Healio (7/2) reports a study found that “higher levels of self-reported physical activity were associated with a lower risk of developing anxiety and anxiety disorders.” Researchers “searched databases, including PubMed, Embase and Web of Science, to identify prospective studies that measured the odds ratio of incident anxiety in individuals with high levels of physical activity against those with low physical activity.” The findings were published in Depression and Anxiety.

Related Links:

— “High levels of physical activity protect against anxiety-related disorders, “Alexandria Brooks, Healio, July 02, 2019

The Wall Street Journal (7/1, Chapman, Subscription Publication) reports the New York Police Department is seeking help from other departments on decreasing suicide among its officers. The article points out that six NYPD officers have died by suicide so far this year.

Related Links:

— “NYPD Turns to Other Departments for Help After Series of Suicides, ” Ben Chapman, The Wall Street Journal, July 01, 2019

Reuters (7/1, Carroll) reports, “Just like cigarettes, alcohol creates secondhand harms,” research indicated. After examining “data from two nationally representative surveys: the 2015 National Alcohol’s Harm to Others Survey, which contained information on 2,830 adults, and the 2015 National Alcohol Survey, which contained data on 7,071 adults,” investigators found that “more than one in five women and nearly one in four men experienced some harm related to someone else’s drinking.” The findings were published online June 30 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

CNN (7/1, Howard) reports that for the study, “each adult was asked whether they had experienced any of 10 different types of harm in the past 12 months caused by ‘someone who had been drinking.’” Included in the “different types of harm” were “harassment; feeling threatened or afraid; having belongings ruined; having property vandalized; being pushed, hit or assaulted; being physically harmed; being in a traffic accident; being a passenger in a vehicle with a drunk driver; having family or marital problems; and having financial trouble.” Healio (7/1, Miller) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Alcohol’s secondhand harms prevalent among U.S. women and men, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, July 01, 2019

Healio (6/28, Demko) reported, “Multimorbidity using a validated index weighted to physical functioning was linked to faster decline in global cognition and verbal memory over time among U.S. middle-aged and older adults,” research indicated. The findings of the 14,265-participant study were published online June 6 in the Journals of Gerontology Series A.

Related Links:

— “Multimorbidity accelerates cognitive decline in older adults, “Savannah Demko, Healio, June 28, 2019

HealthDay (6/28, Norton) reported, “Children exposed to opioids in the womb may have heightened risks of long-term mental and physical health issues,” researchers concluded after examining data “on more than 8,500 mothers who gave birth at Boston Medical Center between 1998 and 2016.” The study revealed that “on average…children exposed to opioids in the womb had roughly twice the risk of being diagnosed with conduct disorder, emotional disturbances or attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.” Then, “as preschoolers, those children were also more likely to show slower-than-normal physical development,” the study found. The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

MedPage Today (6/28, Hlavinka) reported that “because the issues faced by women with opioid use disorder are complex, postpartum interventions that address employment, financial security, and safe housing need to be considered in addition to pregnancy care, wrote” the author of an accompanying editorial.

Related Links:

— “Prenatal Opioid Exposure Could Bring Long-Term Harm to Kids, “Amy Norton, HealthDay , June 28, 2019

The Wall Street Journal (6/30, Reddy, Subscription Publication) reported on the safety and effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for treatment of severe depression that is resistant to treatment.

Related Links:

— “New Thinking Challenges the Stigma Around ‘Shock Therapy’, ” Sumathi Reddy, The Wall Street Journal, June 30, 2019

In a nearly 1,500-word article, the New York Times (6/27, Southall) reports that in the last five years, “an average of five New York City police officers have taken their own lives each year, according to the Police Department.” Just in the last six months, “six have died by suicide.” Research indicates that “police officers are at a higher risk of suicide than people in other jobs, a consequence of the intense stress of their work, peer pressure to keep their emotions hidden, and easy access to firearms.” In a message to 36,000 police officers given on June 14, Commissioner James P. O’Neill declared “a mental-health crisis and” directed “officers to seek help,” saying, “Accepting help is never a sign of weakness – in fact, it’s a sign of great strength.” For many police officers, however, “emotional vulnerability is incompatible with their desire to be seen as heroes.”

Related Links:

— “4 Officer Suicides in 3 Weeks: N.Y.P.D. Struggles to Dispel Mental Health Stigma, ” Ashley Southall, The New York Times, June 27, 2019

MedPage Today (6/26, Hlavinka) reports, “Certain antidepressants may function by mediating connectivity in areas of the brain associated with pain,” investigators concluded. The research, which involved MRI scans, revealed that “in a group of 66 patients on serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI) – either duloxetine (Cymbalta) or desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) – both drugs demonstrated reduced connectivity in the thalamo-cortico-periaqueductal network of the brain, also known as the ‘neurologic signature of physical pain,’ versus placebo.” The findings were published online June 24 in The Lancet Psychiatry. The authors of an accompanying editorial wrote, “[This study] promises to move the field of [functional] MRI network study forward in the prediction of treatment response.”

Meanwhile, Psychiatric News (6/26) reports, “The effectiveness of tramadol, a frequently prescribed opiate” analgesic, “may be significantly diminished when patients are also taking certain, commonly prescribed antidepressants, such as bupropion (Wellbutrin), fluoxetine (Prozac), or paroxetine (Paxil),” researchers concluded. The findings of the 152-patient study were published in the June issue of Pharmacotherapy.

Related Links:

— “The ‘Pain Network’: New Target for Antidepressants?, “Elizabeth Hlavinka, MedPage Today, June 26, 2019

HealthDay (6/26, Preidt) reports, “Suicide deaths among black females aged 13 to 19 rose 182% between 2001 and 2017, while the rate among black teen males rose 60% during that same period,” research indicated. The study also revealed that “the methods black teens used most often in suicide attempts – firearms and strangulation – are among the most lethal.” The findings were published online May 17 in the Journal of Community Health.

Related Links:

— “Suicide Rates Soaring Among Black Teens, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 26, 2019

The Wall Street Journal (6/26, Kamp, Subscription Publication) reports deaths from drug overdoses may have declined from 2017 to 2018, which would be the first year-to-year decrease since 1990. Provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that there were around 69,100 deaths from drug overdoses from November 2017 to November 2018, compared to around 72,300 death in the preceding 12-month period.

Related Links:

— “Overdose Deaths Likely to Fall for First Time Since 1990, “Jon Kamp, The Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2019