MedPage Today (5/20, Susman) reports a study found that “pregnant women have a higher risk of postpartum psychosis if their sisters had the same condition.” Researchers observed that the “relative recurrence risk of postpartum psychosis for siblings adjusted for birth year was 10.34, indicating that a woman is over 10 times more likely to develop postpartum psychosis if her sister had the condition compared with a woman whose sister did not have the condition.” Furthermore, they noted “the relative recurrence risk of postpartum psychosis in full siblings was 10.69 when adjusted for year of and age at childbirth.” They concluded, “Despite the higher familial risk of postpartum psychosis among full siblings, the absolute risk for women with an affected sibling was relatively low, estimated at 1.60% within the entire population.” The study was published in The American Journal of Psychiatry and presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting.

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MedPage Today (5/20, George ) reports a study of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries showed that “dementia incidence decreased in the U.S. from 2015 to 2021 but prevalence increased.” Researchers noted that “approximately 5 million cases of incident dementia were documented from 2015 to 2021.” They found that “age- and sex-standardized incidence rates fell from 3.5% in 2015 to 2.8% in 2021, but prevalence rose from 10.5% to 11.8%.” According to researchers, “incidence was highest in 2015 for Black beneficiaries (4.2%), followed by Hispanic beneficiaries (3.7%) and white beneficiaries (3.4%). In 2021, incidence was still highest for Black beneficiaries (3.1%), but for white beneficiaries, it was 2.8% and for Hispanic beneficiaries, it was 2.6%.” Overall, they said “those living in socioeconomically deprived neighborhoods had the highest incidence and prevalence.” The study was published in The BMJ.

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MedPage Today (5/19, Susman ) reports a scoping review presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting suggested that “Asian American and Pacific Islander sexual and gender minority young adults are at increased risk of substance use and mental health issues, but research on this group is sparse.” Researchers found that “of 172 articles screened, only six met final inclusion criteria for U.S.-based studies on psychosocial factors – stigma, discrimination, and family and social support – influencing mental health and substance use outcomes among this population of patients.” Researchers noted that “suicide is the leading cause of death among Asian Americans ages 10-24, but they have the lowest use of mental health services among any racial or ethnic group.”

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MedPage Today (5/19, Susman) reports research presented at the American Psychiatric Association annual meeting found that “people who died by suicide frequently presented to hospitals within the previous year, indicating that these visits could be an opportunity for suicide risk assessment.” Researchers observed that “among 1,924 people who died by suicide, 57.5% had visited a hospital between >7 to <365 days of their death, with 45.9% of visits categorized as related to mental health.” They said “of these visits, 51.1% were related to substance abuse, 16.7% were related to suicidal ideation and substance abuse, and 12.3% were related to self-harm.” Researchers concluded, “Our findings suggest that visits with substance abuse-related concerns may present opportunities for delivery of novel suicide screenings and interventions in hospital settings, particularly in the emergency department environment.” Related Links:

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The New York Times (5/17, Span ) reported a study found that “over five years, study participants’ performance on cognitive tests” after a transient ischemic attack “drops as steeply as it does among victims of a full-on stroke.” Researchers said, “If you have one stroke or one T.I.A., with no other event over time and no other change in your medical status, the rate of cognitive decline is the same.” They observed that “even if the symptoms resolve – typically within 15 minutes to an hour – T.I.A.s set people on a different cognitive slope later in life.” Furthermore, after a TIA, “neurologists put the risk of a subsequent stroke within 90 days at 5 percent to 20 percent, with half that risk occurring in the first 48 hours.” The study was published in JAMA Neurology.

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Psychiatric News (5/16) reports, “Older adults with hearing loss who receive treatment may retain greater social connections over time than those who do not receive treatment, according to a study.” The research included “977 adults (mean age of 76.3) with untreated hearing loss and no substantial cognitive impairment.” The researchers wrote, “Given the high prevalence of hearing loss among older adults and already established delivery models, hearing intervention represents a public health target for population-levelreductions in social isolation and loneliness.” The findings were published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

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— “Hearing-Loss Treatment May Help Preserve Social Connection in Older People,” Psychiatric News, May 16, 2025

The Radiology Business Journal (5/16, Stempniak) reports, “A new analysis…explores suicide rates among” medical residents. Investigators “labeled this the leading cause of death for fellows and residents between 2015 to 2021.” In that “timeframe, 161 medical trainees died, with suicide the top cause (29%), followed by neoplastic disease (17%), other medical and surgical concerns (14%), accidents (14%), and unintentional poisonings (13%).” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

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— “Study explores suicide rate among residents in radiology and other specialties,” Marty Stempniak, The Radiology Business Journal, May 16, 2025

The New York Times (5/15, Jewett , Thacker) reports that budget cuts under the Trump Administration have affected anti-smoking programs across the United States. Experts on tobacco control said the “funding cuts would set back a quarter-century of public health efforts that have driven the smoking rate to a record low and saved lives and billions of dollars in health care spending.” FDA officials “fired many staff members who levied fines on retailers that sold tobacco to minors or marketed illicit vapes. Some scientists who were experts in addiction and toxicology lost their jobs.” Meanwhile, the NIH “canceled grants to researchers examining tobacco use among certain groups, including L.G.B.T.Q. youths, Black people and young people.” The White House also closed the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health. The cuts were discussed during budget hearings on Wednesday, with lawmakers expressing concerns to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Psychiatric News (5/15) reports a study found that “individuals with first-episode psychosis who experience a shorter period between first use of an antipsychotic and enrollment in a coordinated specialty care (CSC) program show improved functioning and quality of life at six months.” Researchers “examined outcomes for 147 first-episode psychosis patients enrolled from 2014 to 2019 in Specialized Treatment in Early Psychosis (STEP), a CSC in New Haven, Connecticut, that ran a dedicated four-year early detection campaign focused on raising public awareness of psychosis, training health professionals to identify symptoms, and streamlining the CSC referral process.” They observed the average total duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) “for patients enrolled in STEP was 5.9 months shorter than those in the CSC with standard detection protocols. This included a 1.3-month reduction in DUP-Demand and a 4.6-month reduction in DUP-Supply.” Notably, the “time reduction translated into improvements in functional outcomes.” The study was published in Schizophrenia Bulletin.

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— “Shorter Time Between Antipsychotic Initiation and CSC Referral Improves Outcomes,” Psychiatric News , May 15, 2025

CBS News (5/14, Moniuszko ) reports a study published in the Journal of the American Heart Association suggests that “men are twice as likely to die from the stress-related heart condition commonly called ‘broken heart syndrome’ compared to women.” Formally known as Takotsubo cardiomyopathy, the syndrome is “associated with severe emotional distress or stressful events, such as the death of a loved one,” with symptoms including “chest discomfort, shortness of breath, heart palpitations and arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat.” Researchers “analyzed nearly 200,000 U.S. adults with data from 2016 to 2020” and found that “despite the condition being more common among women, the death rate among them was 5.5%, compared to 11.2% for men. The cause of the mortality discrepancy is not fully understood, the authors said, adding it could be due to hormonal differences or physical stress being a more common trigger for men than emotional stress.”

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— “Men more likely to die of “broken heart syndrome” compared to women, study finds,” Sara Moniuszko, CBS News, May 14, 2025