Aripiprazole may be effective for alcohol addiction
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A drug used to treat thesymptoms of psychosis in patients with schizophrenia andbipolar disorder may also be a useful medication forindividuals who are addicted to alcohol, findings published inAlcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research suggest.
Aripiprazole, sold in the U.S. under the trade nameAbilify, is an atypical antipsychotic that increases thesedative effects of alcohol, while decreasing its euphoriceffects, the researchers explain. The activity of aripiprazoleon dopamine receptors in the brain - areas thought to have arole in mood and addiction — suggest the drug would reduce thereinforcing effects of alcohol and thus modulate drinkingbehavior.
Research partnership launches simplified treatment for malaria
GENEVA (AFP) - Malaria patients can soon ditch complicated treatment regimes for one combining two drugs in a single dose, a non profit drug development group and a Brazilian pharmaceutical company said Thursday.
The new treatment will cost 2.50 dollars (1.57 euros) and will be made available throughout Latin America and Southeast Asia over 2008 and 2009, they said.
PTSD, depression afflict 300,000 Iraq, Afghan war vets: study
WASHINGTON (AFP) - About 300,000 US military veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan currently suffer from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or major depression, an independent study released Thursday estimates.
The study by a team at the RAND Corporation also concludes that about 320,000 veterans of those conflicts experienced a “probable” traumatic brain injury (TBI) during deployment, but the long-term impact on mental health is unclear.
Study says 300,000 U.S. troops suffer mental problems
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - About 300,000 U.S. troops returningfrom Iraq and Afghanistan suffer symptoms of post-traumaticstress disorder or depression, but about half receive no care,an independent study said on Thursday.
The study by the RAND Corp. also estimated that another320,000 troops have sustained a possible traumatic brain injuryduring deployment. But researchers could not say how many ofthose cases were serious or required treatment.
Study: Gender, other factors guide preemies’ survival
ATLANTA - Doctors now have a better way of helping parents make an agonizing decision — whether to take heroic steps to save a very premature baby.
The number of weeks in the womb has generally been the chief factor. But a new study shows others are important, too — including whether the infant is a girl and whether the child gets lung-maturing steroids shortly before birth.
Most older suicide victims not on antidepressants
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Just one in five adults, 55years and older, who commit suicide are using antidepressantsat the time of their death, according to a report in theJournal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
The findings also indicate that antidepressant useaccounted for only 10 percent of the drop in suicide rates seenin this study of Danish individuals between 1996 and 2000.