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Showing posts with label Mental Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mental Health. Show all posts
Banana Power
This is interesting. After reading this, you’ll never look at a banana in the same way again.
Bananas contain three natural sugars – sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber. A banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy.
Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world’s leading athletes.
But energy isn’t the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
DEPRESSION:
According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana. This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
>PMS:
Forget the pills – eat a banana. The vitamin B6 it contains regulates blood glucose levels, which can affect your mood.
ANEMIA:
High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
BLOOD PRESSURE:
This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit’s ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
BRAIN POWER:
200 students at a Twickenham school ( England ) were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert.
CONSTIPATION:
High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
HANGOVERS:
One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
HEARTBURN:
Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
MORNING SICKNESS:
Snacking on bananas between meals helps to keep blood sugar levels up and avoid morning sickness.
MOSQUITO BITES:
Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
NERVES:
Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system..
Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and chips. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
ULCERS:
The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chroniclercases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
TEMPERATURE CONTROL:
Many other cultures see bananas as a ‘cooling’ fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has FOUR TIMES the protein, TWICE the carbohydrate, THREE TIMES the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals.. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, ‘A BANANA a day keeps the doctor away!’
Direct Association Between Type 2 Diabetes And Obesity Found
Obesity has been historically known as a risk factor for type 2 diabetes, and now a key mechanism has been found in the immune system that plays a part in the development of obesity-linked type 2 diabetes.
The outcome was found in a study led by researchers from King's College London, UK and was published in the journal Cell Metabolism.
The findings are a stepping stone for new treatment methods and prevention of this health issue that has become extremely prevalent worldwide.
Internationally, approximately 371 million people are living with diabetes - 90% of these cases are type 2 diabetes. By the year 2030, there will be an estimated 550 million people with diabetes if this progression continues.
Since 1980, cases of diabetes have increased twofold - with 70 percent of the change happening because of aging populations around the world - while the other 30 percent are due to the rising incidence of risk factors, including obesity.
Previous research has shown the link between obesity and diabetes, but the molecules that cause this link have been a mystery.
The investigators studied mice that were genetically engineered to not have T-bet, a protein that controls the differentiation and function of immune cells. Researchers found that the mice had heightened insulin sensitivity, even though they were obese.
Dr. Howard explained:
"When T-bet was absent this altered the relationship between fat and insulin resistance: the mice had more intra-abdominal fat but were actually more sensitive to the glucose lowering effects of insulin. As fat accumulation in the abdomen is typically associated with worsening insulin resistance and other features of the metabolic syndrome, the findings seen were both unusual and unexpected."
The researchers found that the intra-abdominal fat of these mice had fewer immune cells and was less swollen than that of regular mice. They further discovered that by moving immune cells that had no T-bet to younger, skinnier mice, the insulin sensitivity improved.
Professor Graham Lord added, "It appears that T-bet expression in the adaptive immune system is able to influence metabolic physiology."
Generally, obesity is linked to insulin resistance and diabetes, however, this is not always the case. Many of the most common medications used to treat type 2 diabetes function by improving insulin sensitivity. More trials are needed to pinpoint other molecules in the pathway of action of T-bet, which could start the process for future drug options for the treatment of type 2 diabetes.
Giving specific immune cells as immunotherapy to better insulin resistance could also be a possibility for therapy in the future.
Dr. Howard concluded:
"This is just the start - the idea that the immune system can impact on metabolism is very exciting, but more research needs to be done before we can bring this work from the bench to the bedside for the benefit of patients."
In January of this year, a study published in Nature suggested that a new new gene has been found that plays a role in insulin resistance and obesity - conditions that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Late-Life Depression Associated With Prevalent Mild Cognitive Impairment, Increased Risk of Dementia
Depressive symptoms occur in 3 percent to 63 percent of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and some studies have shown an increased dementia risk in individuals with a history of depression. The mechanisms behind the association between depression and cognitive decline have not been made clear and different mechanisms have been proposed, according to the study background.
Edo Richard, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues evaluated the association of late-life depression with MCI and dementia in a group of 2,160 community-dwelling Medicare recipients.
"We found that depression was related to a higher risk of prevalent MCI and dementia, incident dementia, and progression from prevalent MCI to dementia, but not to incident MCI," the authors note.
Baseline depression was associated with prevalent MCI (odds ratio [OR], 1.4) and dementia (OR, 2.2), while baseline depression was associated with an increased risk of incident dementia (hazard ratio [HR], 1.7) but not with incident MCI (HR, 0.9). Patients with MCI and coexisting depression at baseline also had a higher risk of progression to dementia (HR, 2.0), especially vascular dementia (HR, 4.3), but not Alzheimer disease (HR, 1.9), according to the study results.
"Our finding that depression was associated cross sectionally with both MCI and dementia and longitudinally only with dementia suggests that depression develops with the transition from normal cognition to dementia," the authors conclude.
Diabetes + Depression = Increased Risk of Death
More than 42,000 patients with type 1 or type 2 diabetes and depression were analyzed in the review. The reviewers discovered that depression was associated with a 1.5 fold increase in the risk of dying. In four of the studies reviewed, co-morbid depression was linked to about a 20 percent higher risk of cardiovascular death for people with diabetes.
Diabetes affects 25.8 million people in the U.S., according to the 2011 National Diabetes Fact Sheet, and about 30 percent of these people also experience symptoms of depression.
"Depression consistently increased the risk of mortality across virtually all studies," said Mijung Park, Ph.D., lead author and assistant professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing. "We can now postulate that the harmful effect of depression is universal to individuals with diabetes."
Todd Brown, M.D., associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, said it is very common to see a patient go into a downward spiral when obesity-related co-morbidities, such as diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and depression converge.
"Obesity can lead to worsening metabolic status that can lead to hopelessness and decreased physical activity, which in turns worsens obesity, and the cycle continues," he explained.
The encouraging news is that depression is a highly treatable condition, said Park. Because depression can make diabetes self-care more difficult and lessen quality of life, she suggested that depression treatment should be included in overall diabetes care strategies.
Depressed Stroke Survivors May Face Triple the Risk of Death
"Up to one in three people who have a stroke develop depression," said study author Amytis Towfighi, MD, with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center in Los Angeles, and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "This is something family members can help watch for that could potentially save their loved one."
Towfighi noted that similar associations have been found regarding depression and heart attack, but less is known about the association between stroke, depression and death.
The research included 10,550 people between the ages of 25 and 74 followed for 21 years. Of those, 73 had a stroke but did not develop depression, 48 had stroke and depression, 8,138 did not have a stroke or depression and 2,291 did not have a stroke but had depression.
After considering factors such as age, gender, race, education, income level and marital status, the risk of dying from any cause was three times higher in individuals who had stroke and depression compared to those who had not had a stroke and were not depressed. The risk of dying from stroke was four times higher among those who had a stroke and were depressed compared to people who had not had a stroke and were not depressed.
"Our research highlights the importance of screening for and treating depression in people who have experienced a stroke," said Towfighi. "Given how common depression is after stroke, and the potential consequences of having depression, looking for signs and symptoms and addressing them may be key."
Link Between Creativity and Mental Illness Confirmed in Large-Scale Swedish Study
Last year, the team showed that artists and scientists were more common amongst families where bipolar disorder and schizophrenia is present, compared to the population at large. They subsequently expanded their study to many more psychiatric diagnoses -- such as schizoaffective disorder, depression, anxiety syndrome, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, autism, ADHD, anorexia nervosa and suicide -- and to include people in outpatient care rather than exclusively hospital patients.
The present study tracked almost 1.2 million patients and their relatives, identified down to second-cousin level. Since all were matched with healthy controls, the study incorporated much of the Swedish population from the most recent decades. All data was anonymized and cannot be linked to any individuals.
The results confirmed those of their previous study, that certain mental illness -- bipolar disorder -- is more prevalent in the entire group of people with artistic or scientific professions, such as dancers, researchers, photographers and authors. Authors also specifically were more common among most of the other psychiatric diseases (including schizophrenia, depression, anxiety syndrome and substance abuse) and were almost 50 per cent more likely to commit suicide than the general population.
Further, the researchers observed that creative professions were more common in the relatives of patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anorexia nervosa and, to some extent, autism. According to Simon Kyaga, Consultant in psychiatry and Doctoral Student at the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, the results give cause to reconsider approaches to mental illness.
"If one takes the view that certain phenomena associated with the patient's illness are beneficial, it opens the way for a new approach to treatment," he says. "In that case, the doctor and patient must come to an agreement on what is to be treated, and at what cost. In psychiatry and medicine generally there has been a tradition to see the disease in black-and-white terms and to endeavour to treat the patient by removing everything regarded as morbid."
The study was financed with grants from the Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Psychiatry Foundation, the Bror Gadelius Foundation, the Stockholm Centre for Psychiatric Research and the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research.
Understanding Bipolar Disorder
Dr. Inti Pedroso and colleagues examined results of three studies, which examined the association of common gene variants with bipolar disorder throughout the genome. In addition, the team examined a study of gene
expression patterns in post-mortem brain tissue from individuals who had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry explained:
"None of our research approaches provide us with sufficient information, by itself, to understand the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders. This innovative paper wrestles with this challenge in a creative way that helps us to move forward in thinking about the neurobiology of bipolar disorder."
Dr. Pedroso said: "We combined information about genetic variation from thousands of cases and controls with brain gene expression data and information from protein databases to identify networks of genes and proteins in the brain that are key in the development of bipolar disorder."
The team were able to define risk gene variants that were considered function, by virtue of the association with changes in gene expression levels, and to group these functional gene variants in biologically meaningful pathways.
The results found that the effect was due to genes that played a role in various neural signaling pathways like the Notch and Wnt signaling pathways, which are key processes in neurotransmission and brain development. They also suggest that these genes are also likely to play a part in causing this disorder. According to the researchers, these genes localize to the human postsynaptic density that is vital for neuronal function and their mouse knockouts show different behavioral phenotypes whilst some are known targets of pharmacological therapies for bipolarism.
Dr. Gerome Breen, Senior Lecturer at King's College London Institute of Psychiatry, concluded:
"Our study provides some of the first evidence to show the biochemical and developmental processes involved in causing risk for developing this life-long and costly illness. We have highlighted potential new avenues for new drug treatments and intervention."
Delivering Family-Focused Therapy To Youths And Adolescents With Mental Health Problems
Approximately 14 percent of individuals suffering from depression and other mental health issues in the United States are minorities in underserved communities, yet very few medications or psychosocial interventions have been developed utilizing the participation of these groups. This year, Bowen Chung, M.D. - principal investigator at The Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center (LA BioMed) - will change that when two unique studies are initiated: the first study will utilize intervention that focuses on families to improve
outcomes for psychotic and bipolar adolescents and young adults, while the second study will evaluate the benefit of classes that teach skills to improve mood and resiliency in the face of daily stresses.
Working with lead investigator David Miklowitz, Ph.D., Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA School of Medicine, and funded by a two-year, $300,000 grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), Dr. Chung's first project involves family-focused therapy. Family-focused therapy has been in development and tested for nearly 20 years, yet much of the research has been conducted in an academic setting. Testing this approach for the first time in a community setting, Drs. Chung and Miklowitz will be working to train clinicians at county agencies in the Los Angeles area. The study seeks to determine if increased training for clinicians will impact how treatment is delivered, and if family therapy treatment will be effective on the patients.
Family-focused therapy is evidence-based therapy that has been shown to improve outcomes for bipolar and psychotic youth by improving adherence to medication and decreasing the likelihood of depression, which is a major problem for young adults with bipolar disorder.
"What's unique and exciting about this therapy is that it involves the entire family rather than just the individual," said Dr. Chung. "It focuses on improving sleep patterns, recognizing impending episodes, problem-solving skills, and increased communication between family members to help improve outcomes."
For the second study, Dr. Chung and his colleagues have partnered with local social service agencies, churches, and health advocacy organizations to train non-mental health professionals to deliver a resiliency class. Entitled "Building Resiliency and Community Hope," the study helps to provide individuals suffering from depression with the necessary skills to improve mood, and enhance the ability to bounce back from the stresses of daily living in urban Los Angeles.
The study - developed in conjunction with UCLA and supported by the California Community Foundation and UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute's offices at LA BioMed/Harbor-UCLA - includes a six-session class based on cognitive-behavioral therapy principles and will be delivered by non-professionals. This class was developed by the community and academic partners of another NIMH-funded study, Community Partners in Care.
The impetus for this project was the need for psychosocial intervention to enhance mood in neighborhoods such as South Los Angeles where access to health care and mental health services is limited. The two lead community organizations, Healthy African American Families II and the First African Presbyterian Church, will partner with Dr. Chung during all steps of the research process to ensure that the study aligns with the needs and priorities of residents in the Centinela Valley in South Los Angeles.
The pilot study will begin this fall and involve approximately 20 people, while the second phase will be a randomized trial that begins in winter 2013.
Parents Whose Children Move Far Away From Home Are Less Likely To Become Depressed Than Parents With Children Living Nearby
Parents whose children move far away from home are less likely to become depressed than parents with children living nearby, according to a new study of rural districts in Thailand. The study, led by scientists at King's College London, suggests that children who migrate to urban areas are more likely to financially support their parents, which may be a factor for lower levels of depression.Dr Melanie Abas, lead author from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's said: 'Parents whose children had all left the district were half as likely to be depressed as parents who still had one of more child living in the district. Although our study was conducted in Thailand, the findings are similar to previous studies in China.'
In Thailand traditionally children take responsibility for ageing parents. Local concerns that rising rates of rural-urban migration across South East Asia might have a negative impact on families and that older parents might experience loneliness, isolation and depression, have now been debunked by this research led by King's.
Protection against 'empty-nest syndrome'
The authors explain that parents can protect themselves from the so-called empty-nest syndrome. Dr Abas said: 'We found several protective factors against the empty-nest syndrome, some similar to those we see in the UK and US. Living in close-knit communities, seeing their children regularly at family gatherings or holidays and the feeling that they had succeeded as parents by having a self-sufficient child living and working in the city all helped against the empty-nest syndrome.'
However, one of the key protective factors - unique to lower and middle income countries - is the effect of children sending money home. 'In a country with a less developed welfare system, this makes an important difference to older parents' lives', Abas says.
In collaboration with the Mahidol University and Thammasat University, both in Thailand, researchers from King's studied nearly 1,000 parents aged 60 or over from 100 villages in rural Thailand to understand the effect of child migration on parents' depression.
Around 27 percent of the parents who had at least one child living close by - within the district - usually more than 100 kilometres away, had a depression, compared to 16 percent of those with all children living far from home - outside the district. One year later, 24 percent of parents with at least one child living within the district had a depression, compared to 9 percent of those with all children living outside the district.
Rates of depression varied as children moved out and back in to the district: 33 percent of those who had a child move back to the district were depressed compared to 20 percent of those who did not experience any child movement during the follow-up year.
Dr Sureeporn Punpuing, co-author from the Mahidol Univerity in Thailand explained: 'We found that there were two main reasons children returned home. Children either returned home because something had gone wrong in their own lives, such as divorce or job loss, adding to parents worries or because of their parents' declining mental or physical health.’
Depression - Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Works When Drugs Don't
Combining cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with antidepressants as treatment for people with depression is three times more likely to make them feel better when antidepressants alone fail to work. This news, published Online First in The Lancet, is very promising for the two thirds of those with depression who haven't seen any improvements from antidepressant use alone.
Depressive patients who do not respond to targeted medication tend to have recurring bouts of depression. Dutch scientists in a previous study in 2008,
found that CBT is very effective among those with recurrent depression.
Nicola Wiles, leader of the study from the University of Bristol, said:
"Until now, there was little evidence to help clinicians choose the best next step treatment for those patients whose symptoms do not respond to standard drug treatments"
CBT is a form of therapy that tries to change a patients pattern of thoughts and behavior, it follows the belief that by doing so their overall mood will improve, relieving many of the symptoms of depression.
The study monitored 469 adults from 73 general practices (aged 18-75) who went through 6 weeks of treatment on an antidepressant but didn't see any improvement. They were split into two different groups, one group of 235 patients continued pure antidepressant medication treatment while the other group of 234 patients received usual care treatment along with CBT. The follow up period was 12 months.
CBT was found to be the best form of treatment
They found that 46% of participants who received CBT as well as usual care saw improvements after 6 months compared to only 22% among those who solely used antidepressants. Those in the CBT group experienced less anxiety and were more likely to go into remission and experienced fewer and milder symptoms than those in the other group, with a reduction of depressive symptoms of at least 50%.
Depression is the fourth leading disability in the world and one of the most common psychiatric disorders,it affects over 350 million people worldwide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and nearly 7% of adults in the USA develop it every year. The condition is predicted by 2030 to be the main cause of disability in developed nations.
Nicola Wiles added:
"In many countries access to CBT is limited to those who can afford it. Even in the UK where there has been substantial investment in psychological services, many people who have not responded to antidepressants still do not receive more intensive psychological therapies such as CBT that take 12 to 18 sessions. In the USA, only about a quarter of people with depression have received any form of psychological therapy in the last 12 months."
The UK Government recently spent £500 million on the Improving Access To Psychological Therapies (IAPT) scheme, which according to Michael Otto from Boston University, USA, and Stephen Wisniewski from the University of Pittsburgh, USA, is very promising:
"(These findings) add to the already impressive efficacy for CBT as assessed for other stages of treatment ...If the broader IAPT vision is realized, it has the potential to serve as a model for depression treatment for other nations."
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)?
CBT is a short-duration treatment mainly for specific mental problems, such as panic attacks, phobias, anxiety, eating disorder and depression.
Psychologists say that CBT is a combination of cognitive therapy and behavioral therapy.
Cognitive therapy - focuses on our thoughts, beliefs and attitudes.
Behavioral therapy - focuses on how we behave in response to those thoughts.
Some people may have acquired unhealthy ways of thinking and behaving over many years or decades. The CBT therapist, who uses a set of structured techniques, sets out to identify thinking that causes troublesome feelings and problematic behavior. The patient (client) is then taught how to change this thinking, resulting in more appropriate and positive responses.
For example:
Negative thoughts usually end up upsetting us, leading to angry feelings, which then impact on our mood and behavior.
If such thoughts are not countered with a more positive approach, a negative spiral will follow, which can distort a person's perceptions of things.
CBT tries to get the person to challenge their beliefs about themselves and what they are capable of, so that their view of things or their situation is more realistic.
Depression Research and Findings
A study carried out by researchers from John Hopkins University found that using computers late at night can be a cause of depression due to the exposure to bright light late at night which elevates levels of a certain stress hormone.
Magnetic stimulation of the frontal lobe of the brain is effective at reducing symptoms of depression without the adverse side effects antidepressants have on sleep or arousal.
Gene Variations Linked To Higher Risk Of Bipolar Disorder
Scientists from the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have identified small variations in a number of genes that are closely linked to an increased risk of bipolar disorder, a mental illness that affects nearly six million Americans, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
"Using samples from some 3,400 individuals, we identified several new variants in genes closely associated with bipolar disorder," said Scripps Florida Professor Ron Davis, who led the new study, which was published recently by the journal Translational Psychiatry.
A strong tendency towards bipolar disorder runs in families; children with a parent or sibling who has bipolar disorder are four to six times more likely to develop the illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.
While the genetic basis for bipolar disorder is complex and involves multiple genes, it appears to be associated with a biochemical pathway known as cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) signaling system. The Davis laboratory and others have previously shown that the cAMP signaling plays a critical role in learning and memory processes. The new study focused on this signaling pathway.
"As far as I know, this has not been done before - to query a single signaling pathway," said Davis. "This is a new approach. The idea is if there are variants in one gene in the pathway that are associated with bipolar disorder, it makes sense there would be variants in other genes of the same signaling pathway also associated with the disorder."
The new study examined variations in 29 genes found in the two common types of bipolar disorder - bipolar disorder I (the most common form and the most severe) and bipolar disorder II. Genes from a total of 1,172 individuals with bipolar disorder I; 516 individuals with bipolar disorder II; and 1,728 controls were analyzed.
Several statistically significant associations were noted between bipolar disorder I and variants in the PDE10A gene. Associations were also found between bipolar disorder II and variants in the DISC1 and GNAS genes.
Davis noted that the location of PDE10A gene expression in the striatum, the part of the brain associated with learning and memory, decision making and motivation, makes it especially interesting as a therapeutic target.
Link Between Multiple Media Use And Depression, Anxiety
Using multiple forms of media at the same time - such as playing a computer game while watching TV - is linked to symptoms of anxiety and depression, scientists have found for the first time.
Michigan State University's Mark Becker, lead investigator on the study, said he was surprised to find such a clear association between media multitasking and mental health problems. What's not yet clear is the cause.
"We don't know whether the media multitasking is causing symptoms of depression and social anxiety, or if it's that people who are depressed and anxious are turning to media multitasking as a form of distraction from their problems," said Becker, assistant professor of psychology.
While overall media use among American youth has increased 20 percent in the past decade, the amount of time spent multitasking with media spiked 120 percent during that period, Becker said.
For the study, which appears in the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, Becker and fellow MSU researchers Reem Alzahabi and Christopher Hopwood surveyed 319 people on their media use and mental health.
Participants were asked how many hours per week they used two or more of the primary forms of media, which include television, music, cell phones, text messaging, computer and video games, web surfing and others. For the mental health survey, the researchers used well-established measures, although the results do not reflect a clinical diagnosis.
Becker said future research should explore cause and effect. If it turns out media multitasking is causing depression and anxiety, recommendations could be made to alleviate the problem, he said.
On the other hand, if depressed or anxious people are turning to media multitasking, that might actually help them deal with their problems. It could also serve as a warning sign that a youngster is becoming depressed or anxious.
"Whatever the case, it's very important information to have," Becker said. "This could have important implications for understanding how to minimize the negative impacts of increased media multitasking."
Risk Genes In Bipolar Disorder
One of the biggest challenges in psychiatric genetics has been to replicate findings across large studies.
Scientists at King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry have now performed one of the largest ever genetic replication studies of bipolar affective disorder, with 28,000 subjects recruited from 36 different research centers. Their findings provide compelling evidence that the chromosome 3p21.1 locus contains a common genetic risk for bipolar disorder, the PBRM1 gene.
The locus at 3p21.1 has also been previously associated with depression and schizophrenia. Using a separate dataset of over 34,000 subjects, they did not confirm association of this same variant with schizophrenia.
Thus, they replicated the association of the marker with bipolar disorder, but not with schizophrenia. This is an interesting finding, in that it distinguishes the heritable risk for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. It contrasts with the majority of studies that have found that schizophrenia risk genes also contribute to the risk for bipolar disorder.
"This study adds to the recent rapid progress in identifying genes for mental illness. The last few years have seen the identification of about two dozen genetic loci for bipolar disorder and schizophrenia," commented first author Evangelos Vassos. "About half of these are shared between these two disorders, indicating they share some, but not all, genetic causes."
Due to the conflicting results, it is clear that more work is needed to determine the role this locus plays in psychosis, but the evidence seems solid that it is associated with bipolar disorder.
PBRM1, the gene implicated in this study, codes for a protein that is involved in chromatin remodeling or "epigenetics", meaning that it influences the ability of a variety of environmental exposures to influence the expression of a range of genes. It has also been previously implicated in the risk for a form of renal cancer.
"There is growing interest in epigenetic mechanisms that might contribute to the development of bipolar disorder. The implication of a gene involved in chromatin remodeling in bipolar disorder risk adds fuel to this fire," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
Vassos concluded that "future studies may be able to use this information to develop new treatments for these disorders."
Risk Of Depression, Learning Issues When A Person Is Exposed To Light At Night
For most of history, humans rose with the sun and slept when it set. Enter Thomas Edison, and with a flick of a switch, night became day, enabling us to work, play and post cat and kid photos on Facebook into the wee hours.
According to a new study of mice led by a Johns Hopkins biologist, however, this typical 21st- century scenario may come at a serious cost: When people routinely burn the midnight oil, they risk suffering depression and learning issues, and not only because of lack of sleep. The culprit could also be exposure to bright light at night from lamps, computers and even iPads.
"Basically, what we found is that chronic exposure to bright light - even the kind of light you experience in your own living room at home or in the workplace at night if you are a shift worker - elevates levels of a certain stress hormone in the body, which results in depression and lowers cognitive function," said Samer Hattar, a biology professor in the Johns Hopkins University's Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.
Published in the advance online publication of the journal Nature, the mice study demonstrates how special cells in the eye (called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, or ipRGCs) are activated by bright light, affecting the brain's center for mood, memory and learning.
But the study involved mice, so why are we talking about humans? Hattar offers some insight:
"Mice and humans are actually very much alike in many ways, and one is that they have these ipRGCs in their eyes, which affect them the same way," he said. "In addition, in this study, we make reference to previous studies on humans, which show that light does, indeed, impact the human brain's limbic system. And the same pathways are in place in mice."
The scientists knew that shorter days in the winter cause some people to develop a form of depression known as "seasonal affective disorder" and that some patients with this mood disorder benefit from "light therapy," which is simple, regular exposure to bright light.
Hattar's team, led by graduate students Tara LeGates and Cara Altimus, posited that mice would react the same way, and tested their theory by exposing laboratory rodents to a cycle consisting of 3.5 hours of light and then 3.5 hours of darkness. Previous studies using this cycle showed that it did not disrupt the mice's sleep cycles, but Hattar's team found that it did cause the animals to develop depression-like behaviors.
"Of course, you can't ask mice how they feel, but we did see an increase in depression-like behaviors, including a lack of interest in sugar or pleasure seeking, and the study mice moved around far less during some of the tests we did," he said. "They also clearly did not learn as quickly or remember tasks as well. They were not as interested in novel objects as were mice on a regular light-darkness cycle schedule."
The animals also had increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that has been linked in numerous previous studies with learning issues. Treatment with Prozac, a commonly prescribed anti-depressant, mitigated the symptoms, restoring the mice to their previous healthy moods and levels of learning, and bolstering the evidence that their learning issues were caused by depression.
According to Hattar, the results indicate that humans should be wary of the kind of prolonged, regular exposure to bright light at night that is routine in our lives, because it may be having a negative effect on our mood and ability to learn.
"I'm not saying we have to sit in complete darkness at night, but I do recommend that we should switch on fewer lamps, and stick to less-intense light bulbs: Basically, only use what you need to see. That won't likely be enough to activate those ipRGCs that affect mood," he advises.
Postpartum Depression May Be Reduced By Eating More Fish
Emerging evidence suggests many pregnant women are deficient in omega-3
Low levels of omega-3 may be behind postpartum depression, according to a review lead by Gabriel Shapiro of the University of Montreal and the Research Centre at the Sainte-Justine Mother and Child Hospital. Women are at the highest risk of depression during their childbearing years, and the birth of a child may trigger a depressive episode in vulnerable women. Postpartum depression is associated with diminished maternal health as well as developmental and health problems for her child. "The literature shows that there could be a link between pregnancy, omega-3 and the chemical reaction that enables serotonin, a mood regulator, to be released into our brains," Shapiro said. "Many women could bring their omega-3 intake to recommended levels." The findings were announced by the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
Because omega-3 is transferred from the mother to her fetus and later to her breastfeeding infant, maternal omega-3 levels decrease during pregnancy, and remain lowered for at least six-weeks following the birth. Furthermore, in addition to the specific biological circumstances of pregnant women, it has been found in the US that most people do not consume sufficient amounts of omega-3. "These findings suggest that new screening strategies and prevention practices may be useful," Shapiro said, noting that the study was preliminary and the further research would be needed to clarify the link and identify the reasons for it.
Effective Strategies To Prevent Teen Depression And Suicide
Untreated depression is one of the leading causes of teen suicide, and signs of depression can also be a warning that a teen is contemplating suicide. In an article published in the quarterly journal, The Prevention Researcher, University of Cincinnati researchers are describing how positive connections can help offset these tragedies.
In the current issue, titled, "Teen Depression," UC researchers Keith King, a professor of health promotion, and Rebecca Vidourek, an assistant professor of health promotion, report that depression and suicide are "intricately intertwined among teens" in their article, "Teen Depression and Suicide: Effective Prevention and Intervention Strategies."
The authors reveal that teen suicidal warning signs encompass three specific categories:
- Behavioral warning signs - Traits that teens may display when contemplating suicide include difficulty sleeping or excessive sleeping; changes in school performance; loss of interest in once pleasurable activities; giving away cherished possessions; expressing thoughts of death or suicide.
- Verbal warning signs - Verbal statements include, "I want to die;" "I don't want to be a burden anymore; "My family would be better off without me."
- Stressful life events - A traumatic event for the teen, such as a breakup, parental divorce or loss of a loved one.
The UC researchers say building strong connections with family, schools and the community are key to protection against depression and teen suicide. "Research clearly indicates family connectedness helps to prevent teen suicide, even if teens are socially isolated from peers," write the authors. They add that because teens spend such a large amount of time in school, the authors recommend that schools adopt prevention and intervention programs that include education, early detection and follow-up programs to address teen depression and suicide.
"As research indicates, the key component to effective depression/suicide prevention is the development of positive social and emotional connections among teens and supportive adults," the authors conclude in the article. "Thus, getting teens positively connected to positive people and positive situations should remain the goal."
mental health issues
You might think that mental health issues are fairly rare in modern American society, but far more of us are self medicating than you might imagine – and mental health issues are far more prevalent than one might at first suspect. This infographic shines a light on the facts, breaking down the numbers on what is really going on in our minds.
Oppositional Defiant Disorder: Could Your Child Have This?
As any parent can attest, certain stages of children's developmental process include periods where they are especially difficult, such as the so-called terrible twos. However, sometimes children exhibit troubling behavior that's beyond what we'd normally expected at that age and stage of development.
Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD) is a behavioral disorder that usually begins in early childhood. The psychiatric industry's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder defines ODD as a persistent pattern of angry and irritable mood with defiant and vindictive behavior. Children younger than five old must exhibit this behavior most days for at least six months, and children older than five must display such behavior at least once per week for at least six months to be diagnosed with ODD.
ODD is more common in children who have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and Tourette syndrome (a nervous system condition that causes uncontrollable tics). In fact, about one-third to one-half of children with ADHD also have an accompanying behavior disorder. Individuals with Oppositional Defiance Disorder may also experience anxiety and depression.
Children with ODD tend to:
- Lose their temper often,
- Argue with adults or refuse to comply with rules and requests,
- Be angry, resentful, or vindictive,
- Annoy others or become easily annoyed themselves, and
- Blame others for their mistakes or behaviors.
Mental health professionals consider ODD a family disorder since it tends to run in families. There may be a genetic component or ODD may simply be learned behavior. It's more likely in families in which parental limits are overly harsh or overly lax, the family lacks structure, or parents apply rules inconsistently. Children with ODD generally have at least one parent who models ODD behavior or at least one parent who is emotionally or physically unavailable to their child due to their own emotional problems. ODD behavior may be a way for children to feel safe, gain a sense of control, or get attention.
Some research indicates that ADHD symptoms place children at risk for behavior consistent with ODD, and other research suggests that children with elevated ODD symptoms seem to be persistently involved in the juvenile justice system and have a greater probability of eventually receiving charges for serious crimes.
Behavioral therapy, which focuses on changing behavior, is generally effective for addressing ODD and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy may help older children. It can take time before you see results from therapy.
Sources:
American Psychiatric Association. "Oppositional Defiant Disorder." Web.
http://www.dsm5.org/ProposedRevisions/Pages/proposedrevision.aspx?rid=106
Encyclopedia of Mental disorders. "Oppositional defiant disorder." Web.
http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Oppositional-defiant-disorder.html
Pardini, Dustin A. Ph.D and Fite, Paula J., Ph.D. "Symptoms of Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Callous-Unemotional Traits as Unique Predictors of Psychosocial Maladjustment in Boys: Advancing an Evidence Base for DSM-V."
Journal of American Academy Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 49(11) (2010): 1134-1144. Web.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3064931/
Centers for Disease Control. "Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)." Web. 12 December 2011.http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd/conditions.html
