Mental Health

Only 13% adults get good night’s sleep

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It was revealed that more women than men miss work due to sleepless nights.

A new study has suggested that one in five people nod-off at their work desk due to lack of a good night`s sleep.

It was found that lack of proper rest accounts for six million lost working days a year, the Daily Express reported.

The survey by bed firm Silent night found that only 13 per cent of men and women admitted they slept peacefully, while the rest said that the thought of having to get up early, money worries and stress kept them awake.

Nineteen percent of the respondents said that arguing with a loved one ruined their bedtime.

It was revealed that more women than men miss work due to sleepless nights.

About 17 percent catch up on sleep during the morning commute, while seven per cent doze off at their desk and four per cent during meetings.

Copper plays key role in Alzheimer’s disease

A New study showed that copper accumulate in the brain and cause the blood to break down, resulting in the toxic accumulation of the protein

A new study reported that copper is one of the main cause for the onset and enhancement of Alzheimer`s disease.

The study by University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) Department of Neurosurgery showed that copper can accumulate in the brain and cause the blood to break down, resulting in the toxic accumulation of the protein amyloid beta, a by-product of cellular activity.

the research is conducted in both mice and human brain cells by a series of experiments and pinpointed the molecular mechanisms by which copper accelerates the pathology of Alzheimer`s disease.

The research team – “dosed” normal mice with copper over a three month period. The metal is available in drinking water and was one-tenth of the water quality standards for copper established by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The researchers found that the copper made its way into the blood system and accumulated in the vessels that feed blood to the brain, specifically in the cellular “walls” of the capillaries.

They observed that the copper disrupted the function of LRP1 through a process called oxidation which, in turn, inhibited the removal of amyloid beta from the brain. They observed this phenomenon in both mouse and human brain cells.

In mice, the cells that form the blood brain barrier have broken down and become “leaky” – a likely combination of aging and the cumulative effect of toxic assaults – allowing elements such as copper to pass into the brain tissue.

They observed that the copper stimulated activity in neurons that increased the production of amyloid beta. The copper also interacted with amyloid beta in a manner that caused the proteins to bind together in larger complexes creating logjams of the protein that the brain`s waste disposal system cannot clear.

This one-two punch, inhibiting the clearance and stimulating the production of amyloid beta, provides strong evidence that copper is a key player in Alzheimer`s disease. In addition, copper provoked inflammation of brain tissue which may further promote the breakdown of the blood brain barrier and the accumulation of Alzheimer`s-related toxins.

Outpatient treatment for mental disorders: is now working

People, who have severe mental illness, will have a cycle of hospitalization, skipped medication, and re hospitalization. As a result they have psychiatric disorders, refuse treatment and threatening to themselves or others.

Now, a study has found that these patients can be regulated if they are not hospitalized and proven this had positive results. By using this outpatient treatment is progressed well, Cost and Medical aid for caring these patients is dropped by half or more.

This study was run by New York State, known as Kendra’s Law because it was started after Kendra Webdale was pushed to her death on the New York City subway tracks with untreated schizophrenia in 1999. Other states also follow this, but New York’s is most developed and have resources into paying for it.

Researchers at Duke University suggest the program can be helpful for patients who constitute a small number of the people with mental illness

Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum, director of the Division of Law, Ethics and Psychiatry at Columbia University’s medical school, has not been involved in any of the research asks whether this law is working.  He said, “These programs will help a group of patients often called as revolving-door patients.”

North Carolina’s program is also developed; the program says that New York’s experience will persuade other states to invest.

Some call these programs as outpatient commitment or assisted outpatient treatment, who have not been involuntarily committed to hospitals. Others worry that intensively monitoring patients in the community could increase costs or shift services away from other people with mental illness

The Duke study examined costs for 634 people in the year before the court orders, the year after and two years after. Jeffrey Swanson, a psychiatry professor at Duke and lead author of the study, said the results suggested that “if you pour some money into assisted outpatient treatment, if you target it correctly, there are some significant savings.”

A co-author, Dr. Marvin Swartz, head of Duke’s social and community psychiatry division, said a study in 2010 by the team found that patients “were less likely to return to the hospital, if they went to the hospital they had shorter lengths of stay, they were more likely to be adherent to medication, and generally they functioned better in the community.”

 

How lack of sleep can harm mental health?

Sleepless nights could lead to serious mental health problems like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, a new research has claimed.

The study, conducted by Oxford University, has found that circuits in the brain are shared by mechanisms that control sleep and mental health, and therefore if your sleep is disrupted, your mental health could be too, the Daily Express reported.

Professor Russell Foster told the publication that the appalling sleep-wake cycle in schizophrenia is independent of medication and social constraints and is something fundamentally wrong with the body clock of patients with the disease.

The research also identified a genetic mutation that triggers schizophrenia-like symptoms in mice, which also appears to disrupt their body clocks.

According to Foster, young people are at high risk of bipolar because of their abnormal sleep-wake pattern.