A layperson-delivered telephone intervention can reduce loneliness, depression, and anxiety among at-risk adults, according to a study published online Feb. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. Maninder K. Kahlon, Ph.D., from the University of Texas at Austin, and colleagues examined whether a layperson-delivered, empathy-focused program of telephone calls could improve loneliness, depression, and anxiety in at-risk adults. […]
Lifestyle
Research team unlocks strategies driving neuron connections
Using high-resolution imaging and 3-D computer modeling, a University of Oregon research team has found that the branching arms of neurons weave through space in a way that balances their need to connect to other neurons with the costs of doing so. The discovery about how these dendrites behave came as Richard Taylor’s team sought […]
Potential drug for Alzheimer’s disease prevention found safe and effective in animals
Researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and Massachusetts General Hospital have identified a new drug that could prevent Alzheimer’s disease by modulating, rather than inhibiting, a key enzyme involved in forming amyloid plaques in the brain. The study, which will be published March 2 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine […]
Telemedicine for stroke improves patient outcomes, saves lives
Patients who go to the hospital with symptoms suggestive of a stroke need rapid expert assessment and treatment to halt brain damage, which could mean the difference between life and death. Yet many hospitals do not have round-the-clock stroke care teams. To make up for this deficiency, many U.S. hospitals offer telemedicine consults with stroke […]
Citizen scientists show placebo effect may explain benefits of microdosing
The psychological benefits linked with taking regular, small doses of psychedelic drugs are likely the result of users’ expectations, a study suggests The findings come from the largest placebo-controlled trial on psychedelics to date in which more than 190 members of the public, who were already microdosing with LSD, implemented their own placebo-control measures at […]
New survey finds stress-related dental conditions continue to increase
More than 70 percent of dentists surveyed by the American Dental Association (ADA) Health Policy Institute are seeing an increase of patients experiencing teeth grinding and clenching, conditions often associated with stress. This is an increase from ADA data released in the fall that showed just under 60 percent of dentists had seen an increase […]
Many Blacks, Hispanics believe they’ll get worse care if dementia strikes
Black and Hispanic Americans already face higher risks for dementia than the general population. Many also believe they’d get worse dementia care compared to white patients, according to a new Alzheimer’s Association special report. Older Black Americans are about twice as likely to have Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia as older white people, and […]