Connections, coordination and autism

People with autism often have trouble with their motor skills as well. Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine looked at patterns of movement in the way autistic and normally-developing children learnt to control and use a new tool. They found that the autistic children relied much more on their own internal sense of body position (proprioception), whereas the other children used visual information. The greater the child's impairment in social skills and motor skills the greater their reliance on proprioception. The researchers' work fits in with other findings which suggest that autistic people have strong 'short-distance' connections in their brain but weaker 'long-distance' ones. The brain regions which deal with proprioception are close to the ones that govern movement while the brain regions that deal with visual-motor processing are much further away.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706113647.htm

Drug-using mothers and at-risk children

Experts have known for a long time that children of mothers who abuse drugs are more likely to come to harm than other children. But there have been few good-quality studies into this and the extent of the risk is unclear. Researchers from the Royal Children's Hospital in Brisbane studied 357 children. 119 of them had mothers who used opiates, amphetamines or methadone while the remainder did not use illegal drugs. Half of the children born to drug-using mothers became victims of neglect or physical, emotional, or sexual abuse and those whose mothers abused amphetamines or pilates were 13 times more likely to becomed victims of neglect or abuse. However, the children of the mothers who were compliant with their methadone treatment had only a third of the risk of those who mothers used opiates or amphetmaines. One quarter of the children of drug-abusing mothers entered foster care compared to only 2% of the children of the non-drugs users

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5686YI20090709?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&sp=true

Memory programmes work for milder problems

Older people with mild memory problems can be helped by memory-training programmes. Memory training has been found to help healthy older adults with positive effects being reported up to 5 years afterwards in some studies. Researchers at La Trobe University in Melbourne studied 54 older people with mild memory problems. Half were placed into a memory-rehabilitation group and half formed a control group. The rehabilitation group took part in five, weekly, 90-minute sessions that used problem-solving techniques to deal with memory difficulties. The participants who undertook the programme showed significant improvements in their everyday memory and in their knowledge and use of memory strategies although they didn't themselves feel that their memories were improving.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5687YS20090709?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

COPEing with bad behaviour in Sweden

COPE (Community Parent Education Program) is a parent-education programme that aims to tackle behaviour problems in children. It includes strategies for giving attention to positive behaviour, balancing time and attention among siblings, ignoring minor disruptions, planning ahead and reward systems. Parents are taught a technique known as PASTE: Picking one, soluble, problem; Analysing the advantages and disadvantages of alternative solutions; Selecting the most promising alternative; Trying it out and Evaluating the outcome. The programme differs from others on offer in being delivered in the community and in group sessions making it cheaper and easier to access for people reluctant to see a psychologist. Lisa B. Thorell of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden studied the effectiveness of the COPE programme in 219 children. The programme was found to be effective in reducing behaviour problems, hyperactivity and impulsivity, problem behaviours, parents' stress and lack of parental control but not effective at reducing inattention, improving social competence and reducing problems with the children's peers.

Thorell, Lisa B. - The Community Parent Education Programme (COPE): treatment effects in a clinical and a community-based sample Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry July 2009, 14(3), 373-387

ADHD and social problems

Social problems are common among children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) but there are still gaps in our knowledge of these problems, what causes them and how they are linked to other problems such as Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDDs)*. Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles studied 379 children with ADHD. They found that their social functioning was characterized by social immaturity and rejection by their peers. There was a significant link between both these problems and PDDs, particularly between PDDs and social immaturity. Social immaturity was associated with a greater number of hyperactivity symptoms while peer rejection was associated with increased aggression and a lower IQ.

Carpenter, Erika ... [et al] - Social functioning difficulties in ADHD: association with PDD risk Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry July 2009, 14(3), 329-344

*see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pervasive_developmental_disorder for an explanation of PDDs

Cutting down on college drinking

For most students heavy drinking at college is just a phase but for some it can lead on to alcohol problems later in life and there is always the risk of injury - both to themselves and others - when students drink heavily. Researchers at Oxford Brookes University have been reviewing studies into ways of getting students to cut down on their drinking for the Cochrane database. They looked at data from 22 trials covering a total of 7,275 college and university students. They found that students who were given personalised feedback via the Internet or in face-to-face sessions drank less often and did less binge drinking than those in control groups. Web-based feedback also resulted in significant reductions in blood alcohol content and alcohol-related problems. The theory behind feedback is that most students have exaggerated ideas about how much their contemporaries drink. By pointing out the truth and giving information to the students about their own drinking the idea is to get students to cut down to a more realistic level.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707201116.htm

Behavioural problems, developmental difficulties and mothers' stress

Researchers at the University of Washington's Autism Center compared stress levels in the mothers of children with autism to those in the mothers of children with developmental delay. They studied 73 mothers and their children. 51 of the children had autism and 22 had developmental delays. The mothers filled out questionnaires about their stress levels and their children's developmental progress. They found that the mothers of children with autism had higher levels of stress. Problem behaviour was associated with higher levels of stress among both sets of mothers but this relationship was stronger in the mothers of autistic children. There was no link between children's levels of daily-living skills and maternal stress suggesting that it was the children's behaviour problems not their developmental difficulties which were stressing the mothers.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090708153233.htm

Better writers stay sharper longer

People who have good language skills in their early 20s might stay 'with it' longer in old age even if their brains are showing the physical signs of Alzheimer's disease. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore carried out autopsies on the brains of 38 nuns. 10 of them had asymptomatic Alzheimer's with the plaques and tangles in the brain characteristic of the condition but no symptoms, five had mild cognitive impairment (MCI), 10 had Alzheimer's and 13 had no cognitive problems or changes to their brain. The researchers also analysed essays that 14 of the women had written in their teens or early twenties when they entered the convent. They looked at 'idea density' - the average number of ideas expressed for every ten words - and grammatical complexity. They found that the early writings of the women who died with no cognitive deficits were significantly denser in ideas than the essays written by the women with MCI or Alzheimer's although there was no difference between the two groups as far as grammatical complexity was concerned. The brains of the nuns with asymptomatic Alzheimer's had larger cells in many areas of the brain as well as larger cell structures such as nuclei and nucleoli - a finding consistent with earlier studies into this issue suggesting that their brains had adapted to cope with the damage caused by Alzheimer's.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5676Z320090708?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

Boosting brains with magic magnets

Magnetic stimulation of people's brains could help them learn how to carry out complex motor tasks. Researchers from the University of British Columbia studied 30 volunteers as they attempted to track a target on a computer screen using a joystick. Sometimes the target moved randomly and sometimes it moved according to a pattern; this allowed the researchers to distinguish between the participants learning to follow the pattern and the effects of practice at using the joystick. Some of the participants were given stimulation designed to boost the activity of a part of the brain called the dorsal premotor cortex, others were given stimulation designed to inhibit this activity while others were given 'sham' stimulation. Those participants whose dorsal premotor cortex had been boosted performed significantly better in the learning part of the test.

You can read more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090706192043.htm

Review casts doubt on therapy for PTSD

Giving psychological therapy to everyone involved in a traumatic event could be a waste of time. Researchers from the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff carried out a review of 11 studies with a total of 941 participants for the prestigious Cochrane database. The study looked at the effectiveness of several sessions of therapy given to all people exposed to a traumatic event, regardless of their symptoms. The study found that the interventions had had no effect and, in some cases, had actually made things worse. The researchers pointed out that psychological therapies could still be effective for people with actual PTSD symptoms; something they intend to research next.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707201130.htm

Recession could lead to more suicides

The global recession could lead to more murders, suicides and heart attacks. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Oxford University studied death rates from over 30 causes of death between 1970 and 2007. They then compared the results to levels of unemployment and the amount Governments spent on helping the jobless. They found that a 3% rise in unemployment would lead to a 2.4% rise in suicide among people under 64, a 2.4% rise in homicide rates and a 2.7% rise in heart attacks for people between 30 and 44. The study found that spending £115 per person ($190) on "active labour market programmes" would mitigate most of these effects. The study also found that the recession would lead to a 4.2% fall in road deaths as more people walked or used public transport.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/07/090707201211.htm

Family histories, deeper suffering

People with a family history of depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug dependence are not only more likely to develop these conditions themselves but are also more likely to suffer seriously and need more treatment. Researchers in New Zealand studied 981 people from when they were three until when they were 32 and collected information about their mental health and the mental health of their family. They found that people with a family history of depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug problems were more likely to have frequent recurrences of these conditions and suffered more disruption to their lives, families, friends and work. Family history was also associated with greater service use for all four problems.

You can read more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5662K020090707?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

A Future Vision for Mental Health

In the U.K. the Future Vision Coalition has produced a report A Future Vision for Mental Health aimed at influencing Government policy in this area. The coalition is made up of representatives from the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, the Local Government Association and all the major mental-health charities. The report sets out four principles for reform including the ideas that:

• Improving mental health is everybody’s business and requires action across government
• Positive mental health should be promoted with early intervention when people become unwell
• Mental health services should help people fulfil their potential
• Service users and carers should shape their own support

It calls for a cabinet minister to champion mental-health improvements within Government and calls for a new public-service agreement specifying how Government services should boost mental-health and wellbeing. It calls for the Government's programme to improve access to psychological therapies to be extended to all client groups and throughout the country and for more mental-health training for teachers, police and social-care staff. It also says that the Government should help employers to recruit, support and retain people with experience of mental-health problems.

You can download a full copy of A Future Vision for Mental Health at

http://www.newvisionformentalhealth.org.uk/A_future_vision_for_mental_health.pdf

Not so Special K

Ketamine - popularly known as Special K - started out as a veterinary anaesthetic but has become increasingly popular as an illegal drug. It is popular in China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia and is increasing in popularity in Western countries. However, long-term studies are now starting to reveal its negative effects including poor bladder control, liver damage and kidney problems. A study of 97 ketamine users in Hong Kong also found mental-health problems: 60% of the sample suffered from depression, 31% complained of poor concentration and 23% had memory problems.

You can find out more about the long-term effects of ketamine at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE55P5F220090626?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&sp=true

Fearing death and taking risks in teenagers

A surprisingly large number of children believe that they will die young and those that do are much more likely to engage in risky behaviour. Researchers at the University of Minnesota interviewed 20,562 children in grades 7-12 in 1995,1996 and 2001-2. In 1995 14.7% of the participants thought that they had no more than a 50:50 chance of living past 35. Of those who believed they would die young 43.7% still held that view a year later and 17.2% still thought it in 2001-2. Illegal drug use, attempted suicide, getting hurt in fights, being arrested by the police, unsafe sexual activity and a diagnosis of HIV/AIDS were all linked with a perceived likelihood of earlier death.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE55T7AI20090630?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

Over-the-counter drug might help hair pullers

Chronic hair-pulling or trichotillomania is estimated to affect between 0.5-3% of people. It can cause bald patches and anxiety and sufferers can even end up pulling out other people's hair. Antidepressants and other drugs have, generally, been found not to be helpful but researchers at the Minnesota School of Medicine in Minneapolis have been trying out an over-the-counter drug called N-acetylcysteine. They studied 50 people with trichotillomania over a 12-week period doubling the dose of N-acetylcysteine after six weeks if there had been no improvement. Compared to a placebo group 56% of people taking N-acetylcysteine were 'much or very much improved' compared to only 16% in the placebo group. It is thought that N-acetylcysteine boosts the supply of the neurotransmitter glutamate in the brain.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5655YS20090706?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

Montessori and acupressure for Alzheimer's

People with dementia can often become agitated and aggressive creating disruption for themselves and the people who look after them. They are often prescribed antipsychotic drugs for their disturbed behaviour but these can have serious health consequences raising the risk of stroke and cardiovascular problems. Researchers at the National Yang-Ming University in Taipei studied the effectiveness of acupressure and Montessori-based activities in reducing agitation in a sample of 133 people with dementia living in care homes. Compared to a control group daily acupressure significantly decreased agitated behaviour. Montessori-based activities carried out daily significantly improved aggressive behaviour. Care assistants found it easier to look after the participants after they had had a session of acupuncture or Montessori and the Montessori intervention was associated with a significant increase in positive affect. Neither approach decreased verbally-agitated behaviour.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5605M020090701?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews

Genes, bipolar and schizophrenia

Although newspaper stories often talk about the discovery of a gene for condition x, y or z the reality is that most diseases are caused by the combination of a large number of genes working alongside environmental factors. Three studies by a multinational group of researchers - including some from the Institute of Psychiatry in London - analyzed the DNA of 10,000 people with schizoprenia and 20,000 unaffected people. It found that there were 30,000 common gene variations linked to schizophrenia. The same genetic patterns were also linked to bipolar disorder suggesting there may be a link between the two conditions.

You can read more about the genetics of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5605PO20090701?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&sp=true

Suicide warning over anti-smoking drugs

The United States' Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a warning about the suicide risk of the anti-smoking drugs Chantix (varenicline) and Zyban (bupropion). There have been 98 suicides in people taking Chantix and 14 in people taking Zyban with nearly 5,000 'serious psychiatric events' caused by the two drugs. The drugs have also been linked to an increased risk of accidents with loss of consciousness, mental confusion, dizziness and muscle spasms.

You can read more about the FDA's ruling at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE56060X20090702?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&sp=true

Counselling Directory web site

Counselling Directory is an online web directory listing counsellors and psychotherapists all over the UK. Each counsellor has a profile stating what areas they specialise in, a bit about their background, and their qualifications. All the counsellors registered on the site have a relevant qualification, and insurance cover, or proof of registration and the site also has a wealth of information about mental-health, as well as a blog about the latest health news. You can search the site by typing in your town or postcode. This gives you a list of all the counsellors in your area, allowing you to browse through them and select and contact one that would be exactly suited to your needs. The site is free to use and has been running for four years. It has recently been featured in an article on the Times website and has had lots of positive feedback from site users and counsellors alike.

You can visit the Counselling Directory web site at


www.counselling-directory.org.uk