Monday, June 30, 2003

News and Trends Affecting Behavioral Health Care
An overview of several different developments in research from Drug Benefit Trends at Medscape, including items on an NIMH campaign on depression in men, suicide rates, PET scans and Alzheimers, screening for depression and dementia among the elderly and the use of Lamotrigine to treat bipolar disorder. [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Adult ADHD Often Undiagnosed by Primary Care Physicians
PR Newswire story reprinted at the NAMI web site- "Inadequate clinical training, inexperience and the lack of a well-validated screening tool are major barriers prohibiting primary care physicians from diagnosing ADHD in adults, according to a national survey released today by New York University School of Medicine. The survey also revealed that primary care physicians would take a more active role in treating adult ADHD if these issues were addressed."  
  

Mental ailments in children being linked to strep
Boston Globe story on "a growing body of research, though still controversial" which suggests that "one child in every 1,000 suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder linked to strep. ... among children who do have OCD, up to one-half of those cases could be strep-related, said one specialist, Dr. Tanya Murphy of the University of Florida."  
  

Hispanics have more depression than other ethnic groups
Health News (UK) story - "Hispanics are more likely to be diagnosed as having major depression than European Americans and African Americans, according to a US study. Prior research had shown African Americans had higher rates of schizophrenia and lower rates of depression that European Americans. It had been suggested that this findings might also be true for Hispanics. ... To address this issue, Dr Shula Minsky, from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Piscataway, and colleagues investigated whether Hispanics presenting for mental health treatment showed major differences in presenting symptoms, clinical severity and psychiatric diagnosis compared to European and African Americans."