Family history, protein plaques and Alzheimer's disease

Hardly surprisingly getting old is the main risk factor for Alzheimer's disease but the next most significant one is having a family history of the condition. Lisa Mosconi from New York University led a team of researchers using PET (positron emission tomography) scans to study the brains of healthy adults to see whether they were developing the plaques of beta amyloid protein that are characteristic of Alzheimer's. The team scanned 42 participants. 14 of them had mothers with Alzheimer's, 14 of them had fathers with Alzheimer's and 14 had unaffected parents. Those participants with a family history of the illness were more likely to have the plaques and those whose mothers had the illness were particularly at risk, being four times more likely to have them.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE6380AR20100409?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews&sp=true

Social networks and heavy drinking

Over the last few years psychologists have become increasingly interested in the idea of social networks and there is evidence that these can influence people's happiness, smoking and exercise habits. Nicholas Christakis from Harvard University led a team of researchers looking into the effects of social networks on drinking. The team used data from the Framingham Heart Study which followed 12,067 people for more than 30 years. They found that people were 50% more likely to drink heavily if someone they were connected with also drank heavily and 36% more likely if a friend of a friend was a heavy drinker. The influence of heavy drinkers could be felt up to three degrees of separation away.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100405174942.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Family tree research can yield bitter fruit

For most people researching a family tree can be a source of pleasure and fulfilment but a significant minority might get more than they bargained for. Dr Anne-Marie Kramer of the University of Warwick studied 224 people who had done some research into their family history. Most found it a positive experience with benefits including making discoveries, investigating family myths and mysteries and making their ancestors real by finding out more about their lives. However, about 30 participants mentioned conflicts or problems caused by their research including:

• uncovering unwelcome information
• wanting information from relatives who did not wish to give it
• giving relatives inaccurate information
• spending more time researching than with loved ones
• coming into contact with hostile relatives.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100408194131.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Lager louts or boozy brainboxes?

Newspaper coverage often concentrates on images of lager louts and uncouth ladettes but there is an increasing amount of evidence that it is actually professional, middle-class people who are most likely to put their health at risk by drinking too much. Researchers from the London School of Economics followed 9,665 men and women born during one week in 1970. They found that women with degrees were almost twice as likely to drink daily as those without degrees and were more likely to admit to having a drink problem. The link was even apparent for levels of educational achievement at primary school with women who achieved 'medium' or 'high' test marks as schoolgirls up to 2.1x more likely to drink daily as adults. Better-educated men were also more likely to drink than their less well-educated counterparts but the difference was not nearly as great as among women.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/women_shealth/7549959/Cleverest-women-are-the-heaviest-drinkers.html

Self-help book shows good results for binge eating

Researchers from the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, Wesleyan University and Rutgers University have been studying the effectiveness of a self-help book - 'Overcoming Binge Eating' - by Professor Christopher Fairburn from Oxford University. They studied 123 people, half of whom read the book and took part in a six-step, self-help programme based on it. The programme used self-monitoring, self-control and problem-solving strategies and was made up of eight therapy sessions over the course of 12 weeks. By the end of the programme 63.5% of the participants who followed it had stopped bingeing, compared to only 28.5% of those who did not participate; after a year the figures were 64.2% and 44.6% respectively.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/04/05/new-program-for-binge-eaters/12588.html

Shedding light on sibling rivalry

Researchers from the University of Missouri have been looking into the thorny issue of sibling rivalry. They carried out a number of interviews of pairs of siblings between 8 and 20. They found that there were two types of conflict between siblings. The first kind was about equality and fairness issues such as taking turns and sharing responsibilities and these had no impact on relationship quality. The second type of conflict was over personal space, for example borrowing things without asking or hanging around when older siblings have friends over. When these conflicts were common both younger and older siblings reported less trust and communication.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/04/06/sibling-conflicts-undermine-trust/12629.html

The rollercoaster of bipolar disorder

Bipolar disorder is characterised by mood swings from extremes of depression to euphoria and mania, often accompanied by unusual thoughts and delusions. David A. Solomon from Brown University, Rhode Island and his colleagues have been looking into the ups and downs of bipolar disorder and the factors that affect recovery from its extreme highs and lows. They found that the median (mid-range) length of mood episodes was 13 weeks and that about three-quarters of patients had recovered from these episodes within a year. Those who became ill sooner - having psychosis in the first week of an episode for example - had a lower probability of recovery as did people who had spent a longer time being ill over the years. People with 'cycling' episodes who moved very quickly from extreme highs to extreme lows or vice versa were also less likely to recover compared to those who only had one 'episode' at a time.

You can find out more about this research at
http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=news&id=127319&cn=4

Email or lie-mail?

People are more likely to lie using emails than they are when using pen and paper. Charles Naquin and his colleagues from DePaul University in Chicago gave 48 graduate business students an imaginary $89 kitty and asked them to choose how much they would tell their partner was in the kitty and how they would share it. Some communicated by email while others used pen and paper. 92% of the people using email lied about the size of the kitty compared to 63% of those using pen and paper. In a similar study 177 full-time managers took part in a business game pretending to be the manager of a science project negotiating for grant money. Again the players who shared information by email were more likely to cheat than players who shared information using pen and paper.

http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/2010/04/people-lie-more-in-email-than-when.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+BpsResearchDigest+%28BPS+Research+Digest%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Punishment, reward, and brain structure. How does it all tie-in with depression?

Girls who are at a higher risk of depression might have brains that deal differently with punishment and rewards. Researchers from Stanford University studied 26 girls between the ages of 10 and 14. Half of them had mothers with recurrent depression and were considered to be at high-risk themselves while half had no personal or family history of depression. Both groups were given MRI brain scans while completing a task that could result in either reward or punishment. Girls in the high risk group had a weaker brain response to the anticipation and receiving of a reward. In particular they showed no activitiy in a part of the brain called the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex which is believed to play a role in linking learning to reward. However, the girls in the at-risk group showed greater brain activity than the other girls in response to being punished.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.mentalhelp.net/poc/view_doc.php?type=news&id=127252&cn=5

Study Probes into the Minds of Supertaskers - Guest Post by Kitty Holman

According to a study that is soon to be published in the "Psychonomic Bulletin and Review," real multi-taskers, of the superhuman variety, comprise only a little over two percent of the population. The study was conducted by Dr. David Strayer, a cognitive psychologist at the University of Utah, and his colleague, Dr. Jason Watson of the university's Brain Institute. The scientists determined that only one out of forty of their initial test group was able to drive a car sufficiently well and manage using a cell phone at the same time.

Strayer and Watson used driving simulators—akin to racing games usually seen at video game arcades—in order to determine who of their group could maintain a fully-developed cell phone conversation while successfully operating a motor vehicle. The vast majority was unable to do so, and those who had become deeply involved in their conversations drove as if they were driving under the influence of alcohol with a BAC of about the legal limit.

Strayer and Watson gathered a small group of the remarkably well-performing multitaskers—what they refer to as "supertaskers"-- and studied them further. They made these supertaskers undergo a wide variety of tests in which their multitasking abilities were further measured. In one experiment, the supertasking participants were asked to listen and watch several audio and visual signals at the same, and then were charged with the tasks of memorizing the two competing streams of information. Several of the participants performed exceedingly well
While further study of these rare individuals who can accomplish several tasks at once is intriguing, what is most exciting about this new study is that it flies in the face of previous notions that the human mind can only truly focus and perform well one task at a time. Dr. Watson is quoted as saying, "Current theory says dual tasking creates bottleneck on your attention ability." But this new study suggests otherwise, the scientist goes on to indicate, meaning that those who truly can multitask will be extremely important in the understanding of dual-task cognitive processes in the future, and how and why they may break down, or not.

To read the full article in which the information about Watson and Strayer's study is explained, click here.

For further information about the "Psychonomic Bulletin and Review," visit the journal's website.

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Kitty Holman, who writes for Nursing Degrees . She welcomes your comments at her email Id: kitty.holman20@gmail.com.

U.K. Government boosts help to veterans

The U.K. Government has announced £2m of new funding for the veterans' charity Combat Stress to help improve access to mental-health services for former servicemen. The money will fund up to 15 community psychiatric nurses to work in mental-health trusts alongside specialist Combat Stress teams, allow the Combat Stress helpline to be open 24 hours a day, improve education and training for GPs and help make sure veterans are aware of the services available to them. Combat Stress was set up after the end of World War One and is currently helping over 4,000 veterans. As well as post-traumatic stress disorder the charity also helps veterans suffering with depression, alcohol and drug problems, mood disorders, anxiety and phobias.

You can find out more about the work of Combat Stress at

http://www.combatstress.org.uk/

Depression and Relationships – A Two-Way Street? - Guest post by Teresa Jackson

Mental illness is not easy to understand, especially if it’s in the form of depression. Most people do not realize that depression is a mental ailment that is just like schizophrenia or mania in that those who are affected by it cannot control it. We tend to use the phrase - Oh, I’m so depressed – at the drop of a hat whenever we’re sad or find that life is not going exactly as we planned. And because we tend to bounce back sooner or later, we don’t really get what “depression” as a mental illness is. This is why we’ve all been guilty at some point of time or the other of asking people who suffer from depression to “snap out of it”. The unpalatable truth is that depression as a mental illness cannot be snapped out of – it has to be treated medically and handled with affection, kindness, patience and understanding.
People who suffer from depression find it hard to maintain healthy relationships with their significant others. This is because they’re moody and in their own world; they have neither the energy nor the willpower to do anything and so come across as lazy; and they find it hard to talk explain their state of mind to others. It’s often harder on the other person in the relationship, because it’s like having to deal with a really moody child most of the time – you have to be extremely patient, you need to really understand the illness and its behavior, and you need to be prepared for all the side-effects that the medication could cause. It’s almost similar to dealing with a chronic or terminal disease or living with an alcoholic – simply put, your partner needs medical help and emotional support.
More often than not, depression tends to kill relationships because not too many people are able to provide support and care on a constant and continuous basis; it either breaks them off completely or keeps partners together through ties that are tenuous at best and which can snap at any given time or at the slightest provocation. And when this happens, there’s always the risk that it can worsen the depression or send someone who is recovering into a relapse.
There’s also the risk that people who are normal are pushed into a depressive state when they’re unable to cope with traumatic breakups or with the death of a loved one. They’re in a state of shock at first, and when they don’t seek professional help for their intense sadness, it brings about a neurological imbalance and sends them into full-fledged depression. People whose children abandon them and who live alone, and those who have suffered trauma and who shun any form of emotional attachment are easily susceptible to depression.
A recent study conducted at the University of Michigan found that their spouses’ hostile and anti-social behavior increased symptoms of depression over time in women.
So you can see how relationships and depression are two-way streets – one can cause the other and each feeds on the other. So the more loving and healthier a relationship is, the more positive an effect it has on alleviating depression, and vice versa.
By-line:
This guest article is written by Teresa Jackson, she writes on the subject of online NP schools . She invites your questions, comments at her email address : teresa.jackson19@gmail.com.

Child sexual abuse and pregnancy

Women who were sexually abused during their childhood may be more at risk of mental and physical health problems during their pregnancy. Researchers from the University of Haifa and Soroka Hospital in Israel studied 1,830 pregnant women comparing those who had been victims of childhood sexual abuse, those who had been victims of other childhood traumas and those who had experienced no trauma. Those women who had been sexually abused in childhood suffered higher levels of depression and more post-traumatic stress symptoms. The more severe the child sexual abuse the stronger the link between post-traumatic stress symptoms and poor physical health during pregnancy.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406073255.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Naltrexone cuts costs of drink problems

Oral naltrexone can significantly reduce the healthcare costs associated with alcohol. It is estimated that around one in twelve people in the U.S. has a drink problem, something that cost an estimated $185bn in 1998. Researchers, led by Henry R. Kranzler from the University of Connecticut, studied 7,959 people over a six-month period and found that people with alcohol problems who took naltrexone had significantly lower healthcare costs than people with alcohol problems who did not take the drug.

You can find out more about this research at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100405174938.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Sleep problems and substance abuse

Sleep problems in early childhood could be linked to substance abuse in adolescence. Researchers from Idaho State University studied 386 chidren, gathering information on sleep problems and substance abuse from when they were three to when they were twenty. They found that having trouble sleeping in early childhood - between three and five - predicted a higher probability of having trouble sleeping between 11 and 17, which, in turn, predicted drug problems in young adulthood (18-21). Overtiredness in early childhood predicted problems inhibiting impulsive behaviour in adolescence which was also linked to using more illegal drugs. Overtiredness in childhood also predicted the presence of binge drinking, blackouts and drink driving in young adulthood. It is known that the prevalence of sleep problems in childhood is increasing and in 2006 more than half of secondary-school students in the U.S. reported feeling tired and sleepy with more than 30% saying they had problems sleeping.

You can find out more about this issue at

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100405174940.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Heart disease risk factor affects cognition

C-reactive protein (CRP) is found in the blood and its levels rise in response to inflammation. High levels of CRP have been linked with an increased risk of diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease and now researchers at the University of Muenster in Germany have found that they could also be linked to cognitive problems. The researchers studied 447 people with an average age of 63. The participants had their levels of CRP measured, had MRI brain scans and took tests to measure their verbal memory, word fluency and decision-making. Memory and language skills were found not to be associated with CRP but higher levels of the protein were associated with worse performance in executive function. The MRI scans showed changes to the frontal lobe of the brain equivalent to 12 years of aging for those with the highest levels of CRP compared to those with the lowest levels.

You can find out more about this research at

http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/04/01/inflammation-response-lowers-cognitive-ability/12515.html

'Don't panic!' works for mild panickers

Mild panic disorder can affect quite a sizeable proportion of people, is associated with a large burden of disease and generates considerable economic costs to society yet little research has been done into early interventions designed to nip the problem in the bud before it gets worse. Peter Meulenbeek from the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam led a team of researchers studying the effectiveness of a group-therapy programme called 'Don't Panic!' based on cognitive-behavioural principles that have been shown to be effective in the treatment of full-blown panic disorder. 217 people participated in the study, 109 went on the 'Don't Panic!' course and 108 were placed on a waiting list as part of a control group. 39% of people on the 'Don't Panic!' course showed a clinically-significant improvement compared to only 16% on the control group and the benefits of the treatment lasted at least six months.

Meulenbeek, Peter ... [et al] - Early intervention in panic: pragmatic randomised controlled trial British Journal of Psychiatry April 2010, 167(4), 326-331

Autism and immigration

Over the past thirty years occasional studies have pointed to an increased frequency of autism in the children of immigrant parents but the factors that might lie behind this are complicated and there has been relatively little research into this issue. Daphne Keen from St George's Hospital in London led a team studying 428 children with autism who had been treated, over a six-year period, by child development services in South-West London. They found that mothers born outside Europe had a significantly higher risk of having a child with autism-spectrum disorder. Mothers from the Caribbean had the highest risk and mothers of Black ethnicity had a significantly higher risk compared to White mothers. However, a statistical analysis of the results showed that most of the increased risk was due to immigration rather than ethnicity.

Keen, D.V., Reid, F.D. and Arnone, D. - Autism, ethnicity and maternal immigration British Journal of Psychiatry April 2010, 196(4), 274-281

Drugs and bipolar disorder

People with bipolar disorder are more likely to use drugs than people with any other mental illness yet the effects of drugs on bipolar disorder are not clearly understood. A team of researchers led by Michael J. Ostacher from Massachusetts General Hospital studied 3,750 people with bipolar disorder over two years. Contrary to the researchers' expectations the people who used drugs were no slower to recover from the depressive phase of the illness than those who didn't. However, the people who used drugs were more likely to switch straight from a depressed to a manic state with no period of 'normality' in between.

Ostacher, Michael J. ... [et al] - Impact of substance use disorders on recovery from episodes of depression in bipolar disorder patients: prospective data from the systematic treatment enhancement program for bipolar disorder (STEP-BD) American Journal of Psychiatry March 2010, 167(3), 289-297

Combination therapy more effective for depression

Between 50% and 75% of people show some improvement on first taking an antidepressant but only about a third completely recover after taking just one drug. Previous research has shown that a combination of drugs can have a better effect and a team of researchers led by Pierre Blier of the University of Ottawa studied the effectiveness of adding mirtazapine to various different antidepressants. Mirtazapine belongs to a different class of drugs to most other antidepressants and is classified as a noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant (NaSSA). 105 people with major depression received either fluoxetine on its own, or mirtazapine combined with fluoxetine, venlafaxine or bupropion. The recovery rates were 25% for fluoxetine, 52% for mirtazapine and fluoxetine, 58% for mirtazapine and venlafaxine and 46% for mirtazapine and bupropion. There were no extra side effects from using a combination of different drugs.

Blier, Pierre ... [et al] - Combination of antidepressant medications from treatment initiation for major depressive disorder: a double-blind randomized study American Journal of Psychiatry March 2010, 167(3), 281-288