Depressed Jane

New Italian research adds to evidence that people with the immune condition called sarcoidosis often suffer from mental health problems, especially depression. In the new study, researchers led by Arianna Goracci, M.D., examined 80 consecutive sarcoidosis patients who sought treatment at the University of Siena from November 2004 to September 2005. They found that 44 percent of the 80 sarcoidosis patients showed signs of mental illness. One in four had depression.

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Millions of American children are exposed to violence in their homes each year, putting them at risk for a variety of emotional and behavioral problems. According to a new study in the September/October 2008 issue of the journal Child Development, children who are maltreated tend to have a lot of re-exposure to family violence, and this re-exposure often leads to increased psychological problems.

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First, he discovered a gene that controls innate fear in animals. Now Rutgers geneticist Gleb Shumyatsky has shown that the same gene promotes “helicopter mom” behavior in mice. The gene, known as stathmin or oncoprotein 18, motivates female animals to protect newborn pups and interact cautiously with unknown peers. This “fear gene” is highly concentrated in the amygdala, a key region of the brain that deals with fear and anxiety.

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A new study from the National Institutes of Health finds that massage therapy may have immediate benefits on pain and mood among patients with advanced cancer. The study appears in the September 16, 2008 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. In a randomized trial of 380 advanced cancer patients at 15 U.S. hospices, improvement in pain and mood immediately following treatment was greater with massage than with simple touch.

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Two new partnerships between NHS organisations and leading universities will receive a total of £18 million to conduct research and improve care in major conditions including depression, dementia, stroke, and childhood obesity, the Department of Health announced recently.

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When we hear somebody described as “frosty” or “cold”, we automatically picture a person who is unfriendly and antisocial. There are numerous examples in our daily language of metaphors which make a connection between cold temperatures and emotions such as loneliness, despair and sadness. We are taught at a young age that metaphors are meant to be descriptive and are not supposed to be taken literally.

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Can scientists predict who will develop anxiety disorders years in advance? UCLA psychology professor Michelle Craske thinks so. She is four years into an eight-year study evaluating 650 students, who were 16 when the study began, to identify risk factors for the development of anxiety and depression – the most comprehensive study of its kind.

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Liwu Li, associate professor of biological sciences at Virginia Tech, has revealed a common connection between the cellular innate immunity network and human chronic inflammatory diseases, including atherosclerosis, Type 2 Diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases. The finding presents a viable cellular and molecular target for the diagnosis and treatment of serious human inflammatory diseases, according to Li.

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German researchers have devised a way to follow gene expression over time in a 64-year-old woman who developed rapid-cycling bipolar illness in her mid-40s. Over a 16-year period, the woman logged in 108 cycles in her diary. Rapid-cycling bipolar illness is characterized by four or more episodes of depression and/or mania in a given year.

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A comprehensive review of current scientific literature, published in the peer-reviewed journal ecancer, has suggested that antidepressants can help the human body fight cancer by boosting its own immune response, amongst other mechanisms. Not only this but they can help with side effects from chemotherapy such as aiding sleep, stimulating appetite, combating pain and avoiding depression.

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