health 78

Researchers at the University of Sussex and University College London systematically reviewed evidence from a large number of medical studies, looking for associations between eight chronic physical illnesses in childhood, such as arthritis , asthma and cancer, and emotional problems experienced by the sufferers in later life. The paper, published today in the  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry  ( JCPP ), reveals that the sufferers of all chronic conditions reviewed were at increased risk of developing depression or anxiety , emotional problems that persisted beyond childhood and adolescence and into adult life. The results suggest that mental health prevention and intervention strategies which specifically target chronic illness sufferers in youth could be vital in treating mental health issues before they develop into more serious long term conditions. Speaking about the findings, psychologist Dr Darya Gaysina, senior researcher on the project at the Univer...

Led by King's College London, the research shows that people with severe mental illness (SMI), including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, have a 53 per cent higher risk for having cardiovascular disease than healthy controls, with a 78 per cent higher risk of developing cardiovascular disease over the longer term. Their risk of dying from the disease was also 85 per cent higher than people of a similar age in the general population. Published online in  World Psychiatry , these findings highlight the importance of regularly screening SMI patients for cardiovascular risk and also point towards a number of potentially modifiable risk factors. It is well documented that people with SMI die 10 to 15 years earlier than the general population, largely due to cardiovascular disease, including heart disease, heart attack and stroke. This new study is the largest ever meta-analysis of SMI and cardiovascular disease, including over 3.2 million patients and more ...

The study aimed to identify potential adverse events related to beta-interferon treatment for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis by analyzing health records of over 2,000 British Columbians with multiple sclerosis between 1995 and 2008. "Once a drug is released on the market, there are very few ways to systematically monitor adverse events," said Helen Tremlett, senior author of the study and a professor in the department of medicine at the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health. "Clinical trials cannot identify all adverse effects of a drug treatment partly due to small sample sizes and relatively short follow-up periods." The study found an increased risk of events such as stroke, migraine and depression, as well as abnormalities in the blood with taking beta interferon for multiple sclerosis . "Beta interferons are generally thought of as having a favourable safety profile, especially compared to the newer therapies for multiple sclerosis. A...

Since the 1980s, numerous studies have appeared which suggest a high risk of mortality among people suffering from depression. This has generally been taken as evidence that depression directly causes death. As part of their study, researchers Beyon Miloyan and Eiko Fried re-evaluated this supposed link by reassessing 293 studies derived from 15 systematic reviews. The studies in question comprised over 3.6 million participants and 400,000 deaths. Despite the widespread suggestion that depression leads to more death, at least 95% of the studies the researchers investigated were found to be of insufficient quality. Using quantitative and qualitative methods, the researchers identified a pronounced publication bias. Specifically, studies that identified the largest associations between depression and mortality featured small samples, a low number of deaths, and short follow-up periods. Moreover, the researchers discovered that only about 5% of the 293 studies adjusted their statistic...

The idea behind moral enhancement technologies is to use biomedical techniques to make people more moral. For example, using drugs or surgical techniques to treat criminals who have exhibited moral defects. "There are existing ways that people have explored to manipulate morality, but the question we address in this paper is whether manipulating morality actually improves it," says Veljko Dubljevic, lead author of the paper and an assistant professor of philosophy at NC State who studies the ethics of neuroscience and technology. Dubljevic and co-author Eric Racine of the IRCM reviewed the existing research on moral enhancement technologies that have been used in humans to assess the effects of these technologies and how they may apply in real-world circumstances. Specifically, the researchers looked at four types of pharmaceutical interventions and three neurostimulation techniques: Oxytocin is a neuropeptide that plays a critical role in social cognition, bonding ...

That is the finding of researchers from the Spectrum Centre for Mental Health Research at Lancaster University, who recruited 97 parents with Bipolar Disorder who have children aged between 3 and ten years old. They were split into two groups, with one being offered an Integrated Bipolar Parenting Intervention ( IBPI ) online. This includes sixteen modules lasting half an hour each looking at different aspects of parenting, supported by video and audio material. The site aims to support parents in two ways: To learn more both their bipolar disorder and how best to self manage it building on their own personal strengths To enhance their current parenting skills to encourage desirable behaviour in their children Child behaviour, parenting sense of competence and parenting stress improved significantly in the group using online support for the whole of the 48 weeks study, which is published in the  Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry . Lead author Professor Steven...

The study by Deborah Gibson-Smith from VU University Medical Center in the Netherlands and colleagues found that being overweight at age 8 or 13 was associated with more than triple the risk of developing major depression at some point in their lives, whilst carrying excess weight over a lifetime (both as a child and as an adult) quadrupled the chance of developing depression compared to only being overweight as an adult. More than one in three children in the USA are overweight and nearly one in five children aged between 2 and 19 years are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. A similar picture emerges in England where one in three 10- and 11-year-olds in their last primary school year are now overweight or obese, according to the National Child Measurement Programme. Previous studies have shown that people who are obese are more likely to become depressed , but few have looked at the influence of early-life obesity over the long term, or the age-...

Probiotics could relieve signs of melancholy, suggests a brand new examine. Credit score: © WrightStudio / Fotolia Probiotics could relieve signs of melancholy, in addition to assist gastrointestinal upset, analysis from McMaster College has discovered. In a examine revealed within the medical journal  Gastroenterology , researchers of the Farncombe Household Digestive Well being Analysis Institute discovered that twice as many adults with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) reported enhancements from co-existing melancholy after they took a selected probiotic than adults with IBS who took a placebo. The examine gives additional proof of the microbiota surroundings within the intestines being in direct communication with the mind stated senior creator Dr. Premysl Bercik, an affiliate professor of drugs at McMaster and a gastroenterologist for Hamilton Well being Sciences. "This examine exhibits that consumption of a selected probiotic can enhance each in...

In this study, published in  Frontiers in Psychology , the researchers wanted to investigate the self-reported effects on mood that comes with listening to sad music in group settings, and how mood is influenced by rumination (a maladaptive focus on negative thoughts), depression, and coping style. To do so, they recruited 697 participants who completed an online survey about "their ways of using music, types of musical engagement and the effect of music listening." The participants also completed a number of additional questionnaires, which helped the researchers determine factors such as: the presence of symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress; general tendencies towards depression; coping styles, i.e. tendencies towards rumination or reflection (i.e. healthier tendencies to self-reflection); musical engagement as a measurement of wellbeing; as well as questionnaires addressing a variety of aspects of music listening, both alone and in a group. The results reveal two ...

Mindfulness may be good for new moms. A study this month from researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) shows mindfulness training that addresses fear and pain during childbirth can improve women's childbirth experiences and reduce their depression symptoms during pregnancy and the early postpartum period. "Fear of the unknown affects us all, and perhaps none more so than pregnant women," says lead author Larissa Duncan, UW-Madison professor of human development and family studies. "With mindfulness skills, women in our study reported feeling better able to cope with childbirth and they experienced improved mental well-being critical for healthy mother-infant adjustment in the first year of life." The study also suggests that pregnant women who practice mindfulness may use less medication for pain during labor. Many women and their healthcare providers are concerned about the use of medicat...