CNN (2/8, Kaur) reported a study published in Anesthesia and Analgesia suggests “women who have general anesthesia during C-sections are significantly more likely to experience severe post-partum depression resulting in hospitalization, suicidal thoughts or self-harm.” The study examined over 400,000 cases of cesarean delivery from 2006 to 2013 and showed 8% received general anesthesia during the procedure. Among those women, 3% “experienced severe postpartum depression that required hospitalization.” Moreover, they “were also 54% more likely to experience postpartum depression and 91% more likely to have thoughts about suicide or self-harm, compared to those who had regional anesthesia such as spinal blocks or epidurals.”

Related Links:

— “Women who have general anesthesia during C-sections are more likely to experience postpartum depression, study finds, “Harmeet Kaur, CNN, February 8, 2020

The AP (2/8, Burns) reported researchers found that “suicides in the active-duty Air Force surged last year to the highest total in at least three decades, even as the other military services saw their numbers stabilize or decline.” The article added, “The reasons for the Air Force increase are not fully understood, coming after years of effort by all of the military services to counter a problem that seems to defy solution and that parallels increases in suicide in the U.S. civilian population.”

Related Links:

— “Air Force suicides surged last year to highest in 3 decades, “Robert Burns, AP, February 8, 2020

MedPage Today (2/7, George) reported researchers found that “people who had three or more adverse childhood experiences – physical or psychological abuse, family psychopathology, or loss of a parent – had twice the risk of developing dementia in later years as other older adults, even after taking into account economic hardship, demographics, education, and nutritional environment.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open

Related Links:

— “Adverse Childhood Events Tied to Dementia, “Judy George, MedPage Today, February 7, 2020

Psychiatric News (2/7) reported, “Family conflict and low parental supervision are associated with suicidality in children, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open.” The research showed that “overall, 6.4% of the children had a lifetime history of passive suicidal ideation; 4.4% had nonspecific active suicidal ideation; 2.4% had active ideation with a method, intent, or plan; 1.3% had a past suicide attempts; and 9.1% had a NSSI.”

Healio (2/7) reported that “according to the researchers, little is known about suicidal behaviors and ideation in children,” and “to address this research gap, they assessed the overall prevalence of suicide attempts, suicidal ideation and nonsuicidal self-injury, as well as family-related factors associated with self-injury and suicidality, among 11,814 participants aged 9 to 10 years of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study.”

Medscape (2/7, Swift, Subscription Publication) also reported.

Related Links:

— “Family Conflict, Low Parental Supervision Risk Factors for Suicidality in Children, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, February 7, 2020

Reuters (2/6, Rapaport) reports a study published in The BMJ suggests that “the top 1% of opioid prescribers in the U.S. are responsible for 49% of all opioid doses and 27% of all prescriptions.” Researchers “examined data on 8.9 million opioid prescriptions for 3.9 million patients from 2003 to 2017, based on records from an average of 669,495 providers each year,” and found that “by 2017, the top 1% of providers prescribed a yearly average of 748,000 ‘morphine-milligram equivalents’ (MMEs), a standardized way of describing doses of different types of opioids,” which “was roughly 1,000 times more than the providers in the middle percentiles.”

Related Links:

— “Just a few hundred prescribers responsible for half of U.S. opioid doses, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, February 6, 2020

HealthDay (2/6, Reinberg) reports that a new study has found that “survivors of the 2001 terrorist attack on New York City’s World Trade Center who developed PTSD have a lasting risk of premature death.” The study involved “nearly 64,000 emergency responders and civilians” and “found that the longer the post-traumatic stress disorder lingered, the more likely they were to die early from any cause.” The study results “were published online Feb. 5 in JAMA Network Open.”

Related Links:

— “9/11 Study Shows PTSD Tied to Earlier Death, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, February 6, 2020

Reuters (2/6, Carroll) reports, “Children who participate in obesity treatment programs get a benefit over and above weight loss: they may also start seeing themselves more positively, a new study suggests. Based on an analysis of data from 64 previous studies, researchers concluded that obesity treatment programs appeared to boost kids’ self-esteem and improve body image – and not just because the kids lost weight.” The study was published online in Pediatric Obesity.

Related Links:

— “Obesity treatment programs may boost kids’ self-esteem, body image, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, February 6, 2020

HealthDay (2/6, Preidt) reports, “Nurses are at elevated risk for suicide, but the issue gets little attention, researchers report,” as “their study of 2005-2016 U.S. government data found the suicide rate among female nurses was significantly higher (10 per 100,000) than that of the general female population (7 per 100,000). The rate among male nurses (33 per 100,000) was also higher than in the general male population (27 per 100,000).” The study was published online February 3 in the journal WORLDviews on Evidence Based-Nursing.

Related Links:

— “Nurses May Need Suicide-Prevention Screening, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 6, 2020

A Cleveland Clinic physician writes in an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (2/6, Subscription Publication), that 90-day prescriptions are creating an unnecessary risk for suicidal patients, however, Barnett notes that the American Psychiatric Association has asked insurers to give physicians flexibility.

Related Links:

— “The 90-Day Prescription Isn’t for Everyone, “Brian Barnett, The Wall Street Journal, February 6, 2020

Psychiatry Advisor (2/5) reports “patients with bipolar disorder have a significantly elevated risk for suicidal ideation when they experience comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to study results published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.” In particular, “the study’s sample of 58 patients with co-occurring bipolar disorder and PTSD unanimously reported current suicidal thoughts.” Psychiatry Advisory says “investigators at the Dauten Family Center for Bipolar Treatment Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston conducted a secondary analysis of baseline data from the Bipolar CHOICE randomized clinical trial, which sought to compare the efficacy of lithium with quetiapine for bipolar disorder.” They found “all patients with comorbid PTSD indicated that they had current suicidal ideation compared with 86.3% of patients without comorbid PTSD.” Meanwhile, “bipolar patients with comorbid PTSD had higher CHRT total and propensity scores compared with patients without PTSD.”

Related Links:

— “Comorbid PTSD Raises Risk for Suicidal Ideation in Patients with Bipolar Disorder, “Emily Pond, Psychiatry Advisor, February 5, 2020