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Sancai Acupuncture for Primary Insomnia: 13-Point ISI Drop vs. Sham

MHD featured image for Sancai acupuncture and primary insomnia treatment in a sham-controlled trial.

A 2026 randomized sham-controlled trial in 76 adults with primary insomnia found an 8-week Sancai acupuncture protocol reduced post-treatment Insomnia Severity Index scores to 7.80 vs. 16.45 with sham acupuncture, while total sleep time increased to 366.83 minutes vs. 287.97 minutes.1 Research Highlights Insomnia severity fell far more with real acupuncture: Zhao et al. randomized …

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Treatment-Resistant Depression in Pakistan: 34% TRD, 86% Polypharmacy

MHD featured image for treatment-resistant depression, polypharmacy, and CYP2C19 findings in Pakistan.

A 2026 DIVERGE analysis of 3,677 antidepressant-exposed patients with major depressive disorder in Pakistan classified 34% as treatment resistant, while 86% received psychotropic polypharmacy and only 6% received psychotherapy.1 The CYP2C19 signal is real enough to study prospectively, but the main treatment-system finding is medication stacking in a setting where psychological care was rare. Research …

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77-Drug Blood Screen Found Benzodiazepines in 37.9% of Detections

MHD featured image for neuropsychiatric drug blood screening and benzodiazepine detections.

A 2026 clinical-lab study tested a 77-drug liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry serum screen in 1,021 patients and found that benzodiazepines accounted for 37.9% of all detections, ahead of antidepressants and antipsychotics.1 Emergency-department cases were a small slice of the sample, but they were positive more often than outpatients: 85.2% vs. 59.5%. Research Highlights Benzodiazepines dominated …

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5 Music Therapy Sessions Reduced Psychiatric Stress

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A 2026 randomized trial of 74 psychiatric inpatients found that 5 consecutive MIDI-assisted group music therapy sessions reduced DASS-21 stress more than 1 session during the same hospital week, but the frequency advantage did not extend to anxiety, depression, life satisfaction, or immediate session-impact ratings. Research Highlights Stress separated by frequency: 5 sessions produced a …

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ALS CSF Proteomics Found 399 Candidate Proteins and a 5-Protein Panel

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A 2026 cerebrospinal-fluid proteomics preprint involving 87 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients, 89 healthy controls, and 61 neurological controls reported 399 ALS candidate proteins, complement markers that tracked disease stage, and a 5-protein panel that classified ALS vs. healthy controls with ROC AUC 0.95 after the best-known neurodegeneration markers were removed.1 Research Highlights CSF proteomics …

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XGBoost Suicide Risk Model Reached 96% PPV at Top 0.1% Threshold

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A 2026 Scientific Reports study of Maryland suicide-death records found that an XGBoost machine-learning model could reach 96.1% positive predictive value in hospital-discharge data at the top 0.1% risk threshold, but it still detected only 46.7% of suicide deaths in that cohort. Research Highlights Precision improved at the narrowest threshold: XGBoost reached PPV 0.961 in …

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