Monthly Archive for September, 2009
New Antipsychotic Agent in the US Market
More than 50 years ago, the first antipsychotic medications appeared in the United States. While these drugs -– fluphenazine, haloperidol, chlorpromazine, and others -- were effective in treating a variety of psychiatric conditions, their safety and tolerability presented many drawbacks. It was not until the 1990s when a new class of antipsychotic medications emerged that presented a decreased risk of serious side effects. The newer class of so-called atypical antipsychotics -- as opposed to the first-generation “typical” or “conventional” drugs -- has not had a new member in more than a decade. Now, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first new atypical antipsychotic in many years.
Will Healthcare Workers Refuse the Swine Flu Vaccine?
The first doses of vaccine for the Influenza A H1N1 virus (“swine flu”) should be available in October of 2009. Due to an initial limited supply, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that healthcare workers should be first in line to receive the vaccine. Immunizing healthcare workers against the H1N1 virus not only provides personal protection for the workers, but also protects patients and reduces absenteeism in healthcare settings. Unfortunately, a recent study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) reports that less than half of healthcare workers surveyed are willing to be vaccinated against pandemic flu.
Brain Blogging, Forty-Seventh Edition
Welcome to the forty-seventh edition of Brain Blogging. In this round, we discuss whether science is in need of another cognitive revolution, how to reinforce our cognition, how reduced hippocampal neurogenesis correlates with depression, and other topics.Remember, we review the latest blogs related to the brain and mind that go beyond the basic sciences into a more human and multidimensional perspective. You can check out our archive for past editions.
Mood and Functional Disability – A Positive Feedback Loop
Emotional or mood problems are more frequent in people with disabilities (of any severity or duration) than in the general population. Rates range from about 20% to 50%, depending on the study and the population – from spinal cord injury to multiple sclerosis to stroke. It is important to understand the rates and types of mood disorders because the functional deficits associated with disability (I’m using disability to refer to any sort of loss of function, even if it is only temporary) can manifest similarly to mood disorder symptoms. For example, what might look like anhedonia could simply be inability to do much, or at least the reticence to be active because of pain or functional loss.
Popular Posts
- The Love Drug
- Women After Sex
- Fatty Acids and Suicide Risk
- Mind Games - Science's Attempts at Thought Control
- Mental Health Disorders Prevalent Among Youth Worldwide
- Is Giftedness Nothing More than Good Genes?
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- Behind the Masks - The Mysteries of Dissociative Identity Disorder
- The NeuroSocial Network
- Inside Your Brain on Holiday
Future Posts
Latest Posts
- Media Violence Leads to Real Violence
- Intelligence – Are You Holding Back Your Brain?
- Childhood Aggression Predicts Health Care Use Later in Life
- The Brain’s Border Patrol – Blood Brain Barrier
- Risks of Personalized Medicine
- BED-head and Obesity – Food for Thought
- Salvia Divinorum – DEA Control over Magic in the Mint
- Mighty Microglia – The Brain’s Immune Cells Key to Treating Brain Diseases
- Does Personality Play a Role in the Stress of Caregiving?
- Economic Burden of Poor Mental Health
Comments
- Ron Murphy: Alexis,Do you think we liv
- Alexis Remm: I think that the word "free wi
- Ron Murphy: Bill,I agree with your dis
- W. R. Klemm: As I understand it, alien hand
- jose: no... liar
- robert: thankyou mam for u nice inform
- robert: nice intresting facts u mentio
- David Morgan: I totally agree with the premi
- : If your interested in a
- Wes: Hello folks. As with most of t
- Richard Kensinger, MSW: General IQ (GIQ) is a very com
- Alexis Remm: I have a question about the fr
