Rehab Articles
A recent Umeå University research study has concluded that there is a link between concentrations of air pollution and both decreased mental health and psychiatric medications in children under the age of 18. The researchers looked at air pollution exposure and psychiatric health in children and adolescents by studying register based medication data in a database which contains this information for all Swedes. The study also included air pollution concentration data from the Swedish National Register. The study looked at entire populations for a variety of Swedish countries with varying demographics, migration and socioeconomic characteristics, and other factors. The researchers determined that higher levels of air pollution also raised the risk that medication would be dispensed to address at least one psychiatric diagnosis for individuals under the age of 18.
The study on air pollution and mental health in children and adolescents should be a cause for concern. Researchers found that an increase of nitrogen dioxide concentration in the air by just 10 micrograms per cubic meter caused the risk of medication being dispensed to this age group for one or more psychiatric disorders by as much as 9%. This increase was calculated after the researchers took all possible factors including demographic and socioeconomic factors into account. Unit for Occupational and Environmental Medicine at the Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine at Umeå University researcher Anna Oudin, Ph.D., the lead researcher for the study, explained that “The results can mean that a decreased concentration of air pollution, first and foremost traffic-related air pollution, may reduce psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents.”
Rehab Articles
University of California Davis MIND Institute researchers have determined that there is a link between a subtype of autism which is combined with intellectual disability and a high level of inflammation during the second trimester of pregnancy. In the recent study the expectant mothers were determined to have two different inflammatory proteins responsible for controlling the communication between immune system cells in higher levels. The presence of higher levels of these inflammatory proteins, cytokines and chemokines, indicates an increased risk for this autism subtype.
According to UC Davis Center for Children’s Environmental Health director, Internal Medicine in the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology professor, UC Davis MIND Institute researcher, and senior study author Dr. Judy Van de Water “Inflammation during the second trimester in the mothers of children with autism who also have intellectual disability was significantly greater than in mothers of children autism without intellectual disability in our study. However, equally significant was that profiles of mothers whose children go on to be diagnosed with autism and intellectual disability differed markedly from those whose children have intellectual disability without autism, as well as from the typically developing general population. Their profiles are distinct from all of the other groups that we studied, based on their cytokine and chemokine profiles. This finding suggests an avenue that we will explore to potentially identify possible markers to separate sub-phenotypes in the autism population.”
The goal of the study on biomarkers, autism, and inflammation was to evaluate various biomarkers. MIND Institute director Dr. Leonard Abbeduto explained “This study is incredibly valuable because it helps us understand more about the sources of variability within autism spectrum disorder, providing important insights into the different neurobiological mechanisms underlying important subtypes of the disorder. At the same time, the study reinforces the importance of the maternal immune system in to a host of child outcomes. Most importantly, this study brings us closer to knowing how to prevent adverse developmental outcomes.”
Rehab Articles
A recent study has discovered a link between abnormal circadian rhythms and neurotransmitter changes for those who have bipolar disorder. The study covered a three year period. McLean Hospital researchers determined that those with bipolar disorder exhibited changes in the neurons in the brain that help regulate stress and anxiety, and these changes appeared to result from abnormal circadian rhythms. According to Harvard Medical School psychiatry instructor and McLean’s Translational Neuroscience Laboratory assistant neuroscientist Harry Pantazopoulos, Ph.D, one of the study researchers and the lead author, “For more than 50 years, there’s been evidence that there’s something wrong with circadian rhythms in people with bipolar disorder, but there has been a huge gap in terms of what we understand about their brains and how altered circadian rhythms are contributing to their symptoms.”
It has long been suspected that abnormal circadian rhythms and bipolar disorder have some association or connection, this latest study just confirms this. Pantazopoulos explained “Growing evidence points to a key role for somatostatin, a neurotransmitter in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. In the amygdala, a part of the brain involved in anxiety and stress, somatostatin plays an important role in the regulation of anxiety and depression, often co-occurring in these disorders. We eventually saw that people with bipolar disorder have a very strong decrease of this protein in the beginning of the day while people without a psychiatric disorder normally have an increase in this protein. The decrease of the protein correlates very strongly with the established severity of depression and anxiety symptoms in people with mood disorders, in the morning. Therefore, our findings point to potential neural correlates of circadian rhythm abnormalities associated with specific symptoms in bipolar disorder.”
Rehab Articles
Antipsychotic medications often carry a high risk for the development of new onset diabetes, but a recent study has shown that taking vitamin D could lower this risk for those who take these drugs. Zyprexa, Seroquel, and other atypical antipsychotics are generally prescribed for disorders which are severe, including bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and even autism. Kyoto University researchers have determined that vitamin D could help people with these disorders who must take these drugs minimize their risk of new onset diabetes. According to Takuya Nagashima, the lead author of the study, “Interestingly, vitamin D on its own doesn’t lower diabetes risk, but it certainly defends against the insulin-lowering effects of quetiapine. We clarified the molecular mechanisms of how quetiapine causes hyperglycaemia using datasets in a genomics data repository. Through this we found that quetiapine reduces the amount of a key enzyme called PI3K that gets produced. Vitamin D stops quetiapine from lowering PI3K production.”
Shuji Kaneko was the lead researcher on the study about antipsychotic medications, diabetes, and vitamin E. According to Kaneko “We found that patients who had coincidentally been prescribed vitamin D with quetiapine were less likely to have hyperglycaemia. It’s unusual for vitamin D to be prescribed with quetiapine because it is typically prescribed to treat osteoporosis; in fact, there were only 1232 cases in the world where vitamin D was prescribed with quetiapine. Data mining proved helpful in locating these cases. Databases like FAERS aren’t just for making drug regulations; they have so much potential for side-effect relief using pre-existing drugs. There’s a lot we can hope for from reverse translational research like this.”
Rehab Articles
A recent prostate cancer study has shown that mindful meditation can help alleviate anxiety, fear and uncertainty for men who have this disease. Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine researchers. As men age their chance of developing prostate cancer increases, but in many cases the cancer is very slow growing and may not require immediate treatment. Instead the patient is actively monitored to evaluate the growth of any tumors and determine if treatment is needed and what treatment should be given. Medical social sciences associate professor and principal study investigator David Victorson explained “It’s very understandable that some men will feel concerned with the knowledge that they indeed have prostate cancer but are asked to NOT do anything to remove it. For many men this can create a great deal of inner turmoil. This turmoil can build up over time and eventually lead to men seeking surgical intervention when it may not ultimately be necessary.”
The prostate cancer and mindful meditation study used this form of meditation in order to decrease the fear, anxiety, and uncertainty that men experienced while being actively monitored but not treated for their cancer. The scientists found that 1 out of 4 men who had active surveillance after diagnosis ended up receiving a definitive treatment for their tumor even when tumor progression signs were absent. According to Victorson “I believe we have an opportunity to investigate and equip men with additional tools above and beyond surgical intervention that can help them manage cancer-related uncertainty intolerance.”
