Life Advice

2003-06-17T20:32:00.000-04:00

1 in 4 young women hit by violence

A quarter of women aged 18 to 23 have experienced some form of domestic violence, suggests one of the largest studies into the health of Australian women.

The nationwide survey of 14,779 young women found that 24 per cent reported they had been or were at present victims of violence.

Almost half of those reporting violence said the perpetrator was an intimate partner.

2003-06-11T19:28:00.000-04:00

Testosterone Gel Could Help Depressed Men With Low Testosterone Levels
American Journal of Psychiatry

01/08/2003
By Elda Hauschildt

Preliminary findings by researchers in the United States suggest testosterone gel could produce antidepressant effects in depressed men with low testosterone levels.

Investigators from McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Belmont, Massachusetts, suggest that such men represent a large and under-recognised population of depressed patients.

Testosterone supplementation has until recently required cumbersome parenteral administration but, in this eight-week randomised, placebo-controlled trial, it was administered through a transdermal gel.

2003-06-10T00:01:00.000-04:00

Epilepsy drug may help combat alcoholism
LONDON (AP) — An epilepsy drug offers significant promise in helping alcoholics quit drinking and appears to be more effective than drugs now in use for the problem, a new study shows.
Half of the 55 alcoholics who took the anti-seizure drug topiramate either quit drinking altogether or cut back their drinking sharply.

Researchers found that those given the medication were six times more likely than those on a dummy pill to abstain from alcohol for a month, according to the report published Friday in The Lancet.

2003-06-09T13:01:00.000-04:00

Aging, depression put some on path to murder-suicide
What's known now about homicide-suicides among older people dispels some myths.

These are not expressions of selflessness or love. Suicide pacts rarely occur. The perpetrator is almost always a man who kills his younger wife or intimate partner with a gun, then very quickly commits suicide. The man appears to make the decision alone and doesn't tell the woman what to expect. She is usually killed in her sleep.

Such cases stem from "desperation and despair and a sense of hopelessness," says Donna Cohen, a professor in the University of South Florida's department of aging and mental health and a national expert on murder-suicides

2003-06-09T12:56:00.000-04:00

Dying to eat right

At 28, the Jackson Township resident has struggled with various eating disorders since she was 8 years old.
She started her battle with anorexia nervosa. Danger signs include losing a significant amount of weight, continuing to diet (although thin), feeling fat even after losing weight, fearing weight gain and exercising compulsively.
"I don't like my body. I just don't like myself," Heather said.
When Heather was in the seventh grade, she had to be switched from Lake-Lehman to the Dallas School District. She could not handle the change and continued to struggle with anorexia. She was in and out of the hospital three times that year, for a month at a time.

2003-06-09T12:48:00.000-04:00

Study indicates maternal care influences mental health
6/8/2003 6:59 PM
By: Associated Press

BRIGHTON, England -- More nurturing mothers could lead to fewer stressed-out adults, or so suggests new studies on rats.

Scientists said they found that baby rats who were licked by their mothers a lot were less anxious and fearful as adults.

They also produced lower levels of stress hormones than those who were groomed less.

The researchers found that the mothers' licking caused the baby's brain to crank up a gene involved in soothing the body in stressful situations.

2003-06-05T22:10:00.000-04:00

Finding Anorexia in the GenesThe researchers examined the sequences of these genes in the patients, patients' family members who also had eating disorders and a control group of family members who did not have eating disorders, looking for small differences between the genes in each group. The researchers looked at 192 patients who had at least one other member of their family who also had an eating disorder.

Differences in two out of the three genes among the groups indicated a significant familial link to anorexia.

"The important thing about anorexia nervosa is that it is highly unlikely that we are going to find one gene that causes anorexia nervosa (i.e. the anorexia gene)," Bulik said.

2003-06-04T20:00:00.000-04:00

Antidepressant prescribing associated with reduced suicide rates
They found an increased suicide rate in younger adults, particularly young men. This was, however, offset by a marked decrease in the suicide rate among older men and women, the age group in which antidepressant use was highest. This association between high antidepressant prescribing and fewer suicides was strong and statistically significant.

The researchers argue that the results did not suggest that changes in alcohol consumption, employment and quality of life accounted for the decline in suicide

2003-06-04T19:45:00.000-04:00

Study Suggests Teen Sex Linked To Depression, Suicide TriesA controversial new study links teen sexual intercourse with depression and suicide attempts.

The findings are particularly true for young girls, says the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank that sponsored the research. About 25% of sexually active girls say they are depressed all, most or a lot of the time; 8% of girls who are not sexually active say they feel the same.

The study comes amid a flurry of new reports on the sexual activity of teenagers. Such research is fodder for the growing debate on sex education in schools. The Bush administration supports abstinence programs.