January, 2010
Study Identifies Hormone as Culprit in Alcohol Overindulgence
Is it possible that overeating and indulging in the intoxication of alcohol could be blamed on a hormone? According to a recent study published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the hormone gherlin may be responsible for the overindulgence in alcohol.
The study included trials on mice who were injected with gherlin, a hormone known to promote appetite and food intake. The mice receiving the injections were more likely to choose alcohol over water when presented with the two choices.
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Excess Serotonin Receptors May Explain Why Antidepressants Don’t Work for Some Patients
An excess of one type of serotonin receptor in the center of the brain may explain why antidepressants fail to relieve symptoms of depression for 50 percent of patients, a new study from researchers at Columbia University Medical Center shows. The study is the first to find a causal link between receptor number and antidepressant treatment and may lead to more personalized treatment for depression, including treatments for patients who do not respond to antidepressants and ways to identify these patients before they undergo costly and ultimately futile therapies.
Patterns of Alcohol Consumption for those with Alcohol Use Disorder
Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) can look different for different people. The behaviors and risks associated can vary greatly, and it can be hard to understand how to intervene and educate regarding such a varied condition.
A recent study examined how AUD changes over time. In 2008, Dawson, Stinson, Chou and Grant looked at the associations between the course of AUD and changes in the average daily volume of ethanol consumption, frequency of risk drinking, and maximum quantity of drinks consumed per day.
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Study Finds Disconnect Between Brain Regions in ADHD
New research shows that two brain areas fail to connect when children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) attempt a task that measures attention. Researchers at the UC Davis Center for Mind and Brain and M.I.N.D. Institute made this discovery by analyzing the brain activity in children with ADHD, and their paper appears in the current online issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry.
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Hoarders: Not Just “Packrats”
“Makeover” shows can be very entertaining—they usually involve making over the appearance of someone who may have low self-esteem, or building a new home for a family devastated by loss. Some shows offer cleaning services to families who households are disorganized and chaotic. These shows can teach, instill kindness, or even be beneficial or rewarding for its viewers. But there is a much darker reality that is not prevalent in these reality entertainment shows; some people who are characterized as “packrats” may actually have a serious underlying mental disorder. These aren’t the people who pride themselves as collectors or admit to being unorganized or a shopaholic. People who habitually collect and never discard items are compulsive hoarders.
Using EEG Biofeedback to Treat Children with ADHD
A new thought-operated computer system that can reduce the symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children will be rolled out across the UK this month. Professor Karen Pine at the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Psychology and assistant Farjana Nasrin investigated the effects of EEG (Electroencephalography) biofeedback, a learning strategy that detects brain waves, on ten children with an attention deficit from Hertfordshire schools.
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When You Can Ask Who Can Help Me Heal – The Time Is Right
Thoughts about quitting your addiction can pop up at any time. Usually, however, they creep in slowly, gradually taking root until the desire to quit your drug of choice becomes almost unbearable. While it would be wonderful to be able to predict when such an intention to change begins to command more and more of your attention, it just doesn’t happen that way. Some addicts need to lose everything – family, relationships with friends, home, car, job and health – before they grudgingly accept they have a problem. Others come to the realization more quickly after only a few negative consequences. While each person arrives at the decision differently, there’s one thing in common: when you can ask who can help me heal, the time is definitely right.
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College Binge Drinking & Hazing: An Emerging Epidemic
For American youngsters, moving away to college is a rite of passage the likes of which will never be experienced again in their lifetimes. Faced with sudden, unlimited freedom, college freshmen everywhere drink themselves into oblivion whenever they can afford to. Pregame tailgating, post-exam celebrations, happy hours, and fraternity and sorority mixers just wouldn’t be the same without alcohol. Weekends start on Thursday night, “chugging” is encouraged, and lifelong reputations for being able to “drink anyone under the table” are made or lost during this phase of adolescent development. Sadly, students think that drinking is the one and only way to socialize with friends and classmates.
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Deep Brain Stimulation Successfully Treats Severe Depression
A team of neurosurgeons at Heidelberg University Hospital and psychiatrists at the Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim have (for the first time) successfully treated a patient suffering from severe depression by stimulating the habenula, a tiny nerve structure in the brain. The 64-year-old woman, who had suffered from depression since age 18, could not be helped by medication or electroconvulsive therapy. Since the procedure, she is free of symptoms for the first time in years.
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Childhood Abuse Linked to Migraine and Other Pain Disorders
Researchers from the American Headache Society’s Women’s Issues Section Research Consortium found that incidence of childhood maltreatment, especially emotional abuse and neglect, are prevalent in migraine patients. The study also found that migraineurs reporting childhood emotional or physical abuse and/or neglect had a significantly higher number of comorbid pain conditions compared with those without a history of maltreatment. Full findings of the study appear in the January issue of Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain,published on behalf of the American Headache Society by Wiley-Blackwell.
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