Tag Archives: depression

Lesbian and gay young people twice as likely to smoke and drink alcohol

By Guest PostSeptember 3, 2013Healthalcohol drinking patterns, bisexual, bmj open, depression, drink alcohol, frequent intoxication, gareth hagger johnson, gay, hazardous alcohol drinking, heterosexism, heterosexual peers, homophobia, lesbian, london metropolitan university, longitudinal study, minority stress, public health england, research, smoke, social change, symptoms of anxiety, ucl, university of cambridge, young people

Young people who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual are twice as likely to have smoked than their heterosexual peers, according to new research published in BMJ Open. Lesbian and gay young people were also more likely to drink alcohol frequently and more hazardously.

The interdisciplinary research team comprised researchers from five UK Universities (UCL, University of Cambridge, London Metropolitan University, De Montfort University Leicester and Brunel University), a doctor working in General Practice and a consultant from Public Health England. (more…)

Good Vibrations: Mediating Mood Through Brain Ultrasound

By Guest PostJuly 19, 2013Health, Scienceairport code, analog, anatomical structures, anesthesiology, anxiety, blood vessels, brain stimulation, brain ultrasound, clinical trial, depression, good vibrations, high frequency vibrations, human brains, jamie tyler, jay sanguinetti, john allen, mediating mood, megahertz frequencies, microtubules, mood scale, neurotrek, organs, placebo, protein structure, psychiatric disorders, psychological, silicon valley, stuart hameroff, tms, transcranial magnetic stimulation, tucson, ultrasound machine, ultrasound vibrations, university of arizona, vams, virginia polytechnic institute, visual, womb

Ultrasound vibrations applied to the brain may affect mood, UA researchers have discovered. The finding potentially could lead to new treatments for psychological and psychiatric disorders.

University of Arizona researchers have found in a recent study that ultrasound waves applied to specific areas of the brain appear able to alter patients’ moods. The discovery has led the scientists to conduct further investigations with the hope that this technique could one day be used to treat conditions such as depression and anxiety.

Dr. Stuart Hameroff, professor emeritus of the UA’s departments of anesthesiology and psychology and director of the UA’s Center for Consciousness Studies, is lead author on the first clinical study of brain ultrasound, which was published in the journal Brain Stimulation. (more…)

Living in Poor Area as Teen Could Increase Risk for Chlamydia in Young Adulthood

By Guest PostJune 12, 2013Healthaccessed data, bacterial infection, behavioral issues, census data, christopher browning, depression, jodi ford, multiple sex partners, ohio state university, poor area, risk for chlamydia, risky sexual behaviors, sexual activity, sexual risk, sexually transmitted infection, sti, sti risk factors, teen, young adulthood

Study Points to Need for Interventions That Address Neighborhood Poverty

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Living in a poor neighborhood as an adolescent is linked to an increased risk of getting the sexually transmitted infection (STI) chlamydia in young adulthood, according to new research.

Ohio State University researchers analyzed data from a large national study that tracked youths over time. The analysis suggested that children who lived in poor neighborhoods during their teenage years had an almost 25 percent greater risk of having chlamydia in their early 20s – even if they themselves weren’t poor – than did teenagers living in wealthier settings. (more…)

Blast concussions could cause pituitary deficiencies in war vets

By Guest PostJune 3, 2013Healthafghanistan, behavioral sciences, blast concussions, brain injuries, charles w wilkinson, clinical evaluation, depression, elaine r peskind, elizabeth a colasurdo, frequency, hormones, hypopituitarism, Iraq, jane b shofer, kathleen f pagulayan, mental health, oxytocin, pituitary deficiencies, pituitary hormone levels, post traumatic, ptsd, sexual function, stress disorder, university of washington, vasopressin, veterans, war vets

Many veterans suffering from blast concussions may have hormone deficiencies that mimic some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, according to researchers with the Department of Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System and the University of Washington.

The researchers screened 35 veterans with blast injuries. They found that 42 percent had irregular hormone levels indicative of hypopituitarism, a condition that can often be controlled by replacing the deficient hormones. (more…)

Is this Peptide a Key to Happiness?

By Guest PostMarch 17, 2013Healthashley m blouin, biological cause, brain chemistry, charles l wilson, depression, disorder, happiness, happy, hypocretin, itzhak fried, jerome siegel, key, kidney dialysis, mch, melanin concentrating hormone, neurochemical changes, neurotransmitter, peptide, psychiatric disorders, pursuit of pleasure, radioimmunoassay procedure, richard j staba, social interactions, ssris

UCLA findings suggests possible new treatment for depression, other disorders

What makes us happy? Family? Money? Love? How about a peptide?

The neurochemical changes underlying human emotions and social behavior are largely unknown. Now though, for the first time in humans, scientists at UCLA have measured the release of a specific peptide, a neurotransmitter called hypocretin, that greatly increased when subjects were happy but decreased when they were sad. (more…)

A Neural Basis for Benefits of Meditation

By Guest PostFebruary 28, 2013Healthalpha rhythms, alpha theory, alpha wave amplitude, benefits of meditation, body, brain imaging technology, brain process, breath sensations, brown university, brown university scientists, catherine kerr, christopher moore, chronic pain, chronic pain signals, computer simulation, cortex, cortical alpha rhythms, depression, depressive cognitions, electrical activity, emotional benefits, filters sensations, localized alpha brainwaves, localized alpha rhythms, magnetoencephalography, mapped by brain, massachusetts general hospital, matthew sacchet, meg, mind and body, mindfulness meditation training, model, modulate alpha, negative physical sensations, negative thoughts, neural basis, neural networks, primary somatosensory cortex, professor of neuroscience, reduces distress, regions of thalamus, sara lazar, sensory, somatosensory alpha rhythms, stanford university, stephanie jones, thalamic nuclei, volume knob

Mindfulness meditation training in awareness of present moment experience, such as body and breath sensations, prevents depression and reduces distress in chronic pain. In a new paper, Brown University scientists propose a neurophysiological framework to explain these clinical benefits.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — Why does training in mindfulness meditation help patients manage chronic pain and depression? In a newly published neurophysiological review, Brown University scientists propose that mindfulness practitioners gain enhanced control over sensory cortical alpha rhythms that help regulate how the brain processes and filters sensations, including pain, and memories such as depressive cognitions. (more…)

UCLA Study First to Image Concussion-Related Abnormal Brain Proteins in Retired NFL Players

By Guest PostJanuary 24, 2013Healthabnormal gait, abnormal tau proteins, alzheimer's disease, american journal, amyloid beta plaques, athletes, autopsy, body mass index, brain imaging tool, brain injury, brain pathology, centers, chemical marker, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, clinical assessment, cognitive, cognitive ability, confusion, cte, degenerative condition, degree of depression, dementia, depression, disease control, early detection, early symptoms, family history, fddnp, fran, gary small, gauge, geriatric psychiatry, hallmarks of alzheimers, ham d, hamilton rating scale, intravenous injections, jorge r barrio, julian bailes, linda m ercoli, memory loss, mental state examination, mild, mini, mmse, mood symptoms, national football league, neurofibrillary tau tangles, personality changes, PET, player, positron emission tomography, prabha siddarth, prevention, progression in cte, progressive dementia, protein, ray stark foundation, repair damage, risk, sports related concussions, suicidal behavior, traumatic brain injuries, traumatic brain injury, tremors, vladimir kepe, wayne clark

Technique may lead to earlier diagnosis, tracking of brain disorders in athletes

Sports-related concussions and mild traumatic brain injuries have grabbed headlines in recent months, as the long-term damage they can cause becomes increasingly evident among both current and former athletes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that millions of these injuries occur each year.

Despite the devastating consequences of traumatic brain injury and the large number of athletes playing contact sports who are at risk, no method has been developed for early detection or tracking of the brain pathology associated with these injuries. (more…)

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Proves Effective at Reducing Depression in People Who Have not Responded to Antidepressants

By Guest PostDecember 12, 2012Healthantidepressant medication, antidepressants, australia, bristol, cbt, chris williams, cobait team, cognitive behavioural therapy, controlled trial, depression, emer oneill, exeter, first line treatment, glasgow, john campbell, mood disorders centre, nicola wiles, patients, psychological treatments, symptoms, talking therapy, treatment, uk, universities, willem kuyken, World Health Organisation

Antidepressants are the most widely used treatment for people with moderate to severe depression.

However, up to two thirds of people with depression don’t respond fully to this type of treatment. New findings have shown cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), provided in addition to usual care, can reduce symptoms of depression and help improve patients’ quality of life.

This is the first large-scale trial to test the effectiveness of CBT – a type of talking psychotherapy- given in addition to usual care that includes antidepressants. The National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment (NIHR HTA)-funded CoBalT study aimed to determine the best ‘next step’ treatment for people whose depression had not responded to medication alone. (more…)