A year's worth of counseling and medication relieved some symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder among a group children, a new study reveals. However, only the children receiving additional biofeedback therapy managed to hold on to these healthy gains after going off the medication. Half of the 100 children in the study received EEG biofeedback therapy, a treatment in which individuals are taught to retrain electrical activity in their brains. The biofeedback group also experienced significant changes in these "brain wave" patterns associated with attention-deficit disorder, researchers said. Most studies suggest that drugs such as Ritalin, the medication used in the study, do a good job of relieving ADHD symptoms. But up to 45 percent of patients diagnosed with certain forms of the disorder do not respond to medication, and some researchers have raised concerns about the long-term use of Ritalin, especially in children. Alternative behavioral therapies like EEG biofeedback are receiving increased attention as a result.

SURVEY REVEALS DANGEROUS TEEN BEHAVIOR DURING HOLIDAYS

The holiday season seems to promote dangerous and risky behaviors among a significant number of depressed adolescents, a new survey shows. The survey, by the New York University Child Study Center, shows depressed teens are more likely to drink alcohol, take non-prescription drugs and have sex compared to their peers who have not experienced bouts of depression. This is particularly true, researchers said, among depressed girls. with nearly four out of ten reporting that they are more likely to drink alcohol during the holidays. In addition they are more likely to engage in other at-risk behaviors such as taking drugs and having sex than girls who are not depressed. The results reveal "an extraordinary crisis of untreated depression and anxiety among American adolescents, particularly adolescent girls," the researchers said. More than 400 teens between the ages of 13 and 19 participated in Internet interviews. The results also reveal many teens experience feelings of depression and sadness that often go untreated. For example, 9 out of 10 adolescents reported they have experienced feelings of depression or sadness; 43 percent of adolescent girls and 28 percent of adolescent boys have experienced periods of depression that last at least two weeks. Yet more than 80 percent of depressed teens never have received treatment for their symptoms.

NEW TREATMENT PROMISING FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA

Combining a common anticonvulsant drug with one of two commonly used antipsychotic drugs can enhance and hasten the responses of patients suffering from schizophrenia. Researchers at the Portland (Ore.) Veterans Affairs Medical Center found that pairing the drug divalproex, which is used to treat convulsions, with either olanzpine or risperidone, "can decrease the mental pain and suffering for many patients with schizophrenia and shorten the time they need to be in the hospital." Compared to patients treated with either antipsychotic drug alone, those treated with the combination showed reduced symptoms as early as the third day of therapy. More than 2 million Americans suffer from schizophrenia. One of the world's most common and potentially devastating of all mental illnesses, its symptoms include delusions, hallucinations and grossly disorganized behavior. Patients often have difficulty recognizing reality, thinking logically and behaving normally in social situations. Although antipsychotic medications can help many patients lead normal lives, the disorder's causes remain incompletely understood and there is no cure.

WANT A NATURAL FOOD PRESERVATIVE? TRY GREEK CHEESE

Researchers have isolated bacteria in Greek cheese that produces a substance that acts as natural preservatives for some foods. The substance, called a lantibiotic, can kill a variety of bacteria responsible for food-borne disease and spoilage without causing harm to humans. The researchers, from Greece and Italy, have identified a bacterium called Streptococcus macedonicus, which is present in Greek Kasseri cheese, that produces the food-grade lantibiotic, macedocin, when grown in milk. "The need for expanded and legal use of (anti-bacterial preservatives) in foods is obvious, especially in light of consumers' demands for safe and minimally processed foods that have adequate shelf life and are convenient and the global need for increasing the supply of healthy and safe foods," the researchers said.

(Editors: For more information on ADHD, contact Vincent Monastra at 607-785-0400 or poppidoc@aol.com. For TEEN DEPRESSION, Jennifer Choi at jennifer.choi@med.nyu.edu. For SCHIZOPHRENIA, Patricia Forsyth at 503-402-2975 or patricia.forsyth@med.va.gov. For MACEDOCIN, Jim Sliwa at 202-942-9297 or jsliwa@asmusa.org)