HealthDay (11/16, Murez) reports, “Less screen time and more sleep are critical for preventing depression,” investigators concluded after analyzing “UK Biobank data from 85,000 people to determine impact of lifestyle on depression.” The study revealed that “physical activity, a healthy diet and getting between seven and nine hours of sleep nightly was associated with less frequency of depressed mood.” What’s more, “screen time and tobacco smoking were significantly associated with higher frequency of depression,” researchers discovered. The findings were published online Nov. 11 in the journal BMC Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Two Key Lifestyle Factors May Ward Off Depression, HealthDay, November 16, 2020

CNN (11/16, LaMotte) reports new research “comparing poor sleep among more than a million adults and children in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States found women experience more insomnia problems than men in all three countries.” What’s more, “the trend emerges during puberty, ‘suggesting sex hormones, among other social factors such as stress or parenting,’ might contribute to the development of insomnia in women,” investigators concluded after comparing “sleep studies on 1.1 million people from the US, the UK and the Netherlands.” The findings were published online in the journal Nature Human Behavior.

Related Links:

— “More women than men struggle to fall asleep in both Europe and the US, study finds “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, November 16, 2020

Healio (11/16, Gramigna) reports, “Prescription opioid use appeared to increase risk for depression,” investigators concluded in a “mendelian randomization analysis” that included data from “737,473 participants with predominantly European ancestry who were included in the population-based U.K. Biobank and Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research studies.” The findings were published online Nov. 11 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Prescription opioid use may increase depression risk “Joe Gramigna, Healio, November 16, 2020

Clinical Endocrinology News (11/12, Splete) reports, “All patients with postpartum depression should be screened for thyroid dysfunction, as postpartum thyroiditis is often missed and misdiagnosed, according to” a presentation given by Christine Kessler, CNS, ANP, at the Metabolic & Endocrine Disease Summit by Global Academy for Medical Education. Kessler explained that “postpartum thyroiditis (PPT) is ‘an inflammatory, autoimmune thyroid condition’” that “can involve high or low thyroid-stimulating hormone and may occur during the first postpartum year in women who were euthyroid prior to pregnancy.” Patients who present “with PPT in the hyperthyroid phase display symptoms including insomnia, anxiety, irritability, heat intolerance, fatigue, and palpitations, Ms. Kessler said,” and “these women ‘are often told they have postpartum depression; they aren’t sleeping well, and they feel like they are failing as a mom.’”

Related Links:

— “Don’t miss postpartum thyroiditis “Heidi Splete, Clinical Endocrinology News, November 12, 2020

The New York Times (11/12, Goldberg) reports, “The social isolation of the pandemic has taken a toll on the mental health of many Americans.” However, “the impact has been especially severe on teenagers, who rely on their friends to navigate the maze and pressures of high school life.” Dr. Gabrielle Shapiro, chair of the APA’s Council on Children, Adolescents, and Their Families, is concerned that teenagers whose parents dismiss mental health symptoms are not able to confide in teachers or school counselors during the pandemic. In response, Dr. Shapiro “recommended that schools put in place lessons to teach students how to share their emotions.”

Related Links:

— “Teens in Covid Isolation: ‘I Felt Like I Was Suffocating’ “Emma Goldberg, The New York Times, November 12, 2020

NBC News (11/12, Arkin) reports, “From the middle of March to October, the proportion of” emergency department (ED) “visits related to children’s mental health rose dramatically for school-aged children and adolescents compared to the previous year, according to” a CDC report. The report’s authors wrote that the “findings provide initial insight into children’s mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and highlight the importance of continued monitoring of children’s mental health throughout the pandemic, ensuring access to care during public health crises, and improving healthy coping strategies and resiliency among children and families.”

The Hill (11/12, Budryk) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Covid stress taking a toll on children’s mental health, CDC finds “Daniel Arkin, NBC News, November 12, 2020

The Washington Post (11/11, Fears, Achenbach, Martin) reports, “The number of new daily coronavirus cases in the United States jumped from 104,000 a week earlier to more than 145,000 on Wednesday, an all-time high.” Almost every metric “is trending in the wrong direction, prompting states to add new restrictions and hospitals to prepare for a potentially dark future.” Dave Dillon, a spokesman for the Missouri Hospital Association, said: “We’re at a fairly critical juncture.”

Related Links:

— “As coronavirus soars, hospitals hope to avoid an agonizing choice: Who gets care and who goes home “Darryl Fears, Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post, November 11, 2020

MedPage Today (11/11, Monaco) reports, “The alopecia treatment finasteride (Propecia) was tied to suicidality in male users,” investigators concluded. After examining data on some “3,200 users,” investigators found “2,926 reports of psychological adverse events – defined as cases of depression and anxiety – associated with the use of finasteride,” which “equated to a more than four times higher chance of experiencing depression and anxiety while using finasteride.” What’s more, researchers “found a 63% higher odds of experiencing suicidality…with a more than four times higher chance of experiencing suicidal ideation.” The findings were published online Nov. 11 in JAMA Dermatology.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (11/10, Rabin) reports, “People with intellectual disabilities and developmental disorders are three times more likely to die if they have Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, compared with others with the diagnosis, according to a large analysis of insurance claims data.” The analysis “included claims filed by 467,773 privately insured patients” and “was evaluated only by an academic reviewer and has not been published in a scientific journal.”

Related Links:

— “Developmental Disabilities Heighten Risk of Covid Death “Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times, November 10, 2020

HealthDay (11/10, Norton) reports, “Instead of being a safe alternative to smoking, vaping may serve as an enticing gateway to the cigarette habit for some teens,” researchers concluded in a study that “included more than 8,660 U.S. adolescents ages 12 to 17 who were surveyed between 2014 and 2016.” The study revealed that among teens “with no intention to smoke traditional cigarettes, almost 10% of e-cigarette users went on to try cigarettes, versus about 2% of other teens.” The findings were published online in the journal Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Vaping Lures Teens to Smoking: Study “Amy Norton, HealthDay, November 10, 2020