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January 30, 2009
Study suggests top-rated US hospitals have 27 percent lower death rates than other hospitals
HealthDay (1/27, Preidt) reported, "The top-rated US hospitals have a 27 percent lower death rate than other hospitals, according to" HealthGrades' Seventh Annual Hospital Quality and Clinical Excellence study.
Investigators "analyzed the records of about 41 million Medicare patients treated at the nation's almost 5,000 non-federal hospitals. The study of data from fiscal years 2005, 2006, and 2007 focused on 26 common diagnoses and procedures, including heart failure, heart attack, stroke, pneumonia, angioplasty, gastrointestinal surgeries, and sepsis." Data revealed that "in 2005, 2006, and 2007, the top-rated hospitals lowered their in-hospital risk-adjusted death rates by an average of 18 percent, compared to 13 percent for all other hospitals."
Forbes (1/27, Ruiz, David Whelan) noted that "improved safety rates clearly benefit patients, but they may also benefit the bottom line." The study "did not make a link between lower complication and mortality rates and lower premiums for medical malpractice insurance, improved safety rates may persuade underwriters to view the hospital as low-risk." Furthermore, "they may... decrease the number of medical malpractice claims, which cost insurers $7.1 billion in 2007."
Related Links:
- "America's Top Hospitals Cut Patient Death Rate 27%," Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 27, 2009.
- "America's Safest Hospitals," Rebecca Ruiz and David Whelan, Forbes, January 27, 2009.
Posted by admin at 03:20 PM
Researchers find program may help prevent child abuse
MedPage Today (1/27, Fiore) reported that University of South Carolina researchers found that "community programs that teach parents good child-rearing skills may help prevent them from abusing their youngsters."
In a study published "in the Jan. 26 online edition of Prevention Science," the researchers "used a modified version of an Australian program, developed by researchers at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, to enhance parent competence and prevent or change dysfunctional parenting practices."
After their program was implemented, "the researchers found that child abuse and maltreatment can be reduced if parents have easy access to suggestions and recommendations on how to handle difficult times with their kids."
Related Links:
- "Offering Parents Advice Lowers Rates of Child Abuse," Kristina Fiore, Medpage Today, January 27, 2009.
Posted by admin at 03:08 PM
Baltimore Jewish Times Article Examines Suicide
The Baltimore Jewish Times 1/23/09 published a very comprehensive article about suicide, its causes, its warning signs, the importance of getting suicidal people professional help, and the profound impact of suicide on the family.
Also, discussed is how suicide is dealt with in the more traditional, orthodox community, in a way that can complicate matters due to stigma, secrecy, shame, and avoidance, partially based on past scholarly interpretations of sacred texts. New understandings of psychological, social and biological factors leading to suicide are portrayed, along with some example stories of suicides and their effect on the community.
A recent tragic suicide , urges rabbis, should be used as an opportunity to educate ourselves about this illness behavior. This article is part of the Jewish Times' ongoing efforts to educate the Jewish community about state-of-the art understandings of mental health, in a series of articles about substance abuse, sexual abuse, and now suicide.
The full article can be found here: "How to confront suicide."
The Foundation's Dr. Mark Komrad wrote to the editor regarding the article:
To the Editor:The Baltimore Jewish Time's recent article "Hour of Darkness," about suicide, prompted me to write a long-overdue appreciation of the JT's progressive attempts to educate the Jewish community about mental health problems.
Like a well-crafted three legged stool, the paper has written a series of articles over the last few years, which have vigorously addressed three complex, common, but often stigmatized psychiatric issues: substance abuse, sexual abuse, and suicide. I wish to gratefully celebrate this media effort, on behalf of my professional colleagues in mental heatlh, the patients we treat, and the people who might hopefully now be more drawn to get help.
The state-of-the-art understanding of these problems, so well covered in your articles, can lead to recovery and healing, more successfully than ever before. In fact, success rates in psychiatry rival and even exceed the success of treating other medical problems like diabetes, arthritis, and heart disease. This is fortunate, since, according to the National Institutes of Mental Health, psychiatric problems cause more disability and lost productivity in the community than all of these problems combined.
Thank you again for your responsible dedication to so thoroughly reporting on these issues, to the great benefit of our community.
Mark S. Komrad M.D.
•Psychiatrist
•Maryland Foundation for Psychiatry
•Psychiatric Consultant to the Maryland Transportation Authority (for suicide bridge jumping)
Posted by admin at 03:02 PM
January 22, 2009
Study indicates peer counseling may help new mothers combat anxiety, postpartum depression
Writing in the Los Angeles Times (1/20) Booster Shots blog, Jeannine Stein observed that, according to "a new study published online recently in the British Medical Journal...peer counseling sessions may help" new "mothers combat anxiety" and postpartum depression.
Researchers from the University of Toronto "recruited 701 at-risk Canadian women, about half of whom received telephone counseling from a community volunteer who had experienced postpartum depression, and went through a four-hour training session."
Serving as a control group, "the other half...were able to access standard postpartum care that included help from public-health nurses, doctors, and community resources." At the beginning of the study, "both groups had similar" Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale scores, but "at 12 weeks," the "counseling group showed an improvement."
Posted by admin at 11:36 AM
Study suggests physical fitness in old age may benefit the brain
HealthDay (1/20, McKeever) reported, "Physical fitness may be as good for the brain as it is for the body in old age," according to a study published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging. Marc Poulin, of the University of Calgary, and colleagues, conducted "a study of Canadian women older than 65."
The researchers "found that those who took part in regular aerobic activity had cognitive function scores 10 percent higher than their peers who did not exercise." Participants who were active "also had lower blood pressure (at rest and during exercise) and better vascular responses in the brain, suggesting that better blood flow aids the ability to think," the authors said.
Posted by admin at 11:35 AM
Study suggests men may be better at suppressing hunger than women
The AP (1/20, Schmid) reports, "Faced with their favorite foods, women are less able than men to suppress their hunger, a discovery that may help explain the higher obesity rate for females," according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In an effort to determine "why some people overeat and gain weight while others don't," Gene-Jack Wang, M.D., of Brookhaven National Laboratory, and colleagues, "performed brain scans on 13 women and 10 men, who had fasted overnight, to determine how their brains responded to the sight of their favorite foods."
The food was "warmed up so it would smell appealing," and the subjects "were told to suppress their hunger," Bloomberg News (1/20, Lopatto) adds. Participants were taught "how to use a method called cognitive inhibition, in which" they "either ignored thoughts of the food, or tried to think of something else."
CNN (1/20, Harding) reports that "volunteers had three brain scans: once with no instruction on how to react to the food, once after being told to suppress their desire for the food, and once with no food in front of them." The researchers found that, among "women, brain activity was about the same whether or not they had been asked to suppress their desire." In contrast, men "showed a distinctively different brain activity when they tried to suppress their urge. They showed less activation in regions involved in 'emotional regulation, conditioning, and motivation'...specifically the amygdala, hippocampus, insula, orbitofrontal cortex, and striatum."
These regions of the brain "have been linked by other studies to 'emotional regulation' and memory activation -- suggesting that the men were retrieving their memories of the desired food less -- perhaps making them less affected by the thought of it," BBC News (1/20) explains on its website. Therefore, the authors hypothesized that "lower cognitive control of brain responses to food stimulation in women compared to men may contribute to gender differences in the prevalence rates of obesity and other eating disorders."
Time (1/19, Kluger) noted that the researchers are "not certain what's behind the differences," although they suspect "hormones may play a significant role." Use of "a long-running PET scan" allowed them to have "a good look at the amygdala, the deepest and most primitive of the brain structures involved. When the amygdala acts up, it's exceedingly hard to bring it to heel, as anyone suffering from anxiety conditions like phobias or obsessive-compulsive disorder could attest." They pointed out that, while the male subjects' success in "disciplining their amygdalas was an undeniable accomplishment...it was one that required enormous effort."
Posted by admin at 11:32 AM
January 17, 2009
Charlie Chaplin: A Story of Extraordinary Resilience
The psychiatrist Stephen Weissman has written Chaplin, a Life, a new biography of the comic genius who in his day was probably the most famous man in the world.
Born in 1889 of show business parents, he became an orphan at age 7 when his father was disabled by alcoholism and his mother was hospitalized for mental impairment due to neurogenic syphilis. Chaplin has said this was the end of his childhood. From then on he survived on the streets by honing his skills as an actor and comedian. first in British music halls, and then in Hollywood for Keystone Film Studio.
Weissman analyzes how his tragic childhood shaped his personality and his art.
Related Links:
- Chaplin: A Life by Stephen M. Weissman, M.D. at Arcade Publishing
Posted by admin at 12:50 PM
Mental-health crisis centers, suicide hotlines report surge in calls due to financial crisis
USA Today (1/12, Elias) reports that a number of "mental-health crisis and suicide hotlines are reporting a surge in calls from Americans feeling despair over financial losses."
According to Lanny Berman, executive director of the Washington-based American Association of Suicidology, it remains "unknown if the economic meltdown will lead to more suicides," but "concern centers on rising unemployment...because the unemployed have two to four times the suicide rate of employed adults."
In addition, Berman notes "a strong link between humiliating losses and committing suicide. 'Losing your job, losing your home -- these are such major losses,'" he explained. Across the country, "areas with suicide hotlines" are "reporting increases in callers since the economy slid."
Meanwhile, in other places, "callers with mental illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, say loss of insurance and cutbacks in public-health programs are preventing them from getting medications."
Related Links:
- " Economy prompts more calls to suicide hotlines," Marilyn Elias, USA Today, January 12, 2009.
Posted by admin at 12:33 PM
Purple Heart may not be in order for PTSD, but good care is
The New York Times (1/12, A22) editorializes, "The Pentagon's recent decision not to award the Purple Heart to soldiers suffering" from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "strikes us as reasonable and well considered," but it does not relieve "the military of its duty to fully honor those whose injuries are unseen." PTSD "sufferers surely deserve medical care every bit as diligent and excellent as what their fellow" veterans "receive for more visible injuries." Recent "veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan will tell you that the military stigma against mental illness has not abated."
Related Links:
- "PTSD and the Purple Heart," New York times, January 12, 2009.
Posted by admin at 12:30 PM
Harris County, TX, judges vote to designate full-time felony mental-health court
The Houston Chronicle (1/8, O'Hare, Leahy) reports that on Jan. 7, Harris County, TX, "criminal district judges voted...to designate a full-time felony mental-health court, which will likely focus on defendants diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe depression."
Presiding over the court will be State District Judge Jan Krocker. According to Judge Krocker, approximately "30 percent of the defendants who come through Harris County's criminal courts have a mental illness."
The judge "plans for mentally ill defendants to be assigned to her court immediately after they are charged with a criminal offense if they have previously been diagnosed with a mental illness in the criminal justice system through the Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority of Harris County." In addition, she "proposed that mentally ill defendants could be transferred to her court from another felony court if the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney involved in the case agree."
Related Links:
- "Harris County judges vote for felony mental health court," Peggy O'Hare and Jennifer Leahy, Houston Chronicle, January 8, 2008.
Posted by admin at 12:27 PM
Wounded troops still waiting to file new appeals of disability ratings
The AP (1/8) reports that even though Congress mandated creation of a Department of Defense board to review disability appeals in Dec. 2007, "wounded troops are still waiting to file new appeals of disability ratings."
A disability rating "above 30 percent means a service member gets a monthly retirement check, and his or her family is eligible for care at military hospitals," whereas "those rated below 30 percent get severance payments that are taxed," and their families "no longer receive government-provided healthcare."
Previously, "veterans could only seek a lengthy review from a military panel that rarely changed them." According to Retired Army Lt. Col. Mike Parker, the "military often doesn't rate a veteran's most disabling condition. For example, Parker said a soldier had a degenerative eye disease that would have given him over 30 percent disability, but the Army only rated his shin splints, which got a 10 percent rating."
Related Links:
- "Wounded troops still waiting," Devener Post,/i>, January 8, 2009.
Posted by admin at 12:23 PM
January 08, 2009
APA offers advice to those making New Year's resolutions
In its Action Line column, the Miami Herald (1/3) reported that "January is not only the start of the New Year, but is when many begin their New Year's Resolutions," according to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), which counseled readers to "start with a positive approach, including thinking about what has disrupted your good intentions in the past."
The APA also suggested not making "too many resolutions," but instead picking "a realistic, attainable goal with a reasonable time frame," and choosing a resolution that "you want to accomplish for yourself, and not for friends or family."
In addition, the APA recommended making a plan of "what you'd like to accomplish in three or six months," writing it down, and achieving small goals incrementally to achieve "a sense of accomplishment and motivation to keep going." Finally, "if you get off track, don't think that you failed. Review your plan and make adjustments."
The full list of tips can be found at APA's Healthy Minds, Healthy Lives consumer website.
Related Links:
- "How to make successful resolutions," Miami Herald, January 3, 2009.
- APA's HealthyMinds.org
Posted by admin at 11:35 AM
Researchers say more than half of teenagers mention drugs, alcohol, sex, or violence on social networking pages
USA Today (1/6, Szabo) reports that, according to two studies published in the Jan. 5 issue of the Journal Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, "more than half of teenagers mention drugs, alcohol, sex, or violence on their MySpace pages."
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, working with colleagues at the Seattle Children's Research Institute, found that "more than 90 percent of adolescents have Internet access, and about half of these use social networking sites, such as MySpace or Facebook."
For the first study, the investigators examined the "MySpace profiles of 500 people who identified themselves as 18-year-old males and females in the United States," CNN (1/6) reports. The team noted that the "references to risky behaviors included both words and photos."
Lead author Megan ("Dr. Meg") Moreno, M.D., M.S.Ed., M.P.H., of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, explained that "not all teens who write about risky behaviors in their profiles actually engage in them in real life." Instead, they may "talk about sex, substance use, or violence because they are contemplating doing those things, or because they want to brag without actually doing what they say."
And, "in a second study, Moreno and colleagues identified 190 profiles of 18- to 20-year-olds that contained three or more references to sexual behaviors or substance abuse. The authors then made a profile of their own, called 'Dr. Meg,' from which they sent a single email to half these profiles, warning them about the risky information, and offering information about clinical resources."
According to the AP (1/6, Johnson), "many teenagers cleaned up their MySpace profiles, deleting mentions of sex and booze and boosting privacy settings, if they got a single cautionary email from...'Dr. Meg.'" Dr. Moreno said that "shows how parents and other adults can encourage safer Internet use." Bloomberg News (1/6, Pettypiece) and HealthDay (1/5, Gordon) also covered the story.
Related Links:
- "Kids reveal a lot about themselves online," Liz Szabo, USA Today, January 6, 2009.
Posted by admin at 11:28 AM
Programs launch, expand mental-health services for returning troops, veterans.
The San Diego Union-Tribune (1/5) reports that, across the U.S., "grass-roots groups and major organizations are launching or expanding mental-health services for returning combat troops, new veterans, and their families," in hopes that "free or low-cost counseling, mentoring, and other forms of outreach will fill in gaps left by the military and Department of Veterans Affairs."
The efforts aim "to prevent combat stress, post-traumatic stress disorder, and traumatic brain injuries from causing long-term depression, alcoholism, homelessness, criminal activity, and marital or parenting problems."
One such program is run by the nonprofit Give an Hour. "In November, four of the nation's largest mental-health groups," including the American Psychiatric Association, "signed on to the program." The organization "recruits licensed mental-health providers to offer at least an hour of free counseling each week to military personnel, veterans, and their family members who are experiencing the psychological effects of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."
Related Links:
- "Raising an army of counselors," Rick Rogers, San Diego Union-Tribune, January 2, 2009.
Posted by admin at 11:24 AM
Writer says involuntary psychiatric hospitalization may have saved his life
In an opinion piece in the Los Angeles Times (12/30), Los Angeles writer Robert David Jaffee, who underwent involuntary psychiatric hospitalization and received treatment after a psychotic episode nearly 10 years ago, observes that "too many people" with mental illness "don't get the proper treatment."
The reasons for this include "the costs and limitations of healthcare," and the fact that some "people are too sick to know they need help." Others "have refused treatment." Jaffee writes, "It is much better to encourage, rather than force, the mentally ill to get treatment. But what if they don't respond?"
While "the civil rights issues involved with forced treatment of the mentally ill are real and shouldn't be downplayed," Jaffee concludes that "being involuntarily held at the hospital in 1999 allowed" him "to get back on" his "medication -- and may have" even saved his life.
Related Links:
- "When mental illness and civil rights collide," Robert David Jaffee, Los Angeles Times, December 29, 2008.
Posted by admin at 11:20 AM
Self-injury may be symptom of larger problem, mental-health experts say
Newsweek (12/29, Bennett) reported that "for the millions...who hurt themselves intentionally," what starts as an impulse and "a moment of relief becomes a secret habit -- a need for pain that medical science doesn't fully understand and can treat with only mixed success."
Currently, "self-injury of any kind does not appear in the" American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) "as a diagnosable disorder," but is instead "a symptom of a larger problem." According to clinical psychologist Wendy Lader, "people who harm themselves almost always suffer from larger mental conditions, often the result of emotional trauma."
Mental-health professionals, "who treat people who harm themselves, say that getting to the root of the problem -- the emotion that's causing the urge to injure -- is at the heart of any recovery process." The article focused primarily on the experiences of Becki Begnato, who began cutting at age 13. Now in college, Begnato is recovering after "years of treatment."
Related Links:
- "Why She Cuts," Jessica Bennett, Newsweek, December 29, 2008.
Posted by admin at 11:16 AM