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Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is a medical specialty dealing with the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation of mental illness. Its primary goal is the relief of mental suffering associated with disorder and improvement of mental well-being. This may be based in hospitals or in the community and patients may be voluntary or involuntary. Psychiatry adopts a medical approach but may take in to account biological, psychological, and social/cultural perspectives. Treatment by medication or, less often, various forms of psychotherapy may be undertaken. Psychiatrists are medical doctors and are certified in treating mental illness using the biomedical approach to mental disorders including the use of medications. Psychiatrists may also go through significant training to conduct psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, and/or cognitive behavioral therapy, but it is their medical training that differentiates them from clinical psychologists and other psychotherapists.

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Health & Medicine News

February 8, 2026

Researchers have found a surprising way to turn sunflower oil waste into a powerful bread upgrade. By replacing part of wheat flour with partially defatted sunflower seed flour, breads became dramatically richer in protein, fiber, and ...
Scientists have uncovered promising clues that compounds found in Aloe vera could play a role in fighting Alzheimer’s disease. Using advanced computer modeling, researchers discovered that beta-sitosterol—a natural plant compound—strongly ...
Scientists have identified a promising new compound, Mic-628, that can reliably shift the body’s internal clock forward—something that’s notoriously hard to do. By targeting a key clock-control protein, Mic-628 jump-starts the gene that sets ...
What a mother eats during pregnancy may quietly shape her child’s liver health years down the road—but new research suggests there may be a way to tip the odds back in a healthier direction. Scientists found that a natural compound made by ...
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New simulations reveal that both H1N1 and COVID-19 spread across U.S. cities in a matter of weeks, often before officials realized what was happening. Major travel hubs helped drive rapid nationwide transmission, with air travel playing a bigger ...
A major study suggests menopause is linked to changes in brain structure, mental health, and sleep. Brain scans revealed grey matter loss in areas tied to memory and emotional regulation, while many women reported increased anxiety, depression, and ...
For decades, Americans were surrounded by lead from car exhaust, factories, paint, and even drinking water, often without realizing the damage it caused. By analyzing hair samples preserved across generations, scientists uncovered a striking record ...
New research suggests that Epstein-Barr virus may actively provoke the immune system in people with multiple sclerosis. Scientists found large buildups of virus-targeting immune cells in the nervous ...
Researchers have discovered a previously unknown enzyme that plays a crucial role in fat production. By blocking it, they stopped weight gain, reduced liver damage, and lowered harmful cholesterol levels in animal studies. The finding opens the door ...
Colorectal cancer has long baffled scientists because, unlike most tumors, patients often do better when their cancers are packed with immune-suppressing regulatory T cells. New research finally explains why. Scientists discovered that these T cells ...
Scientists at Keck Medicine of USC are testing an experimental stem cell therapy that aims to restore the brain’s ability to produce dopamine, the chemical whose loss drives Parkinson’s disease. The early-stage clinical trial involves implanting ...

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