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A new pilot Northwestern Medicine study showed that eight weeks of mindfulness training helped alleviate their depressive symptoms and reduce stress, providing an effective alternative to more conventional treatment. "Many women are in need of help with their depression and coping with daily life, but they don't seek it out because of limited access to high-quality mental health services and the stigma within their families and communities," said the study's principal investigator Inger Burnett-Zeigler , assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Our study shows that there are alternatives to traditional mental health treatment, such as mind-body approaches, that effectively alleviate symptoms and can be done autonomously in the comfort of their own home." Over the course of the 16-week study, the average depressive symptoms and stress scores decreased across the 31 participants. T

BPA is a part of some plastics and is present in meals containers, plastic water bottles, dental sealants, and thermal receipt paper. Within the physique, BPA is an artificial estrogen, one of many class of chemical substances often called "endocrine disruptors." Credit score: © petunyia / Fotolia Boys uncovered prenatally to a standard chemical utilized in plastics could also be extra prone to develop signs of hysteria and melancholy at age 10-12. The brand new examine by researchers on the Columbia Middle for Youngsters's Environmental Well being ( CCCEH ) throughout the Mailman College of Public Well being examined adolescence publicity to the chemical Bisphenol A (BPA). Outcomes are revealed within the journal  Environmental Analysis . BPA is a part of some plastics and is present in meals containers, plastic water bottles, dental sealants, and thermal receipt paper. Within the physique, BPA is an artificial estrogen, o

They found that heritability accounted for 38.4% of the variation in chronic pain risk, and that shared environment with spouses accounted for 18.7% of the variation in susceptibility to chronic pain. They also found that chronic pain was correlated with depression. Finally, McIntosh and colleagues found evidence that polygenic risk contributes to chronic pain and MDD. Data from two independent genome wide association studies, Pfizer-23andMe and the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Major Depressive Disorder Working Group, suggested that chronic pain risk arises through the combined effect of many different genetic risk factors and that the cumulative effects of genetic risk factors for depression increased an individual's chance of having chronic pain. The researchers note that assortative mating (choosing a spouse who is similar to oneself) may be responsible for some of the spousal effects, and that these associations do not identify mechanisms through which the genes might be

The study shows that the two conditions share common causes -- some of which are genetic whilst other causes originate from the environment that partners share. Experts say their findings shed new light on the illnesses and could one day help to develop better diagnostic tests and treatments. Researchers led by the University of Edinburgh studied information from more than 100,000 people taking part in large nationwide health studies. The team analysed people's genetic background as well as details about their experiences of pain and depression. Their findings revealed that chronic pain is caused partly by someone's genetic make-up and partly by as yet unidentified risk factors that are shared jointly by partners or spouses . They also identified significant overlaps between the risk factors for chronic pain and depression. Chronic pain is a common cause of disability but little is known about what causes it. Scientists say the research will bring a new understan

Huntington's disease causes jerky, uncoordinated movements and a loss of control of motor function. It also results in deficits in learning and memory, as well as personality changes, such as dementia, depression, and aggression. Huntington's is ultimately fatal, and there are no treatments to stop or slow its progression. The disease is linked to a mutation in the Huntingtin gene, which causes a protein of the same name to fold up incorrectly like misshapen origami. Neurons cannot get rid of the misfolded protein, so it builds up in the brain, wreaking havoc in the cells. In the new study, published in the  Journal of Clinical Investigation , scientists in the laboratory of Steve Finkbeiner, MD, PhD, showed that modifying the huntingtin protein through a process called phosphorylation can actually make the protein less toxic and allows cells to eliminate it more easily. In fact, phosphorylating a specific spot on the protein called S421 protected a mouse model of Hunting

The population-based study, published earlier this month in the  Journal of Clinical Psychiatry , was led by researchers at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The study represents the largest and most rigorous examination of mental illness severity among Asian populations living in a western country. "We found that, when compared to patients from other populations, Chinese and South Asian patients were on average much sicker by the time they got to hospital," says Dr. Maria Chiu, principal investigator and scientist at ICES . "While Chinese and South Asian people make up the two largest ethnic minority groups in Canada, to date research on mental illness in these groups has been limited." Using a database that houses information on adult inpatients in designated mental health beds across all Ontario hospitals, the research team analyzed information on over 133,000 patients hospitalized f