 
ScienceDaily (July 22, 2010) — Childhood physical abuse is associated with significantly elevated rates of heart disease in adulthood, according to new findings by University of Toronto researchers, published in this month’s issue of the journal Child Abuse & Neglect.
“Individuals who reported they had been physically abused as children had 45 per cent higher odds of heart disease than their peers who had not been abused, despite the fact we had adjusted for most of the known risk factors for heart disease,” says Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson, who holds the Sandra Rotman Chair at U of T’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and Department of Family and Community Medicine.
The childhood abuse and heart disease link persisted even after controlling for health behaviours such as smoking, obesity and physical activity level, as well as other adverse childhood experiences such as parental addictions, adult income and education level, diabetes, self-reported stress and a history of high blood pressure and mood disorders.
These findings were based on data from a 2005 representative community survey conducted in two Canadian provinces. Of 13,000 respondents, seven per cent indicated they had been physically abused as children and four per cent reported they had been diagnosed with heart disease by a health professional.
Co-author John Frank, director of Scottish Collaboration for Public Health Research and Policy, notes, “This finding, if replicated in other studies, suggests that patients known to have experienced child abuse or neglect should have their cardiovascular risk factors managed somewhat more aggressively than other persons, since they are at greater risk.”
Frank believes that future research is needed to study the potential mechanisms through which childhood physical abuse is associated with heart disease. “Like many previous studies linking early life characteristics and experiences with late life serious disease, this study does not explain precisely how such links operate, biologically; further research will be required to understand that process.”
Source:Â http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100722102043.htm
Jan
22
 
ScienceDaily (July 22, 2010) — Blood tests have been extremely important tools aiding doctors in making medical diagnoses and in guiding the treatment of many diseases. However, psychiatry is one area of medicine where there are few diagnostic blood tests.
New scientific fields may someday generate blood tests that can be used for these purposes. Some of the areas under increasingly intensive study are genetics, the study of variations in the genes (DNA) that can be extracted from blood cells, and genomics like proteomics, the measurement of the levels of specific proteins in the blood, and gene expression profiling, which measures the levels of RNA produced from DNA as an indication of the level of the “activity” of particular genes.
Using the latter approach, Dutch researchers evaluated blood gene expression profiles in healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder, or MDD. They identified a set of seven genes in whole blood that was able to distinguish un-medicated MDD patients from healthy controls.
“This is a first, but major step in providing a molecular diagnostic tool for depression,” explained Dr. Sabine Spijker, corresponding author of this study. Although psychiatry already has specific criteria for diagnosing mental health disorders, this type of diagnosis would be unbiased and particularly valuable for those with whom it is more difficult to have a conversation. It may also eventually assist in reducing the stigma associated with mental health problems.
“It is far too early to be confident that gene expression profiling will lead us to diagnostic or prognostic tests for depression. However, the objective of this line of research is extremely important,” cautions Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. “In the past, many types of tests have been explored as potential diagnostic markers, but they all have failed to have sufficient sensitivity and specificity to guide doctors in making psychiatric diagnoses or choosing between treatments. I look forward to seeing whether the patterns of gene expression profiling are replicable and diagnostically specific as multiple groups report their findings.”
Most importantly, the authors hope that this study is a stepping stone for finding markers that might predict treatment outcome and recurrence.
Journal Reference:
- Sabine Spijker, Jeroen S. Van Zanten, Simone De Jong, Brenda W.J.H. Penninx, Richard van Dyck, Frans G. Zitman, Jan H. Smit, Bauke Ylstra, August B. Smit, Witte J.G. Hoogendijk. Stimulated Gene Expression Profiles as a Blood Marker of Major Depressive Disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 2010; 68 (2): 179 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.03.017
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100722092330.htm
Jan
22
Â
ScienceDaily (July 22, 2010) — Blood tests have been extremely important tools aiding doctors in making medical diagnoses and in guiding the treatment of many diseases. However, psychiatry is one area of medicine where there are few diagnostic blood tests.
New scientific fields may someday generate blood tests that can be used for these purposes. Some of the areas under increasingly intensive study are genetics, the study of variations in the genes (DNA) that can be extracted from blood cells, and genomics like proteomics, the measurement of the levels of specific proteins in the blood, and gene expression profiling, which measures the levels of RNA produced from DNA as an indication of the level of the “activity” of particular genes.
Using the latter approach, Dutch researchers evaluated blood gene expression profiles in healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with major depressive disorder, or MDD. They identified a set of seven genes in whole blood that was able to distinguish un-medicated MDD patients from healthy controls.
“This is a first, but major step in providing a molecular diagnostic tool for depression,” explained Dr. Sabine Spijker, corresponding author of this study. Although psychiatry already has specific criteria for diagnosing mental health disorders, this type of diagnosis would be unbiased and particularly valuable for those with whom it is more difficult to have a conversation. It may also eventually assist in reducing the stigma associated with mental health problems.
“It is far too early to be confident that gene expression profiling will lead us to diagnostic or prognostic tests for depression. However, the objective of this line of research is extremely important,” cautions Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry. “In the past, many types of tests have been explored as potential diagnostic markers, but they all have failed to have sufficient sensitivity and specificity to guide doctors in making psychiatric diagnoses or choosing between treatments. I look forward to seeing whether the patterns of gene expression profiling are replicable and diagnostically specific as multiple groups report their findings.”
Most importantly, the authors hope that this study is a stepping stone for finding markers that might predict treatment outcome and recurrence.
Journal Reference:
- Sabine Spijker, Jeroen S. Van Zanten, Simone De Jong, Brenda W.J.H. Penninx, Richard van Dyck, Frans G. Zitman, Jan H. Smit, Bauke Ylstra, August B. Smit, Witte J.G. Hoogendijk. Stimulated Gene Expression Profiles as a Blood Marker of Major Depressive Disorder. Biological Psychiatry, 2010; 68 (2): 179 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2010.03.017
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100722092330.htm
 
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 22, 2010
New research may help parents when they write the monthly check for music lessons.
After a review of a wide range of scientific literature, Northwestern University scientists believe the facts support a link between musical training and learning.
According to the experts, musical practice improves skills including language, speech, memory, attention and even vocal emotion.
The review is presented in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience and includes findings from labs all over the world comprising a variety of scientific philosophies and research approaches.
The explosion of research in recent years focusing on the effects of music training on the nervous system, including the studies in the review, have strong implications for education, said Nina Kraus, lead author of the Nature perspective, and director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.
Scientists use the term neuroplasticity to describe the brain’s ability to adapt and change as a result of training and experience over the course of a person’s life. The studies covered in the Northwestern review offer a model of neuroplasticity, Kraus said.
The research strongly suggests that the neural connections made during musical training also prime the brain for other aspects of human communication.
Read in Full:Â http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/22/long-term-benefits-from-musical-training/15885.html
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Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on July 22, 2010
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New research may help parents when they write the monthly check for music lessons.
Â
After a review of a wide range of scientific literature, Northwestern University scientists believe the facts support a link between musical training and learning.
Â
According to the experts, musical practice improves skills including language, speech, memory, attention and even vocal emotion.
Â
The review is presented in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience and includes findings from labs all over the world comprising a variety of scientific philosophies and research approaches.
Â
The explosion of research in recent years focusing on the effects of music training on the nervous system, including the studies in the review, have strong implications for education, said Nina Kraus, lead author of the Nature perspective, and director of Northwestern’s Auditory Neuroscience Laboratory.
Â
Scientists use the term neuroplasticity to describe the brain’s ability to adapt and change as a result of training and experience over the course of a person’s life. The studies covered in the Northwestern review offer a model of neuroplasticity, Kraus said.
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The research strongly suggests that the neural connections made during musical training also prime the brain for other aspects of human communication.
Â
Read in Full:Â
http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/22/long-term-benefits-from-musical-training/15885.html
 
Article Date: 22 Jul 2010 – 1:00 PDT
NICE is currently updating existing guidance published in December 2004 on the management of anxiety. As part of this process, draft recommendations have been published on the NICE website for public consultation.
The 2004 NICE guidance included the care of adults who have panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) or generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). This update only covers the recommendations on the management of adults with a diagnosis of GAD.
Christine Carson, Programme Director for the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE, said: “Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common condition that develops in about 1 in 50 people at some stage in life. It can be recognised by chronic, excessive worry about a number of different events associated with heightened tension. GAD can vary in its severity and complexity for each person, and for this reason it is very important to consider how each patient should be treated individually.
“Since NICE published guidance on the condition in December 2004, new evidence has emerged for how to manage GAD in adults. Therefore this particular section of the guideline was prioritised for updating. The new recommendations include health professionals considering a diagnosis of GAD in patients presenting with anxiety or significant worry, and in those frequently attending primary care who have a chronic physical health problem, or do not have a physical health problem but are seeking re-assurance about somatic symptoms or are repeatedly worrying about a range of different issues.”
The draft recommendations are now available for public consultation. Anyone wishing to submit comments should visit our website for more information on the consultation process.
Draft recommendations issued for consultation include:
– Recognition and communication of the diagnosis of GAD should occur as early as possible to help people with GAD understand the disorder and lead to more effective treatment.
– For people with GAD whose symptoms do not improve with education and active monitoring, offer one or more of the following as a first-line intervention, guided by the person’s preference: individual pure self-help, individual guided self-help or psycho-educational groups[1].
– Offer an individual high-intensity psychological intervention or a pharmacological intervention to people with GAD with marked functional impairment or those whose symptoms have not adequately responded to Low-intensity psychological interventions such as pure self-help, guided self help and psycho-educational groups.
– Offer cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or applied relaxation to people with GAD with marked functional impairment or those whose symptoms have not adequately responded to Low-intensity psychological interventions
– Do not offer an antipsychotic for the treatment of GAD in primary care.
Notes
About the guidance
1. The draft guidance will be available on the NICE website from 20 July, 2010.
[1] A psycho-educational group is a specific type of group therapy that focuses on educating clients about their disorders and ways of coping. Many psycho-educational groups consist of members that all share the same diagnosis. In this case, the education tends to focus on coping with that specific disorder. In other groups, members may have very different diagnoses, and the educational focus is on practical life skills such as living within a community or accepting rules.
Â
Article Date: 22 Jul 2010 – 1:00 PDT
NICE is currently updating existing guidance published in December 2004 on the management of anxiety. As part of this process, draft recommendations have been published on the NICE website for public consultation.
The 2004 NICE guidance included the care of adults who have panic disorder (with or without agoraphobia) or generalised anxiety disorder (GAD). This update only covers the recommendations on the management of adults with a diagnosis of GAD.
Christine Carson, Programme Director for the Centre for Clinical Practice at NICE, said: “Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) is a common condition that develops in about 1 in 50 people at some stage in life. It can be recognised by chronic, excessive worry about a number of different events associated with heightened tension. GAD can vary in its severity and complexity for each person, and for this reason it is very important to consider how each patient should be treated individually.
“Since NICE published guidance on the condition in December 2004, new evidence has emerged for how to manage GAD in adults. Therefore this particular section of the guideline was prioritised for updating. The new recommendations include health professionals considering a diagnosis of GAD in patients presenting with anxiety or significant worry, and in those frequently attending primary care who have a chronic physical health problem, or do not have a physical health problem but are seeking re-assurance about somatic symptoms or are repeatedly worrying about a range of different issues.”
The draft recommendations are now available for public consultation. Anyone wishing to submit comments should visit our website for more information on the consultation process.
Draft recommendations issued for consultation include:
– Recognition and communication of the diagnosis of GAD should occur as early as possible to help people with GAD understand the disorder and lead to more effective treatment.
– For people with GAD whose symptoms do not improve with education and active monitoring, offer one or more of the following as a first-line intervention, guided by the person’s preference: individual pure self-help, individual guided self-help or psycho-educational groups[1].
– Offer an individual high-intensity psychological intervention or a pharmacological intervention to people with GAD with marked functional impairment or those whose symptoms have not adequately responded to Low-intensity psychological interventions such as pure self-help, guided self help and psycho-educational groups.
– Offer cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) or applied relaxation to people with GAD with marked functional impairment or those whose symptoms have not adequately responded to Low-intensity psychological interventions
– Do not offer an antipsychotic for the treatment of GAD in primary care.
Notes
About the guidance
1. The draft guidance will be available on the NICE website from 20 July, 2010.
[1] A psycho-educational group is a specific type of group therapy that focuses on educating clients about their disorders and ways of coping. Many psycho-educational groups consist of members that all share the same diagnosis. In this case, the education tends to focus on coping with that specific disorder. In other groups, members may have very different diagnoses, and the educational focus is on practical life skills such as living within a community or accepting rules.
Jan
22
 
Jan
22
 
Article Date: 21 Jul 2010 – 4:00 PDT
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) rates peak in women later than they do in men. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal Annals of General Psychiatry found that men are most vulnerable to PTSD between the ages of 41 and 45 years, while women are most vulnerable at 51 to 55.
Ask Elklit and Daniel N Ditlevsen, from the University of Southern Denmark and Odense University Hospital, Denmark, collected data from 6,548 participants in previous Danish or Nordic PTSD studies in order to investigate the gender difference in the lifespan distribution of PTSD. According to Elklit, “People now live for an increased number of years compared to that of previous generations, and as a result individuals have more years in which they can be affected by the negative consequences that can follow traumatic experiences. It is therefore important to pay attention to the risk of PTSD in relation to different stages in the lifespan”.
Read in Full:Â http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/195409.php