History Of Violence, Recent Violent Victimization May Predict Later Injurious Violent Behavior In Individuals With Schizophrenia, Research Suggests

Healio (5/6, Demko) reports that “history of engaging in injurious violence in the six months before baseline assessment and recent violent victimization were the most powerful predictors of later injurious violent behavior in individuals with schizophrenia,” researchers concluded after examining “18-month data from 1,435 individuals with schizophrenia who participated in the NIMH’s Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) study.” The findings were published online April 24 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “History of violence, victimization predicts later violence in schizophrenia, “Savannah Demko, Healio, May 6, 2019

Division Exists Over Whether Autism Is A Medical Condition Or Represents A Neurological Difference And Disability

In “Health & Science,” the Washington Post (5/3, Opar) reported in a nearly 2,000-word article on “a deep divide in the autism community: On one side are parents of” children with autism “with severe traits – including intellectual disability, limited language ability and self-harm – who say autism is a medical condition that needs often-intense treatment.” The “other side” is made up of “supporters of ‘neurodiversity,’ who maintain that the condition represents a neurological difference and a disability – one that society should accept and accommodate rather than try to prevent or cure.”

Related Links:

— “A medical condition or just a difference? The question roils autism community, “Alisa Opar, The Washington Post, May 3, 2019

Very Few Patients At High Risk For Opioid Overdose Receive Naloxone Prescriptions, Study Suggests

Reuters (5/3, Carroll) reported that “a tiny percentage of people at high risk for opioid overdose are getting prescriptions for naloxone, a medication that could potentially save their lives, a new study” published in JAMA Network Open suggests. Specifically, “researchers determined that a mere 1.5 percent of high-risk patients were prescribed naloxone, which can reverse an overdose, according to the study.” People “were more likely to receive a naloxone prescription if they had a prior diagnosis of opioid misuse or dependence along with an overdose compared to individuals who had those diagnoses without an overdose, the researchers reported.”

U.S. News & World Report (5/3, Newman) reported that “among those who had overdosed before but did not have a misuse or dependence diagnosis, only 0.8% received naloxone.” Further, “people from the Midwest or West also had a lower likelihood of being prescribed naloxone compared with those in the Northeast and the South, according to the report.” US News & World Report added that “the time frame analyzed in the study…predates a December decision by a Food and Drug Administration advisory panel in favor of recommending that naloxone be dispensed along with prescription opioids,” and “in April 2018, the U.S. surgeon general issued an advisory calling for the prescription of naloxone to those at high risk of an opioid overdose, as well as to their friends and family members.”

Related Links:

— “Few at risk for opioid overdose get potentially life-saving naloxone, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, May 3, 2019

Association May Exist Between Severe Tinnitus And Risk For Attempted Suicide In Women, Researchers Say

HealthDay (5/2, Reinberg) reports that a “survey of 72,000 Swedish adults found that 9% of women who suffered from severe tinnitus had attempted suicide, as had 5.5% of men.” But, following data analysis, “researchers found that the association between ringing ears and risk for attempted suicide was only significant for women.” The findings were published online May 2 in a research letter in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

Related Links:

— “‘Ringing in the Ears’ May Drive Some to the Brink of Suicide, “Steven Reinberg, Steven Reinberg, May 2, 2019

Training Program May Improve Dementia Caregivers’ Anxiety, Depression, Study Suggests

Reuters (5/2, Carroll) reports a study published in Health Psychology suggests “the stresses and emotional demands of caring for family members with dementia…can be offset by training that helps caregivers focus on the positives of their experience.” Researchers who led a “randomized, controlled trial” involving 170 dementia caregivers “showed that a six-session online training program produced modest improvements in caregiver anxiety and depression,” with participants in the intervention group experiencing “a 7 percent greater drop in depression symptoms and a 9 percent greater drop in anxiety symptoms compared with the control group.”

Related Links:

— “Happiness training may ease dementia caregivers’ anxiety, depression, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, May 2, 2019

Girls Who Have Serious Or Repeated Infections In Childhood At Higher Risk For Developing Eating Disorders In Adolescence, Study Indicates

The New York Times (5/2, Bakalar) reports, “Girls who have serious or repeated infections in childhood are at higher risk for developing eating disorders in adolescence,” researchers concluded after tracking “525,643 girls – every girl born in Denmark from 1989 through 2006” – and recording “all prescriptions that were filled for antibiotics and other anti-infective medications, as well as hospitalizations for infection, through 2012. There were 4,240 diagnoses of eating disorders during that time.” The findings were published online April 24 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Anti-Infective Drugs Tied to Eating Disorders, “Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, May 2, 2019

New Naloxone Laws Aim To Prevent Opioid Overdoses

Stateline (5/1, Vestal) reports that it is “increasingly likely that someone you know has the opioid overdose rescue drug naloxone in their pocket or medicine cabinet,” and “in the last five years, at least 46 states and the District of Columbia enacted so-called good Samaritan laws, allowing private citizens to administer the overdose-reversal medication without legal liability.” But, Stateline notes, “a handful of states are going even further by requiring doctors to give or at least offer a prescription for the overdose rescue drug to patients taking high doses of opioid painkillers.”

Related Links:

— “New Naloxone Laws Seek to Prevent Opioid Overdoses, “Christine Vestal, Stateline, May 01, 2019

Misusing Loperamide For Opioid Withdrawal Can Have Serious Cardiac Risks

Recent reports show a small but growing number of people are taking very high doses of loperamide, an anti-diarrheal medication, in an attempt to self-manage opioid withdrawal or to achieve a euphoric high. At high doses, these individuals may be at risk of severe or fatal cardiac events. Learn more about identifying patients at risk of misusing loperamide at LoperamideSafety.org

Related Links:

Understanding Loperamide Abuse

FDA Now Requires Boxed Warning On Certain Prescription Sleeping Medications

Bloomberg (4/30, Cortez) reports the Food and Drug Administration will now require a boxed warning on certain prescription sleeping medications, including Ambien (zolpidem), Lunesta (eszopiclone), and Sonata (zaleplon), advising patients about the risk of serious side effects that can lead to death. The article explains that the agency “said it had found 66 examples of patients who took the drugs and engaged in dangerous activities such as sleepwalking or driving while not fully awake, including 20 deaths linked to carbon monoxide poisoning, drowning, fatal falls, hypothermia, car crashes and apparent suicide.”

CNN (4/30, Scutti) reports the boxed warning will notify “patients to possible serious or life-threatening behaviors that may result from taking these drugs.”

Related Links:

— “Sleeping-Pill Deaths Prompt FDA to Add Strict Warning for Drugs, “Michelle Cortez, Bloomberg, April 30, 2019

Suicide Deaths Increased In The 30-Day Period Following Suicide Of Robin Williams, Study Indicates

Psychiatric News (4/30) reports, “Suicide deaths increased in the 30-day period following the suicide of Robin Williams on August 11, 2014,” researchers concluded. For the study, investigators analyzed “data from the National Center for Health Statistics” and “compared U.S. daily suicides in the 30 days before and after August 11, 2014, as well as for the same periods in 2012 and 2013.” The study revealed that “suicide deaths were between 113 and 117 a day for the 30 days before Williams’ death but increased to 142 a day in the 30-day period beginning August 12.” The findings were published online April 30 in Psychiatric Services.

Related Links:

— “Suicide Deaths, Calls to Hotlines Increased Dramatically Following Robin Williams’ 2014 Suicide, Psychiatric News , April 30, 2019