Healio (1/23, Demko) reports, “Robust evidence supports a protective relationship between objectively assessed physical activity and major depression risk,” researchers concluded in a “two-sample mendelian randomization study” involving data on some 611,583 adults. The findings were published online Jan. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. The author of an accompanying editorial observed, “The data have told us – over and over – that exercise is a viable plan to minimize the burden of mental illness. The question is how we execute against this plan,” he added.

Related Links:

— “Physical activity protects against depression, “Savannah Demko, Helio, January 23, 2019

The New York Times (1/23, Sanger-Katz) reports that the number of uninsured Americans “plunged” after the ACA took effect, but that figure “inched up throughout last year,” according to a new Gallup poll. Data indicate “the uninsured rate for adults increased by 1.3 percentage points,” which means there was “an increase of more than three million people without insurance between the first quarter of 2018 and the end of the year.” According to Gallup, “this was a four-year high, although a major methodology change a year ago may make such longer-term comparisons less precise.” The article says this “trend matches other data suggesting that health coverage has been eroding under the policies of the Trump administration.”

The Wall Street Journal (1/23, Armour, Subscription Publication) reports that data show the number of uninsured adults rose to 13.7 percent during the fourth quarter of last year, from 12.4 percent in 2017, and 10.9 percent in 2016. That means there were some seven million more uninsured Americans during the fourth quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2016. The Journal says this trend provides more fodder for Democrats who contend the Trump Administration is sabotaging the ACA, and Republicans who argue that high ACA premiums are responsible for the increased loss of coverage.

Related Links:

— “After Falling Under Obama, America’s Uninsured Rate Looks to Be Rising, ” Margot Sanger-Katz, The New York Times, January 23, 2019

The New York Times (1/17, Carey) reports multiple studies indicate that “regularly using the new, high-potency cannabis may indeed be a risk for young people who are related to someone with a psychotic condition.” The Times adds that the National Institutes of Health has “launched a $300 million project that will track thousands of children from the age of 9 or 10 through adolescence, and might help clarify causation.”

Related Links:

— “Does Marijuana Use Cause Schizophrenia?, “Benedict Carey, The New York Times, January 17, 2019

The Houston Chronicle (1/17, Report) reports that a recent survey “found that misconceptions regarding postpartum depression persist, despite increased exposure and discussion in recent years.” The survey found that 30 percent of respondents “do not believe there is a difference between the ‘baby blues’ and postpartum depression, even though the two conditions are distinct.” Deepali Patni, M.D., FACOG, an OB/GYN at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, said, “Postpartum depression is a serious mood disorder,” and a diagnosis “can come as a surprise” for new mothers, who chalk up their “feelings of sadness, anxiety, and helplessness to the exhaustion of being a new mom.”

Related Links:

— “Survey: Misconceptions regarding postpartum depression persist despite increased exposure and discussion, The Houston Chronicle, January 17, 2019

On its “All Things Considered” program and in its “Shots” blog, NPR (1/16, Neighmond) reports that “even simple housework like cooking or cleaning may make a difference in brain health” as people age into their “70s and 80s.” For the study, investigators “looked at 454 older adults who were 70 or older when the research began.” Of these participants, “191 had behavioral signs of dementia and 263 did not.” Each participant was “given thinking and memory tests every year for 20 years.” After participants died, investigators examined their brains.

MedPage Today (1/16, George) reports the postmortem study revealed that “higher levels of physical activity and motor abilities were independently associated with better cognition in older adults, even when brain lesions or biomarkers linked to dementia were present.” The findings were published online Jan. 16 in Neurology. The authors of an accompanying editorial wrote, “The results of randomized trials of physical exercise suggest that exercise leads to increases in brain tissue, including in the hippocampus, where atrophy is an early and important finding in Alzheimer’s disease.” They added, “Alternatively, physical exercise itself might reduce brain pathology.”

Related Links:

— “Daily Movement — Even Household Chores — May Boost Brain Health In Elderly, “Patti Neighmond, NPR, January 16, 2019

U.S. News & World Report (1/17, Galvin) reports a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests “the share of households that have guns is the single strongest predictor of how many young people commit suicide in a state.” CDC data show that nearly 45,000 used guns to commit suicide in 2015 and 2016, and “more than 2,000 of those deaths were among people ages 10 to 19, with 42 percent of youth suicides involving guns.” According to the report, “an average of 52.5 percent of households owned guns in the 10 states with the highest youth suicide rates, while just 20 percent of households owned guns, on average, in the 10 states with the lowest youth suicide rates.” The study found that “overall, the youth suicide rate rose about 27 percent with each 10 percentage-point increase in household gun ownership.”

Editorial Warns Of Risks Associated With Dementia, Gun Ownership. A Bloomberg Opinion (1/16) editorial discusses the potential risks associated with gun ownership among older adults with age-related dementia. Bloomberg argues, “to prevent tragedy, society must take steps to keep lethal weapons away from those who put themselves or others at risk.” Bloomberg also suggests physicians discuss gun ownership with family members of patients with dementia.

Related Links:

— “Youth Suicide Rates Higher in States With More Guns, “Gaby Galvin, U.S. News & World Report, January 17, 2019

HealthDay (1/16, Preidt) reports that “the risk of suicide is more than four times higher among Americans with cancer than those without the disease,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data on 8.6 million U.S. cancer patients diagnosed with invasive cancer…between 1973 and 2014.” The findings were published online Jan. 14 in Nature Communications.

Related Links:

— “Cancer Diagnosis May Quadruple Suicide Risk, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 16, 2019

MedPage Today (1/16, Hlavinka) reports, “Risk of a second mental disorder increased sharply in the year following an individual’s initial diagnosis, and this risk continued beyond a decade,” researchers concluded in a “Danish study of nearly six million people.” The findings were published online Jan. 16 in JAMA Psychiatry.

According to Healio (1/16, Demko), the author of an accompanying editorial wrote that “these findings, along with findings from family, twin and molecular genetic studies, signify ‘an exciting time for psychiatric research, with opportunities to develop new and more successful approaches to classifying mental disorders.’”

Psychiatric News (1/16) reports that “some categories of disorders” appear to have “exceptionally strong odds of occurring together.” For instance, the study found that “compared with an individual not diagnosed with a mental disorder, an individual diagnosed with a mood disorder was 30 times more likely to be diagnosed later with a personality disorder or a developmental disorder, and 20 times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia or a substance use disorder.”

Related Links:

— “Individuals With a Mental Disorder at Increased Risk for Subsequent Diagnoses, Psychiatric News, January 16, 2019

Healio (1/15, Demko) reports, “People with and without a schizophrenia spectrum disorder showed differing patterns of neural activity during a socio-emotional task, independent of DSM diagnosis,” researchers concluded in a “multisite brain imaging study” involving “109 participants with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder and 70 healthy” controls. The findings were published online Jan. 4 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “People with, without severe mental illness may have similar social brain function, “Savannah Demko, Healio, January 15, 2019

The Christian Science Monitor (1/14, Weissmann) reports, “The global suicide rate hit its lowest point in two decades,” falling “by 38 percent since its peak in 1994, according to data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle.” But, the US “has seen its suicide rate jump 28 percent during the past two decades,” partly due to the fact that “firearms are widely accessible to Americans, and experts say the 2008 recession and the opioid epidemic have increased the number of those considering suicide.”

Related Links:

— “The global suicide rate has seen a net decline. What caused it?, “Elena Weissmann, The Christian Science Monitor, January 14, 2019