Long-term exposure to air pollution can lead to physical changes in the brain, as well as learning and memory problems and even depression, new research in mice suggests. While other studies have shown the damaging effects of polluted air on the heart and lungs, this is one of the first long-term studies to show the negative impact on the brain, said Laura Fonken, lead author of the study and a doctoral stu ...

In a commentary, Stephen J. Cozza, M.D., from the Uniformed Services University School of Medicine in Bethesda, Md., provides perspective on the scope of U.S. military deployment and the population it touches. For additional background information see, "Length Of Parental Military Deployment Associated With Children’s Mental Health Diagnoses." ...

Children who remain in the home after a substantiated report of abuse may have more or less risk of further abuse depending on certain characteristics of their caregivers, according to a report published Online First today by Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The research was conducted by Suzanne R. Dakil, M.D., and colleagues from the University of Texas Sou ...

Children with a parent who was deployed in the U.S. military efforts Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) for longer periods were more likely than children whose parents did not deploy to receive a diagnosis of a mental health problem, according to a report published Online First today by Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The res ...

Individuals who have eating disorders have an elevated mortality rate, especially those with anorexia nervosa (AN), according to a meta-analysis of previous studies, reported in the July issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. The research was carried out by Jon Arcelus, L.M.S., M.Sc., M.R.C.Psych., Ph.D., from Leicester General Hospital in Leicester, England, and colleag ...

A study in the July 1 issue of the journal SLEEP shows that sleep extension is beneficial to athletic performance, reaction time, vigor, fatigue, and mood in collegiate basketball players. The study is the first to document sleep extension and the athletic performance of actively competing athletes. ...

In 1943, American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed that all humans seek to fulfill a hierarchy of needs, which he represented with a pyramid. The pyramid's base, which he believed must come first, signified basic needs (for food, sleep and sex, for example). Safety and security came next, in Maslow's view, then love and belonging, then esteem and, finally, at the pyramid's peak, a quality he called "sel ...

Marijuana is the most prevalent illicit drug used by teenagers and adults around the world. Nearly a third of high school students in the United States report smoking it, and most high schoolers say they have access to the drug. To many people, smoking pot is no big deal. They cite reasons such as: "it isn't dangerous or addictive" and "everybody is doing it." Denise Walker, co-director of the University of ...

An estimated 18 American military veterans take their own lives every day - thousands each year - and those numbers are steadily increasing. Even after weathering the stresses of military life and the terrors of combat, these soldiers find themselves overwhelmed by the transition back into civilian life. Many have already survived one suicide attempt, but never received the extra help and support they neede ...

We all know people who are able to roll with life's punches, while for others, every misfortune is a jab straight to the gut. Research examining this issue has found that although most people require significant adversity to become depressed — the death of a loved one, say, or getting fired — roughly 30 percent of people with first-time depression and 60 percent of people with a history of depression develo ...