Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Psychiatry for May 2009. This roundup includes the latest research news from journal articles, as well as the FDA approvals and regulatory changes that are the most likely to affect clinical practice.
Watching Advanced Dementia Video Affects Care Decisions
FRIDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Showing elderly people a video depicting advanced dementia after they hear a verbal description, affects the choices they make about end-of-life care, according to a study published online May 28 in BMJ.
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Childhood Exposure to Violent Parents Raises Depression Risk
FRIDAY, May 29 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who were exposed to parental violence during childhood are more likely to have mental health problems and become violent spouses and parents themselves, according to a study published online on May 28 in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
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Perimenopause Temporarily Affects Cognitive Performance
THURSDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) -- Perimenopause may be associated with some declines in cognitive performance which return to premenopausal levels after menopause, and hormone therapy has differential effects on cognitive performance depending on the time of initiation, according to a study in the May 26 issue of Neurology.
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Depressed Teens See Barriers to Getting Mental Health Care
THURSDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) -- Adolescents with depression are prone to perceive multiple barriers to getting mental health care, and consequently often do not get any kind of regular treatment, according to a study in the June issue of Medical Care.
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Computerized Prescription Order Errors a Risk for Patients
THURSDAY, May 28 (HealthDay News) -- Computerized provider order entry systems are prone to input errors that may put patients at risk, according to a study published in the May 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Focus on Meaningful Work Protects Doctors From Burnout
THURSDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Academic faculty physicians who focus on what they find most meaningful are less likely to experience burnout, according to a study published in the May 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Age Affects Alzheimer's Pathology Link to Dementia
WEDNESDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Most neuropathological changes associated with Alzheimer's disease are strongly associated with dementia only in younger elderly persons, according to a study in the May 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Abused Teenage Girls at Risk for Internet Victimization
WEDNESDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Teenage girls who have suffered childhood abuse or present themselves provocatively online are at greater risk for sexual solicitation and victimization, according to a study in the June 6 issue of Pediatrics.
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Web and Computer Programs Effective in Smoking Cessation
WEDNESDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- Web-based and computer-based smoking cessation programs can be effective in getting people to quit smoking, according to a meta-analysis of clinical trials of those interventions reported in the May 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Three-Step Program Helps Manage Depression and Pain
TUESDAY, May 27 (HealthDay News) -- In patients with depression and chronic pain, an optimized three-step intervention may lead to significant improvements in both conditions, according to a study published in the May 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Childhood Attention Problems May Affect Academic Results
TUESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- Children who have difficulty paying attention at the age of 6 are more likely to have lower attainment scores for math and reading at age 17, according to a study published in the June issue of Pediatrics.
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Morphine Metabolite May Increase Pain Sensitivity
TUESDAY, May 26 (HealthDay News) -- Injections of the morphine metabolite morphine-6β-glucuronide (M6G) -- a potent analgesic in humans -- may also cause hyperalgesia, according to research published in the June issue of Anesthesiology.
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Vitamin D Linked to Cognitive Function in Men
MONDAY, May 25 (HealthDay News) -- The level of vitamin D in the blood is associated with cognitive function in middle-aged and older men, according to a study published online May 21 in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.
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Breast Tumors Linked to Depression and Anxiety
THURSDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- The mere presence of breast tumors in rats is associated with depression and anxiety, according to a study published online May 18 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Democrats Set Ambitious Goal for Health Care Reform
THURSDAY, May 21 (HealthDay News) -- Congressional Democrats face formidable challenges in their efforts to pass health care reform legislation by July 31, but physicians can take the lead to ensure changes are enacted, according to two perspectives published online May 20 in the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Sticking to Work Hours Limits Very Costly
WEDNESDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- Adherence to the 2003 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) limits on work hours, and other measures aimed at reducing fatigue among residents, would be costly with no proven benefits, according to an article published in the May 21 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Can Help Treat Insomnia
TUESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can help treat persistent insomnia, working best with medication in acute treatment but on its own over the long term, according to a study published in the May 20 issue of JAMA.
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Substance Abuse Seen in Schizophrenia, Violence Link
TUESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- An association between schizophrenia and violent crime was chiefly seen in individuals with both schizophrenia and substance abuse, according to research published in the May 20 issue of JAMA.
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Fast Weight Decline in Old Age May Increase Dementia Risk
TUESDAY, May 19 (HealthDay News) -- Higher body mass index (BMI) late in life is associated with a lowered risk of developing dementia with further aging, according to a study reported in the May 19 issue of Neurology.
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Family Activities Linked to Teens' Sexual Behaviors
MONDAY, May 18 (HealthDay News) -- Participating in more family activities may be associated with fewer risky sexual behaviors in teenagers, according to research published May 15 in Child Development.
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Late-Life Dementia Risk Index Developed
THURSDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have developed a risk index for Alzheimer's disease that could be used in targeted research and, someday, to determine prevention strategies, according to a study in the May 13 issue of Neurology.
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Cerebrospinal Fluid May Help Pinpoint Alzheimer's Cases
THURSDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Levels of the cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers Aβ peptide 1-42 (Aβ42), tau, and phosphorylated tau may help predict which patients with very mild Alzheimer-type dementia may progress more rapidly to cognitive deficits and dementia, according to a study published in the May issue of the Archives of Neurology.
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Cancer Caregivers Show Excessive Inflammation
WEDNESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Caregivers of patients with brain cancer show increased inflammation in the year after diagnosis that could put them at risk of developing conditions involving excessive inflammation, according to a study published online May 11 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
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History of Stroke Raises Mild Cognitive Impairment Risk
WEDNESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) -- Nonamnestic mild cognitive impairment is more common among those with a history of stroke than those without, while the APOE ε4 genotype is associated with amnestic mild cognitive impairment and memory loss, according to a study in the May Archives of Neurology.
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Questionnaire Helps Patients Identify Health Priorities
TUESDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Asking patients if they want help with a specific addiction or mood disorder now or later helps them prioritize their health issues, according to a study published in the May/June issue of the Annals of Family Medicine, while a second study shows that a 15-symptom questionnaire can help identify patients with somatoform disorders.
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More Cancer Screening Raises Odds of False Positives
TUESDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who have 14 or more cancer screening tests have at least a 50 percent chance of a false-positive result, according to a study published in the May/June issue of the Annals of Family Medicine, while another study in the same issue classifies the ways in which patients may contribute to errors in their medical care.
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Drug Promotional Items Affect Medical Students' Preference
TUESDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- Medical students who are exposed to small branded promotional items from pharmaceutical companies may be more likely to hold favorable views of the advertised drug. However, the opposite effect may occur among students who attend schools with restrictive policies toward pharmaceutical marketing, according to a study published in the May 11 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Patient Perception Key Factor for Depression in Heart Failure
MONDAY, May 11 (HealthDay News) -- Depression in heart failure patients appears to be more related to patients' perceptions of disease severity than objective measurements of severity, according to research published in the May 1 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.
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Gene Variants Linked to Autism Spectrum Disorders
THURSDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Variants of neuronal cell-adhesion molecules are associated with autism spectrum disorders, according to two studies published online April 28 in Nature.
Abstract - Wang
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Abstract - Glessner
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Premenstrual Syndrome Relapse Affected by Treatment Length
THURSDAY, May 7 (HealthDay News) -- Women with premenstrual syndrome had a higher relapse rate after short-term sertraline treatment compared with long-term treatment, according to research published in the May Archives of General Psychiatry.
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Visceral Fat-Depression Link Explored in Women
WEDNESDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Middle-aged women with depression tend to have more visceral fat than their nondepressed counterparts, which could explain why they are at higher risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to a study published online April 27 in Psychosomatic Medicine.
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Bullying May Raise Risk of Children's Psychotic Symptoms
WEDNESDAY, May 6 (HealthDay News) -- Victims of childhood bullying may face a higher risk of displaying psychotic symptoms in early adolescence, according to research published in the May Archives of General Psychiatry.
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Post-Hospital Housing Helps Chronically Ill Homeless
TUESDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Post-hospitalization housing assistance for homeless people with chronic illnesses results in fewer subsequent emergency department visits and hospitalizations, according to a study published in the May 6 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
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Delirium May Accelerate Decline in Alzheimer's Disease
TUESDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with Alzheimer's disease have a greater acceleration in cognitive decline after an episode of delirium, according to a study in the May 5 issue of Neurology.
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Medical Center Press Releases Often Lacking Key Details
TUESDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Press releases from academic medical centers may often overstate the importance of research findings while failing to acknowledge relevant limitations of the studies, according to research published in the May 5 Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Amygdala Enlargement Seen in Young Children With Autism
TUESDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- At the age of 2 years, the amygdala was enlarged in children with autism compared to controls, a finding that was associated with joint attention, according to research published in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
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Fathers' Mental Health Effect on Child Development Studied
TUESDAY, May 5 (HealthDay News) -- Psychiatric disorders among fathers deserve more attention from clinicians and researchers because they have a significant impact on children's psychosocial development, according to a study published online May 5 in The Lancet.
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Depression Types Can Be Discerned by Brain Blood Flow
FRIDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- Refractory and nonrefractory depressive disorder are distinguished by differing perfusion in the regions of the brain, which might be useful in diagnosis and customizing therapy, according to a study reported in the May issue of Radiology.
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More Americans Reporting Disability
FRIDAY, May 1 (HealthDay News) -- The number of Americans reporting disabilities rose by 7.7 percent from 44.1 million in 1999 to 47.5 million in 2005, according to a report in the May 1 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
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