Australia makes mental health breakthrough

Scientists from the Mental Health Research Institute in Melbourne have linked a form of schizophrenia to a lack of a certain protein in the lining of the brain, this article reports. Until now, the only way to diagnose schizophrenia was through major symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, social withdrawal and deterioration in self-care.

“Now we can study a form of schizophrenia in isolation, it makes it much easier to see what is changed in the brains of subjects,” Professor Dean – the head of the 10 member research group - said. “This significant step forward is helping us unravel the potential causes so that we are able to develop better treatments.”

“With that level of diagnosis, it is quite likely there are a number of different diseases that come under the order of one disorder.”

The next phase of the research will involve working with a professor of neuropsychiatry at the University of Melbourne, Christos Pantelis, and his team using neuro-imaging to identify living people with this form of schizophrenia. Professor Dean acknowledged that they have a huge task ahead of them, but holds high hopes he and his team will find a marker to diagnose schizophrenia in the next two years.

Teen pregnancy has positives

The Illawarra Mercury has reported that disadvantaged teenage girls who fall pregnant often get their lives back on track as opposed to those who don’t. This includes quitting smoking, going back to school and getting a job. Professor Julie Quinlavan said it was a social misconception that teens make bad mothers.

“The economic data shows that they have a greater long-term outcome than their sister who doesn’t become a teen mum,” she said.

“From a societal or evolutionary point of view they might be doing the best thing for themselves.

“I know that’s controversial but that’s what the data tells us,” Prof Quinlivan said.

Quinlivan believes “a nationwode three- tiered model to support teen mums would increase positive outcomes.” This model includes a teen-specific antenatal clinic, home visits by a nurse until the child is the age of two and peri-preschool learning for the child.

Implementing the structures was an investment not only in human infrastructure, but also in jobs, Prof Quinlivan said.

“We talk about opportunity in times of recession, well this is an opportunity that will create employment while it’s being built and in future will create more employable young people,” she said.

Pregnancy plus pilates equals a smarter baby

Women who exercise while pregnant will produce children with higher IQ’s reports this article posted in The Australian.

Richard Nisbett, a psychologist and father of two, argues against the popular theory that ‘intelligence is 80 per cent inherited’ in his new book, Intelligence and How to Get It. It seems that mothers are the pivotal factor in their child’s brain development and “fathers, whether absent or doting, have relatively little influence over their offspring’s intelligence.”

“Children whose mother exercised 30 minutes a day score around eight points higher on standard IQ tests than children whose mothers were more sedentary,” he said. “Breastfeeding for up to nine months may increase IQ by as much as six points.”

Previous generations of mothers were encouraged to avoid doing much exercise after the first three months of pregnancy. The latest research suggests that using light weights, stretching and even running can be beneficial to some.

“Exercising large muscle groups increases the growth of neurons and adds to the blood supply of the brain,” he writes.

As Sydney mother-to-be Geaorgia Troy points out, “exercise is good for everything”. One could say that excercising in adulthood can increase a persons IQ aswell. Either way, Nisbett’s arguement for mothers to breasfeed and exercise should not to scorned at, and whether his argument is sufficiently backed up or not would most definitely benefit mother and baby both.

Fincancial crisis increases mental health crisis

A transcript from radio program The Word Today on Monday May 4 has highlighted the rise of people seeking help for mental health problems as a result of the current economic climate. The Mental Health Care Council of Australia says spending on the Medicare rebate for mental health consultations has increased by 40%, meaning it has already exceeded its annual budget.

JENNIFER MACEY: Every month, psychologist Dr Leigh Hodder flies to Biloela and Emerald in regional Queensland to see patients suffering from depression and anxiety.

In the past few months she’s seen a big jump in the number of referrals from local GPs and Dr Hodder is blaming the global financial crisis that’s already led to thousands of job losses in some mining communities.

LEIGH HODDER: Particularly in the rural and remote areas because I deal with a lot of mining communities and as we know, they have shed at least 5,000 jobs up here in Queensland. You know with the farmers, when I first started seeing them it was primarily to do with the drought etc but now there is just so much financial pressure on everybody in those rural and remote areas.

I also see people in the city and their concerns are pretty much the same – redundancies, cutbacks, how are we going to pay for the groceries, how are we going to buy the kids their shoes and their books and all this sort of stuff.

So it is really hitting people quite hard.

The Mental Health Council of Australia’s CEO David Crosbie says the government has uinderestimated the costs of providing mental health through medicare.

DAVID CROSBIE: For the current financial year, the budget in the original estimate was about $108-million. What we expect the actual to be is well over $300-million – so three times as high as that and if it continues to grow the way it is, we would expect that expenditure, you know, within a couple of years will be over half a billion dollars on these three measures alone.

With the severe conditions that are in affect today it seems the Australian Government has not stepped up to meet the changing needs of the public. Jeff Cheverton, the CEO of Queensland Alliance which represents the mental health community sector in Queensland pointed out that Australia has very little health promotion compared to New Zealand and the UK. People are not being taught how to maintain their own mental health, something that may be a major detriment to Australian society in the future.

Youtube helps couple give birth

An article published in the New York Times tells of a husband in London who delivered his baby with the help of youtube videos. Marc and Jo Stephens knew that as a result of Ms Stephens prior speedy births, they would never make it to the hospital in time to deliver their fourth child.

“I watched a couple of clips on YouTube,” Mr. Stephens said.

He did not elaborate on what exactly he had discovered or which clips he had seen. But among the videos that appear when those words are entered are one in which a preternaturally calm woman who says she is a “certified professional midwife” uses a doll and a fake vagina to demonstrate how to deliver a baby in a taxi, including the part where you are meant to “place the baby on the mom,” the mom in this case being a limbless plastic torso.

An ambulance arrived after the birth of the couples son Gabriel to take them to hospital. Even though this bizarre circumstance brings forth questions on how much technology impacts our lives, no one can deny that it had a positive effect in this situation as the couple returned home from hospital several hours later.

Designer babies – our foe or future?

The topic of ’designer’ babies brings forward a myriad of thoughts and debates. How will this impact the future of mankind? Is it immoral or just an inevitable outcome following “test tube” babies, donor eggs, sperm sorting and embryo selection? This article, posted on healthnews.com asks what is “acceptable” science and medicine and who get to decide? 

Health headlines have grabbed hold of the ‘designer baby debate’ again after the Los Angeles Fertility Institute announced plans to allow an $18 000 opportunity to choose their babies gender, eye, hair, skin colour and otehr physical traits. The service will only be available to couples seeking in-vitro fertilisation. Five or six requests have already been made and the first “designer” baby is expected to be born next year.

Despite the firstly immoral impression of the service, the article introduces other sides of the issue which are also important to consider.

A recent survey of 999 people who sought genetic counseling conducted by researchers at the New York University of Medicine suggests the majority of people support the notion of building a better baby when it comes to eliminating serious disease. The survey found that 56 percent supported using prenatal genetic tests to counter blindness and 75 percent for mental retardation.

Yet the dangerous side of the coin is also brought to light by the rest of the percentages.

About 10 percent of respondents said they would want genetic testing for athletic ability, another 10 percent voted for improved height, and nearly 13 percent backed the approach to select for superior intelligence. 

The clinics director, Jeff Steinberg, states that he wants to provide everything science gives him to his patients. Other doctors and fertility experts beg to differ however.

Dr Gillian Lockwood, a UK fertiity expert and member of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ ethics commitee, told the BBC that she questions whether it is morally right to use science this way. “If it gets to the point where we can decide which gene or combination of genes are responsible for blue eyes or blonde hair, what are you going to do with all those embryos that turn out like me to be ginger with green eyes,” she said. Lockwood said Steinberg’s clinics could lead to “turning babies into commodities that you buy off the shelf”.

Immoral or not, this article suggests that ’designer babies’ will become apart of our futures – if we like it or not.

Foundation helping alarmingly high suicide rate in US

America’s suicide rate is at an all time high with more than 30 000 citizens commiting suicide every year. An article published on healthnews.com is giving kudos to small, non profit organisation Give to Life Foundation for their efforts against the war on suicide. The suicide statistics in the States are sad and confronting, equaling to 83 people taking their lives per day and one every 17 minutes.

Mental health service cuts have been threatened across the country in a time where is seems the people of America need it the most. The Give to Live Foundation is the brainchild of Francesco Bellefante, who once attempted suicide.

The Give to Live Foundation is committed to increasing awareness about this growing epidemic and to helping suicidal people find ways to stay alive, city by city in America.  The organization has started in Southern California, posting two large billboards in Los Angeles. The billboards, located on Hollywood Boulevard between Highland and Las Palmas Avenues in Hollywood, California, mark the beginning of a national public awareness campaign.  Bellafante will spread his message nationwide via a public speaking tour and through three initial projects: “Stand Up,” a series of 30-second public service announcements, “i am,” a feature-length documentary, and “Committed,” a feature length dramatic biopic.  “The mission is to entertain people, while inspiring them to think in new ways to catalyze social change,” said Bellafante.

The foundation hopes to decrease the suicide rate by 50% in the United States by January 20, 2017. Through public service announcements, feature films, outdoor advertising and targeted online marketing campaigns, heres hoping the Give to Live Foundation succeeds.

Is Australia scared of home delivery?

An article published in The Weekend Australian on 28 March has highlighted a decrease in recent years in the amount of babies being home delivered. As homebirth babies have a two to three-fold risk if death, the issue is controversial and many people shy away from the topic. Recent mother, Natalie Hemingway gave birth to her 10 month old son at home. For her, it seemed the obvious choice.

 

“That’s what I saw when I was growing up, so birthing at home was normal to me,” says Hemingway, 27, who lives on Sydney’s lower north shore.

Homebirth in developed countries was the norm up until the past 50 years or so. In Australia today, homebirth can seem a radical choice, and the women who chose it anything from brave and alternative to misguided andloopy.

The recent federal government review of maternity services has done little to help bring the practice into the mainstream. It has inflamed an already heated debate over homebirths by stating it does not support Medicare funding of independent midwives attending homebirths. Described in the review as a controversial and sensitive issue that polarises the professions, it seems that homebirths are just too hot for Australia to handle, at least for now.

It seems both advocates and opponents of homebirth now have evidence to support their claims. A study of 5000 women planning homebirth in the US in 2000 provides gives the best available evidence surrounding the homeborth dilemma.

The results, published in the BMJ in 2005, showed that the rate of babies dying during labour or within 28 days of birth (intra-partum and neonatal mortality rate) was 1.7 deaths for every 1000 uncomplicated intended homebirths. The study (2005;330:1416-1419) said this was similar to risks in other studies of uncomplicated home and hospital births in North America.

The highly regarded Cochrane database, which assesses the highest quality evidence available, concludes that “there is no strong evidence to favour either home or hospital birth for selected, low-risk pregnant women”. Australian research, however, is scant and debates rage over what little research there is. In Holland, homebirth is an accepted government policy and the midwives who conduct homebirths are considered part of the medical profession. Maybe Australians greater conservative influences then that of our European counterparts. Either way, it seems homebirth, like many controversial issues, will always gather differenences in opinion.

According to Natalie Hemingway, “The biggest thing was being able to choose. Homebirth is just another choice that should be available to all women is that’s what they want.”

US calling for mental health funding

It seems all over the world the public is calling for greater mental health funding. This was highlighted in America this past week when non profit groups called on the US government to improve the mental health of the nations youth. The article, published on medicinenet.com shed the spotlight on the need for prevention rather then cure. An estimated $247 billion is already being spent each year in the US on such issues like mental health. However, according to a report done by The National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine it is questionable whether the government is getting to the heart – or mind – of the problem.

Their report calls for a federally devised 10-year plan and better coordination and funding of existing U.S. agencies to promote and deal with children’s mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, conduct disorder and substance abuse. A public discussion of the report was set for March 25 in Washington, D.C.

“There is a substantial gap between what is known about preventing mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and what is actually being done,” Kenneth E. Warner, dean of the University of Michigan School of Public Health and chairman of the committee that wrote the report, said in a news release from its sponsors. “It is no longer accurate to argue that these disorders can never be prevented. Many can. The nation is well-positioned to equip young people with the skills and habits needed to live healthy, happy, and productive lives in caring relationships. But we need to develop the systems to deliver effective prevention programs to a far wider group of children and adolescents.”

Up to 20% of young people in United States experience a mental health issue each year, the report estimates. And symptoms that start in childhood occur in half of the adults who have mental, emotional and behavioral disorders, it notes.

The article displays US programs that these non profit organisations say are worth duplicating:

• Clarke Cognitive-Behavioral Prevention Intervention, which teaches at-risk adolescents how to handle stress and helps prevent major depression.
• Good Behavior Game, a school-based program that offers elementary school students rewards, such as extra free time, for appropriate behavior. Studies involving first-graders showed that it greatly reduced incidents of bad behavior and, in subsequent years, reduced incidents of alcohol and drug abuse and lowered rates of suicidal thoughts and attempts.
• Positive Parenting Program, which gives parents instruction in methods to deal with aggressive behavior or uncooperativeness in their children. Improvements in a child’s behavior were apparent even a year after the training ended, the report said.

Mental health funding is vital throughout the world, this article stating the very important fact that there is no cure without prevention. The importance of mental health awarenesss has been highlighted in my earlier post regarding international Brain Awareness Week.

Australian Babies – Big Not Always Best

The popular preconceived notion of ‘a big baby is a healthy baby’ has been misproven in this article published by The Australian. The article focuses on a study conducted in the 16 years leading upto 2005 by Dr Ruth Hadfield. It seems the highly publisised ‘obesity epidemic’ is now hitting the womb with an increase in weight of babies born in NSW – but why and how is this happening.

Reasons tipped by the article include a decline in smoking since 1990 and a rising number mothers with gestational diabetes, both resulting in heavier babies. The study, published in the Medical Journal of Austrlia, highlights the risk for the infant if born overweight.

“For example, there is evidence of a relationship between high birth weight and the increased future risk of asthma, type one diabetes and a number of cancers, including infant and childhood leukaemia, and breast, prostate and colon cancer,” said Dr Hadfield, who is postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Sydney at Royal North Shore Hospital.

“As well as the potential for lifelong health consequences, higher birth weights may also result in injury to the infant and the mother at the time of delivery.”   

However, the article does not comment on the seriousness of a baby being born underweight. In the long term, is it healthier for a baby to be born a little over or under the scales? Despite the reasoning behind Hadfield and her research team, she herself states that”a large portion of the increase remains unnamed by our data.” It leaves us to ponder – and maybe reflect – on the lifestyle change our society has taken. Are our fast paced lives just being matched by fast food joints? Concepts such as lifestyle changes including technology, diet and gender issues are not mentioned in the article, leaving a gap in the reasoning behind it. In my opinion, it seems quite probable that babies are gettting bigger along with the rest of us.