Early psychosis may not require antipsychotic medications to recover

Researchers have found that some young people with early stage first episode psychosis (FEP) can experience reduced symptoms and improve functioning without antipsychotic medication when they are provided with psychological interventions and comprehensive case management. The Staged Treatment and Acceptability Guidelines in Early Psychosis (STAGES) study compared two groups of young people, aged 15-25 years, presenting with FEP to a specialist early psychosis service. Both groups received intensive psychosocial intervention, with one group also receiving low dose antipsychotic medication and the other receiving a placebo. The study found that the addition of antipsychotic medication to intensive psychosocial intervention did not lead to superior outcomes in symptoms and functioning within the first six months, suggesting that antipsychotic medication may not be needed early in the course of illness for all people within the spectrum of psychosis. Current practice recommends anti-psychotic medication be taken from the outset of psychotic illness in order to achieve rapid recovery and improvement of psychotic symptoms. Researcher said that for many young people with early stage FEP, medication is an essential part of their treatment plan. But, for those young people who do not want medication, psychological interventions and comprehensive case management could be a feasible model of treatment.

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                       Promising role of antidiabetic drug in cancer control

Researchers have analyzed how an antidiabetic treatment could help control the growth of tumors, potentially paving the way for the design of better cancer treatments. The new study investigated what happens when metformin, a type 2 diabetes medication, is used to treat colorectal cancer cells, in the process demonstrating that it could be exploited to develop new cancer therapies. Previous epidemiology studies show that taking metformin helps protect diabetes patients from developing some forms of cancer including bowel, or colorectal, cancer. Metformin uses small pieces of RNA (called microRNAs) to act as a 'circuit breaker' and turn off certain genes that are involved in cell growth and division, so it is possible that findings could eventually be used to develop a new targeted cancer therapy. Metformin increases the levels of certain microRNAs, like miR-2110 and miR-132-3p, which then target specific genes and slow down the growth and progression of tumors. The research, Restricting Colorectal Cancer Cell Metabolism with Metformin: An Integrated Transcriptomics Study, used advanced techniques to study microRNAs, and the entire set of genes being expressed in the colon cancer cells, to help understand how metformin affects the cells. Metformin increased the levels of certain microRNAs (miR-2110 and miR-132-3p) that target a specific gene (PIK3R3). This process helps to slow down the growth of cancer cells and stop them from multiplying too quickly. Another gene (STMN1) was also targeted by different microRNAs, which led to slower cell growth and a delayed cell cycle. This is important because it shows the potential of metformin as a preventive agent for reducing the growth of cancer in the bowel, and the emergence of RNA therapeutics as a promising new avenue for exploring the clinical efficacy of these findings. Having used metformin to unravel metabolism in cancer cells, the next stage of research is focusing on specific cell pathways, which should lead to animal studies and then human clinical trials.

SOURCE: Science Daily News, June 2024

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                              Poor sleep linked to migraine attacks

A new study has identified a link between poor sleep and migraine attacks that suggests improving sleep health may diminish migraine attacks in people with migraine. Many people with migraine report having sleeping disorders, including insomnia, trouble falling or staying asleep, poor sleep quality, excessive daytime sleepiness, waking up from sleep and being forced to sleep because of a migraine headache. It has been recognized for quite a long time that there is a relationship between sleep and migraine. Research team that used preclinical mouse models to evaluate sleep disruption, as the sleep architecture of mice closely matches that of people, including cycles of deep sleep, REM sleep and light sleep. Sleep was assessed using electroencephalogram recordings and visual observations. Researchers found that when mice were sleep deprived, they were more likely to experience migraine like pain, but migraine like pain did not disrupt normal sleep. Sleep deprivation can happen for many reasons, including stress. For this study, the research team ensured they were studying the effect of sleep, and not stress, on migraine by giving mice novel objects to explore to keep them awake. For people with migraine, limiting the use of electronic devices before bedtime and following other sleep health tips could be an easy way to limit the likelihood of migraine attacks. Early morning is one of the most common times people experience migraine attacks. Migraine is highly female prevalent it's 3 to 1, women to men and almost all the women are of childbearing age. Many people with migraine probably have children & wake up with a migraine attack and are immediately stressed. That migraine attack is happening in the worst time of the day for function. Improved sleep is critically important and probably would diminish the frequency of migraine attacks.

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    Depressive symptoms linked to thinking, memory problems

People who experience prolonged depressive symptoms starting in young adulthood may have worse thinking and memory skills in middle age, according to a new study. The study involved 3,117 people with an average age of 30 at the start of the study. Participants were evaluated for depressive symptoms every five years for 20 years. At each visit, they completed a questionnaire asking if they experienced changes in appetite or sleep, had problems with concentration or experienced feelings of worthlessness, sadness or loneliness. Higher scores represented more symptoms. Researchers divided participants into four groups based on the progression of their symptoms over time: persistently low symptoms, medium decreasing, persistently medium or high increasing symptoms. There was a higher proportion of Black participants, 52%, in the persistently medium group, as well as the high increasing depressive symptoms group with 70%. Five years later, when participants had an average age of 55, they were given three tests to examine thinking and memory skills. For example, on a test that measures processing speed and memory, participants were given a key showing numbers and corresponding symbols. Then had to draw those symbols on a separate list of random numbers as quickly as possible. The score range was zero to 133 with lower scores representing worse cognition. Those in the low symptom group had an average score of 73, in the medium decreasing group, an average score of 71, persistently medium, a score of 66 and high increasing, an average score of 57. After adjusting for factors such as age, physical activity and total cholesterol, among Black participants, those in the high symptom group had an average score that was 0.64 standard deviations below the average score for the low symptom group. Among white participants, those in the high symptom group had an average score that was 0.40 standard deviations below the average score for the low symptom group. Researchers created a standardized score for each of the three cognitive tests. After adjusting for factors such as education, blood pressure and total cholesterol, researchers found among Black participants, those in the three groups with high and medium symptoms had worse verbal memory, processing speed and executive function scores when compared to those in the low group. Researchers found among white participants, those in the high symptom group had worse verbal memory and processing speed scores when compared to those in the low symptom group. A limitation of the study was that symptoms were self-reported and no clinical diagnosis of depression was available.

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