| Socialization May Be Key To New Treatment For Anorexia Nervosa
Understanding how individuals with anorexia nervosa interact with others may lead to entirely new approaches to treating the disease which affects up to 10 million adolescents.Current treatments focus primarily on managing symptoms like starvation and low body weight. Although that's important, it is not always enough to result in lasting health, says Nancy Zucker, Ph.D, Director of Duke University Medical Center's Eating Disorders Program.In a comprehensive review of data published in the November issue of Psychological Bulletin, Zucker pinpoints many patterns of social dysfunction among individuals with anorexia nervosa. She and her colleagues at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill believe treatment focusing on these areas may help patients engage better with their family, friends, and health care providers.
New Guidelines Proposed for Preschoolers on Antidepressants
With the number of preschool-age children being prescribed stimulants, antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs on the rise, a group of researchers has suggested a standardized approach to treatment. Child mental health professionals from Bradley Hasbro Children's Research Center in Rhode Island and 11 other institutions have developed recommendations for specific disorders to help clinicians who are considering medications for children ages 3 to 6. The guidelines are published in the December issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Click here for the full study (subscription required) "These guidelines emphasize the importance of a family-focused assessment by clinicians with experience working with young children, the use of psychotherapy as the first line treatment for young children with severe psychiatric disorders, and the value of careful monitoring of symptoms and side effects when treating young children," said lead author Dr.
SAFETY SCHOOL Bucking Privacy Concerns, Cornell Acts as Watchdog
ITHACA, N.Y. -- For 19 years as a custodian at Cornell University, Sue Welch has been taking out the garbage and mopping the floors of residence halls. Recently, she added a new responsibility: trying to prevent student suicide. Ms. Welch noticed during a recent semester that she was repeatedly having to clean up after a particular student's apparent bouts of nausea, and told her supervisor she feared the young woman had an eating disorder. The supervisor told the residence-hall director, who encouraged the student to go to the university health center. Counselors there arranged for her to get treatment for bulimia nervosa. Ms. Welch credits the training sessions that she and other custodians attended on how to spot students with mental-health problems. "These kids are looking to us to provide care," she says.
New Genetic Link To Autism Discovered By Studying Speech
ScienceDaily (Jan. 11, 2008) UCLA scientists have used language onset -- the age when a child speaks his first word -- as a tool for identifying a new gene linked to autism. The team also discovered that the gene is most active in brain regions involved with language and thought. Interestingly, evidence for the genetic link came from the DNA of families with autistic boys, not those with autistic girls. .
Children's Aching Stomachs: New Research Finds Young Children are ...
FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The number of children taking prescription medications to treat gastrointestinal disorders has increased significantly in the past five years, according to a new analysis conducted by Medco Health Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: MHS) . The research reviewed prescription drug claims of more than 575,000 insured children and found that the number of infants and preschoolers (4 and under) taking medications to treat gastrointestinal conditions rose almost 56 percent from 2002 to 2006, and the prevalence of elementary school-age children (5-11 year olds) using these drugs increased by 31 percent during that time frame. While the actual prevalence rate was highest among adolescents, 12-18 year olds showed the smallest increase in use of gastrointestinal medications -- rising only about 6 percent over the five year period.
Bar Set High for Apple at 2008 Macworld Expo
It's going on a diet. A prevailing theory is that Jobs will unveil an ultra-portable notebook, weighing somewhere between 2 and 4 pounds, that would fill a hole in Apple's computer lineup. American Technology Research analyst Shaw Wu predicts the slim "MacBook Mini" could be priced at $1,500 to $2,000 and could feature a flash memory drive instead of a standard hard drive to reduce the weight, boost battery life, and make it more rugged and reliable. — And it's going faster. As in 3G, a speedier cellular network option for Web browsing or other data features on the iPhone. Apple may not be ready to discuss this at Macworld, but its carrier partner AT&T Inc. has already revealed that a 3G iPhone is planned for 2008. Even though Apple is staying mum until Tuesday, it's still got everybody else talking.
What is depression?
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Insights into cell movement likely to aid immune study, cancer ...
Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have used yeast cells to better understand a collection of proteins associated with the formation of actin networks, which are essential to cell movement. The cell's ability to move is important to a broad range of biomedical concerns, including understanding how immune system cells pursue disease-causing invaders and how metastasising cancer cells migrate from a tumour. 'One of the bad things that cancer cells do is to walk away from where they're supposed to be,' says senior author John Cooper, M.D., PhD, professor of cell biology and physiology. 'If they didn't walk away, cancer would be something that you could just cut out, and that would be the end of it. So one hope is that if we learn more about how cancer cells are moving, we can someday try to block that process.' The study appears this month in Public Library of Science Biology.
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