Published: February 11, 2009

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In a study published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, a team of researchers led by Mayo Clinic psychiatrist Mark Frye, M.D., attempted to identify what factors make some people with bipolar depression more likely to experience treatment-emergent mania (TEM).
Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a mental illness characterized by severe mood instability that can be serious and disabling. The deep mood swings from high (mania) to low (depression) may last for weeks or months, causing great disturbances in the lives of the person who has the illness, along with family and friends. Drugs known as mood stabilizers have proven effective at controlling the manic phase of the illness, but treating the depressive phase is more problematic. Antidepressants, although effective for some individuals, can trigger a rapid mood switch from depression to mania, a phenomenon called treatment-emergent mania. [continue reading…]
Published: February 11, 2009
Amanda Kitts lost her left arm in a car accident three years ago, Ms. Kitts has an artificial arm that she can control with her thoughts. Link to read about this new procedure that is attracting increasing attention because it allows people to move prosthetic arms more automatically than ever before, simply by using rewired nerves and their brains. Continue reading
Source: New York Times
Published: February 11, 2009

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Valentines day is just around the corner, and you may be wondering what to get your special someone, so you may be interested in new research from The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business and Washington University in St. Louis – It matters whether you give your loved one a material gift or an experience for Valentine’s Day. [continue reading…]
Published: February 11, 2009
The research, a controlled, multisite, double-blind study, will be published in the April issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
For an hour a day, five days a week for eight weeks, study participants worked on computer-based activities in their homes. The participants, from Minnesota and California, were age 65 or older. No one had a diagnosis of cognitive impairment, such as early Alzheimer’s disease. [continue reading…]