting effort—sending out roots in search of nutrients in a drought or running at top speed from a predator—will be worth the energy. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-optogenetics-illuminates-pathways-brain.html Neuroscience Sun, 18 Nov 2012 13:00:18 EST news272462332 Mental health experts from Meharry Medical College School of Medicine have released the first comprehensive report on the correlation between the incarceration of African American males and substance abuse and other health problems in the United States. Published in Frontiers in Psychology on the 12th of November, the report looks at decades of data concerning the African American population rates of incarceration and subsequent health issues. The authors conclude that the moral and economic costs of current racial disparities in the judicial system are fundamentally avoidable, especially if more resources are spent on education and treatment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-systematic-incarceration-african-american-males.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sun, 11 Nov 2012 18:00:01 EST news271871305 Results of a Johns Hopkins study suggest that individuals with schizophrenia are significantly more likely to live longer if they take their antipsychotic drugs on schedule, avoid extremely high doses and also regularly see a mental health professional. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-antipsychotic-drugs-life-individuals-schizophrenia.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 01 Nov 2012 04:38:45 EST news270963171 Habits are behaviors wired so deeply in our brains that we perform them automatically. This allows you to follow the same route to work every day without thinking about it, liberating your brain to ponder other things, such as what to make for dinner. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-neuroscientists-brain-region-habits.html Neuroscience Tue, 30 Oct 2012 07:55:51 EST news270801659 (Medical Xpress)—A study conducted by researchers at Emory indicates that inflammation targets a part of the brain called the basal ganglia, causing symptoms of depression and fatigue. The study was recently reported in the October edition of Archives of General Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-uncovering-source-inflammatory-malaise.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 22 Oct 2012 07:15:50 EST news270108943 (HealthDay) -- A new system of caring for people with dementia in their homes could keep them from having to move into nursing homes and improve their quality of life, new research suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-home-based-teams-dementia.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 18 Jul 2012 18:00:01 EST news261850077 (Medical Xpress) -- Johns Hopkins researchers say they have discovered a cause-and-effect relationship between two well-established biological risk factors for schizophrenia previously believed to be independent of one another. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-link-biological-factors-schizophrenia.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 17 Jul 2012 06:36:30 EST news261725780 Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have laid bare a novel molecular mechanism responsible for the most important symptom of major depression: anhedonia, the loss of the ability to experience pleasure. While their study was conducted in mice, the brain circuit involved in this newly elucidated pathway is largely identical between rodents and humans, upping the odds that the findings point toward new therapies for depression and other disorders. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-scientists-potential-anhedonia-major.html Medical research Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:00:07 EST news261223117 One of the brain's jobs is to help us figure out what's important enough to be remembered. Scientists at Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University have achieved some insight into how fleeting experiences become memories in the brain. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-when-being-scared-twice-is.html Neuroscience Tue, 12 Jun 2012 17:02:28 EST news258739339 What goes bump in the night? In many U.S. households: people. That's according to new Stanford University School of Medicine research, which found that about 3.6 percent of U.S. adults are prone to sleepwalking. The work also showed an association between nocturnal wanderings and certain psychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-sleepwalking-prevalent-adults-previously.html Neuroscience Mon, 14 May 2012 16:00:03 EST news256228005 A study on a handful of people with suspected mild Alzheimer's disease (AD) suggests that a device that sends continuous electrical impulses to specific "memory" regions of the brain appears to increase neuronal activity. Results of the study using deep brain stimulation, a therapy already used in some patients with Parkinson's disease and depression, may offer hope for at least some with AD, an intractable disease with no cure. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-deep-brain-mild-alzheimer-disease.html Neuroscience Mon, 07 May 2012 16:00:17 EST news255615020 The collaborative TEAMcare program for people with depression and either diabetes, heart disease, or both appears at least to pay for itself, according to a UW Medicine and Group Health Research Institute report in the May 7 Archives of General Psychiatry. Over two years, after accounting for the $1,224 per patient that the program cost, it may save as much as $594 per patient in outpatient costs. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-team-chronic-diseases-cost-effective.html Health Mon, 07 May 2012 16:00:07 EST news255613977 A history of binge eating -- consuming large amounts of food in a short period of time -- may make an individual more likely to show other addiction-like behaviors, including substance abuse, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers. In the short term, this finding may shed light on the factors that promote substance abuse, addiction, and relapse. In the long term, may help clinicians treat individuals suffering from this devastating disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-binge-addiction-like-behaviors.html Neuroscience Tue, 24 Apr 2012 11:16:46 EST news254485000