Healio (9/23, Demko) reports, “Current risk prediction algorithms for cardiovascular disease that do not include severe mental illness as a predictor could be underestimating” cardiovascular disease (CVD) “risk by as much as 60%,” research indicated. The findings of the “prospective cohort study of 495,388 primary care patients aged 30 to 74 years without prior CVD (the PREDICT study)” were published online Sept. 18 in PLOS ONE.

Related Links:

— “Cardiovascular disease risk may be underestimated among mentally ill, “Savannah Demko, Healio, September 23, 2019

NBC News (9/22, Stenson) reports on its website that autism research is moving away from finding a cure and toward helping people with autism “lead healthier, happier lives.” The article says, “When autism research started to really accelerate a couple decades ago, many scientists thought finding a cure might be easier,” but autism researcher Len Abbeduto, the director of UC Davis’ MIND Institute in Sacramento, said, “I think that given the complexity and the variability of the causes and the manifestations of autism, trying to come up with a cure is probably not the right approach.”

Related Links:

— “Why the focus of autism research is shifting away from searching for a ‘cure’, “Jacqueline Stenson, NBC News, September 22, 2019

MD Magazine (9/20, Walter) reported that “sertraline (Zoloft), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI),” appears to lead “to an early reduction in anxiety symptoms commonly found in depression, long before any of the depressive symptoms are reduced,” research indicated. Included in the study were 653 patients. The findings of the “double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial” were published online Sept. 19 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Common Antidepressant More Effective for Treating Anxiety, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, September 20, 2019

The New York Times (9/20, Steinhauer) reported that Be Connected, a veteran-focused suicide prevention program, has earned “a rare – and quiet – spot of bipartisan cooperation between congressional Democrats…and the Trump administration, which has moved aggressively to try to turn around the intransigent veteran suicide rate.” The program’s philosophy is based on an “increasing awareness that suicidal veterans often are best reached through members of their own community, and not the federal government.” Its goal “is to intervene on ‘the myriad issues that service members and their families struggle with’ before they ‘lead to crisis,’” according to Thomas Winkel, director of the Arizona Coalition for Military Families, which operates the program. The Times explains that “by identifying veterans who have the kinds of struggles that often lead to suicide, the program can connect them with the services they need while they still can be helped.”

Related Links:

— “Program to Prevent Suicide by Veterans Earns Bipartisan Support, “Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times, September 20, 2019

The New York Times (9/20, Sohn) reported that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “can affect both children and adults, but it has increasingly become a common condition of childhood.” Even though “the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t recommend giving children a diagnosis of” AD/HD “until after age four, one study found that nearly half of the 237,000 two-to-five-year-olds who had an” AD/HD “diagnosis in 2011 and 2012 were diagnosed before age four.” Medications to treat the condition, particularly “short-acting amphetamines…have been approved for children as young as three,” and “liquid, dissolvable and chewable formulations of methylphenidate” are now “available for little kids who can’t yet swallow” tablets. But, “with concerns over – and a lack of data about – how such medications might affect young brains in the long term, some researchers are trying to spread the word about other, nonmedication options, such as behavior therapies and training programs for parents of preschoolers with the condition.”

Related Links:

— “Your Toddler Has A.D.H.D. Should You Medicate?, “Emily Sohn, The New York Times, September 20, 2019

Psychiatry Advisor (9/19, Rans) reports, a study suggests “linkage to an office‐based buprenorphine treatment program following discharge from a short-term managed detoxification program was associated with reduced rates of illicit opioid use in patients with opioid use disorder.” The findings from the randomized trial published in Addiction showed “that patients in the short-term detoxification program had significantly reduced rates of illicit opioid use at follow-up on day 12,” 35, 95, and 185.

Related Links:

— “Post-Detoxification Primary Care Treatment Linked to Reduced Illicit Opioid Use, “Caleb Rans, Psychiatry Advisor, September 19, 2019

Reuters (9/18, Rapaport) reports, “Treating kids’ behavior problems might have the additional benefit of reducing their risk of insomnia as adults,” researchers concluded after following “8,050 people over more than four decades, assessing behavior problems at ages 5, 10 and 16, then administering sleep surveys when participants were 42 years old.” The study revealed that children “with severe behavior issues were 39 percent more likely to have insomnia by the time they were adults than children who had normal behavior.” The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Childhood behavior problems linked to insomnia in adulthood, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuter, September 18, 2019

Medscape (9/18, Brauser, Subscription Publication) reports, “Parental incarceration is associated with a significantly increased risk of mental illness in offspring that can start in childhood and extend into adulthood,” research indicated. In the study, which involved “more than 1400 participants,” investigators found that “children of incarcerated parents were twice as likely to have a childhood diagnosis of depression,” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, “and conduct disorder compared with their counterparts whose parents did not serve jail time.” The findings were published online Aug. 23 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (9/17) reports that “obesity treatment in youth is not associated with an increased risk of depression or anxiety; rather, the analysis points to the mental health benefits of such programs for this population.” The findings of the 44-study meta-analysis were published online Sept. 16 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Meta-Analysis Highlights Potential Mental Health Benefits of Obesity Treatment for Youth, Psychiatric News, September 17, 2019

HealthDay (9/17, Preidt) reports a study of over 2,000 women who underwent hysterectomies but did not undergo removal of the ovaries “found they had about a 7% increased risk of depression and a 5% increased risk of anxiety over 30 years.” Women who were between 18 and 35 at the time of the procedure “had the highest (12%) risk of depression, according to the study,” published in Menopause.

Related Links:

— “Hysterectomy Tied to Depression, Anxiety, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 17, 2019