Tuesday, March 9, 2010
After 10 sessions, anxiety, depression and stress lessened, researchers say.
Psychotherapy helps cut the incidence of psychological woes in patients with lupus who contain high levels of daily stress, a new study finds.
The treatment also helps these patients improve and maintain their quality of life, according to a new Spanish study.
The research incorporated 45 patients randomly assigned to a control group or to a therapy group. Each acknowledged 10 weekly sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
By the end of the study, the patients in the therapy group had significantly reduced levels of depression, anxiety and daily stress -- along with considerable improvement in quality of life -- compared to those in the control group.
However, the patients in the therapy group didn't show any significant reduction in lupus disease activity, said the Spanish researchers.
The study was led by N. Navarrete-Navarrete of the University Hospital Virgen de Las Nieves, and was recently published in the journal Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics.
Monday, February 22, 2010
For those with the regular mental illness known as generalized anxiety disorder, a new study has found that the brain processes emotions in unusual ways. The study authors say the research could provide new insight into better treatments for people distress from debilitating anxiety.
"Patients experience anxiety and worry and respond exceptionally to emotionally negative stimuli, but it's never been clear really why," Dr. Amit Etkin, acting assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University and first author of the study, said in a news release. In the study, researchers gave MRI brain scans to 17 people with generalized concern disorder and 24 healthy people. The researchers wanted to understand what happened in participants' brains as they felt different emotions.
The study authors found that the brains of the participants reacted differently in several situations. The findings suggest that the prefrontal cortex is irregular in people with generalized anxiety disorder, and the researchers think that knowledge could lead to superior diagnosis and treatment. Senior study author Dr. Alan Schatzberg, chair of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, said in the news release that the findings, published in the February online issue of American Journal of Psychiatry, could lead to greater understanding of the biology of psychopathology and how people react to psychotherapy.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Despite public awareness campaigns, approximately half of all American women still don't know that heart disease is the leading causes of death in women, new examine finds.
Even more concerning, only slightly more than half of women would call for emergency help if they were having heart attack symptoms, according to the newest survey for the American Heart Association's Go Red for Women public awareness campaign.
"We've made a lot of progress since 1997 when the Go Red campaign first began, but we unmoving have a long way to go," said lead researcher Dr. Lori Mosca, director of protective cardiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
In 1997, when the survey was 1st conducted, just 30 percent of women realized that heart infection was the leading cause of death in women. In 2009, that number was 54 percent. However, that number is down somewhat from 2006 when 57 percent of women said that heart disease was the largest threat to their health.
Young women were more likely to consider that breast cancer was their biggest potential health threat. 34 percent of women between the ages of 25 and 34 thought breast cancer was extra of a threat than heart disease, compared to 22 percent of women over 65 who felt that way.
Women are taking significant preventive steps such as seeing their doctors and having their blood pressure checked. However, many women are relying on unproven strategies to avoid heart disease, as well. For example, 82 percent said they believed that fish oil would help them avoid heart disease, and 29 percent said aromatherapy could be supportive, according to the survey.
Other important findings from the fresh survey include:
- Eighty-five percent of women said they had seen, heard or read about heart illness during the past year.
- Only 53 percent of women said they would call 911 if they were having heart attack symptoms.
- Just over half of women said the biggest barrier to taking preventive steps against heart disease were family and care-taking responsibilities.
