Brain
Big Bucks for Bad Bugs
Salisbury, England June 02, 2008 - The use of electrical impulses to stimulate weak or paralyzed muscles, called Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES), is often used to help stroke or multiple sclerosis patients to walk. In a pilot study published in Neuromodulation, Geraldine E. Mann of Salisbury Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust in England presents evidence that FES may also provide major benefits to people with Parkinson's disease.
Piscataway, N.J. June 2, 2008 A major review in Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice reveals that research indicates people who are obese may be more likely to become depressed, and people who are depressed may be more likely to become obese.
To understand the potential links between obesity and depression, researchers led by Sarah M. Markowitz, M.S., examined the correlational data that suggest a connection between the conditions and found evidence for causal pathways from obesity to depression and depression to obesity.
BOSTON, Mass. (June 2, 2008) In the first controlled follow-up study ever to examine the long-term health effects of foster care programs, researchers from Harvard Medical School showed that the extremely high rates of mental and physical disorders typically found among adult alumni of public foster care programs were significantly reduced among alumni of a private foster care program staffed by highly trained social workers with low caseloads and good access to quality services.
Exposure-based therapy, in which recent trauma survivors are instructed to relive the troubling event, may be effective in preventing the progression from acute stress disorder to post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Adults who were placed in a private, enhanced foster care program as teenagers appear to have significantly fewer mental disorders, ulcers and cardiometabolic problems (diabetes, hypertension or heart disease) but more respiratory disorders than those who were placed in public programs, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Long-term, heavy cannabis use may be associated with structural abnormalities in areas of the brain known as the hippocampus and amygdala, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
Kicking the habit may soon become easier for the nations 45 million smokers. For the first time, researchers have identified patterns of genes that appear to influence how well individuals respond to specific smoking cessation treatments.
Irvine, Calif., June 2, 2008 — Talking it out has long been considered essential to recovering from a trauma. But new research shows that expressing one's thoughts and feelings after a traumatic event is not necessary for long-term emotional and physical health, a finding that could change the way institutions devote money and resources to mental health services following collective traumas.
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