MD Edge Psychiatry (7/15) reported, “Patients with a history of depression who are also being treated with opioid analgesics have a lower risk for overdose and self-harm after taking antidepressants,” investigators concluded in a study that “analyzed insurance claims for more than 200,000 adults with a history of depression. Of these, 8,200 experienced adverse events…during the year after initiation of opioid therapy.” The findings were published online June 30 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Antidepressants may curb opioid overdose “Batya Swift Yasgur, MD Edge Psychiatry, July 15, 2022

MedPage Today (7/14, George) reports, “Moderate alcohol consumption was linked to higher brain iron and worse cognitive function,” investigators concluded. In fact, “among nearly 21,000 people in the U.K. Biobank cohort, alcohol intake above 7 weekly units (56 g, or about four standard drinks per week in the U.S.) was associated with markers of higher brain iron in multiple basal ganglia regions,” the study revealed. What’s more, “markers of higher brain iron were in turn associated with poorer scores on tests of executive function, fluid intelligence, and reaction speed,” the study concluded. The findings were published online in PLoS Medicine.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

PatientEngagementHIT (7/14, Heath) reports, “Patient access to care is worse for American men than it is for men in any other similarly developed nation, a trend researchers from the Commonwealth Fund attributed to poorer public health and high healthcare costs.” Also, the data showed “US men have the highest rate of avoidable deaths, are the most likely to have two or more chronic conditions, are among the most likely to have unmet mental health needs, and have the highest rates of hypertension.”

Related Links:

— “How Cost Drives Poor Patient Access to Care for American Men “Sara Heath, PatientEngagementHIT, July 14, 2022

Modern Healthcare (7/14, Devereaux, Subscription Publication) reports the 988 “mental health crisis line launches Saturday with the ambitious goals of reducing emergency department visits and encounters with law enforcement and providing ongoing care for those experiencing mental health crises.” However, aspirations in some states “are a way off from being a reality.” American Psychiatric Association President Rebecca Brendel, MD, JD, said, “What’s different and ambitious about the 988 project is that over time there are goals to have every call to the lifeline answered within local communities as opposed to as part of a national network, and also to couple the availability of call response in communities with a continuum of care to respond to and provide follow up for individuals who contact the lifeline.”

Related Links:

— “States prep for 988 mental health hotline’s national debut “Mari Devereaux, Modern Healthcare, July 14, 2022

HealthDay (7/13, Thompson) reports that “preterm infants who are breastfed do better in school and are less likely to develop attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),” according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. Overall, researchers “found that higher intake of mother’s milk was associated with higher performance IQ and higher reading and math scores by age 7.” Also, “longer duration of breastfeeding – up to 18 months – was associated with higher reading, spelling and math scores.”

Related Links:

— “Breastfeeding May Be Key to Letting Preemie Babies Thrive “Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, July 13, 2022

HealthDay (7/13, Houghteling) reports, “Some have proposed mindfulness training in schools as a therapeutic tool” to assist adolescents with anxiety and depression, but a 66-study systematic review indicates that “while teachers and the overall school climate may benefit from mindfulness, the effects are short-lived.” The findings were published online July 12 in the journal Evidence-Based Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “U.K. School Studies Find No Benefit of Mindfulness for Kids’ Mental Health “Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, HealthDay, July 13, 2022

HealthDay (7/13, Mann) reports investigators examining “how anxiety was passed down among parents to same-sex kids among 398 kids from 221 mothers and 237 fathers” found that “anxious moms are more likely to have anxious daughters, and anxious dads are more likely to have anxious sons.”

MedPage Today (7/13, Kneisel) reports the study revealed that “the odds of a lifetime anxiety disorder diagnosis in offspring increased proportionately to the number of parents with anxiety disorders – specifically, anxiety occurred in about 24% of those whose parents were not affected, in 28% of children with one affected parent, and in 41% of those with both parents affected.” The findings were published online July 12 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Can Anxiety Disorders Pass From Parent to Child? “Denise Mann, HealthDay, July 13, 2022

Healio (7/8, VanDewater) reports, “In middle-aged women, PTSD was associated with a quicker decline in cognitive function, according to a prospective analysis of the Nurses’ Health Study II” that “assessed 12,270 women (mean age, 61.1 years; 95.9% non-Hispanic white) who had experienced trauma and were enrolled in a sub-study of the Nurses’ Health Study II focused on PTSD and had completed between one and five cognitive assessments from March 1, 2008, to July 30, 2019.” The findings were published online June 30 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Middle-aged women with PTSD experience accelerated cognitive decline “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, July 8, 2022

The New York Times (7/12, Blum) reports that beginning Saturday, anyone in the US “can text or call 988 to reach trained counselors who can help them cope with a mental health emergency, and direct them to additional resources for mental health and substance use treatment.” The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s “existing 1-800 number still works, but the service has gotten a makeover and will now be more able to address general mental health concerns and emotional distress, as well as suicide crises.” American Psychiatric Association Council on Healthcare Systems and Financing Chair Robert Trestman, MD, PhD, said, “Having an anonymous opportunity to speak to someone who knows what they’re talking about, who won’t be scared when you say, ‘I don’t know what to do, I’m thinking of hurting myself’ – this is an extraordinary option.”

Politico (7/12, Messerly, Owermohle) reports, “State health officials, unsure they have the money or staff to respond to an expected flood of calls to 988…are tempering expectations just days ahead of its launch.” Federal health officials “worry that most states are ill-prepared to meet the hotline’s long-term needs.”

Related Links:

— “What to Know About 988, the New Mental Health Crisis Hotline “Dani Blum, The New York Times, July 12, 2022

MedPage Today (7/12) reports, “While use of pharmacogenomic testing reduced antidepressant prescriptions with known” medication-gene “interactions in patients with major depressive disorder (MDD), the effects on remission did not persist over time,” researchers concluded. The randomized trial revealed that “among over 1,900 patients, those in the pharmacogenomic-testing group were significantly less likely to be prescribed antidepressants with moderate (30% vs 54.6% in usual care) or substantial (10.7% vs 19.7%)” medication-gene interactions. The findings were published online July 12 in JAMA.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)