Frontier mental health research: psychedelics & drug studies

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43 papers

Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 Mental Disorders Collaborators
PubMed Central (PMC) Summary & key facts 2021 5,135 citations

This study reviewed surveys and used global models to measure how the COVID-19 pandemic changed rates of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders in 2020. It found that places with higher COVID-19 infection rates and bigger drops in movement had larger increases in these disorders. The authors estimate about 53.2…

COVID-19 and Mental Health Health disparities and outcomes Long-Term Effects of COVID-19

Adoption of Digital Technologies in Health Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review of Early Scientific Literature

Davide Golinelli, Erik Boetto, Gherardo Carullo, Andrea Giovanni Nuzzolese, Maria Paola Landini, Maria Pia Fantini

This review looks at how large disasters, including COVID-19, affect mental health and discusses digital solutions. The authors report higher rates of anxiety, depression and posttraumatic stress after disasters and give survey numbers from the COVID-19 outbreak. They say many countries have limited mental health services that could be stretched…

COVID-19 and healthcare impacts COVID-19 diagnosis using AI COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing

Management of Treatment-Resistant Depression: Challenges and Strategies

Daphne Voineskos, Zafiris J. Daskalakis, Daniel M. Blumberger

This paper is a careful review of research about treatment-resistant depression. The authors looked through medical studies to see how doctors define this kind of depression, what makes it hard to assess, and which treatments have been tried. They describe drug strategies like adding lithium or thyroid hormone, switching antidepressant…

Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies Treatment of Major Depression Tryptophan and brain disorders Ketamine Psilocybin

Psychedelics reopen the social reward learning critical period

Romain Nardou, Edward J. Sawyer, Young Jun Song, M. F. Wilkinson, Yasmin Padovan‐Hernandez, Júnia L. de Deus, et al.
Nature Summary & key facts 2023 303 citations

Researchers gave different psychedelic drugs to mice and found the drugs could reopen a window of brain plasticity used for learning social rewards. This reopened window went along with changes in a social hormone system in a key reward area of the brain and with changes in genes that control…

Chemical synthesis and alkaloids Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior Psychedelics and Drug Studies Psilocybin

ME/CFS and Long COVID share similar symptoms and biological abnormalities: road map to the literature

Anthony L. Komaroff, W. Ian Lipkin
Frontiers in Medicine Summary & key facts 2023 291 citations

This review found that Long COVID and myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) share many symptoms and similar biological changes. People with both conditions often have long-lasting fatigue, thinking problems, sleep disruption, pain, post-exertional worsening, and signs of problems in the brain, autonomic nervous system, heart, lungs, immune system, gut microbiome,…

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Long-Term Effects of COVID-19 Respiratory Support and Mechanisms

Mental Health as a Complete State: How the Salutogenic Perspective Completes the Picture

Keyes, Corey L. M.
SpringerLink Summary & key facts 2014 274 citations

This chapter explains three ways people think about health. It says the best view — the "complete state" — includes both the lack of disease and the presence of positive mental capacities and functioning. The author reviews studies that support using this complete-state view for mental health and suggests that…

Health, psychology, and well-being Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction Resilience and Mental Health

Cingulate dynamics track depression recovery with deep brain stimulation

Sankaraleengam Alagapan, Ki Sueng Choi, Stephen Heisig, Patricio Riva‐Posse, Andrea Crowell, Vineet Tiruvadi, et al.
Nature Summary & key facts 2023 233 citations

Researchers tested deep brain stimulation (DBS) in a small group of people whose depression did not get better with usual treatments. They used an implanted device that both delivered stimulation to the subcallosal cingulate (a brain area linked to mood) and recorded brain electrical signals. Around 9 out of 10…

Functional Brain Connectivity Studies Neurological disorders and treatments Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Studies

Cannabinoids in health and disease

Natalya M. Kogan, Raphael Mechoulam

This webpage explains how DoktorABC offers medical cannabis services in Germany. You fill an online medical questionnaire, a licensed doctor reviews it, and may issue a prescription. The page also describes costs, delivery times, legal status, types of products, common effects of THC and CBD, and possible side effects.

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior

The Health-Related Quality of Life for Patients with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS)

Michael Falk Hvidberg, Louise Brinth, Anne Vingaard Olesen, Karin Dam Petersen, Lars Holger Ehlers
PLoS ONE Summary & key facts 2015 212 citations

This study measured health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Danish patients with ME/CFS using the EQ-5D-3L tool and found their scores were much lower than the general population and lower than 20 other conditions. The average (unadjusted) EQ-5D-3L score for the ME/CFS group was 0.47, while the population average was…

Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Resilience and Mental Health

Symptom‐relieving and neuroprotective effects of the phytocannabinoid Δ9‐THCV in animal models of Parkinson’s disease

Concepción García, Cristina Palomo‐Garo, Moisés Garcı́a-Arencibia, Jaime A. Ramos, Roger G. Pertwee, Javier Fernández‐Ruíz
British Journal of Pharmacology Summary & key facts 2011 205 citations

In rats and mice that had brain lesions used to model Parkinson's disease, the plant compound Δ9-THCV reduced movement problems after a single dose and, with repeated dosing, reduced loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the brain region called the substantia nigra. Some effects seem linked to antioxidant actions and, in…

Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research GABA and Rice Research Neuroscience and Neuropharmacology Research

Rethinking Menopausal Hormone Therapy: For Whom, What, When, and How Long?

Leslie Cho, Andrew M. Kaunitz, Stephanie S. Faubion, Sharonne N. Hayes, Emily S. Lau, Nicole Pristera, et al.
Circulation Summary & key facts 2023 157 citations

Past large trials found that using combined estrogen and progestin was linked to higher heart-related risk, and hormone therapy (HT) use fell a lot afterward. In the last 20 years, research shows that when HT starts (age and time since menopause) and how it is given (route) affect heart disease…

Estrogen and related hormone effects Menopause: Health Impacts and Treatments Phytoestrogen effects and research

The Influence of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Social Anxiety: A Systematic Review

Reuben Kindred, Glen Bates

This systematic review looked at 33 studies about social anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The studies suggest social anxiety increased in the general population. Women and people with low incomes appeared more likely to report higher social anxiety. Other links to higher social anxiety included poor coping, weaker social support,…

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes COVID-19 and Mental Health Perfectionism, Procrastination, Anxiety Studies
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