HealthDay (6/19, Dallas) reports, “People suffering from anxiety, depression, sleeplessness or other forms of psychological distress are at greater risk of death from a stroke,” according to a study published online June 18 in CMAJ. After examining data on “68,652 adults who participated in the Health Survey for England,” then following those adults for approximately eight years, researchers “found 2,367 deaths from ischemic heart disease (blocked artery), stroke and other cardiovascular problems.”

“Psychological distress predicted a significant 66% elevated risk of death from cerebrovascular disease,” MedPage Today (6/19, Phend). “The impact on ischemic heart disease-related death risk was similar at a hazard ratio of 1.59,” researchers reported. “The associations with psychological distress were similar for cerebrovascular and ischemic heart disease but may not stem from the same mechanism in both cases, the researchers noted, pointing to the differences in pathogenesis of atherosclerotic lesions in coronary and cerebral arteries.”

Related Links:

— “Anxiety, Depression May Raise Stroke Risk,”Mary Elizabeth Dallas , HealthDay, June 18, 2012.

On the front of its Personal Journal section, the Wall Street Journal (6/19, D1, Beck, Subscription Publication) reports that while a little bit of stress may help people perform better, too much stress may result in anxiety and depression, as well as contribute to hypertension, migraine headaches, chronic pain, digestive troubles, and even cardiovascular disease, experts say and research has found. The article goes on to list ways people can deal with stress and anxiety, including cognitive behavioral therapy, deep breathing exercises, and meditation.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety Can Bring Out the Best,”Melinda Beck , Wall Street Journal, June 18, 2012.

Reuters (6/18, Joelving) reports that, in a study published in the journal Pediatrics, Food and Drug Administration researchers found that while antibiotic usage has decreased among youths in the US, more children are taking medications for ADHD. Dr. Scott Benson, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and a spokesperson for the American Psychiatric Association, is quoted as saying, “What the article is suggesting is that the number of children that we are treating for attention deficit disorder has gone up.” According to Dr. Benson, “For the most part I think the overall increase reflects a reduction in the stigma,” as “it used to be, ‘You’re a bad parent if you can’t get your child to behave, and you’re a doubly bad parent if you put them on medicine.'”

MedPage Today (6/18, Phend) reports that researchers found that “outpatient contraceptive prescriptions jumped 93% from 2002 to 2010 among kids 17 and younger.” Meanwhile, “ADHD drug scripts rose 46% over the same period in the national analysis of prescription databases.” Altogether, “an estimated 263 million prescriptions were dispensed for the under 18 crowd in 2010, which was down 9% from 2002 after accounting for the shifting population size over that period.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. kids getting more ADHD drugs, fewer antibiotics,”Frederik Joelving , Reuters, June 18, 2012.

HealthDay (6/16, Goodwin) reported that “slamming doors, shouting and stony silences between mom and dad can really scar kids emotionally,” according to a study published in the journal Child Development. Investigators found that “Kindergarteners whose parents fought with each other frequently and harshly were more likely to grow into emotionally insecure older children who struggled with depression, anxiety and behavior issues by 7th grade.” However, “if parents refrained from harshly criticizing one other, stonewalling one another or being violent with one another, and instead managed to work out their problems in a constructive way, children weren’t terribly bothered by the conflicts.”

Related Links:

— “Parents’ Fighting May Have Long-Lasting Effect on Kids, “Jenifer Goodwin, HealthDay, June 15, 2012.

HealthDay (6/16, Dallas) reported that “although children with autism spectrum disorders [ASD] need more health care services, they have less access to specialized care than children with other conditions, such as asthma or diabetes, according to a new study” published in Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Investigators “examined previous studies that calculated the total health care costs paid by the families of children with autism spectrum disorders.” The researchers “found that children with autism, who are at risk for other conditions, such as seizures, sleep disturbances and gastrointestinal problems, paid more for the care they received than other kids with illnesses that required specialized care.”

Related Links:

— “Kids With Autism Face Health Care Disparities, Study Finds, “Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, June 15, 2012.

USA Today (6/15, Jayson) reports, “You may have felt it, but now a scientific analysis of stress over time offers some proof that there’s more stress in people’s lives today than 25 years ago.” Investigators who “analyzed data from more than 6,300 people” found that “stress increased 18% for women and 24% for men from 1983 to 2009.”

The CBS News (6/15, Castillo) “HealthPop” blog reports that the “study, published in the Journal of Applied Psychology…marks the first time scientists have been able to track the level of stress across the US over time.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune (6/15, Stoxen) “Health Check” blog reports, “According to” the “new research, being young, a woman, having a low education level and/or having low income represent the most stressed individuals in the United States.”

Related Links:

— “Stress levels increased since 1983, new analysis shows,”Sharon Jayson, USA Today, June 14, 2012.

The AP (6/15) reports, “Although New York officials agree cyber bullying among youth is one of today’s biggest concerns, a political deal already struck by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders won’t make it a crime.” Instead the bill they agreed upon focuses “on public awareness starting with a legal definition of cyber bullying and requiring schools to report these incidents.”

Related Links:

— “Cuomo: New York bill won’t make cyber bullying a crime,Associated Press, June 14, 2012.

The Time (6/15, Thompson) “Battleland” blog reported, “For years, motor-vehicle accidents have killed more US troops than any other non-combat cause.” However, “that changed Wednesday” with May’s issue of the Pentagon’s Medical Surveillance Monthly Report, “which tracks trends in troops’ ailments and medical care.” According to Time, “in the dry and clinical prose favored by the medical community, the report said that in each of the past two years, more troops have died at their own hands than in motor-vehicle accidents.”

Related Links:

— “Suicides Eclipse Car Crashes as Top Non-Combat Cause of U.S. Troop Deaths ,”Mark Thompson , Time U.S., June 14, 2012.

The Air Force Times (6/15, Kime) reports on the Pentagon’s removal of Seroquel (quetiapine) from its approved formulary list. The article cites Stan White, whose son, Marine Cpl. Andrew White, “died Feb. 12, 2008, at age 23 from a lethal combination of medications prescribed for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), mainly clonazepam, quetiapine and paroxetine — the latter two known to sometimes affect the heart’s regular rhythm.” The article reports that “questions have been raised over” quetiapine’s rise in popularity, noting that “in April 2010, manufacturer Astra-Zeneca agreed to pay $520 million to the federal government to settle a civil suit alleging that it illegally marketed Seroquel for a host of off-label uses such as Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, PTSD and sleeplessness.” Citing the AP, the article notes that “the Pentagon spent $8.6 million on the drug, while the Veterans Affairs Department spent $125.4 million.”

Related Links:

— “DoD cracks down on off-label drug use,”Patricia Kime, AirForce Times, June 14, 2012.

The New York Daily News (6/14, Lovett) reports a survey by New York’s Senate’s Independent Democratic Caucus found that “nearly 70% of New York students say they’ve been victimized by cyberbullies or know someone who has,” with girls “twice as likely to admit to experiencing some type of cyberbullying.” However, only “one in five New York students actually reported an incident to a parent or school official.”

Related Links:

— “70% of New York State students say they have been cyberbullied or know someone who has, according to survey,”Kenneth Lovett , New York Daily News, June 14, 2012.