Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder associated with persistent, intrusive thoughts (i.e., obsessions), accompanied by repetitive behaviors (i.e., compulsions) aimed at reducing the anxiety arising from obsessions. Past studies have showed that people diagnosed with OCD can present symptoms that vary significantly, as well as distinct brain abnormalities.

A team of researchers at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University recently carried out a study aimed at further exploring the well-documented differences among patients with OCD. Their findings, published in Translational Psychiatry, allowed them to identify two broad OCD subtypes, which are associated with different patterns in gray matter volumes and disease epicenters.

“OCD is a highly heterogeneous disorder, with notable variations among cases in structural brain abnormalities,” wrote Baohong Wen, Keke Fang and their colleagues in their paper. “To address this heterogeneity, our study aimed to delineate OCD subtypes based on individualized gray matter morphological differences.”

Revolutionizing the fight against brain cancers — dr. thomas chen MD, phd, FAANS, — CEO/CSO, neonc technologies holdings inc.

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Dr. Thomas Chen, MD, Ph.D. is Founder, CEO & CSO, and Board Director, of NeOnc Technologies (https://neonc.com/), a developer of a proprietary, patented platform technology that can potentially transport pharma-based therapeutics directly to the brain without the normal boundary restrictions imposed by the body’s Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB), providing patients with potentially more effective treatments.

NeOnc is developing a portfolio of treatments for brain cancer and other central nervous system (CNS) disorders.

Dr. Chen is a board-certified neurosurgeon and the Director of Surgical Neuro-Oncology at USC where he is also a tenured Professor of Neurosurgery and Pathology (https://keck.usc.edu/faculty-search/thomas-c-chen/).

Dr. Chen graduated summa cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he also received Bronze Tablet honors and was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa national academic honor society. He attended the University of California, San Francisco, where he obtained his MD, and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha National Medical Honor Society. He underwent neurosurgery training at USC and obtained a Ph.D. degree in pathobiology where his thesis was on the role of immunotherapy in malignant brain tumors.

Researchers are studying whether the drugs that upended diabetes and obesity care could also revolutionise Alzheimer’s treatment. Here’s what they have learnt so far.