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TUESDAY, Jan. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Cats have a long history of boosting people's moods and brightening their days. And that's probably true for kids on the autism spectrum as well, new research shows.The small study suggests that adopting a shelter cat may help reduce separation anxiety and improve empathy in kids with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD)."Cats, and companion animals in general, offer unconditional acceptance and someone to talk to that listens, and caring for an animal can help with learning responsibility," said study author Gretchen Carlisle. She's a research scientist at the Research Center for Human-Animal Interaction at the University of Missouri, in Columbia.ASD is a brain disorder that affects social skills, communication and impulse control. In the United...

TUESDAY, Jan. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Noninvasive electrical stimulation of the brain, fine-tuned to specific "circuitry" gone awry, might help ease obsessive-compulsive behaviors, an early study hints.Researchers found that the brain stimulation, delivered over five days, reduced obsessive-compulsive tendencies for three months, though in people who did not have full-blown obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).It's too early to say whether the approach can be translated into an OCD therapy, said researcher Shrey Grover, a PhD student in psychological and brain sciences at Boston University. "We need more research to replicate these findings. It will take time before this is widely available."But the work, described online Jan. 18 in Nature Medicine, builds on a body of research...

TUESDAY, Jan. 19, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- It may take a village to support teens' mental health, whether it's during the pandemic or later. One option is having school-based mental health programs that offer peer support leaders.A new C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at Michigan Medicine found that one in three parents are strongly in favor of a peer support program. The poll also asked questions that got at the heart of pros and cons of this type of program. "Peers may provide valuable support for fellow teens struggling with emotional issues because they can relate to each other," said Mott Poll co-director Sarah Clark. "Some teens may worry that their parents will overreact or not understand what they're going through. Teachers and school counselors...

TUESDAY, Jan. 19, 2021 (American Heart Association News) -- The wind howled and thunder boomed as an ambulance raced Spencer Timmel and his newborn son, Charlie, to a hospital better able to care for infants with heart problems."The weather was very reflective of what was going on in our lives," Spencer said. "The perfect storm."Spencer and his wife, Erin, had tried for years to conceive before she became pregnant with Charlie. Nine drama-free months later, doctors delivered Charlie. Then, like the weather outside, "Things started to spiral out of control," Spencer said.Ordinarily, a newborn baby's skin turns pink shortly after birth, as the heart pumps oxygen-rich blood throughout the body. Charlie's skin, however, had a blueish tint – a sign that something was wrong with his heart....