Health News

How to handle anxiety disorders in primary care: Suggestions from a trial

Date: Feb-03-2014
A Dutch trial published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (P&P) has tested how treatments of anxiety disorders may perform in primary care.Collaborative stepped care (CSC) may be an appropriate model to provide evidence-based treatment for anxiety disorders in primary care. In a cluster randomized controlled trial, the effectiveness of CSC compared to care as usual (CAU) for adults with panic disorder (PD) or generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) in primary care was evaluated.

New study validates Skills® Assessment for designing customized curricula to help children with autism

Date: Feb-03-2014
In a new study published in the journal Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, researchers at Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) find value in the comprehensive Skills® Assessment, which helps clinicians develop individualized treatment plans for children with autism. Accurate assessment is vital to curriculum planning and skill acquisition for children with autism as it establishes a foundation from which treatment will be implemented.

Psychological well-being is important for physical health

Date: Feb-03-2014
In a comprehensive review published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (P&P), Carol Ryff described how major research findings have supported the link between psychological well-being and physical health.The model of psychological well-being was developed more than two decades ago to address neglected aspects of positive functioning such as purposeful engagement in life, realization of personal talents and capacities, and enlightened self-knowledge.

A new treatment for eating disorders that do not respond to standard therapies

Date: Feb-03-2014
A new therapy, based on neuropsychological functioning, has been tested in patients with severe or enduring eating disorders and is presented in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (P&P).Patients suffering from eating disorders show deficits in neuropsychological functioning which might pre-exist and underlie the etiology of the eating disorders and influence relapse. Deficits in cognitive flexibility, i.e. set-shifting and central coherence, might perpetuate the symptoms.

How can adolescent shyness be helped?

Date: Feb-03-2014
A study published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (P&P) has examined the value of different treatment strategies in adolescents with problems communicating and social anxiety.Very few studies have investigated the effects of individual disorder-specific treatment of social phobia (SP) in adolescents. The objective of this study was to compare the effects of individual cognitive therapy for SP, group cognitive behavioral therapy (CBTG) and attentional placebo (AP) among adolescents with a primary diagnosis of SP.

Gastric bypass improves insulin secretion in pigs

Date: Feb-03-2014
The majority of gastric bypass patients mysteriously recover from their type 2 diabetes within days, before any weight loss has taken place. A study at Lund University Diabetes Centre in Sweden has now shown that the insulin-producing beta cells increase in number and performance after the surgery."We have suspected this for a while, but there have not previously been any models to prove it", says Dr Nils Wierup, who led the research.The small study involved gastric bypass surgery on just four pigs, but is the only study of its kind and therefore unique.

New study reveals the role community pharmacy should play in driving flu vaccination uptake amongst at-risk patients

Date: Feb-03-2014
A new study by the University of Nottingham and Boots UK reveals community pharmacy can play an important role in driving the uptake of flu vaccinations amongst at-risk patients, including those with diabetes and pregnant women. The NHS and WHO (World Health Organisation) have set a target of 75% of at-risk patients to receive a flu vaccination, however during the winter of 2011/12 there was only a 50% uptake. The new study highlights the integrated role community pharmacy can play, working alongside GPs, in reaching patients unlikely to access the service at their surgery.

UK hospices rely on volunteers to meet growing demand for palliative care

Date: Feb-03-2014
New research from researchers at the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Unit, University College London Medical School, Institute for Volunteering Research and International Observatory on End of Life Care Lancaster University reveals the true extent to which UK hospices rely on unpaid volunteers to meet the growing demand for palliative care. The new study, published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine, provides the most comprehensive picture to date of volunteer activity in specialist adult palliative care in the UK.

WHO officials respond to criticisms of polio vaccination campaign in Syria

Date: Feb-03-2014
In a Comment published in The Lancet, Ala Alwan and Bruce Aylward from the World Health Organisation (WHO) respond to recent allegations that UN agencies including WHO have blocked vaccination campaigns and obstructed the testing of polio samples.

UN talks as many poor people set to miss out on health targets

Date: Feb-03-2014
Thousands of ethnic women in the world's poorest countries are dying from HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and maternal problems because governments and international bodies fail to record their health outcomes. Many more women's lives remain in peril amid efforts to meet the 2015 deadlines for the UN Millennium Development Goals and beyond them. And some communities in countries described as middle income states face the danger of abandonment by international donors, in spite of their worsening health plight.