A study led by researchers in Canada who analysed post mortem brain samples of suicide victims with a history of being abused in childhood
found changes in DNA expression that were not present in suicide victims with no childhood abuse history or in people who died of other causes. The
affected DNA was in a gene that regulates the way the brain controls the stress response.
The research was the work (more…)

A new study has found that the more a teenager is exposed to television and other electronic media the higher are his/her chances of developing depression symptoms in young adulthood - this is especially the case for young men, says a study published in Archives of General Psychiatry, a JAMA/Archives journal.
The authors explain that depression is the leading cause of non-fatal disability worldwide. It tends to start during adolescence (more…)

Recent results from a text messaging campaign for calling hypertensive patients in for periodic blood pressure reading ran by the Lea Surgery in City & Hackney tPCT has delivered response rates of 76%.
From searches made on their GP system, the surgery sent out a group text message to selected patients inviting them to call the surgery to make an appointment. Within three weeks of sending (more…)

Johns Hopkins and other researchers report what is believed to be the first direct evidence in lab animals that the erectile dysfunction drug sildenafil amplifies the effects of a heart-protective protein.
The team’s findings, to be published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation online Jan. 5, helps explain why sildenafil, more widely known as Viagra, has already been (more…)

A 20 year study by American scientists suggests that happiness may spread from person to person because they found that people surrounded by
happy people in their friends and family network were more likely to remain happy in the future.
The study was published online in the British Medical Journal, BMJ on 4 December by authors James H Fowler, associate professor in the
Department of Political Science at the University of California in San Diego, and Nicholas (more…)

Several factors, such as older age and high weight gain, are known risk factors for pre-eclampsia and other pregnancy-related blood pressure disorders. Now a new report suggests that social factors - including living in a rural county - may also increase the risk of pre-eclampsia and pregnancy-induced hypertension (PIH), according to research presented at the American Society of Nephrology’s 41st Annual Meeting and Scientific (more…)

An Internet program helps to reduce depressive symptoms and prevent episodes of clinical depression in adolescent patients at risk, reports a study in the February issue of the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, (more…)

Ed Wagner, MD, MPH, knew there had to be a better way. He and Group Health colleagues set out 15 years ago to explore how best to engage patients with chronic diseases in effective care. With Robert Wood Johnson Foundation support, they developed the Chronic Care Model. More than 1,500 U.S. and international medical practices have adopted the Model. Buy generic clomid (more…)

Awareness, treatment and control of high blood pressure have increased significantly in England.
Rates of blood pressure control have increased to more than 50 percent in men and women.
Controlling blood pressure is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and deaths, (more…)

Whilst losing a baby is distressing for parents, until now it has been less widely acknowledged that medical staff themselves can be affected by the losses experienced by their patients.
New research from the University of Leicester shows that staff working in obstetrics and gynaecology, caring for families experiencing loss, can also experience significant and clinical levels of distress.
Senior staff and those with significant experience can be affected as (more…)

Take a kidney out of the body and it still knows how to filter toxins from the blood.
But all bets are off in the face of high blood pressure.
"How does the kidney know how to do it and why does it break in hypertension?" says Dr. Edward W. Inscho, physiologist in the Medical College of Georgia Schools of Medicine and Graduate Studies.
The kidneys filter about 200 quarts of plasma (more…)

Children who worry about how their parents get along with each other are more likely than other children to have psychological problems. Now a new study says that children who worry a lot about conflicts between their parents are more likely to have problems in school because they have more difficulty paying attention to the tasks before them.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Rochester, Syracuse University, and the University of Notre (more…)

Hay fever, also called allergic rhinitis, causes cold-like symptoms such as a runny nose, congestion, sneezing and sinus pressure. But unlike a common cold, which is caused by a virus, hay fever is an allergic response to indoor or outdoor airborne allergens, such as pollen, dust mites or pet dander. Some individuals have hay fever year-round. Others have episodes of hay fever at certain times of the year, usually in the spring, summer or (more…)

Racial disparity in the control of hypertension contributes to the deaths of almost 8,000 black men and women in the United States annually, according to a first-of-its-kind study published today in the Annals of Family Medicine by University of Rochester Medical Center researchers.
The researchers concluded that (more…)

CD4+ T lymphocytes, or simply CD4 T cells, are the "brains" of the immune system, coordinating its activity when the body comes under attack. They are also the cells that are attacked by HIV, the devastating virus that causes AIDS and has infected roughly 40 million people worldwide. The virus slowly eats away at CD4 T cells, weakening the immune system.
But the immune systems of HIV/AIDS patients face another (more…)

A new study has revealed the most commonly prescribed medication for Australian women is antidepressants.
The study, by researchers from Australian Longitudinal Study on Women’s Health (ALSWH).
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and Medicare data were linked to survey data to examine claims and costs of medications and other health care resources.
University (more…)

Men’s Health News
Just under five per cent of the men who took part in the prostate cancer element of the USA’s largest ever cancer screening trial were diagnosed with the disease and the majority of those were picked up by screening programmes, according to research published in the December issue of the UK-based urology journal BJU International.
A total of 154,934 men and women aged from 55 to 74 took part in the multi-centre Prostate, (more…)

Neuronetics, Inc., a privately-held medical device
company and a leader in the field of neuromodulation, announced today that the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared its NeuroStar TMS (Transcranial
Magnetic Stimulation) Therapy system for the treatment of depression. NeuroStar TMS
Therapy® is specifically indicated for the treatment of Major Depressive Disorder in adult
patients (more…)

Men’s Health News
Kenya’s plan to launch a male circumcision campaign in the province of Nyanza in late September to curb the spread of HIV is facing difficulties from some members of the Luo community, IRIN/PlusNews reports.
The Luo community in Nyanza traditionally does not practice male circumcision, and members of the Luo Council of Elders — an advisory body that still holds significant influence — (more…)

Stress is
unavoidable. What’s critical is knowing when one is moving from good stress
to bad stress — and leaders often are not aware of the difference,
according to research from the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL(R)), a
top-ranked, global leadership education and research organization.
When one’s resources meet or exceed the demands put on a person, stress
can show its positive side. (more…)

To harness endothelin-1’s power to constrict blood vessels and help patients manage high blood pressure or heart failure, scientists must learn more about how endothelin functions naturally and in disease states, says a Medical College of Georgia researcher.
Despite strong laboratory evidence that blocking endothelin-1 (more…)