Medscape (11/5, Anderson) reports that a newly-released draft recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) contends that there is currently not enough evidence to recommend routine dementia screening.

HealthDay (11/5) reports that “the guideline authors write that it’s unclear whether existing treatments have a significant effect on mild to moderate dementia.” Meanwhile, “a review of existing studies, treatments and diagnostic tools…found no medical proof that earlier detection of age-related brain decline helps improve decision-making about a patient’s future.”

Related Links:

— “Jury Still Out on Routine Mental Tests for Seniors, Panel Says, “Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, November 4, 2013.

USA Today (11/5, Zoroya, Hoyer) reports on its front page that, according to data released by the Department of Veterans Affairs, in 2013, the VA “failed to schedule a third of new mental health patient appointments within 14 days.” Delays to see a psychiatrist appear to last about three weeks on average, the article points out.

Related Links:

— “Many veterans face frustrating delays for mental health care, “Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, November 4, 2013.

The Wall Street Journal (11/5, Wang, Subscription Publication) reported that emotional-support animals (ESAs) are being used more often to help people with mental illnesses and conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and autism. Observational studies on the health benefits provided by such animals, primarily dogs, indicate they may be helpful, even if use of the animals is sometimes controversial in certain situations, such as at restaurants or in airplanes. Unlike guide dogs for the visually impaired, ESAs undergo no formal training, nor are there formal regulations governing their use. Often patients with ESAs rely on a physician’s note specifying how the animal helps the patient.

Related Links:

— “Rise in Pets as Therapy for Mental Conditions, “Shirley Wang, The Wall Street Journal, November 4, 2013.

The Los Angeles Times (11/5, Morin) reports that, according to a review published in PLoS Medicine, “clinical depression is now the second-leading cause of global disability…with the highest rates of incidence affecting working-age adults and women more than men.” The review found that “depressive disorders were second only to lower respiratory infections when it came to inflicting the most years of disability on people throughout the world.”

BBC News (11/6, Briggs) reports that the authors of the review recommended that depression should “be treated as a global public health priority.” The review also found that the impact of depression appeared to vary in different countries and regions of the world. For example, the highest rates of major depression were found in Afghanistan, while Japan reported the lowest.

Related Links:

— “It’s a sad, sad, sad, sad world: Depression and global disability, “Monte Morin, Los Angeles Times, November 5, 2013.

Reuters (11/6, Seaman) reports that eating disorders, often seen in younger women, now are being seen in younger men, according to a study published online Nov. 4 in JAMA Pediatrics. After following 5,527 teenage boys from 1999 to 2011, researchers found that 31 percent of them had engaged in binge/purge behavior during that time.

On its website, CBS News (11/6, Jaslow) reports that the study also found that 18 percent of the boys studied “had extreme concerns about their weight and physique, raising their risk to start engaging in risky behaviors.” What’s more, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, “eating disorders frequently coexist with other illnesses…including depression, substance abuse and anxiety disorders.”

Related Links:

— “Young men may have unrecognized eating disorders, “Andrew Seaman, Reuters, November 5, 2013.

Several media outlets are reporting on projections that the United States is likely to face a shortage of physicians in coming years, attributable in part to the Affordable Care Act.

Reuters (11/5, Seaman) reports on a study that indicates that the United States will need more physicians by 2025. The additional doctors will be needed to account for three factors: the US population overall is projected to grow 9.5% by 2025, the population is getting older, and the Affordable Care Act will increase the utilization of medical services. The report was published in the journal Health Affairs. The severity of the shortage will vary based on doctor specialty and part of the country.

Related Links:

— “Doctor demand will grow by up to a third by 2025 – study, “Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, November 5, 2013.

Medscape (11/5, Anderson) reports that a newly-released draft recommendation from the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) contends that there is currently not enough evidence to recommend routine dementia screening.

HealthDay (11/5) reports that “the guideline authors write that it’s unclear whether existing treatments have a significant effect on mild to moderate dementia.” Meanwhile, “a review of existing studies, treatments and diagnostic tools…found no medical proof that earlier detection of age-related brain decline helps improve decision-making about a patient’s future.”

Related Links:

— “Jury Still Out on Routine Mental Tests for Seniors, Panel Says, “Randy Dotinga , HealthDay, November 4, 2013.

USA Today (11/5, Zoroya, Hoyer) reports on its front page that, according to data released by the Department of Veterans Affairs, in 2013, the VA “failed to schedule a third of new mental health patient appointments within 14 days.” Delays to see a psychiatrist appear to last about three weeks on average, the article points out.

Related Links:

— “Many veterans face frustrating delays for mental health care, “Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, November 5, 2013.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (11/4, Smydo) reports that approximately 200 physicians across Pennsylvania voiced concerns about increasing psychiatric caseloads when the Pennsylvania Medical Society’s House of Delegates complained of an inpatient psychiatric bed shortage and requested the state to implement a computerized tracking system to identify where inpatient psychiatric and detoxification beds are available. As some patients wait in emergency departments for days for placement, the American College of Emergency Physicians’ Pennsylvania chapter’s former president Michael Turturro stated, “They’re not getting the same type of treatment they would get as an inpatient.” Area health professionals attribute the shortage to the closure of Mayview State Hospital as well as state budget cuts.

Related Links:

— “Pennsylvania doctors complain of lack of psychiatric beds and seek solutions, “Joe Smydo, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 3, 2013.

HealthDay (11/2, Preidt) reported that, according to a study due for presentation at the annual meeting of the American Society of Criminology, “the risk of domestic violence often is passed from parents to their children.” After analyzing data on some 1,600 US families, researchers found that almost “four out of five families in which parents were involved with intimate-partner violence had adult children who committed violence against partners, and three-quarters of those families had adult children who became victims of domestic violence.”

Related Links:

— “Domestic Violence Travels Down Through Generations, Study Finds, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, November 1, 2013.