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September 29, 2010
DEA Urges People To Clean Out Medicine Cabinets To Prevent Abuse
The Los Angeles Times (9/13, Faturechi) "LA Now" blog reported that "federal drug enforcement agents are encouraging the public to clean out their medicine cabinets." Later this month, "at almost 3,000 sites across the nation, agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration will invite members of the public to turn in expired or leftover prescription and over-the-counter medications for disposal."
Officials say that the medicines are being "increasingly abused and can often find their way from medicine cabinets to the black market." The Detroit Free Press (9/13, Hall) also covered the story.
The Forth Worth Star Telegram (9/13, Ramirez) noted that "several North Texas police and law enforcement agencies will be teaming with the Drug Enforcement Administration on Sept. 25 for a first-ever national 'Take Back' program where residents can safely discard prescription medications for destruction." The paper said that "in many cases, residents flush unused medicine down a toilet or throw them away," but "both disposal methods are potential safety and health hazards," according to the police.
Related Links:
- "DEA asks public to turn in unused medication in effort to prevent drug abuse," Robert Faturechi, Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2010.
- "North Texas cities will help dispose of unwanted prescription drugs," Domingo Ramirez, Jr., Fort Worth Star Telegram, September 13, 2010.
Posted by admin at 01:49 AM
Dying At Home Easier On Cancer Patients As Well As On Caregivers
USA Today (9/14, Szabo) reports, "Cancer patients who died in a hospital or intensive care unit suffered more physical and emotional distress than those who died at home with hospice services, according to study of nearly 700 people in today's Journal of Clinical Oncology."
What's more, "caregivers suffered more, too, when their loved ones died in the ICU; more suffered lasting psychiatric problems, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or a prolonged period of disabling grief, says the study, part of the larger Coping with Cancer study."
"While most cancer patients prefer to die at home, that's not always what happens, according to background information in the study," HealthDay (9/13, Gordon) reported. "More than one-third of cancer patients die in the hospital and eight percent die in the intensive care unit." Reuters (9/14, Fox) also covers the story.
Related Links:
- "Does it matter where cancer patients die? Study says yes," Liz Szabo, USA Today, September 13, 2010.
- "Dying at Home Often Easier on Cancer Patients, Caregivers," Serena Gordon, HealthDay, September 13, 2010.
- "Dying at home better for cancer patients," Reuters, September 13, 2010.
Posted by admin at 01:45 AM
More Research Suggests Prenatal, Early Exposure To Thimerosal Does Not Increase Autism Risk
The Los Angeles Times (9/13, Healy) "Booster Shots" blog reported, "Maybe Study Number Ten will suffice to reassure the one in four parents who have come to fear vaccinating their babies that doing so will not raise the likelihood of the kids' developing autism." To date, "reputable scientists, physicians, and researchers have tried and failed to find a causal -- or any -- link between thimerosal and autism." Now even an "actress who has been unswervingly vocal in her belief that vaccines caused her son's autism diagnosis, is no longer so certain."
And, newly released data from researchers handpicked by the CDC only add to the evidence that the mercury-based preservative, which is used in numerous vaccines, does not increase a child's autism risk, Reuters (9/14, Joelving) reports. In fact, says Dr. Frank Destefano, director of the Immunization Safety Office at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "This study should reassure parents about following the recommended immunization schedule."
For the study, the team "examined records from three managed care organizations (MCOs) to identify 256 children with [autism spectrum disorders] born between 1994 and 1999 and 752 children without autism matched to cases by age, gender, and MCO," WebMD (9/13, Martin) reported. According to the paper in Pediatrics, the researchers "found no increased risk for autism associated with prenatal exposure or exposure to thimerosal-containing immunizations in infancy or early childhood."
Geraldine Dawson, "chief science officer for a leading advocacy group, Autism Speaks," told HealthDay (9/13, Goodwin) that the "study adds to a large body of evidence indicating that early thimerosal exposure through vaccination does not cause autism." She also "urged parents to have their children vaccinated."
Related Links:
- "Once more, no link found between vaccine preservative and autism," Melissa Healey, Los Angeles Times, September 13, 2010.
- "No link found between vaccine mercury and autism," Frederik Joelving, Reuters, September 13, 2010.
- "CDC Study Shows No Vaccine, Autism Link," Salynn Boyles, WebMD, September 13, 2010.
- "More Evidence That Vaccines Don't Cause Autism," Jenifer Goodwin, HealthDay, September 13, 2010.
Posted by admin at 01:40 AM
Traumatic Brain Injuries From Basketball Increasing Among Adolescents, Study Suggests
ABC World News (9/13, story 8, 2:20, Sawyer) reported, "Some sobering news tonight about the most popular sport for American children and teens, basketball." When "you think of the hazards of basketball, you think of sprained ankles or sprained fingers, but a journal called Pediatrics has a new study which says the number of teenagers and adolescents suffering traumatic brain injuries from basketball is soaring."
ABC's Sharyn Alfonsi explained, "Researchers say traumatic brain injuries associated with playing basketball, mostly concussions, spiked 70 percent over 10 years." More "kids now play basketball than any other sport," and emergency departments "report basketball now accounts for more head injuries than even football." The New York Times (9/13, Parker-Pope) "Well" blog and Reuters (9/13, Norton) also covered the story.
Related Links:
- "Basketball Linked to Brain Injury in Kids," ABC World News Tonight, September 13, 2010.
- "In Basketball, Danger of Head Trauma," Tara Parker-Pope, New York Times, September 13, 2010.
- "Kids' brain injuries from basketball may be rising," Amy Norton, Reuters, September 13, 2010.
Posted by admin at 01:32 AM
Number Of Older Adults Admitted To Substance-Abuse Treatment Facilities Has More Than Doubled Since 1992
USA Today (9/13, Klinck) reported, "The number of older adults admitted to substance-abuse treatment facilities has more than doubled since 1992, according to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration." According to "the organization's latest Treatment Episode Data Set report, released Thursday...the number of patients ages 50 and older has increased from about 102,700 in 1992 to 231,170 in 2008." The report noted "demographic shifts that suggest these patients are less economically stable," given the increases in unemployment and homelessness.
Related Links:
- "Number of older adults treated for substance abuse doubles," Betty Klinck, USA Today, September 12, 2010.
Posted by admin at 01:30 AM
Marines Have Highest Rate Of Suicide Among Any US Military Service.
The Los Angeles Times (9/10, Perry) reported that in 2009, "52 Marines killed themselves, compared with 42 the previous year." In fact, last year's "toll is the highest since record-keeping began, giving the Marine Corps the grisly distinction of having the highest rate of suicide of any US military service." One factor behind the suicides may be "the unrelenting stress of back-to-back deployments," followed by "relationship, family and money problems, run-ins with authority figures, and a sense of isolation."
National Action Alliance For Suicide Prevention Launched. The AP (9/11, Jelinek) reported, "Struggling with sharp increases in suicides among US military forces, the Pentagon is joining a new national effort to reduce the number of Americans who take their own lives." On Friday, Defense Secretary Robert Gales and "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius appeared at the National Press Club in Washington to launch the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention. The coalition of public and private groups is dedicated to reducing suicides across the US population."
Related Links:
- "Marine Corps seeks to use buddy ethic to stem rise in suicides," Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times, September 10, 2010.
Posted by admin at 01:25 AM
September 25, 2010
Congress Eliminates Term "Mental Retardation" From Federal Laws
The AP (9/24) reports, "Disabilities advocates on Thursday applauded Congress for passing legislation that eliminates the term 'mental retardation' from federal laws."
The measure "changes the phrase 'mentally retarded' to 'an individual with an intellectual disability' in existing health, education and labor law."
Senator "Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., sponsor of the bill with Senator Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., said it would make language in federal law consistent with that used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the health arm of the United Nations and the White House."
Posted by admin at 05:04 PM
Bipolar Disorder Associated With Reduced Socioeconomic Status
MedWire (9/24, Cowen) reports that, according to a study published online in the Journal of Affective Disorders, "individuals with bipolar disorder (BD) have lower socio-economic status than the general population."
In a study of "257 patients with BD (51.4% women), aged at least 18 years," whose marital status and levels of education, income, and disability were compared to those of 56,540 matched controls from the general population, researchers found that people with BD earned less money and were "more likely to be single and receiving a disability pension," despite the fact that both patients with BD and the population sample had similar levels of education.
Posted by admin at 05:03 PM
IOM Report Highlights Progress Made in Women's Health Due To Medical Research
NBC Nightly News (9/23, story 7, 2:10, Williams) reported that "a new report that came out" Sept. 23 "from the prestigious Institute of Medicine (IOM)" examines areas in medical research in which "things are improving for women and where they are not."
Chief science correspondent Robert Bazell noted that, according to the report, the most progress "has been made against heart disease, breast cancer, and cervical cancer."
WebMD (9/23, Mann) reported, "Other areas where some gains were made in the past two decades include depression, HIV/AIDS, and osteoporosis in women." However, "little progress has been made in other conditions that affect women, including autoimmune diseases such as lupus, lung cancer, and Alzheimer's disease."
Study author Nancy E. Adler, PhD, of the University of California-San Francisco, called for results of clinical trials to be analyzed to reflect differences in gender, stating, "The National Institutes of Health should also require journal editors to publish sex stratification of results so that we know if drugs and/or devices are as effective for women as men."
The Wall Street Journal (9/24, Randall) also covers the story.
Posted by admin at 05:02 PM
Officials Urge People To Dispose Of Old Medication
The New York Times (9/24, A14, Goodnough) reports that police and DEA officials across the US have embarked on a program to collect "old opiate painkillers and other prescription" medications from peoples' medicine cabinets in a bid to stave off addicts who are increasingly raiding homes in search of the medicines. "In 17 states, deaths from drugs -- both prescription and illegal -- now exceed those from motor vehicle accidents, with opiate painkillers playing a leading role," the Times says.
The AP (9/24, Yost) reports, "The national prescription drug 'Take-Back' campaign will offer" thousands of "sites around the nation where the public can drop off expired, unused and unwanted prescription" medications.
Posted by admin at 05:02 PM
"Factitious Disorders" May Be More Common Than Thought
Time (9/23, Szalavitz) reports, "The stories boggle the mind: in August, a 28-year-old Washington woman claimed to be the victim of a mindless acid attack, and almost won the ultimate prize in attention-seeking -- an appearance on Oprah -- before admitting she had actually disfigured herself."
Another "woman in New York City recently faked leukemia to wheedle the community into paying for her dream wedding -- complete with a honeymoon in Aruba -- before she was revealed as a fraud and lost her husband, too."
According to Marc Feldman, MD, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama, "factitious disorders are far more common than you might think. Experts believe they account for billions of dollars in unnecessary health spending."
Posted by admin at 05:01 PM
Diary May Help Reduce ICU Patients' Risk Of PTSD After Difficult Hospital Stay
HealthDay (9/22, Preidt) reported, "A diary can help reduce intensive care patients' risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after a difficult stay in the hospital, according to a" study published online in the journal Critical Care.
In a study of 352 intensive care unit (ICU) patients, 162 of which were "randomly selected to receive diaries about their time in the ICU," researchers found that "patients who received a diary were less than half as likely to develop PTSD as the control group that didn't receive a diary."
Posted by admin at 04:59 PM
September 23, 2010
Sebelius Touts New Consumer Protections In Healthcare Law
USA Today (9/22, Young) reports, "Several key consumer protections under the nation's new health law begin taking effect Thursday -- six months after its enactment." For instance, "insurers can no longer set a dollar limit on the amount of care they'll provide over a person's lifetime or deny coverage to sick children. Young adults can stay on their parents' health plans until age 26," and consumers will "get greater rights to appeal insurers' decisions."
According to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, "It's really putting in place long overdue consumer protections. ... It's getting rid of some of the worst rules of the industry that prevented people from getting covered at all or, at a time they needed coverage the most, limited the coverage they had."
ABC World News (9/21, story 3, 2:15, Sawyer) reported, "A centerpiece of the President's agenda has been health care reform, and it is now 36 hours until the first major changes from health care reform kick in." ABC (Tapper) went on to show Sebelius saying, "Some of the worst abuses, if you will, of the insurance companies are going to cease to exist." ABC added that "as of Thursday, insurance companies will no longer be able to stop providing coverage to customers because of technical errors on past applications. Or, impose lifetime dollar limits on essential benefits."
The San Jose Mercury News (9/22, Krieger Kleffman) reports, "Significant provisions of the health care reform bill roll out Thursday, reshaping the insurance landscape by significantly broadening access to coverage and care." Notably, "young adults may remain on their parents' policies until age 26 and minor children can't be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions. Insurers are prohibited from canceling coverage for sick patients or those who have reached coverage limits -- when they need it most." The Lincoln Journal Star (9/22, Andersen) also notes several of the key provisions taking effect on Thursday.
Elimination Of Lifetime Benefit Caps Will Help Millions With Private Plans. Reuters (9/21, Kingsbury) reported that one of the provisions of the healthcare law which will become effective on Thursday is the elimination of lifetime health benefit caps. Notably, this will affect mostly people who have individual insurance policies, but consumers who have run afoul of the cap in the past say that this is a welcome change.
Posted by admin at 04:58 PM
Military Veterans, Unemployed More Likely To Commit Suicide
The Orlando Sentinel (9/22, Shrieves) reports, "At a time when government funds for mental health help have dried up, Americans are in greater danger of becoming depressed and suicidal -- because of unemployment and the recession. Add in returning war veterans and you've got a potential mental health crisis."
The Sentinel adds, "According to [the] National Alliance on Mental Illness, people who are unemployed and military veterans are at higher risk of suicide." The Chicago Tribune (9/22) runs the same story, under the same headline.
Posted by admin at 04:57 PM
Teens Reporting "Substantial" Acne More Likely To Report Suicidal Ideation
The Los Angeles Times (9/17, Kaplan) "Booster Shots" blog reported that, according to a study published online Sept. 16 in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, teens "who reported having 'substantial' acne were 80% more likely to report suicidal ideation, compared to teens with clearer complexions."
For the study, investigators analyzed answers from "questionnaires from 3,775 Norwegian teens (most of them 18 or 19) and looked for an association between acne severity and mental health."
The study authors discovered that the worse a teen's acne was, the higher the likelihood they would consider suicide.
Posted by admin at 04:56 PM
Bad Acne In Teens Associated With Suicidal Thoughts, Study Suggests
CNN (9/16, Peeples) reported that "compared to their clear-skinned peers, teens who have bad acne are more than twice as likely to have mental health problems and are at greater risk of having suicidal thoughts," according to a new study of Norwegian youth.
"Nearly all teenagers have some pimples, and up to one in five will develop a moderate to severe case of acne." In the study, "which was funded by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health" and published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology, "the researchers surveyed nearly 4,000 teens ages 18 or 19." Fourteen "percent of the teens reported having 'a lot' or 'very much' acne." The study found that "nearly 25 percent of the teens with 'very much' acne said they'd had thoughts of suicide, compared with 11 percent of the study participants overall."
But, "it's not clear whether having bad skin makes teens depressed, or whether some other underlying condition links depression with acne," reported the Time (9/16, Melnick). "Considering that depression can cause poor self-esteem and sometimes even body dysmorphia, it's also possible that depressed teens would self-report 'substantial' acne more often than their peers." In other words, "depression could fuel poor body image, which could cause a teenager to believe that his acne is worse than it is."
Meanwhile, Reuters (9/16, Kelland), citing the Norwegian researchers behind the study, wrote the results suggest that concerns over Roche's acne-treating drug Accutane being potentially responsible for depression may have been inflated. That's because the condition itself is now being linked to depression suicidal thoughts, rather than the medicine.
In "addition to 'suicidal ideation' -- contemplating suicide at times, but not necessarily carrying it out -- they were more than twice as likely to lack friends, 51 percent likelier never to have had sex and 41 percent likelier to do poorly at school," noted AFP (9/16). HealthDay (9/16, Preidt) also covered the news.
Posted by admin at 04:53 PM
Study: Illegal Drug Use Up In 2009
On its website, KOKI-TV Tulsa (9/17, Levingston) reports that, according to a SAMHSA report, "the number of Americans abusing illegal substances is the highest its been in a decade, 21.8 million Americans, 12 and older, to be exact."
AFP (9/17) reports, "Some seven million Americans older than 12 took prescription drugs for non-medical reasons. The bulk of the abuse of prescription medications involved painkillers, which some 5.3 million Americans used off-label last year -- a rise of 20 percent from 2002. Among teens, the rate of nonmedical prescription painkiller use rose 17 percent year on year, with most youngsters saying they got the meds from friends, family or an unsecured medicine cabinet." The AFP notes, "The rise in the use of illegal drugs was driven in large part by an increase in the use of marijuana, which 77 percent of the survey respondents said they had used in the past month. Among teens, marijuana use rose nine percent in 2009, partly because 'discussions of legalization, so-called medical marijuana and a proliferation of pro-drug messages' have left America's youth 'misinformed about a drug whose potency has tripled in the past 20 years,' SAMHSA said."
On its website, WCCO-TV Minneapolis (9/17, Seavert) reports that ONDCP Director Gil Kerlikowske "called the increase in drug use disappointing but said he was not surprised given 'eroding attitudes' about the perception of harm from illegal drugs and the growing number of states approving medicinal marijuana. 'I think all of the attention and the focus of calling marijuana medicine has sent the absolute wrong message to our young people,'" he said.
HealthDay (9/17, Reinberg) also notes that "Kerlikowske took aim at the media for influencing some of the cultural mind-shift. 'I can absolutely not rule out this constant discussion of so-called medical marijuana, marijuana legalization and the downplaying of marijuana harms that is prevalent in the media.'"
On the Fox Report with Shepard Smith (9/16, Smith) correspondent Trace Gallaher reported that he had "just talked to" Kerlikowske and that "when it comes to ecstasy, he says we've simply taken our eye off the ball. Back in the early 2000's, there was an early campaign warning young people about the dangers of ecstasy or X as they call it. When campaign went away, the usage went up. As for methamphetamine, the drug czar blames cold medicine or at least the main ingredient -- pseudoephedrine. Even though the feds cracked down on it back in 2006." In a brief clip, Kerlikowske said, "They put pseudoephedrine behind the counter and you have to show ID. Unfortunately, what we've seen in the last couple of years is that groups of people called smurfers are able to use false ID. and other ways to get around that act, buy the pseudoephedrine and manufacture a very high grade meth." Gallaher also noted that Kerlikowske said that "medical marijuana just sends a very bad message to young people." The report also showed a brief clip of Kerlikowske discussing why he is opposed to marijuana legalization.
CNN's The Situation Room (9/16, Blitzer) showed a brief clip of Kerlikowske in which he said, "Young heavy marijuana users are much more likely to report getting Ds and Fs than As and Bs. Are more likely to be in trouble with the law for crimes like theft." Homeland Security correspondent Jeanne Meserve reported Kerlikowske said "fewer teens see marijuana as dangerous because of media coverage of current policy debates." In a brief clip, the Kerlikowske said, "I absolutely cannot rule out this constant discussion of so-called medical marijuana and marijuana legalization and the downplaying of marijuana harms that is prevalent in the media."
Posted by admin at 04:51 PM
September 20, 2010
Study Associates Type D Personality With Increased Heart Problems
In the Washington Post (9/14) "The Checkup" blog, Rob Stein wrote that research reported in the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes suggests people with type D personalities may be "prone to heart problems." These people tend "to experience a lot of negative emotions, such as pessimism, anxiety, irritation, depressed mood," don't often share their emotions, and fear disapproval.
According to US News & World Report (9/14, Haupt), type D personalities "are at three times the risk for future heart problems, including peripheral artery disease, heart failure, and death, compared to more optimistic sorts." Researchers "analyzed 49 previous studies involving more than 6,000 people" to arrive at their conclusions. Barry Jacobs, a clinical psychologist and American Heart Association spokesman, said, "It really adds weight to the argument that this core, hostile personality is a concern -- or ought to be a concern -- for people who have it."
Related Links:
- "Are you a Type D personality?," Rob Stein, Washington Post, September 14, 2010.
- "'Type D' Personality: How Distress Affects Your Health," Angela Haupt, U.S. News and World Report, September 14, 2010.
Posted by admin at 04:47 PM
September 12, 2010
Cost of brand-name drugs continues to increase.
The San Diego Union-Tribune (9/10, Lavelle) reports, "The cost of brand-name prescription drugs -- which account for 78 percent of drugs sold -- continues to rise.
A recent study by AARP of the 217 most widely used brand-name prescription drugs shows retail prices increased an average 8.3 percent in 2009," compared "with a 7.9 percent increase in 2008, 7 percent in 2007, 6.1 percent in 2006 and 6 percent in 2005." What's more, data show that the "retail price of 207 brand-name drugs on the market since December 2004 increased by 41.5 percent over five years, far outpacing the consumer price index, which rose 13.3 percent."
Related Links:
- Why job-based insurance costs are soaring," Janet Lavelle, San Diego Union Tribune, September 9, 2010.
Posted by admin at 07:12 PM
Study Suggests Obesity May Worsen Brain Damage From Heavy Drinking.
HealthDay (9/9, Preidt) reported that a study published online and in the December print issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research found that "obesity caused by heavy drinking can add to brain damage caused by drinking itself."
In a news release, principal investigator Dieter J. Meyerhoff, of the University of California-San Francisco and San Francisco VA Medical Center, said, "This new study suggests that a high BMI, independent of drinking and smoking, is also associated with brain injury." In a release, Susan F. Tapert, PhD, of the University of California-San Diego and director of substance abuse/mental illness in the VA San Diego Healthcare System, said, "In other words, weight also is related to brain health among those with alcoholism."
Posted by admin at 07:05 PM
Individuals Taking Sleeping, Anti-Anxiety Medicines May Have Higher Chances Of Dying.
The UK's Telegraph (9/9, Smith) reported, "Research has found that people taking" sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medications "are at least a third more likely to die during the 13-year study than those not on them."
The study, published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, and "based on data from more than 14,000 people between 1994 and 2007," also found that people taking the medicines "at least once in the month before the survey had a higher chance of dying from any cause." The researchers wrote, "Combining a pharmacological approach in the short-term with psychological treatment is a promising strategy for reducing anxiety and promoting sleep."
Related Links:
- Sleeping pills are not 'candy' and may increase risk of death," Rebecca Smith, UK Telegraph, September 9, 2010.
Posted by admin at 06:52 PM
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Explained.
Ray Andrews, of the Houston/Harris County Office of Drug Policy, and Dori Wind, special counsel with the Office of Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan, write in the Houston Chronicle (9/9) about fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).
They explain, "Some of the most common characteristics of alcohol-related brain damage include: poor impulse control and poor problem solving skills, difficulty linking actions to consequences, poor social communication, limited abstract reasoning, and lack of trial and error learning. People with FASD have great difficulty internalizing values, feelings and laws, and may develop inappropriate social, sexual, and sociopathic behaviors." Andrews and Ryan assert, "Educating mothers to not drink while trying to get pregnant or during pregnancy will not only result in an increase in healthy children, but a decrease in social services taxpayers must provide."
Posted by admin at 06:43 PM
Low Socioeconomic Status Associated With Worse Mental Health In Prostate Cancer Survivors.Low Socioeconomic Status Associated With Worse Mental Health In Prostate Cancer Survivors.
MedWire (9/6, Guy) reported, "Long-term prostate cancer survivors have worse mental health if they have a low rather than high socioeconomic status (SES)," according to a study published online Sept. 2 in the journal Urology.
In a study of "584 long-term (5-10 years) prostate cancer survivors who reported their mental and physical state via a questionnaire," researchers found after adjusting for confounding factors that Mental Component Summary "scores were worse for low SES than high SES patients."
Related Links:
- Low socioeconomic status linked to mental health in prostate cancer survivors," Sarah Guy, MedWire, September 6, 2010.
Posted by admin at 06:31 PM
Fathers May Also Suffer From Depression During Baby's First Year.
The Los Angeles Times (9/6, Kaplan) "Booster Shots" reported that, according to a study published online Sept. 6 in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, "new fathers have been experiencing elevated rates of depression for some time."
After analyzing data on about 87,000 UK couples who had a baby between 1993 and 2007, researchers found that "for fathers, the rate of depression in the first year was 3.56 cases per 100 person-years. It then fluctuated between 1.95 and 2.72 cases per 100 person-years until their kids became teenagers."
Related Links:
- Fathers can suffer from postpartum depression too," Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times: Booster Shots, September 6, 2010.
Posted by admin at 06:20 PM
Many People With Depression, Psychotic Disorders Fail To Seek Help.
The Wall Street Journal (9/7, Bernstein) reports that about 15 million US adults experience a major depressive disorder each year, and approximately six million may also have schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, but 50% of people with psychotic disorders say that they are not sick and refuse to seek help.
Similar rates of denial are also found in people with clinical depression. Experts say that it can be challenging for relatives and friends of people with these conditions to help them change their minds and seek assistance.
Posted by admin at 06:15 PM
Military Veterans With PTSD More Likely To Develop Dementia Than Those Without PTSD.
HealthDay (9/2, Preidt) reported, "Military veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, are more likely to develop dementia than those without the disorder," according to a study published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
In a study of "10,481 veterans, aged 65 and older, who had been seen at least twice at [a Veterans Affairs] medical center between 1997 and 1999" and who were followed until 2008, researchers found that "dementia occurred in 11.1 percent of patients who had PTSD but had not been injured during combat, and in 7.2 percent of those who had PTSD and had suffered combat injuries," whereas "dementia rates for veterans without PTSD were 4.5 percent for those without combat injuries and 5.9 percent for those who'd suffered combat injuries."
Posted by admin at 06:08 PM
September 11, 2010
Teens from different ethnic groups may abuse substances for different reasons.
The CNN (8/30, Hellerman) "The Chart" blog reported that "teens of different ethnic groups use alcohol, marijuana, and cigarettes for different reasons and educators should use different strategies to keep them clean," according to a new study funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.
The study, published in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, "analyzed roughly 5,500 responses from seventh- and eighth-graders in Southern California to surveys that were distributed by researchers from the RAND Corporation." Hispanic "students were the most likely to report having tried alcohol, cigarettes, or marijuana," followed by "African-American students" and then Caucasians. The blog entry also noted that Asian-American students "were substantially less likely" to have tried any substance.
Related Links:
- Ethnic differences seen in youth drug use," Caleb Hellerman, CNN, September 1, 2010.
Posted by admin at 02:36 AM
Physical symptoms of depression may impact heart.
The Los Angeles Times (8/31, Healy) "Booster Shots" blog reported that "depression's physical warning signs -- fatigue, sleep disturbance, and appetite changes --...are the most corrosive to the heart," according to a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
After following 1,024 patients with heart disease for an average of six years, researchers found that, "even after taking account of the severity of a patient's illness and the factors that influence his or her risk of worsening health, the large numbers of patients who reported suffering depression's physical symptoms -- tiredness, appetite changes, sleep disruptions -- fared worse than the smaller group who reported they were extremely sad, felt guilty or worthless, or had suicidal thoughts."
Related Links:
- In depression, it's the physical symptoms that carry heart risk," Melissa Healy, the Los Angeles Times, August 31, 2010.
Posted by admin at 02:29 AM
September 10, 2010
Over Half A Million US Children, Teens Now Taking Antipsychotics, FDA Report Says.
On its front page, the New York Times (9/2, A1, Wilson) reports, "More than 500,000 children and adolescents in America are now taking" antipsychotics, "according to a September 2009 report by the Food and Drug Administration."
Recently, another study "found a doubling of the rate of prescribing" antipsychotics "for privately insured two- to five-year-olds from 2000 to 2007. Only 40 percent of them had received a proper mental health assessment, violating practice standards from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry." Many experts now believe that prescribing antipsychotics for young children may be risky for the development of both their bodies and their brains.
Related Links:
- Child’s Ordeal Shows Risks of Psychosis Drugs for Young," Duff Wilson, The New York Times, September 1, 2010.
Posted by admin at 07:49 PM
Mental Health Leads List Of Top Five Concerns At Colleges.
The NPR (9/1, Wyckoff) "Shots" blog reported on "what health concerns are topping the agenda now," according to college health officials and Dr. Al Glass, president of the American College Health Association.
The issues, in order, are mental health, because "stress is a biggie," followed by sleep issues; the "perennial concern" of infectious diseases such as flu; exercise needed to prevent obesity, and alcohol abuse.
Related Links:
- 5 Big Health Issues On Campus," Whitney Blaire Wyckoff, NPR: Shots Blog, September 1, 2010.
Posted by admin at 07:42 PM
NY Times Say Pentagon, Congress Should Target Suicide Prevention As "Vital Wartime Mission."
The New York Times (9/2, A34) editorializes that "military and civilian experts" from the Task Force on the Prevention of Suicide have conducted an "ambitious, yearlong study," one "ordered by Congress in facing the fact that the suicide tally" for the US military "has been increasing despite intensified prevention programs."
After noting that the task force said the main factors contributing to the increasing tally include lengthy combat deployments, the continuing stigmatization of seeking mental health services, and the lack of a top-level Pentagon anti-suicide office and suicide prevention policy, the Times argues that the task force has "laid out a mandate for Congress and the Pentagon to target suicide as a most vital wartime mission."
Related Links:
- When Warriors Hurt Themselves," Editorial, The New York Times, September 1, 2010.
Posted by admin at 07:36 PM