The Washington Post (5/14, Cimons) reported, “The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health says up to two-thirds of women in perimenopause report cognitive problems, although estimates as to the extent of affected women differ among experts.” It’s also “still unclear what causes these deficits – hormones or other factors – and whether they continue postmenopause.” One recent study “of low-income women of color, some of them HIV infected, suggests that cognitive declines may linger into postmenopause for some, although demographics also may influence this, says Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), which published the research in its journal, Menopause.” Peter Schmidt, “chief of the behavioral endocrinology branch at the National Institute of Mental Health and one of the study authors, says: ‘I think it’s very clear that a subgroup of women do develop depression, for some for the first time in their lives, and there is evidence that declining estrogen contributes to its development.’”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (5/14, Reinberg) reported researchers found “people with heart failure are 20% more likely than those with cancer to develop depression within five years of their diagnosis.” The findings were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Related Links:

— “Depression Even More Common With Heart Failure Than Cancer ” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, May 14, 2021

Healio (5/13, Ernst) reports researchers found “entorhinal hypometabolism identified on fluorodeoxyglucose PET scans served as a ‘strong and independent predictor’ of future cognitive decline in” patients with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. The findings were published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Entorhinal hypometabolism on PET scan predicts cognitive decline in preclinical AD “Julia Ernst, Healio, May 13, 2021

Healio (5/13, Gramigna) reports researchers found in a randomized clinical trial that “patients with opioid dependence who received subcutaneous buprenorphine reported higher satisfaction and lower treatment burden vs. those who took sublingual buprenorphine.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Psychiatric News (5/13) reports the study’s “results highlight the importance of using patient-reported outcomes when developing medication treatment for substance use disorders.”

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— “Patients report subcutaneous buprenorphine preferable to sublingual formulation “Madison Weller, Healio, May 13, 2021

Healio (5/13, Gramigna) reports researchers conducted a cross-sectional study and found that “borderline personality disorder diagnosis and related criteria of self-injurious behaviors and chronic emptiness significantly increased suicide attempt risk.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Self-injurious behaviors, chronic emptiness increase suicide attempt risk in BPD “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 13, 2021

Renal & Urology News (5/12, Schieszer) reports, “Declining kidney function appears to be strongly associated with the development of dementia among patients aged 65 years or older,” investigators concluded after analyzing “the association of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) with the risk of dementia among 329,822 residents in Stockholm accessing health care between 2006 and 2011.” Study participants “were aged 65 years or older, had no history of dementia, and had not received renal replacement therapy.” The findings were published online in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Renal Function Decline Associated With Increased Dementia Risk “John Schieszer, Renal & Urology News, May 12, 2021

Cardiovascular Business (5/12, Walter) reports, “Antidepressants, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and oral steroids are just some of the medications that could inadvertently raise a person’s blood pressure,” investigators concluded after tracking “data from more than 27,000 participants who responded to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2009 to 2018.” The findings are slated for presentation at ACC.21, the American College of Cardiology’s 70th annual scientific session.

Related Links:

— “Antidepressants, other common medications linked to high blood pressure “Michael Walter, Cardiovascular Business, May 12, 2021

HealthDay (5/11, Reinberg) reports researchers found “sleep problems cost America’s health care system nearly $95 billion a year and raise the cost of health care by 60%.” The findings were published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Sleep Disorders Cost U.S. Health Care System Nearly $95 Billion Per Year ” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, May 11, 2021

NBC News (5/11, Carroll) reports research published in BMJ Open indicates that “prescription sleep medications can help women struggling with occasional insomnia but probably won’t help with chronic sleep problems.” The study, using “two years of data from nearly 700 middle-age women,” found “that long-term use of medications such as Ambien [zolpidem], Lunestra [eszopiclone] or some anti-anxiety prescriptions didn’t help women sleep better in the long run compared to women who didn’t use prescription pills.”

Related Links:

— “Prescription sleep pills not likely to help women in the long run, study finds “Linda Carroll, NBC News, May 11, 2021

Healio (5/11, Downey) reports researchers found “there was a significant decline in hospitalizations for abusive head trauma among children aged younger than 5 years during the COVID-19 pandemic.” The findings were published in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Pediatric hospitalizations for abusive head trauma decline during pandemic “Ken Downey Jr., Healio11, May , 2021