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 Research & Giving News Article  Rates of Bipolar Diagnosis in American Youth Jump 40-Fold Over Last Decade The number of American youth diagnosed with bipolar disorder is 40 times greater today than it was only a decade ago, according to a team led by Mark Olfson, M.D., M.P.H., of Columbia University, a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator. The stunning figure is believed to reflect more about trends in diagnosis than actual incidence of the disease. (Read full story.) Breast Cancer Drug Brings Speedier Relief in Manic Phase of Bipolar Disorder The drug tamoxifen, best known as a treatment for breast cancer, can dramatically reduce symptoms of the manic phase of bipolar disorder, and do so more quickly than many standard medications for the illness, according to a study led by NIMH researchers Husseini K. Manji, M.D., a member of NARSAD’s Scientific Council, and Carlos A. Zarate Jr., M.D., a NARSAD Independent Investigator. (Read full story.) New Study Shows Intensive Psychotherapy to Be More Effective Than Brief Therapy for Treating Bipolar Depression Patients taking medications to treat bipolar disorder are more likely to get well faster and stay well if they receive intensive psychotherapy, according to results from an innovative study led by David Miklowitz, Ph.D., of the University of Colorado, a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator. (Read full story.) Men and Women Have Different Risk Factors for Suicide Research led by Columbia University researchers J. John Mann, M.D., Ph.D., a member of NARSAD’s Scientific Council, and Michael F. Grunebaum, a NARSAD Young Investigator, revealed that in men, family history of suicidal acts, past drug use, cigarette smoking, borderline personality disorder, and early parental separation each more than tripled the risk of future suicidal acts. For women, each past suicide attempt increased future risk threefold. Suicidal ideation, seriousness of past attempts, hostility, subjective depressive symptoms, fewer reasons for living, borderline personality disorder, and cigarette smoking also increased the risk of future suicidal acts for women, but not to the same degree as a past attempt. (Read full story.) Three New Studies Add Important Facts to Debate About Antidepressant Drug Treatments and Teen Suicide Risk New research, including separate studies led by NARSAD Distinguished Investigator John March, M.D., M.P.H., of Duke University, and Independent Investigator Francis J. McMahon, M.D., of the NIMH, add important new facts to the debate about whether depressed teenagers who take antidepressant drugs are at increased risk for contemplating or attempting suicide. One of the studies shows that combination drug and behavioral therapy decreases suicide risk and brings faster relief. (Read full story.) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Can Damage Children’s Brain Development Children who experience physical, emotional or sexual abuse, witness violence or undergo painful separation or loss can develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with resultant impairment in social, emotional and intellectual development. Researchers led by Victor Carrion, M.D., of Stanford University, a NARSAD Young Investigator, have now shown that childhood PTSD can lead to a decrease in the size of the hippocampus, a brain structure important in memory and emotion. (Read full story.) Low Birth Weight and Childhood Abuse Linked to Later Psychological Problems Children born with low birth weight who subsequently suffer abuse are substantially more likely to develop psychological problems such as depression and social dysfunction during their adolescence and adulthood, according to a study led by Yoko Nomura, Ph.D., M.P.H, a NARSAD Young Investigator affiliated with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. (Read full story.) NARSAD Investigators Develop First Mouse Models of Schizophrenia A research team led by Akira Sawa, M.D., Ph.D., of Johns Hopkins University, a NARSAD Young Investigator and Staglin Award winner, has genetically engineered a mouse that models both the anatomical and behavioral defects of schizophrenia. This progress dovetails with that reported just three months earlier by John C. Roder, Ph.D., a NARSAD Distinguished Investigator affiliated with the University of Toronto, who developed two strains of mice with different mutations in DISC1. Dr. Roder’s team found that one strain of mice exhibited behavioral abnormalities and memory deficiencies resembling the symptoms of schizophrenia in humans; the second strain exhibited symptoms associated with depression in humans. The researchers found that these symptoms could be alleviated in the mice via administration, respectively, of antipsychotic and antidepressant medications. (Read full story.) Scientists Develop Non-Invasive Method to Track Neurogenesis in Live Human Brain In an important advance that could lead to significantly better diagnosis and monitoring of brain tumors and a range of serious neurological and psychiatric disorders, a team of scientists that includes Grigori Enikolopov, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Labs, a NARSAD Independent Investigator, has developed the first biomarker that permits neural stem and progenitor cells to be tracked, non-invasively, in the brains of living human subjects. (Read full story.) Antidepressant Therapy Spurred New Neuron Growth in Monkeys New research led by NARSAD Young Investigator Tarique Perera, M.D., of Columbia University, has demonstrated that a form of antidepressant treatment in adult monkeys can induce new nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, a brain area involved in learning and memory. This finding lends credence to the theory that antidepressant treatment similarly spurs nerve cell generation in humans and may help explain why such treatments are effective. (Read full story.) |
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