Going off to college is a major life event for a teenager. For many it is the first time away from home for an extended period of time. In a way, going to college and living on campus is like a first step toward living without your parents and toward becoming an adult in the…
Autism is a developmental disorder diagnosed in more than 1 percent of children in the U.S. The disorder is considered a spectrum, which means that affected children experience symptoms in varying degrees of severity. The general symptoms of autism include impaired social skills, difficulty with language and behavioral problems. Kids with high-functioning autism can get…
Oxytocin is the name of a natural substance, classified as a hormone, which forms in the brain and circulates throughout the bloodstream. During childbirth, doctors can use oxytocin injections to induce labor, quicken labor or decrease the risk for bleeding immediately following labor. Scientific evidence indicates that this hormone also plays a vital role in…
Exposure therapy for those with obsessive-compulsive disorder combined with antidepressants is more effective in reducing symptoms than medication alone, according to a new study by New York’s Columbia University. Current guidelines favor augmentation of antidepressants with antipsychotics for those who suffer from OCD.
A new study published in the July 2013 issue of the Journal of Psychiatric Practice shows that a very high percentage of psychiatric inpatients suffers from vitamin D deficiency. The study, led by Melanie Ryland, MD, and Steven Verhulst, PhD, found that 75 percent of the patients in an Illinois community hospital’s psychiatric ward had…
You may have seen the signs. Your child, once obsessed with Little League, SpongeBob and skateboarding, now seems to be squirreled away in his bedroom for hours at a time. He has developed a jailhouse pallor. On the rare occasions you see him, it’s just long enough for him to raid the fridge before scurrying…
Adult ADHD is the general term for cases of the childhood condition attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder that continue to produce significant symptoms in adulthood. Modern studies indicate that 30 percent to 60 percent of children with ADHD also experience the adult form of the disorder. According to the results of a new study published in July…
Almost 50 percent of U.S. women capable of bearing children weigh enough to meet the standard definitions for being overweight or obese. Without doubt, one the main contributors to excess weight in these women (and all other people) is consumption of a diet high in sugar and fat. In a study presented in August 2013…
It was 81 minutes past noon when University of Iowa police say student Samantha Lynn Goudie blew a blood-alcohol level of .341. The season-opener between the Hawkeyes and Northern Illinois was more than an hour from kick-off when news stories say she tried to jump onto the field and officers reported arresting her for public intoxication.
Sadie was like most 10 year old girls—she liked swimming and soccer, horses and rainbows, and catching fireflies in the summertime. As a fourth-grade student, she was especially concerned about spelling bees and cared very much about keeping her straight-A record. She’d gotten a C once on a social studies test and her parents would…