The research advances incrementally, but clinical use is still years away.

The brain changes that lead to Alzheimer's disease probably begin years, and possibly even more than a decade, before symptoms such as memory impairment appear. For this reason, Alzheimer's researchers have long hoped to find biomarkers — early biological signs of disease pathology — that could help identify people at risk before symptoms develop.

Heart disease provides one example of how biomarkers can be useful. Elevated levels of unhealthy LDL cholesterol or total cholesterol, detected with a simple blood test, are biomarkers that indicate someone may be at ...

Various types of couples therapy offer different approaches and coping strategies.

Traditional wedding vows include a promise to stay together in sickness and in health. But cancer, heart disease, major depression, substance abuse, and other types of serious medical illnesses can create stress in a marriage or in any type of committed relationship. Illness affects not only the person who receives the diagnosis, but his or her partner as well.

For example, a woman receiving treatment for breast cancer may be physically uncomfortable, constantly tired, and worried about her sexuality and body image. Likewise, a man undergoing treatment for ...

Pilot studies of ketamine intrigue scientists, but risks of this anesthetic limit its clinical use.

Two small government-funded randomized controlled trials — one conducted in patients with treatment-resistant major depression and the other in those with treatment-resistant bipolar depression — have found that a single infusion of the anesthetic ketamine rapidly and significantly restored mood, energy, and interests. Although intriguing, at this point the results are more useful to researchers than to clinicians. Even at low doses, ketamine has significant side effects. Abused at higher doses, the drug is known on the streets as "Special K."

Ultimately, the ketamine ...

People from 19 different countries who suffer from serious mental illnesses earn significantly less than other workers.

The phenomenon experienced by people with depression of seeing things as flat, dull, or gray may have a biological explanation. Read More »

Q. What is the blood-brain barrier? I've heard that it may have something to do with psychiatric disorders. Is that true?

A. The blood-brain barrier is an inborn biological structure that protects the brain from potentially harmful substances circulating in the bloodstream. Although the word "barrier" may conjure up an image of a concrete highway divider or a brick wall, this barrier is not actually impermeable. Consisting of a tightly packed cell wall that is semipermeable, it is more of a border than a barrier, one that allows some substances to pass into the brain while blocking others.

This boundary ...