Mental Health :: High-tech diagnosis yields vital clues into mental illness

Is there a definitive test for mental illness? Not yet, but using advanced neuropsychiatric diagnostic tools including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), mental health professionals at The Menninger Clinic in Houston are pinpointing the causes of behavioral and psychiatric problems in patients.

ADHD :: ADHD appears to be associated with depressed dopamine activity in brain

Adults with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) show a blunted response to the drug methylphenidate (Ritalin), which increases brain dopamine levels, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. This suggests that dopamine dysfunction may be involved with ADHD symptoms and may contribute to substance abuse that often occurs simultaneously.

MRSA :: Pets could be source of multiresistant bacteria infections in humans

The next time you have difficulty fighting a bacterial infection, your next trip to the doctor might be to the family veterinarian. A new University of Missouri-Columbia study is investigating whether the family pet could be a reservoir for infections of multiresistant bacteria in humans.

Botulism :: FDA to ensure removal of certain canned Castleberry products due to botulism risk

The US Food and Drug Administration FDA, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and numerous state agencies, has visited thousands of retail establishments this week to ensure that canned food and pet food products manufactured and distributed by Castleberry’s Food Company that could contain botulism are removed from store shelves and ensure proper disposal of the product.

Brain :: Interactive 3-D map can better guide surgeons through brain during procedure

Jefferson Hospital for Neuroscience is one of first medical centers in the U.S. to develop and begin using translational, interactive 3-D technology to map the human brain and help guide neurological surgeons during epilepsy surgery and procedures to remove malignant brain tumors.