Mental Health Research
25 Apr Genetic Factors Raise Risk of PTSD After Trauma, Especially in Women
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34121" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Duncan[/caption]
Laramie E Duncan, PhD
Stanford University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that some people experience after a traumatic event, like a terrorist attack, military conflict, or violence in the home. When people have PTSD, they may experience flashbacks to the traumatic event, nightmares, and other recollections of the event that can interfere with their day-to-day lives.
Before this study, not everyone was convinced that genetic factors make some people more prone to developing PTSD than others. Using a study of over 20,000 people and analyzing over two hundred billion (200,000,000,000) pieces of genetic information, we demonstrated that developing PTSD is partly genetic. We also found that genetic factors seem to play a stronger role for women than men, though for everyone, experiencing trauma is still the most important factor.
25 Apr Loss of a Sibling In Childhood Increases Short and Long Term Mortality
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_34053" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Yong Yu[/caption]
Dr. Yongfu Yu, PhD
Department of Clinical Epidemiology
Aarhus University Hospital
Aarhus, Denmark
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Bereavement by the death of a close relative is ranked as one of the most severe life events and it is likely to cause psychological stress regardless of coping mechanisms. An increased risk of mortality and adverse health outcomes has been observed among the bereaved spouses, parents, and children. It is estimated that nearly 8% of individuals in the US experienced a sibling death in childhood but much less is known about its health consequences. Sibling relationship tends to be the longest and the most intimate in family thus the death of a sibling can be a devastating life event, especially when this event happens at early ages. However, to our knowledge, no study has investigated the effects of sibling death in childhood on subsequent mortality in bereaved siblings with a long follow-up time.
22 Apr Childhood Adversities Linked To Increased Suicide Risk in Adolescents and Young Adults
Posted at 15:21h
in Author Interviews, BMJ, Karolinski Institute, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Charlotte Björkenstam PhD
Dept of Clinical Neuroscience
Karolinska Institutet
Division of Insurance Medicine
Stockholm
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: In a prior study we revealed that exposure to childhood adversities were associated with a substantial risk increase for self-harm. The risk was even higher for those exposed to accumulated childhood adversities. This finding together with the fact that the suicide rate among young adults is increasing (as opposed to decreasing in the general population) lead us to want to examine the relationship between childhood adversities and death by suicide.
We investigated 7 different childhood adversities, including familial death (suicide analyzed separately), parental substance abuse, parental psychiatric disorder, substantial parental criminality, parental separation/single-parent household, public assistance recipiency, and residential instability occurring between birth and age 14. We then followed the individuals up until age 24 at most. All adversities were entailed with an increased suicide risk from IRR: 1.6 (95% CI: 1.1 to 2.4) for residential instability to IRR: 2.9 (95% CI; 1.4 to 5.9) for familial suicide. We also found a dose-response relationship between accumulating CA and suicide risk where IRR ranged between 1.1 (95% CI: 0.9 to 1.4) for those exposed to 1 CA, to 2.6 (95% CI: 1.9 to 3.4) for those exposed to 3 or more adversities.
19 Apr Study Finds No Link To Autism, ADHD In Offspring From Antidepressant Use In Pregnancy
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33979" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Vigod[/caption]
Simone Vigod, MD, MSc, FRCPC
Psychiatrist and Lead, Reproductive Life Stages Program
Women’s Mental Health Program
Women’s College Hospital
Toronto, ON
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Depression is one of the most common problems that can complicate a pregnancy. Untreated, or incompletely treated, it can be associated with significant harm to mother and child. While psychotherapies alone may be effective for women with mild (or even moderate) severity symptoms, sometimes antidepressant medication is required. In these cases, the benefits of treatment must be weighed against potential risks. Previous research suggested that there may be an increased risk for autism in children exposed to antidepressant medication during pregnancy. However, previous studies were limited in their ability to account for other potential causes of autism in their analyses. In our study, we used several different strategies to try to compare children whose pregnancy exposures were very similar, except for exposure to an antidepressant.
The main finding was that after using these strategies, there was no longer a statistically significant association between in-utero antidepressant exposure and autism.
18 Apr Concussion History and Cognitive Function in Retired Professional Hockey Players
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33999" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Brian Levine[/caption]
Brian Levine, Ph.D., C.Psych, ABPP-cn
Senior Scientist, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest
Professor, Departments of Psychology and Medicine (Neurology)
University of Toronto
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: There is growing concern about the effects of concussion on brain function with aging. Retired professional athletes provide a unique perspective on this question, as many of them have a high concussion exposure before retirement in their 20’s or 30’s. Yet much of the research on professional athletes has been in post-mortem samples. There is a need for more research in retired athletes during life.
17 Apr Review of Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders According to Period of Prenatal Antidepressant Exposure:
Posted at 23:57h
in AstraZeneca, Author Interviews, Autism, Boehringer Ingelheim, Depression, Eli Lilly, J&J-Janssen, JAMA, Merck, OBGYNE
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Florence Gressier MD PhD
Insermk Department of psychiatry
CHU de Bicêtrem Le Kremlin Bicêtre
France
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Results from recent studies have suggested an increased risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) in children exposed to antidepressants in utero.
We performed a systematic review of and a meta-analysis of published studies to assess the association between ASDs and fetal exposure to antidepressants during pregnancy for each trimester of pregnancy and preconception.
Our systematic review and meta-analysis suggests a significant association between increased ASD risk and maternal use of antidepressants during pregnancy; however, it appears to be more consistent during the preconception period than during each trimester. In addition, the association was weaker when controlled for past maternal mental illness. Maternal psychiatric disorders in treatment before pregnancy rather than antenatal exposure to antidepressants could have a major role in the risk for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
11 Apr Can Greebles Help Identify People At Risk of Alzheimer’s Disease?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Emily Mason, Ph.D. Postdoctoral Associate Department of Neurological Surgery University of Louisville MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? [caption id="attachment_33830" align="alignleft" width="350"]
Family History of Alzheimer’s Disease is Associated with Impaired Perceptual Discrimination of Novel Objects[/caption]
Response: Alzheimer’s disease is a devastating neurodegenerative disease that currently affects one in eight Americans over the age of 65. Unfortunately, there is still no treatment that will halt or reverse the pathology associated with Alzheimer’s disease. One of the reasons for this may be that we still don’t fully understand what is happening in the very earliest stages of the disease. Previous studies have shown that one of the pathological hallmarks of the disease, called “tau tangles,” begins to accumulate in a specific area of the brain called the medial temporal lobe decades before people are typically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. We wondered if we could use cognitive tests targeted to structures in the medial temporal lobe to pick up very subtle behavioral changes in people who were at increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease. We examined people who were in their 40s and 50s, which is a time when if any differences could be detected, it’s possible that pathology may be reversible.
Using a cognitive task called “odd man out" that can be easily implemented using a computer, we found that subjects at risk for Alzheimer’s disease tended to do worse in identifying differences between objects called Greebles. These objects are highly visually similar, and most people have never seen them before. Those two things make this task very difficult. We believe that this study lays some of the groundwork in developing cognitive tests targeted at relatively young subjects who may be in the very earliest stages of the disease.
10 Apr Probiotics May Influence Schizophrenia Symptoms Through Yeast in Microbiome
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Emily G. Severance PhD
Stanley Division of Developmental Neurovirology
Department of Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, MD 21287
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Previously, we found that people with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder had an increased susceptibility to Candida albicans yeast infections, which was sex specific and associated with memory deficits. Also in an earlier placebo-controlled probiotic study, we found that although probiotics improved the overall bowel function of people with schizophrenia, there was no effect by this treatment on psychiatric symptoms. Given that C. albicans infections can upset the dynamics of the human microbiome, we decided to re-evaluate the potential benefit of probiotics in the context of a patient’s C. albicans yeast status. Not only was bowel function again enhanced following intake of probiotics, but yeast antibody levels were decreased by this treatment.
Furthermore, psychiatric symptoms were actually improved over time for men receiving probiotics who did not have elevated C. albicans antibodies. Men who were positive for C. albicans exposure, however, consistently presented with worse psychiatric symptoms irrespective of probiotic or placebo treatment.
10 Apr Excessive Rainfall May Be Linked To Autism Through Nitrous Oxide Exposure
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Keith Fluegge BS Institute of Health and Environmental Research (IHER) Cleveland Graduate School, The Ohio State University, Columbus Ohio MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The research letter discusses the possible link between rainfall precipitation and risk of autism. Earlier research suggested a link, although there remained quite a bit of skepticism surrounding the findings at the time. The purpose of the study was to briefly highlight the role of environmental exposure to the agricultural and combustion pollutant, nitrous oxide (N2O), as a possible etiological factor in neurodevelopmental disorders. We have published a series of epidemiological investigations, reviews, and correspondences discussing this possibility. In my continued research on this topic, I learned that rainfall and extreme weather-related events, like hurricanes, drive N2O emissions, especially from nitrogen amended soils. Exposure to this particular air pollutant may, therefore, plausibly undergird the relationship between rainfall precipitation and risk of autism.06 Apr Pre-Clinical Study of Tbit™ System for Detection of Traumatic Brain Injury
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33729" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Sergey Dryga[/caption]
Sergey A. Dryga, PhD, MBA
Chief Scientific Officer
BioDirection, Inc.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: When patients have suffered a head injury, they typically undergo a series of subjective cognitive tests to confirm a diagnosis of a concussion or other traumatic brain injury. In many cases these tests are inaccurate and inconsistent, increasing the risk of misdiagnosis. In other cases, patients may undergo an unnecessary CT scan, which is costly and exposes them to radiation. Early, objective diagnostic testing of patients who have experienced a head injury can support more rapid and appropriate treatment decisions while potentially reducing the use of unnecessary CT scans or other forms of intervention.
We know that protein biomarkers, including S100 calcium binding protein beta (S100β) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), are released from the brain into the bloodstream immediately following a concussion or other traumatic brain injury. The Tbit™ System is a new medical device based on a nanotechnology biosensor that rapidly detects and accurately measures these protein biomarkers. The system includes a disposable cartridge and portable analyzer designed for testing using a single drop of blood at the earliest stages of a concussion.
This pre-clinical study was designed to evaluate the ability of the Tbit System to screen traumatic brain injury patients for a CT positive or CT negative test. Frozen plasma samples were collected from a total of 100 patients who had undergone CT scans post hospital admission. The Tbit System demonstrated 100% sensitivity with no false negative results, and a 41% specificity level.
06 Apr Rare Gene Variant Linked To Depressive Symptoms
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Najaf Amin, PhD Erasmus University Medical Center Netherlands MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Identifying genetic risk factors for depression has not been easy. Over a decade of genetic research did not yield a single replicable genetic factor for depression. It was only recently that 15 common genetic variants mostly in the non-coding parts of the genome were identified through a large genome-wide association study performed by 23andMe. All of these variants add a very small risk to depression individually (odds ratio < 1.05). These common variants cannot explain the cases that have a family history of depression. Our hypothesis is that such familial cases are enriched for variants that are rare, lie in the coding region of the genome and thus have a large effect on depression. Such variants are enriched in families and isolated populations and therefore have a higher chance of being discovered compared to more cosmopolitan populations. Through gene-based analysis of rare coding variants we have identified a novel gene NKPD1 that may be relevant for depression. Further, we have noticed that the more deleterious the effect of the variant is on the protein, the larger the effect is on depressive symptoms.06 Apr Deliberate Self-harm Associated With Violent Criminality
Posted at 19:23h
in Accidents & Violence, Author Interviews, JAMA, Karolinski Institute, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_33749" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Hanna Sahlin[/caption]
Hanna Sahlin
MSc, Lic psychologist, Lic psychotherapist
Specialist in clinical psychology
PhD-student
Departement of Clinical Neuroscience
Karolinska Institutet
National Self-harm project
Centre for Psychiatry Research, CPF
Stockholm, Sweden
What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: This study is the result of wanting to find a more conclusive answer to whether individuals who engage in non-fatal deliberate self-harm are more prone to aggression towards others. There has long been a debate on whether aggression to oneself and aggression towards others co-occur, but the studies that have been conducted thus far have been on smaller samples or with clinical or forensic cohorts. Also, the studies have had great variability regarding the definition of both “deliberate self-harm” and “violence”. Thus, it has been difficult to establish an ”overall” effect size for this association, or to draw firmer conclusions on how and if this association plays out in the general population.
We had the opportunity to study this association in several large nationwide population-based registries including all Swedish citizens, and with high specificity regarding the ingoing variables of interest – i.e., non-fatal deliberate self-harm (as registered in the National Patient Register) and violent crime convictions (as registered in the National Crime Register).
We found a five times increased crude risk (hazard) of being convicted of a violent crime if one had received self-harm associated clinical care, and vice-versa, that there was an equally increased risk of self-harm if one had been convicted of a violent crime. After controlling for relevant psychiatric comorbidities and socio-economic status, an almost doubled risk of violent crime conviction remained among self-harming men and women compared to individuals not exposed to self-harm. It is important to notice that our study did not find any evidence suggesting that self-harm behaviours cause violent criminality. Therefore, we conclude that the engagement in violence towards oneself and towards others share an underlying vulnerability to impulsive and aggressive behaviours.
06 Apr White Matter Trajectories Diverge In Children After Traumatic Brain Injury
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33705" align="alignleft" width="178"]
Emily Dennis[/caption]
Emily Dennis PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Imaging Genetics Center
Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute
USC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: We know that there is heterogeneity in outcome post-traumatic brain injury (TBI), but we generally think of this as a continuous variable - with most patients falling in the middle and only a few at the extremes in terms of recovery process and outcome.
Our main finding was that interhemispheric transfer time (IHTT - the time it takes for information to move from one hemisphere of the brain to the other) identified 2 subgroups of TBI patients - those with slow IHTT and those with normal IHTT. These two groups show differences in cognitive function and brain structure, with the IHTT slow group showing structural disruptions that become progressively worse while the IHTT normal group seems to be recovering from the injury.
05 Apr Doxycycline May Mute Painful Memories Associated With PTSD
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Dominik R Bach, PhD, MD University of Zurich MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can occur after a psychological trauma such as physical violence, abuse, or natural disaster. It is characterised by increased arousal, flashbacks, and nightmares that reflect memories of the trauma. Current therapies include talking therapy, but it is costly and does not work in everybody. This is why we were looking for ways of reducing aversive memories with a drug. In the current study, we found that the antibiotic doxycycline impairs the formation of negative memories in healthy volunteers. To form memories, the brain needs to strengthen connections between neurons. It has recently emerged that for strengthening such connections particular proteins are required that sit between nerve cells, so-called MMPs. They are involved in many disorders outside the brain, such as certain cancers and heart disease. This is how we already know that doxycycline suppresses the activity of MMPs. Since doxycycline is relatively safe and readily accessible, our research was relatively straightforward. 76 healthy volunteers - half women, half men - came to the laboratory and received either placebo (a sugar pill) or 200 mg doxycycline. They then took part in a computer test in which one screen color was often followed by a mildly painful electric shock and another color was not. A week later, volunteers came back to the lab. They were shown the colors again , this time followed by a loud sound but never by shocks. The loud sounds made people blink their eyes - a reflexive response to sudden threat. This eye blink response was measured. Volunteers who had initially been under placebo had stronger eye blink after the color that predicted electric shock than after the other color. This "fear response" is a sensitive measure for memory of negative associations. Strikingly, the fear response was 60% lower in participants who had initially taken doxycycline.04 Apr Effects of ICD Shock and Anti-Tachycardia Pacing on Anxiety and Quality of Life
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Alessandro Paoletti Perini, MD, PhD and Valentina Kutyifa MD, PhD University of Rochester Medical Center Heart Research Follow-Up Program Rochester, New York, 14642 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The present study is a pre-specified sub-study of the Multicenter Automatic Defibrillator Implantation Trial – Reduce Inappropriate Therapy (MADIT-RIT), which was published on the New England Journal of Medicine in 2012. The main trial showed that innovative ICD programming was associated with reduction in inappropriate ICD therapy and mortality. In the present investigation we focused on the detrimental effects that ICD firings, either appropriate or inappropriate, may have on patients’ psychological well-being. We observed that multiple appropriate and inappropriate shocks are associated with increased levels of ICD-related anxiety, a specific kind of psychological disorder which affects patients implanted with an ICD. Multiple appropriate ATP were also proved associated with higher anxiety, although not as much as shocks. On the other hand, we did not find a significant association with anxiety for multiple inappropriate ATP.04 Apr Regular Marijuana Use is Costly Healthwise, Especially When Started As Teenager
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33647" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. McIntosh[/caption]
James McIntosh PhD
Economics Department
Concordia University
Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study
Response: Marijuana is about to become legal in Canada. Consequently, an analysis of its effects on users is a high priority. This issue has been explored by Canadian researchers to some extent but there are gaps in what is known about the effects of using marijuana. Most of the Canadian studies focus on youth or adolescent use. This is clearly important but adult use is as well. Establishing the link between early usage and the effects of use over an individual’s lifetime was a major objective of the study.
04 Apr Vagus Nerve Stimulation Improved Treatment-Resistant Depression
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33642" align="alignleft" width="185"]
Dr. Aaronson[/caption]
Scott T. Aaronson, M.D
Psychiatrist, The Retreat at Sheppard Pratt
Director of Clinical Research
Sheppard Pratt Health System
Baltimore, MD
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: This study is the largest ever conducted on patients with severe, chronic depression, a group typically ignored by clinical research in psychiatry. We looked at individuals who, on average, had received 8 unsuccessful treatment interventions in the past. These individuals were split into two groups and examined over five years. One group was given proven anti-depressant treatments (medications, psychotherapy, and/or electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)), and one group was given both anti-depressant treatments and VNS Therapy—an implantable, pacemaker-like device that stimulates the vagus nerve, which regulates mood in the brain.
• The study found that 67.9% of the VNS therapy group responded to treatment, compared to 40.9% of patients receiving treatment as usual. Importantly, the VNS therapy group reported responses earlier in treatment, and responses were sustained longer than those receiving treatment as usual.
• VNS therapy improved treatment effect in individuals whether they had unipolar or bipolar disorder, and whether or not they had responded to ECT in the past.
03 Apr Suicide Risk Increased in Cancer Patients
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33625" align="alignleft" width="152"]
Dr. Calati[/caption]
Raffaella Calati, Psy.D., Ph.D.
University of Montpellier
INSERM U 1061: Neuropsychiatry: Epidemiological and Clinical Research
Department of Emergency Psychiatry and Post Acute Care
Lapeyronie Hospital, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire
Montpellier, France
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: A number of previous original studies investigated suicidal thoughts and behaviours in cancer patients, finding them to be higher than those in the general population. However, to our knowledge, we performed the first meta-analysis on this link, pooling all the published data to calculate the size of this increased risk.
Our main finding is an increased suicide risk in patients with cancer compared to individuals without it.
It should be underlined that the analyses presented are the first stage in our work, since at the moment we are analyzing a higher number of studies and we are planning to control for confounders, not considered in our first analyses. This means that the exact strength of this association will be more precisely known.
02 Apr Consequences of Interpersonal Violence Against Child Athletes Persist into Adulthood
Posted at 12:14h
in Abuse and Neglect, Author Interviews, BMJ, Exercise - Fitness, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_33615" align="alignleft" width="134"]
Tine Vertommen[/caption]
Tine Vertommen, Criminologist
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences
Universiteitsplein 1
Antwerp, Belgium
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: A recent prevalence study into interpersonal violence against child athletes in the Netherlands and Belgium showed that 6% experienced severe sexual violence, 8% experienced severe physical violence, and 9% of respondents experienced severe psychological violence in sport (Vertommen et al., 2016). While general literature has repeatedly shown that exposure to interpersonal violence during childhood is associated with mental health problems in adulthood, this relationship has not yet been demonstrated in (former) athletes. Thus, the objective of the current study is to assess the long-term consequences of these experiences on adult mental health and quality of life.
24 Mar Youth With Autism Use Emergency Rooms At Markedly Increased Rate
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33404" align="alignleft" width="107"] Dr. Guodong Liu[/caption] Guodong Liu, PhD Assistant Professor Division of Health Services and Behavioral Research Department of Public Health Sciences, A210 Penn State University College of Medicine Hershey, PA 17033 MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: Adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) use emergency...
22 Mar Autism Increases Risk of Death From Injury, Especially Drowning
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Joseph Guan MPH Candidate in Epidemiology, Certificate in Chronic Diseases Epidemiology Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? Response: The prevalence of autism has been increasing especially in the past two decades. With an estimate of more than 3.5 million people living with autism in the US, approximately 500,000 of them are children under 15 years old. Current studies show that males are approximately four times as likely than females to be diagnosed with autism. There is also evidence that people with autism are at a heightened risk of injury. However, the research on the relationship between autism and injury is understudied. We found that 28% of deaths in individuals with autism were due to injury, compared to 7% of deaths in the general population. Injury deaths in individuals with autism occurred at a much younger age (29.1 years) on average compared to injury deaths in the general population (54.7 years). Our study show that drowning was the leading cause of injury death among individuals with autism, followed by suffocation and asphyxiation. Children under the age of 15 years were 160 times more likely to die from drowning.21 Mar Neither Vitamin E or Selenium Found To Prevent Dementia
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33184" align="alignleft" width="140"]
Dr. Richard Kryscio[/caption]
Richard J. Kryscio, Ph.D.
Statistics and Chair, Biostatistics and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
Sanders-Brown Center on Aging
University of Kentucky
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: At the time the trial was initiated (2002), there was ample evidence that oxidative stress is an important mechanism in brain aging. Research showed that protein oxidation is linked to the brain’s response to the abnormal proteins seen in Alzheimer disease (amyloid beta plaques in particular) leading to inflammation, DNA repair problems, reduced energy production, and other cellular changes that are identified mechanisms in the Alzheimer brain.
Both vitamin E and selenium are antioxidants. Antioxidants, either through food or supplements, are believed to reduce oxidative stress throughout the body. In the brain, they may reduce the formation of amyloid beta plaques, reduce brain inflammation, and improve other brain processes. Studies in humans support these hypotheses. The Rotterdam study in the Netherlands, as an example, showed that initial blood levels of vitamin E could predict dementia risk. Those people with higher vitamin E levels were 25% less likely to develop dementia. Also, selenium deficiency results in cognitive difficulties and several population-based studies have shown an association between selenium level and cognitive decline (lower selenium levels are linked to thinking changes in the elderly).
21 Mar Critical Neural Pathways Identified in OCD Behavior
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33190" align="alignleft" width="133"]
Dr. Ullrich[/caption]
Dr. Melanie Ullrich PhD
Universität Würzburg
Physiologisches Institut
Würzburg
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Shortly after the first description of SPRED proteins in 2001, their in vivo functions, especially that of SPRED2, were completely unexplored. Thus we generated a mouse model which lacks functional SPRED2 expression. In our previous study, we identified SPRED2 as a critical regulator of stress hormone release from the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. In SPRED2 KO mice levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone, adrenocorticotropic hormone, and corticosterone are elevated, a feature often associated with obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) in humans. In fact SPRED2 KO mice showed clear signs of OCD-like behavior demonstrated by excessive self-grooming up to the level of self-inflicted lesions. Treatment with the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) fluoxetine alleviated excessive grooming, confirming the OCD-like nature of the disease.
Therefore, the first main finding of our study is that mutations in the SPRED2 gene have to be considered as a possible risk factor for the development of OCD-like diseases.
21 Mar Psychiatric Side Effects of 5 Alpha Reductase Inhibitors for BPH
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_33072" align="alignleft" width="115"]
Dr. Blayne Welk[/caption]
Blayne Welk, MD, FRCSC
Assistant Professor of Surgery
Western University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Concerns have been raised by regulatory agencies and patients about possible serious psychiatric side effects associated with the use of 5 alpha reductase inhibitors. These medications can be used for both enlarged prostates and alopecia.
We used administrative data to assess for potential psychiatric side effects associated with finasteride and dutasteride usage in older men with benign prostatic enlargement.
In our study we found that there was no increased risk of suicide associated with the use of these medications. However, there was a small increase in both self-harm and new onset depression associated with the use of 5 alpha reductase inhibitors.
19 Mar Marked Increase in Premature Mortality After First Psychiatric Admission
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Florian Walter MSc Centre for Mental Health and Safety University of Manchester, Manchester, England Dr Roger Webb PhD and Reader in Mental Health Epidemiology Senior Postgraduate Research Tutor Division of Psychology and Mental Health Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health The University of Manchester MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Mental disorders are associated with an elevated risk of premature mortality, and risk is especially heightened soon after discharge from inpatient psychiatric services. Previous studies have focused on single causes of death, whereas our study considered a comprehensive array of cause-specific mortality outcomes. We analysed over 1.7 million Danish residents in our national interlinked registry study, which was conducted collaboratively by the Centre of Mental Health and Safety, University of Manchester, UK and the National Centre for Register-based Research, Aarhus University, Denmark. We compared the risk of dying from specific natural and unnatural causes of death among patients following their first discharge from inpatient psychiatric care versus people not admitted.16 Mar No Increased Health Consequences After Chinese Famine Except Schizophrenia
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32996" align="alignleft" width="165"]
Dr. Lumey[/caption]
L. H. Lumey, MD, PhD
Professor of Epidemiology
Mailman School of Public Health
Columbia University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: The Chinese Great Leap Forward Famine in 1959-1961 is the largest famine in human history. Earlier studies have reported that overweight, type 2 diabetes, hyperglycemia, the metabolic syndrome and schizophrenia were more common among adults who were exposed to the famine. Our re-analysis of all previous studies shows no increases in diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic conditions among famine births except for schizophrenia.
16 Mar Female Soccer Players Have High Risk of Concussion
Posted at 00:41h
in Author Interviews, Brain Injury, Exercise - Fitness, Gender Differences, Mental Health Research
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_32985" align="alignleft" width="127"]
Dr. Hsu[/caption]
Wellington K. Hsu, MD
Clifford C. Raisbeck, MD, Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Northwestern University
Chicago, IL
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Concussions remains a significant problem in youth sports. The recent enactment of Traumatic brain injury laws have certainly heightened awareness regarding this problem. Our study looked at publicly available data regarding diagnosis of concussion in high school athletes. We found that females are more likely to be diagnosed with a concussion than males. We also concluded that girl soccer players and boys football players are at highest risk for a diagnosis of concussion. Since the neck meant of the Traumatic brain injury state laws, the diagnosis of concussion in this patient group increased significantly past decade.
15 Mar Effect of SSRIs and Depression On Revisions After Hip or Knee Replacement
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_32948" align="alignleft" width="180"]
Dr. Hilal Maradit Kremers[/caption]
Hilal Maradit Kremers, M.D. M.Sc.
Associate Professor of Epidemiology
Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Depression and mood disorders are common comorbidities in patients undergoing total hip and total knee arthroplasty. Based on previous research, there is evidence to suggest presence of depression in arthroplasty patients is associated with worse functional and clinical outcomes, such as complications, readmissions and mortality. Although the mechanisms are poorly understood, it is important to identify strategies to effectively manage perioperative depression in an effort to improve arthroplasty outcomes. One potential strategy is effective medical treatment of underlying depression which can potentially improve depression symptoms, thereby surgical outcomes.
11 Mar Poor Sleep In Early Childhood Linked to Later Cognitive and Behavioral Problems
Posted at 19:52h
in Author Interviews, Education, Mental Health Research, Pediatrics, Sleep Disorders
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_32834" align="alignleft" width="135"]
Dr. Taveras[/caption]
Dr. Elsie M. Taveras, MD MPH
Chief, Division of General Pediatrics
Director, Pediatric Population Health Management
Director, Raising Healthy Hearts Clinic
MassGeneral Hospital for Children
MedicalResearch.com: What are the primary findings of this study and why are they important?
Response: The primary findings of this study are that children who get an insufficient amount of sleep in their preschool and early school age years have a higher risk of poor neurobehavioral functioning as reported by their mothers and independently by their teachers at age 7. These behaviors included poorer executive function and more hyperactivity/inattention, emotional symptoms, conduct problems, and peer relationship problems.