Posts Tagged ‘psychiatry’
Verily and LivaNova accelerate efforts to detect and treat depression
__ Heads-up about a couple fascinating developments over the last few weeks. 1) Verily’s Bold New Project Aims to Predict Depression Using Your Phone (SingularityHub): “Depression is a shifting, amorphous beast that silently haunts millions. It’s also difficult to pinpoint. Psychiatry has formulated well-tested questionnaires to diagnose depression. But these tests require patients to reach out…
Read MoreUCSF to open innovative neurology clinic to address “diagnostic odyssey”
_____ UCSF to Launch Unique Neurology Clinic Specializing in Difficult-to-Diagnose Cases (press release): “A proposed neurology clinic at UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay aims to shortcut the “diagnostic odyssey” faced by many patients with baffling brain symptoms that do not meet the standard criteria for any specific condition. Patients with ambiguous neurological symptoms, but…
Read MoreStudy: To treat depression, therapy alone works better than therapy combined with antidepressants
___ Should Combined CBT, Pharmacotherapy Be Reconsidered in MDD? (Psychiatry Advisor): “Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) alone proved to be superior to the combination of psychotherapy and antidepressant medication in the treatment of major depressive disorder (MDD) in a systematic review and meta-analysis published in Psychological Medicine. Antidepressant medication is associated with side effects and withdrawal…
Read MoreLarge study with twins highlights the limited role of genetics in mental health and the importance of effective early interventions for ADHD
___ Multiple studies have indicated that, on average, youth with ADHD have poorer outcomes in young adulthood in multiple areas compared to their unaffected peers. A limitation of these studies, however, is that they have not typically distinguished between individuals whose ADHD persists into adulthood from those where the condition remits.
Read MoreWith pharma exiting Alzheimer’s research, new hope (and urgency) seen in the combination of brain training and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS)
___ What does the future hold for the war on Alzheimer’s? (The Globe and Mail): “After spending huge sums on clinical trails in recent years, the pharmaceutical industry has failed to find a drug that can halt the mind-robbing disease. And this month, Pfizer announced it is ending its Alzheimer’s research, although other companies haven’t thrown…
Read MoreEthical issues raised around deep brain stimulation (DBS) research
Researchers grapple with the ethics of testing brain implants (Science): “In 2003, neurologist Helen Mayberg of Emory University in Atlanta began to test a bold, experimental treatment for people with severe depression, which involved implanting metal electrodes deep in the brain in a region called area 25. The initial data were promising; eventually, they convinced…
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