Drugs/Therapy
Drugs/Therapy
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What to Do When a Spinal Injury Leaves You Unable to Walk
By Ernest Hamilton | Aug 14, 2019 11:11 AM EDTLearning that you may never walk again is devastating. When you have a severe spinal injury that impairs your ability to move, you may find yourself focusing on all the things you're losing in your life.
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Concussion Injuries: What Medication Can You Take
By Ernest Hamilton | Aug 13, 2019 09:31 AM EDTConcussions are caused by traumatic head injuries resulted from the violent contact with an external object, where the brain and head move rapidly back and forth (or shake). The action causes the brain to shift within the skull, which can lead to brain cells damage or chemical changes that may have a permanent or temporary effect over your well-being.
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Adults Who Mix Cannabis with Opioids for Pain Report Higher Anxiety, Depression
By Staff Reporter | Aug 13, 2019 05:07 AM EDTA researcher from the University of Houston has found that adults who take prescription opioids for severe pain are more likely to have increased anxiety, depression, and substance abuse issues if they also use marijuana.
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Aspirin May Help Some Breast Cancer Survivors, But Changes in DNA May Mean Harm for Others
By Staff Reporter | Aug 12, 2019 04:00 AM EDTPrevious studies have shown that some women who use aspirin and are later diagnosed with breast cancer may live longer, which may be related to the drug's anti-inflammatory effects on the body.
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Scientists Can Now Manipulate Brain Cells Using Smartphone
By Staff Reporter | Aug 06, 2019 03:36 AM EDTA team of scientists in Korea and the United States has invented a device that can control neural circuits using a tiny brain implant controlled by a smartphone. Researchers, publishing in Nature Biomedical Engineering, believe the device can speed up efforts to uncover brain diseases such as Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, addiction, depression, and pain.
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6 Things That Happen to You If You Get a DUI
By Hannah Smith | Jul 22, 2019 12:39 PM EDTNo one wants to get a DUI. It's an arrest that can have long-reaching consequences. If your job requires you to drive and you have your license suspended, you can lose your job. You'll have to pay fines, suffer from penalties and your insurance premiums will skyrocket.
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5 Tips To Stay Clean And Sober
By Ivan Seranno | May 24, 2019 11:54 AM EDTHere are 5 tips to stay clean and sober, and why it’s important to understand that your past addictions don’t have to define your future.
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Is CBD a Preventative Treatment?
By Staff Reporter | May 05, 2019 10:40 PM EDTIn this guide we'll explore the potential of CBD as a preventative treatment.
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NEJM applying universal standards of care to Ebola virus disease
By Staff Reporter | Apr 13, 2019 11:04 AM EDTDr Shevin Jacob is corresponding author on a perspective piece published in the New England Journal of Medicine calling for universal standards of care to be applied in relation to Ebola Virus Disease
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Lack of access to antibiotics is a major global health challenge
By Staff Reporter | Apr 13, 2019 11:05 AM EDTAntibiotic resistance is an emerging global public health threat spurred by the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. While "overuse" of antibiotics is widely accepted as a major health challenge
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Blocking opioid receptors could reduce hormone-therapy-fueled increases in sugar intake
By Staff Reporter | Apr 22, 2019 11:36 PM EDTEstradiol is a commonly prescribed estrogen therapy. Previous research has found that rats treated with the hormone experience an increase in sugar consumption
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Tidying up: A new way to direct trash to autophagy
By Staff Reporter | Apr 22, 2019 11:36 PM EDTMarie Kondo herself couldn't do it any better. Usually cells are good at recognizing what doesn't spark joy. They're constantly cleaning house -- picking through their own stuff to clear out what no longer works.
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Does Marijuana Legalization Lead To More Car Accidents?
By Staff Reporter | Apr 01, 2019 10:14 PM EDTHere’s everything we know about legal weed and the way it’s changing our roadways.
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How An Apology Can Go A Long Way After A Medical Error
By Staff Reporter | Apr 01, 2019 10:17 PM EDTHere’s how an apology can go a long way after a medical error.
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Deep brain stimulation provides sustained relief for severe depression
By Staff Reporter | Mar 20, 2019 08:23 AM EDTWorld's largest study of deep brain stimulation in the brain's reward system Study with 16 participants with previously treatment-resistant depression shows excellent results over one year Results published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology Patients suffering from severe, treatment-resistant depression can benefit not only acutely but also the long-term from deep brain stimulation, as researchers from the Medical Center - University of Freiburg and their colleagues from the University Hospital Bonn demonstrate in a current study. The team used thin electrodes to stimulate a deep seated part of the reward system in the brains of 16 patients. This led to a significant reduction of ratings of depression severity in all patients, it was reduced by half on average. For half of the study participants it was even reduced below the level regarded as the threshold for a depression requiring treatment. Most of the patients experienced those positive stimulation effects within the first week, and they lasted throughout the course of the one-year study. The study was published online in the Nature journal Neuropsychopharmacology on Thursday, 14 March 2019. "The most compelling outcome from the study is the sustained efficacy in very severely ill patients. Most treatments in psychiatry cease to be efficacious after moths and years, we demonstrated for the first time in demonstrating in a relatively large-scale study that deep brain stimulation is a real option for those patients suffering from treatment-resistant, severe depression," says group leader Prof. Dr. Thomas Schläpfer, head of the Division of Interventional Biological Psychiatry at the Medical Center - University of Freiburg. Success after Dozens of Unsuccessful Treatments An estimated 10 to 30 percent of all people with recurring depression do not respond to approved treatments. Deep brain stimulation could be a treatment option for some of these patients. The 16 participants in the FORSEE-II study had suffered from severe depression for 8 to 22 years and had previously undergone an average of 18 drug therapies, 20 electroconvulsive therapies, and 70 hours of psychotherapy - without success. Prof. Dr. Volker A. Coenen, first author of the study and director of the Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Unit at the Department of Neurosurgery of the Medical Center - University of Freiburg, and his team implanted the deep brain stimulation systems in the patients medial forebrain bundle of the brain and used them to stimulate the medial forebrain bundle. This brain region is involved in the perception and regulation of pleasure and reward and is thus also significant for motivation and the perceived quality of life. Clear Relief Often within Days The doctors evaluated the success of the therapy monthly with the help of the established Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS). The MADRS scores of ten study participants already decreased significantly within the first week and remained at a low level. All study participants reacted to the stimulation in the course of the study. Eight of the 16 patients had a MADRS score of under 10 points at the end of the study and thus were regarded as non-depressive. "Our patients had struggled with severe depression for years with no signs of improvement. Deep brain stimulation brought most of them significant relief within days, which lasted throughout the course of the therapy. Other forms of treatment like medication and psychotherapy often lose their effectiveness over the course of time. Absolutely sensational about the study data is that the effect seems to be long lasting, with the positive effects continuing for years", says Prof. Schläpfer. "We know from a pilot study that the stimulation of this brain region is very promising and we are delighted about the replication of these significant effects," says Prof. Coenen. Hopes for European Approval of the Method On the basis of the results of the just-published study, the Freiburg researchers already began work on their third study (FORESEE-III) in October 2018. It will involve the treatment of 50 severely depressed patients. Fifteen patients have already been operated. "If the follow-up study is as successful as the current one, we have high hopes for receiving European approval of the method," says Prof. Schläpfer.
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