Scientists Identify Genes Linked to Migraines

SUNDAY, June 12 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have identified three genes linked to migraine headache and found that people who inherit any one of these genes have a 10 to 15 percent greater risk for the condition.

Migraine headache -- an abnormality in the response of nerve cells to stimuli -- is characterized by recurring severe headaches, which often result in nausea as well as sensitivity to light and sound.

In examining genetic data from more than 23,000 women, including over 5,000 migraine sufferers, the researchers found an association between the headaches and variations in three genes: TRPM8 (which plays a role in sensitivity to cold and pain), LRP1 (a gene involved in the transmission of signals between neurons) and PRDM16.

"While migraine remains incompletely understood and its underlying causes difficult to pin down, identifying these three genetic variants helps shed light on the biological roots for this common and debilitating condition," the study's lead author, Dr. Daniel Chasman, assistant professor in the preventive medicine division at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, said in a hospital news release.

One migraine expert called the findings "very exciting."

"The thinking for a long time was that migraine is most commonly a multi-genetic condition with potentially many genetic variations that contribute," noted Dr. Audrey Halpern, clinical assistant professor in the department of neurology at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City. "We clearly understand now that migraine is a condition characterized by disordered sensory processing."

Although the study authors said the findings are encouraging, they noted that more research is needed to better understand exactly how each of these three genes is associated with migraine.

Halpern agreed that much more study lies ahead to unravel the genetics of migraine.

"This current research will help us more fully understand what happens during migraine, but there is also much more to learn," she said. "We've always known it's a genetic condition -- but the last 10 years we've learned it's a neurological condition. This study brings those two ideas together."

The report is published in the June 12 online edition of the journal Nature Genetics.

More information

The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about migraines.

SOURCES: Audrey Halpern, M.D., clinical assistant professor, department of neurology, NYU Langone Medical Center, New York City; Brigham and Women's Hospital, news release, June 12, 2011Copyright

Mental Illness Linked to Greater Risk of Death After Heart Attack

FRIDAY, JUNE 3 (HealthDay News) -- People with mental illness are more likely to die following a heart attack or serious cardiac event, a new study finds.

One explanation for this increased risk is that people with mental illness are 14 percent less likely to receive lifesaving treatments for their heart condition, researchers found.

Those treatments included coronary artery bypass graft (bypass surgery) and angioplasty (a procedure to open blocked arteries using a stent), both of which have been shown to improve outcomes for heart patients, researchers said.

The study, published June 1 in the British Journal of Psychiatry, examined 22 published studies that compared the level of care given to those with and without serious mental disorders.

"In 10 studies that specifically addressed care for people with schizophrenia, those with the disease received only half the interventions offered to those without schizophrenia," lead researcher Alex J. Mitchell, of the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said in a news release from the university.

Six studies involving more than 800,000 people found that the risk of death was 11 percent higher in the year after a cardiac event in people with a history of serious mental illness than those without.

"People with known mental health conditions have higher background rates of cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, inactivity and obesity. We already know that this is reflected in a higher rate of heart disease, but what we demonstrate here is that mortality is greater even after patients come under health care," Mitchell said. "We don't yet know the reason for these poorer outcomes but it is worrying that we also find such patients may receive less frequent lifesaving interventions."

The study authors concluded more research is needed to determine whether patients with severe mental illness are declining treatment or whether physicians are not offering the same level of care to the mentally ill that they offer to their patients without mental disorders.

More information

The U.S. National Institute of Mental Health offers statistics on the prevalence, treatment and costs of mental illness.

SOURCE: University of Leicester, news release, June 1, 2011Copyright

Violent Video Games Linked to Increased Aggression

TUESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- Violent video games trigger aggression among those who play them, according to a new University of Missouri study.

Such players showed more hostility because their brains had become less responsive, or desensitized, to violence -- a response that the researchers linked to increased aggression.

"From a psychological perspective, video games are excellent teaching tools because they reward players for engaging in certain types of behavior. Unfortunately, in many popular video games, the behavior is violence," study co-author Bruce Bartholow, an associate professor of psychology at UM College of Arts and Sciences, said in a university news release.

Although other studies have linked gamers' desensitization to violence with increased aggression, the study is the first to demonstrate cause-and-effect, the researchers said.

The study is published in the current issue of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

In the study, researchers instructed 70 young adults to play either a nonviolent or a violent video game for 25 minutes. Afterwards, their brain responses were measured as they viewed two groups of photos -- one neutral (such as a man riding a bike), the other violent (such as a man sticking a gun in another man's mouth).

The study found that participants assigned to play a violent video game had a reduced response to the violent photos -- an indication their brains had become desensitized to the violence.

Researchers pointed out, however, that participants who had experience with the violent video games prior to the study showed small brain responses to the violent photos, regardless of which type of game they were assigned to play.

"It could be that those individuals are already so desensitized to violence from habitually playing violent video games that an additional exposure in the lab has very little effect on their brain responses," said Bartholow, adding that there were additional factors to consider.

Researchers also discovered that a reduced brain response to violence predicted the gamers' levels of aggression: The weaker the brain response to violent photos, the more aggressive the participants were.

In this portion of the study, players were assigned a competitive task that allowed them to use a controllable blast of noise against their opponent. How loud the players made the noise for their rival was the measure researchers used to determine how aggressive they were.

The study found those who played one of several popular violent games, such as "Call of Duty," "Hitman," "Killzone" and "Grand Theft Auto," set louder noise blasts for their opponents during the competitive task than those who played nonviolent games.

The researchers concluded that future research should also focus on ways to control the effects of media violence, especially among children whose developing brains could become accustomed to violent behavior.

More information

The American Psychological Association provides more information on the adverse effects of violent video games.

SOURCE: University of Missouri, news release, May 25, 2011.Copyright

Psychotherapy Linked to Healthier Stress Hormone Levels

TUESDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- As a component of depression treatment, psychotherapy not only reduces anxiety, but also improves patients' stress hormone levels, new research shows.

The study, published in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, found that when pharmacotherapy is combined with psychotherapy in treating depressed patients, there is an improvement in their levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Researchers examined 63 people diagnosed with major depressive disorder. Participants were divided into two groups: 29 received combined therapy, which included psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy, and 34 had monotherapy, which included only pharmacotherapy. The patients' depressive symptoms were tested at regular daily intervals over the course of eight months.

The study found that although decreases in symptoms were similar between both groups, by the eighth month, reductions in anxiety were greater among those in the combined therapy than in the patients who underwent monotherapy. Moreover, a steeper daytime cortisol pattern was more likely among those who had the combined therapy, compared to those who were treated with drugs alone.

Researchers concluded that the improved outcomes of the combined therapy group suggests the addition of psychotherapy helped reduce anxiety and produced long-term positive effects on stress hormone levels.

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more information on cortisol.

SOURCE: Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, news release, May 25, 2011Copyright

Sleep Disorder Linked to Heart Rhythm Problems

FRIDAY, May 20 (HealthDay News) -- People with an implantable cardiac defibrillator and a breathing disorder that occurs during sleep are at greater risk for potentially deadly heart problems during the night, new research suggests.

An implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) is a device that monitors heart rhythm and corrects an abnormal heartbeat with an electrical shock. The new study revealed a significant increase in cases of ventricular tachycardia (a dangerous rapid heartbeat) and ventricular fibrillation (a severely abnormal heart rhythm) among patients with ICDs who also were diagnosed with sleep-disordered breathing.

In the study, published in the May issue of the journal HeartRhythm, researchers in Israel analyzed 45 patients with ICDs in an overnight sleep study and followed them over the course of one year.

Twenty-six of the study participants (57.8 percent) had sleep-disordered breathing, and these patients were more likely to receive what the researchers call "appropriate ICD therapy" -- a shock to correct the heart rhythm.

The risk for ventricular arrhythmias was higher between midnight and 6 a.m. among patients with sleep-disordered breathing, the results showed. The researchers concluded that patients with an ICD who experience nighttime arrhythmias should undergo screening for sleep-disordered breathing.

"Currently, there is limited data available with regard to the predictors of fatal arrhythmias in patients with an ICD," study author Dr. Tawfig Zeidan-Shwiri, of Ramban Medical Center in Haifa, Israel, said in a news release from the Heart Rhythm Society.

"Our study sought to find specific clinical data to help improve the safety and quality of life of patients living with an ICD, and the results indicate that the presence of sleep-disordered breathing should be considered in all patients with appropriate ICD therapy," Zeidan-Shwiri added. "However, more studies are needed to assess whether treatment of sleep-disordered breathing reduces the risk of appropriate ICD therapy."

More information

The U.S. National Institutes of Health has more information on sleep-disordered breathing.

SOURCE: Heart Rhythm Society, news release, May 18, 2011Copyright