Here are what the editors at HealthDay consider to be the most important developments in Psychiatry for January 2007. 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.
Discussing Death with Relatives in ICU Eases Grief
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- The relatives of patients who are dying in the intensive care unit cope better with the loss if they are provided with written information on bereavement beforehand and are given more time to talk and discuss their relative's condition, according to the results of a study published in the Feb. 1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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In Rare Cases, Fishy Malodor Due to Metabolic Syndrome
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 31 (HealthDay News) -- Patients who are experiencing real or perceived body odor may have the rare metabolic disorder trimethylaminuria, which can cause a fishy malodor, according to a case study in the January Archives of Dermatology. Knowledge about the condition and supportive communication with family and friends may help patients.
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Parental Stress Affects Child More Than Prenatal SSRI Use
FRIDAY, Jan. 26 (HealthDay News) -- A mother's current depression and parental stress levels are better predictors of a 4-year-old child's externalizing behavior than maternal use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors during pregnancy, researchers report in the January issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
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Smokers with Damage to Brain Region Easily Kick Habit
THURSDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Damage to the insula, the silver-dollar-sized region of the brain involved in conscious behavior, can eliminate the body's urge to smoke, while damage to other areas of the brain does not reduce the craving for nicotine, according to a report in the Jan. 26 issue of Science.
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An Active Mind May Delay Onset of Alzheimer Disease
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- A study in mice shows that learning slows the development of two brain lesions that are the hallmark of Alzheimer disease, according to results published in the Jan. 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
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Hospitalized Eating-Disorder Patients Admit Needing Help
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 24 (HealthDay News) -- Almost half of patients with eating disorders who originally dispute their need for treatment change their minds within the second week of hospitalization and agree their inpatient treatment is necessary, researchers report in the January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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SSRI Relieves Depression in Heart Disease Patients
TUESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- In depressed coronary artery disease (CAD) patients, citalopram coupled with clinical management relieves depression better than placebo alone, while interpersonal psychotherapy provides no additional benefit over clinical management, according to study findings published in the Jan. 24/31 Journal of the American Medical Association.
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EEGs Do Not Support Claims of Dog-Predicted Seizures
TUESDAY, Jan. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Some patients who report that their seizure response dog can signal the onset of a seizure before it happens may actually be experiencing psychogenic non-epileptic events, which trigger the animals to react, according to two reports in the Jan. 23 issue of Neurology.
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Antidepressants Linked to Fracture Risk in Elderly
MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults who take a daily dose of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are twice as prone to clinical fragility fractures as their counterparts not taking an antidepressant, according to the results of a study published in the Jan. 22 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Inflammatory Markers Linked to Psychosocial Factors
MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- High levels of cynical distrust, chronic stress and depression may be associated with increased blood levels of three inflammatory markers of cardiovascular disease: fibrinogen, C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), according to a study in the Jan. 22 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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Apathy a Sign of Depression Risk in Hip Fracture Patients
MONDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with hip fracture have an increased risk of developing a major depressive disorder and the risk is highest in those who are more apathetic at baseline, researchers report in the January issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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Lay-Offs Affect Mental Health of Remaining Workers
FRIDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Workers who keep their jobs after employee downsizing are more likely to be prescribed psychotropic drugs than employees who are not exposed to workforce reductions, according to the results of a Finnish study published in the February issue of the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
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Middle-Aged Binge Drinking Seen in Less-Educated Women
FRIDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Less-educated women are almost three times more likely to binge drink in their 40s than other women, according to a British study in the February Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health. In contrast, women with more education tend to binge drink in their 20s, but reverse that behavior by their 40s and are much less likely to binge drink.
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Childhood Abuse Linked to Inflammation in Adulthood
FRIDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Adults who were abused in childhood have an increased risk of developing inflammation (as measured by C-reactive protein, fibrinogen and white blood cell count) compared to their peers who were not mistreated, according to a report published online Jan. 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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Agency Studies Off-Label Use of Atypical Antipsychotics
FRIDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Second-generation atypical antipsychotic drugs approved to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are being prescribed for off-label uses such as dementia and depression without strong evidence of their effectiveness, according to an analysis released Jan. 17 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
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Depressed Men and Women Differ in Suicide Risk Factors
FRIDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Suicide risk evaluation should be separately tailored to men and women because they have different risk factors, according to the results of a study published in the January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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No Link Seen Between Benzodiazepines, Hip Fracture
THURSDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Contrary to previous research, benzodiazepines may not increase the risk of hip fracture, and lawmakers should reconsider federal and state restrictions that limit the use of benzodiazepines in elderly patients as a way to reduce fractures, according to a report published in the Jan. 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Elderly Get Physical, Mental Benefits from Exercise
THURSDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults benefit physically and psychologically from a structured exercise regimen, but adherence is difficult to achieve, according to a study published in the January issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
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Therapy for Both Bipolar Disorder, Drug Use May Help
THURSDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with concurrent bipolar disorder and substance dependence, integrated group therapy, which addresses both conditions, shows signs of being an effective treatment and may reduce substance use more than group drug counseling alone, researchers report in the January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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Amnesiacs Have Difficulty Imagining New Experiences
THURSDAY, Jan. 18 (HealthDay News) -- In addition to their memory deficit, patients with amnesia also have trouble imagining new experiences, probably due to the fact that both processes stem from the hippocampus, according to a report published online Jan. 17 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Early Edition.
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Poor Prognosis for Adolescents with Internalizing Disorder
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Adolescents who are diagnosed with persistent or recurrent internalizing disorder are likely to have mental disorders in adulthood, although adolescents who experience one episode have a better than expected outcome as adults, according to study findings published in the January issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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Opioid Use for Back Pain Linked to Substance Abuse
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 17 (HealthDay News) -- While short-term use of opioids may be effective for chronic back pain, the benefit of long-term use remains unclear and is associated with substance abuse disorders, according to a report in the Jan. 16 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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Drug Abuse Linked to Repeat Visits to Rural Trauma Centers
TUESDAY, Jan. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Rural patients who tend to be repeat visitors to trauma centers require different prevention strategies than their urban counterparts because their profiles are so different, according to study findings published in the January issue of the Archives of Surgery.
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Low Sexual Desire Increases with Age in Women
MONDAY, Jan. 15 (HealthDay News) -- Although the number of women with low sexual desire increases with age, the proportion of those distressed by it decreases with age, which may explain why no association between hypoactive sexual desire disorder and age is reported in peer-reviewed literature, researchers report in the January issue of Fertility and Sterility.
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Mentally Distressed Prisoners Reluctant to Seek Help
FRIDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) -- Distrust of the medical profession means that mental distress among male prisoners often goes untreated, and health professionals need more awareness training to better serve this population group, according to a report published online Jan. 12 in BMJ.
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Toluene Stimulates Dopamine in Brain Reward Centers
THURSDAY, Jan. 11 (HealthDay News) -- The inhalation of toluene stimulates dopamine release from the reward centers in the rat brain, providing possible insights into the pathophysiology of toluene abuse, according to a study published online Jan. 10 in Neuropsychopharmacology.
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Prison Inmates Have High Risk of Death After Release
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 10 (HealthDay News) -- Prisoners have a more than threefold increased risk of death soon after being released from prison, with an almost 13-fold higher risk during the first two weeks, according to the results of a study published in the Jan. 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
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Depression Risk High in Women with Chronic Headaches
TUESDAY, Jan. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Women with chronic and severely disabling migraine headaches have a higher prevalence of somatic symptoms including exhaustion, trouble sleeping, nausea and upper body pain, and have a 25-fold greater risk of major depression than women without such headaches, according to a report in the Jan. 9 issue of Neurology.
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Workplace Stress Linked to Alterations in Autonomic Profile
MONDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Workplace stress can affect cardiovascular risk through both direct effects on the autonomic nervous system and through indirect effects of inducing unhealthy lifestyles, according to a report published online Jan. 8 in Hypertension. A workplace stress management system can help reduce these symptoms, the authors add.
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Study Links Gene Variants with Eating Behavior in Obese
MONDAY, Jan. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Single nucleotide polymorphisms and haplotypes within the cholecystokinin and leptin genes are associated with eating behavior in obese patients, with some genetic variants associated with consumption of large meals and others associated with excessive snacking, according to a report in the January issue of Diabetes.
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Study Examines Pesticide, Narcolepsy Link
FRIDAY, Jan. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Environmental exposures during the first two decades of life may cause narcolepsy in individuals who are already genetically predisposed to the disease, according to the authors of a study in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep.
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Study Links Sleep Problems, Nightmares to Suicide Attempts
THURSDAY, Jan. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Sleep disturbances and nightmares are common among people who have attempted suicide, according to study findings published in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep.
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Study Links Sleep Problems with Depression in Children
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Children with insomnia and/or hypersomnia are more likely to be severely depressed and have comorbid anxiety disorders than depressed children without sleep disturbances, researchers report in the Jan. 1 issue of the journal Sleep.
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Prevention Strategies Ease Kids' Homesickness
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Prevention programs for homesickness including psychoeducation, caregiver education, explicit coping instructions and practice time away from home, result in less severe homesickness and more satisfaction with the new environment, according to a report published in the January issue of Pediatrics.
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Post-Trauma Symptoms Linked to Heart Disease in Veterans
TUESDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms are associated with a greater risk of coronary heart disease in older men, even after controlling for depression, according to a report in the January issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
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Pain Sensitivity Lower in Post-Traumatic Stress Patients
TUESDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, have lower pain sensitivity and changes in brain areas linked to affective and cognitive pain processing that may reflect changes in pain regulation compared to controls, according to study findings published in the January issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
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Abuse, Neglect in Childhood Linked to Adult Depression
TUESDAY, Jan. 2 (HealthDay News) -- Abuse and neglect during childhood are linked to an increased incidence of major depressive disorder in young adulthood, with abused and neglected children having an earlier disease onset and more psychiatric comorbidity than matched controls. The findings are published in the January issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
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Vitamin B-12 Not Linked to Cognition Test Scores
MONDAY, Jan. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Elevated homocysteine is linked to constructional ability and processing speed deficits, and folate is linked with deficits in episodic memory and language in highly functioning older adults, but vitamin B-12 is not significantly linked to any specific cognition test score, according to the results of a study published in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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