http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—A research team made up of a group of private practitioners and medical experts has conducted a follow-up study of a trial of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) use in therapy sessions to treat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In describing their results in their paper published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, the team says that 17 of 20 patients who participated in the original study reported positive results long term. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-follow-up-benefit-mdma-people-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 21 Nov 2012 09:40:01 EST news272711659 Recent combat veterans who are diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder have significantly smaller volume in an area of the brain critical for regulating fear and anxiety responses, according to research led by scientists at Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-ptsd-linked-smaller-brain-area.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 05 Nov 2012 16:00:10 EST news271337293 (Medical Xpress)—A new study indicates that about one-third of asylum-seeking Afghan children who arrive in the UK without their parents or a guardian are likely to be experience symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder. However, they also found those in foster care were less likely to be suffering from PTSD than those in shared accommodation with other asylum-seekers and refugees. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-afghan-children-asylum-uk-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 19 Oct 2012 07:16:37 EST news269849789 (Medical Xpress)—Researchers at Stanford University have developed a procedure that reduces a fear response in mice. It involves, team lead Asya Rolls said as she presented the groups' findings at this year's meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, injecting a protein synthesis inhibitor into the brain and then exposing the mice to a fear trigger while they sleep. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-procedure-response-mice.html Neuroscience Fri, 19 Oct 2012 07:03:53 EST news269849016 Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who are also battling drug or alcohol problems face a higher risk of death, according to new research from the University of Michigan Health System and the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-substance-use-disorders-linked-death-veterans.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 18 Sep 2012 11:29:57 EST news267186574 (Medical Xpress) -- Research has shown that women are at greater risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than men. Now, scientists based at the UCSF-affiliated San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (SFVAMC) have found that women with the condition might be more likely to experience faster aging at the cellular level and increased risk for diseases of aging than men with PTSD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-women-health-due-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 16 Aug 2012 09:27:25 EST news264327944 Among couples in which one partner was diagnosed as having posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), participation in disorder-specific couple therapy resulted in decreased PTSD symptom severity and increased patient relationship satisfaction, compared with couples who were placed on a wait list for the therapy, according to a study in the August 15 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-couple-therapy-decrease-ptsd-symptoms.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:00:01 EST news264160226 (Medical Xpress) -- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) develops in individuals who experience highly traumatizing situations such as terrorist attacks and car accidents, but symptoms can also come about after normal life events — including childbirth. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-post-partum-women-ptsd-symptoms-birth.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 08 Aug 2012 10:34:06 EST news263640837 (Medical Xpress) -- For the first time, a behavioral intervention delivered to patients within hours of a traumatic event appears to be effective at reducing posttraumatic stress reactions (PTSR). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-speedy-intervention-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 09 Jul 2012 08:06:39 EST news261039973 Most people have intense emotional reactions to traumatizing events like road accidents or combat. But some suffer far longer, caught in the grip of long-term debilitating disorders such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Because doctors cannot predict who will develop these disorders, however, early or preventive intervention is not available. Now, a new project led by researchers at Tel Aviv University seeks to identify pre-traumatic subjects — those who are more susceptible to long-standing disorders if exposed to a traumatic incident. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-post-traumatic-stress-disorder.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 13 Jun 2012 17:52:17 EST news258828705 Researchers at Duke University and the National Institutes of Health have found a way to calm the fears of anxious mice with a drug that alters their brain chemistry. They've also found that human genetic differences related to the same brain chemistry influence how well people cope with fear and stress. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-brain-chemistry-easily.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 12 Jun 2012 04:00:06 EST news258658375 American Soldiers are reaping the rewards of an innovative Army program designed to identify and treat Soldiers at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or depression earlier by conducting behavioral health screening at all primary care visits. During the American Psychiatric Association's annual meeting last month, Col. Charles Engel, M.D., M.P.H., described the RESPECT-Mil program and its results to date in his presentation, "Effective Integrated Mental Health & Primary Care Services in the U.S. Military." Col. Engel is the RESPECT-Mil program director, director of the Department of Defense Deployment Health Clinical Center at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and senior scientist at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress. He is also associate chair (Research) of the Department of Psychiatry at the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Md. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-ptsd-outcomes-army-behavioral-health.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 06 Jun 2012 12:56:10 EST news258206161 Studies have found that police demonstrated considerable resilience to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to other disaster workers after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center (WTC). This has been attributed to effective screening and extensive training in the police force. New research suggests that, despite this greater resilience to PTSD, 15.4% of police endorse symptoms of subsyndromal PTSD that do not reach the level for a formal diagnosis of PTSD, but which are nonetheless associated with elevated rates of other psychiatric disorders and functional difficulties. The study is published online in advance of publication in the July issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-burden-full-subsyndromal-ptsd-police.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 05 Jun 2012 11:46:26 EST news258115462 (HealthDay) -- Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is independently associated with urgency/mixed urinary incontinence (UI) symptoms in female veterans, according to a study published in the June issue of the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-ptsd-linked-urinary-incontinence-female.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Fri, 01 Jun 2012 14:50:01 EST news257775117 (AP) -- America's newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-vets-disability.html Health Sun, 27 May 2012 14:40:45 EST news257348423 A decade after the start of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, studies have shown that the incidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among troops is surprisingly low, and a Harvard researcher credits the drop, in part, to new efforts by the Army to prevent PTSD, and to ensure those who do develop the disorder receive the best treatment available. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-ptsd-afghanistan-iraq-soldiers.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 17 May 2012 14:00:02 EST news256475820 Women are more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress than men after leaving an intensive care unit (ICU), finds a new study published in BioMed Central's open access journal Critical Care. However, psychological and physical 'follow-up' can reduce both this and post-ICU depression. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-post-traumatic-stress-intensive.html Psychology & Psychiatry Sun, 13 May 2012 20:00:01 EST news256048165 (AP) -- It is still not known if the soldier accused of killing 17 Afghans was ever diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder - but even if he had been, that alone would not have prevented him from being sent back to war. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-army-ptsd-treatable-war.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 23 Mar 2012 04:13:19 EST news251694791 Physical violence, sexual abuse and other forms of childhood and adult trauma are major factors fueling the epidemic of HIV/AIDS among American women. Scientists have known for years that traumatized women are at greater risk of becoming infected. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-trauma-hiv-epidemic-women.html HIV & AIDS Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:00:01 EST news251396763 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans with mental health diagnoses, particularly posttraumatic stress disorder, are more likely to receive prescription opioid medications for pain-related conditions, have higher-risk opioid use patterns and increased adverse clinical outcomes associated with opioid use than veterans with no mental health diagnoses, according to a study in the March 7 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-war-veterans-mental-health-prescription.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 06 Mar 2012 16:00:05 EST news250268714 (Medical Xpress) -- Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a condition in which people find themselves experiencing intense fear following a traumatic experience due to unrelated circumstances. It’s quite common in soldiers returning from the battlefield but can also be found in people that have experienced an assault, abuse or tragedy such as surviving a hurricane or tornado. And because it can persist for years after the initial trauma, those that suffer from it can find their lives seriously disrupted. Because of this, research into ways to treat the condition has been ongoing by both military and civilian entities. Now, a French team of researchers has found, as they describe in their paper published in Science, a way to induce what appears to be PTSD symptoms in mice, a move that could help scientists better understand the chemical processes that go on in the brain in people with the disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-ptsd-symptoms-mice.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 24 Feb 2012 09:00:44 EST news249296432 Children in the U.S. whose activity choices, interests, and pretend play before age 11 fall outside those typically expressed by their biological sex face increased risk of being physically, psychologically, and sexually abused, and of suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) by early adulthood, according to a new study led by researchers at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). It is the first study to use a population-based sample to look at gender nonconformity as a risk factor for abuse. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-children-elevated-abuse-future-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 20 Feb 2012 04:50:01 EST news248934745 Soldiers in the National Guard with no history of alcohol abuse are at significant risk of developing alcohol-related problems during and after deployment, according to a new study published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence journal. Researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health and colleagues at three other institutions found that the soldiers at greatest risk of developing alcohol-related problems also experienced depression and/or PTSD during or after deployment. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-national-guardsmen-high-alcohol-abuse.html Health Thu, 16 Feb 2012 14:30:01 EST news248624433 A leading cause of post-traumatic stress disorder is guilt that troops experience because of moral dilemmas faced in combat, according to preliminary findings of a study of active-duty Marines. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-guilt-factor-ptsd.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 06 Dec 2011 11:10:01 EST news242383054 (Medical Xpress) -- In a new study, University of Michigan researchers identified brain circuits in rats that are responsible for the return of fear after it has been suppressed behaviorally. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-insight-relapse-trauma.html Neuroscience Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:26:05 EST news241763149 (Medical Xpress) -- Even after surviving cancer treatment, a new study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology reports that many cancer patients suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, that can worsen as the years go by. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-cancer-patients-ptsd-years-diagnosis.html Cancer Fri, 14 Oct 2011 11:14:11 EST news237809637 Prolonged exposure therapy, cognitive therapy, and delayed prolonged exposure therapy, appear to reduce posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms in patients who have experienced a recent traumatic event, according to a report published Online First by Archives of General Psychiatry. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-therapies-beneficial-ptsd-symptoms-trauma.html Psychology & Psychiatry Mon, 03 Oct 2011 17:14:36 EST news236880860 Thirty-one percent of women veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan who were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder reported military sexual trauma (MST), in contrast to one percent of men with PTSD, according to a study led by Shira Maguen, PhD, a psychologist at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-iraqafghanistan-women-veterans-ptsd-military.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 15 Sep 2011 13:22:18 EST news235311702 In the wake of the 10th Anniversary of the September 11th attacks, research published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress reveals how the attacks impacted the psychological processes of those not directly exposed to the attacks. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-emotional-impact-brain-response-negative.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 09 Sep 2011 09:47:19 EST news234780427 Patients with military-related, chronic posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and symptoms that were not improved with use of an antidepressant medication did not experience a reduction in PTSD symptoms with use of the antipsychotic medication risperidone, according to a study in the August 3 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-antipsychotics-military-related-chronic-ptsd-symptoms.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 02 Aug 2011 16:00:01 EST news231512791