MD Magazine reports research indicates that “general anesthesia as a major cause of increased odds of mothers developing postpartum depression (PPD) following a cesarean delivery.” For the “retrospective cohort study, the investigators examined cesarean delivery cases performed in New York State hospitals between January 2006 and December 2013.” After examining “data from 428,204 cesarean delivery cases, including 34,356 cases involving general anesthesia,” researchers found that “relative to neuraxial anesthesia, general anesthesia in cesarean delivery was linked to a 54% increased odds of postpartum depression…as well as a 91% increased odds of suicidal ideation or self-inflicted injury.” The findings were published online Jan. 29 in the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia.

Related Links:

— “General Anesthesia Increases Postpartum Depression Odds After Cesarean Deliveries, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, February 4, 2020

Psychiatric News (2/4) reports, “Many U.S. adults 65 and older who died of suicide between 2003 and 2016 did not have a known mental illness,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from the National Violent Death Reporting System.” The study revealed that “of the 26,884 suicide deaths recorded during the study period,” the majority of “older men (69.1%) and women (50.2%) who died of suicide did not have a known mental illness.” The findings were published online Jan. 28 in a research brief in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Many Older U.S. Adults Who Died By Suicide Did Not Have Known Mental Illness, Study Suggests, Psychiatric News , February 4, 2020

Medscape (2/4, McNamara, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found in “a large, population-based study of more than 7 million individuals” that “a small but significant increase in the risk for death by suicide occurs in the months immediately following diagnosis of specific neurologic disorders.” The researchers found that “patients diagnosed with a severe neurologic disorder were four to five times more likely to die by suicide compared to the general population.” The findings were published in JAMA.

MedPage Today (2/4, George) reports over a period of 37 years, “the suicide rate for people with a neurologic disorder was 44.0 per 100,000 person-years, compared with 20.1 per 100,000 person years for all other people.”

Related Links:

— “New Data Rank Neurologic Diagnoses by Suicide Risk, “Damian McNamara, Medscape, February 4, 2020

Psychiatric News (2/3) reports, “Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder [AD/HD] who also have aggression problems might benefit from adjustments to their stimulant regimen and behavioral therapy,” researchers concluded in a study that “enrolled 175 children aged six to 12 with” AD/HD “and either oppositional defiant disorder or conduct disorder.” The findings were published online Jan. 30 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Optimizing Stimulant Treatment May Help Reduce Aggression in Children With ADHD, Psychiatric News, February 3, 2020

Healio (2/3, Gramigna) reports, “Individuals with an eating disorder are nearly four times more likely to experience exercise addiction than those without one,” investigators concluded after conducting a “systematic review of grey literature and major databases, specifically looking at studies that reported on exercise addiction prevalence among these two populations,” then also conducting “a random effect meta-analysis to calculate ORs for exercise addiction.” Included in the review were “nine studies with a total sample of 2,140 participants with a mean age of 25.06.” The findings were published online Jan. 1 in the journal Eating and Weight Disorders.

Related Links:

— “Eating disorders increase risk for exercise addiction, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, February 3, 2020

HealthDay (1/31, Preidt) reported, “Allowing pharmacists to provide the opioid overdose” medicine “naloxone without a prescription led to a huge increase in dispensing of the lifesaving” medication “in Ohio,” researchers concluded. After state legislators “gave that permission in 2015,” researchers found “a 2,328% increase in naloxone dispensing” since then. In addition, the study revealed that “counties with low-employment rates had 18% more naloxone dispensed per month than high-employment counties.” The findings were published online Jan. 31 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “When Pharmacists Allowed to Give Anti-Opioid Med Without Rx, Access Soars, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 31, 2020

In an investigative piece, the New York Times (1/31, A1, Gabler) reported on medication mix-ups and other errors at chain pharmacies across the US. The article highlights several such incidents that led to hospitalization and even death, but says “the people least surprised by such mistakes are pharmacists working in some of the nation’s biggest retail chains.” The article says “the American Psychiatric Association is particularly concerned about CVS, America’s eighth-largest company, which it says routinely ignores doctors’ explicit instructions to dispense limited amounts of medication to mental health patients.” Dr. Bruce Schwartz, the president of APA, took aim at CVS’ policy of providing patients with a three-month supply of their prescription drugs, “Clearly it is financially in their best interest to dispense as many pills as they can get paid for.”

Related Links:

— “How Chaos at Chain Pharmacies Is Putting Patients at Risk, ” Ellen Gabler, The New York Times, January 31, 2020

Reuters (1/30, Rapaport) reports, “Fatal overdoses involving cocaine and other stimulants like methamphetamine have been rising in the U.S. in recent years, and many deaths involve the use of these drugs along with at least one opioid,” researchers concluded after examining “data on nonfatal overdoses from 2006 to 2016 and fatal overdoses from 2006 to 2017 involving cocaine, psychostimulants and opioids.” The study revealed that “as of 2016, 27% of cocaine overdoses and 14% of stimulant overdoses treated in U.S. emergency” departments “also involved an opioid,” whereas “in 2017, almost 75% of overdose deaths involving cocaine and half involving stimulants also involved at least one opioid.” The findings were published online Jan. 7 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Stimulant overdoses rising in the U.S, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 30, 2020

MedPage Today (1/30, D’Ambrosio) reports, “Emergency department (ED) visits for suicidal ideation and/or self-directed harm increased by 25.5% in 2018 over the prior year,” CDC data indicate, with “the most significant increases…among young men and women.” The data revealed that “ED visits for suicidal ideation, self-harm, or both increased by 33.7% among girls ages 10-19, and by 62.3% among boys in this age group.” In addition, investigators “noted a seasonal pattern of ED visits for both boys and girls in this age group, with the lowest proportion of visits occurring during summer months.” The findingswere published online in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “ED Visits for Suicidal Ideation and Self-Harm on the Rise, “Amanda D’Ambrosio, MedPage Today, January 30, 2020

USA Today (1/30, Dastagir) reports on the increasing number of Americans committing suicide. Figures (pdf) released Jan. 30 from the CDC “show 48,344 people died by suicide in 2018, up from 47,173 the year before.” What’s more, “since 1999, the suicide rate has climbed 35%.” Currently, “suicide is the nation’s 10th-leading cause of death, with 14.2 deaths per 100,000 people.” What’s more, even though “thousands of people die by suicide each year, millions think about it.” For example, “in 2017, 10.6 million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.2 million made a plan, and 1.4 million attempted it, according to the CDC.”

Related Links:

— “More and more Americans are dying by suicide. What are we missing?, “Alia E. Dastagir, USA Today, January 30, 2020