Psychiatry / Psychology
Depression in Pregnancy and the Postpartum Period
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The author reviews the risks and benefits of untreated maternal depression during pregnancy and the postnatal period and its effects on the well-being of the mother and infant. She then discusses the significant role psychiatrists can play in detecting and managing maternal depression as a primary measure for preventing future child psychopathology.
When mom has AIDS, kids’ mental health may suffer
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Uninfected children of HIV-infected mothers should be screened and followed up long-term for psychiatric problems, pediatricians from New York recommend, based on their experience.
Over 2 years, Dr. Laurie J. Bauman from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx measured the mental health of a group of 8- to 12-year-old children whose mothers had late-stage HIV/AIDS.
Survey reveals drug and alcohol abuse in British teens
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According to a government survey in the UK almost half of all youngsters between the age of 10 and 15 say they have consumed alcohol. This survey on the lifestyles and concerns of children has revealed startling drug and alcohol abuse problems.
The online ‘TellUs2’ survey for watchdog Ofsted (Office for Standards in Education) interviewed 111,000 children and teenagers and found that 14 per cent of children in the 12-15 age group said they had experimented with drugs such as cannabis.
Hypnosis may calm kids’ irritable bowels
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Gut-directed hypnotherapy is “highly effective” for children with long-standing abdominal pain or irritable bowel syndrome (known as IBS), researchers have found.
“We advocate that hypnotherapy become the treatment of choice in children with persisting complaints of either functional abdominal pain or IBS in whom first-line therapies such as education and dietary advice have failed,” Dr. Arine M. Vlieger of St. Antonius Hospital, Nieuwegein, and colleagues conclude in a report in the journal Gastroenterology.
Study Links Asthma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
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For the first time, a study has linked asthma with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among adults in the community. The study of male twins who were veterans of the Vietnam era suggests that the association between asthma and PTSD is not primarily explained by common genetic influences.
The study included 3,065 male twin pairs, who had lived together in childhood, and who had both served on active military duty during the Vietnam War. The study found that among all twins, those who suffered from the most PTSD symptoms were 2.3 times as likely to have asthma compared with those who suffered from the least PTSD symptoms.
Behavior Therapy Plus Medication May Help Teens With Depression And Substance Use Disorders
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The antidepressant fluoxetine combined with cognitive behavioral therapy appears as effective for treating depression among teens who also have substance use disorders as among those without substance abuse problems, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.
“Adolescents with substance use disorders (SUDs) have higher rates of depression (15 percent to 24 percent) than adolescents in the general population,” the authors write as background information in the article.
Mental illness in parents tied to higher SIDS risk
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The risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is elevated in infants with parents who have been hospitalized for psychiatric illness or substance-abuse disorders, according to a new study.
Dr. Roger T. Webb, at the University of Manchester in England, and associates obtained information on single infant births, infant mortality, and adult psychiatric hospitalizations from national registries in Denmark. The researchers identified all cases of SIDS that occurred between 1973 and 1998.
TV violence in preschool years tied to aggression
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Preschool boys who watch violent TV programs, even in the form of cartoons, may be more aggressive than their peers later in childhood, researchers reported Monday.
In a study of 330 boys and girls who were followed from preschool up to age 9, boys exposed to TV violence in their preschool years were more likely to show aggressive behavior later on, according to lead researcher Dr. Dimitri A. Christakis, of the Child Health Institute, Seattle, and associates.
Many obesity surgery candidates fail psych screen
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Pre-operative psychiatric evaluations can reliably spot patients who are not yet ready for obesity surgery, a new study suggests.
Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital and Brown University in Providence found that of 500 candidates for so-called bariatric surgery at their center, nearly one-fifth did not pass their initial psychiatric evaluation.
Anxiety may raise death risk after heart surgery
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People who are prone to anxiety may face greater risks following heart surgery than their counterparts with more relaxed dispositions, a study has found.
In a study of 180 heart surgery patients, Hungarian researchers found that patients with anxiety-prone personalities had a slightly higher death rate and a greater risk of hospitalization in the four years following their surgery.
Psychotherapy may relieve postpartum depression
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Symptoms of postpartum depression appear to be reduced by any psychosocial therapy, with women opting for this treatment doing better than those who try to struggle through with no treatment at all, findings of a study review suggest.
Many women experience mild, short-term depressive symptoms, or “baby blues,” shortly after delivery, while others - about 13 percent - develop more serious postpartum depression, according to lead author Dr. Cindy-Lee Dennis of the University of Toronto. Although antidepressant drugs can be effective in treating depression, about 50 percent of new mothers want to avoid taking drugs.
Educated People Who Develop Dementia Lose Memory at Faster Rate
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People with more years of education lose their memory faster than those with less education in the years prior to a diagnosis of dementia, according to a study published in the October 23, 2007, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
The study included 117 people who developed dementia out of an original cohort of 488 people. Researchers followed the participants for an average of six years using annual cognitive tests. Study participants ranged in formal education levels of less than three years of elementary school to people with postgraduate education.
Mental deficits after concussion persist in women
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Up to eight months after suffering a concussion, female college-level soccer players still have impairment in certain mental functions, Canadian researchers report.
“Contrary to what is typically thought, these effects are longer-lasting,” Dr. Dave Ellemberg of the University of Montreal told Reuters Health. “They’re mild, but yet they’re prolonged.”
Statins reduce loss of function, keeping old lungs young - even in smokers
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Statins are known to be good for lowering cholesterol and maybe even fighting dementia, and now they have another reported benefit: they appear to slow decline in lung function in the elderly— even in those who smoke. According to researchers in Boston, it may be statins’ anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help achieve this effect.
Their findings were published in the second issue for October in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
Medication shows promise as a treatment for alcohol dependence
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Alcohol-dependent patients who received the medication topiramate had fewer heavy drinking days, fewer drinks per day and more days of continuous abstinence than those who received placebo, according to a study in the October 10 issue of JAMA.
According to background information in the article, a previous, shorter trial indicated that topiramate, a medication used in the treatment of seizures, may be beneficial for the treatment of alcohol dependence.
