Brain Abnormality Linked to Hyperactivity Disorder
Brain scans of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder show abnormalities in the fiber pathways along which brain signals pass, scientists said on Monday.
The finding indicates the disorder may be more than just a chemical imbalance, they added.
Using an imaging technique called diffusion tensor imaging, researchers found subtle […]

Health Privacy at Taylor University
Wow. Apparently Taylor University doesn’t much care for how they handle the privacy of their students’ healthcare records. Which appears to be in direct violation of the U.S. Federal privacy standards guaranteed by HIPAA, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (definition). It’s sad to read someone who has to deal […]

Medical-Pot Fight Goes to Justices
Angel Raich, a 39-year-old mother of two, smokes marijuana eight times a day in her Oakland home.
She does it to relieve pain from a brain tumor and more than a dozen other maladies. And she does it with her doctor’s blessing and the permission of the state of California, which allows […]

Suicide victim’s wife sues maker of Zoloft
The wife of an Orlando suicide victim is suing Pfizer Inc. over its widely used antidepressant drug Zoloft, according to court records and the woman’s lawyer.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in state Circuit Court in Orlando by attorney David Paul, alleges that the man committed suicide two weeks after […]

The Antidepressant Dilemma (New York Times Magazine, free reg. req’d)
On June 30, 1997, the Millers took Matt to see Dr. Douglas Geenens, a child psychiatrist referred to them by Matt’s primary-care physician. In addition to the doctor and the Millers, both Mark and Cheryl remember there being two other people in the room, who Dr. […]

Depression treatment boosts employee productivity
High-quality care for depression can improve productivity at work and lower rates of workplace absenteeism, according to a new report.
A two-year program for depressed employees treated at 12 primary care practices nationwide improved productivity at work by an average of 6 percent, or an estimated annual value of $1,491 per depressed […]

Data support Americans’ sense of accelerating ‘time warp’; balance between work and family elusive
While the U.S. work week, or hours spent working for pay by the average employee, has not significantly changed over the past 30 years, the demands of work and family are certainly colliding. According to research by sociologists, there is a growing […]

University seeks recruits for Parkinson’s Disease study
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh are seeking people with Parkinson’s Disease (PD) to help them better understand how mood– particularly depression– affects their symptoms. The study will investigate the way depression impacts on the thinking processes of those with PD, and look at how this mood disorder can […]

I think most pharmaceutical company press releases are pretty self-serving on the face of it. I think they also tend to do a disservice to the public by minimizing the negative side effects of the medication while over-promoting their effectiveness (especially compared to older medications). Nonetheless, in the spirit of the giving season, here are […]

Internet offers relief of holiday blues (Reuters via USA Today)
When the going gets tough at the stores this holiday season, the tough go shopping online. When life gets really tough, there’s online therapy.
“I think it’s invaluable this time of the year,” said John Grohol, spokesman for International Society for Mental Health Online, which promotes the […]

Rise in antidepressants for children
Doctors are prescribing more antidepressants for children and adolescents although there is little evidence about their safety or efficacy in youngsters, researchers say.
Prescription rates for young patients under 18 years old rose in nine countries in Europe, North America and South America between 2000-2002.
Britain had the highest rate of increase with […]

When the going gets tough at the stores this holiday season, the tough go shopping online. When life gets really tough, there’s online therapy.
“I think it’s invaluable this time of the year,” said John Grohol, spokesman for International Society for Mental Health Online (http://www.ismho.org), which promotes the development of Web technology for the mental […]