Reuters (10/11, Lehman) reports on a study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice finding, “Women who have asthma during their pregnancies are more likely to experience postpartum depression.” The study included “the health histories of more than 35,000 pregnant women with asthma and almost 200,000 women without asthma who delivered babies in Quebec between 1998 and 2009.”

Related Links:

— “Asthma during pregnancy tied to postpartum depression risk, “Shereen Lehman, Reuters, October 11, 2018.

Newsweek (10/10, Gander) reports that researchers “have found a link between” atrial fibrillation “and the risk of developing dementia.” The findings were published in Neurology.

Reuters (10/10, Carroll) reports that the investigators “found that atrial fibrillation raises the overall risk of developing dementia by 40 percent and the risk of vascular and mixed dementias by nearly 90 percent.” However, people with atrial fibrillation “who got anti-clotting drugs were 60 percent less likely than those who didn’t get the drugs to develop dementia.”

Related Links:

— “Irregular heart beat tied to increased risk for dementia, “Linda Carroll, Reuter, October 10, 2018.

USA Today (10/5, O’Donnell) reported, “Medical professionals and researchers have long” examined how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) affect “lifelong mental health and addiction.” Currently, “awareness is growing of the link between childhood trauma on long-term physical health.” In fact, “the more ACEs a person suffers as a child – divorce, domestic violence, family members with addiction – the higher the risk of problems later in learning, mental and physical health, even early death.” Individuals “with ACEs are more likely to experience ‘toxic stress’ – repeated, extreme activation of their stress response.”

Related Links:

— “‘Toxic stress’ on children can harm their lifelong learning, mental and physical health, “Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, October 5, 2018.

MD Magazine (10/8, Bahrenburg) reports, “In the treatment of schizophrenia, second generation antipsychotic medications are significantly less likely to cause tardive dyskinesia…than first generation antipsychotics,” researchers concluded in a meta-analysis, the findings of which were published online Sept. 7 in the journal World Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Reduced Risk of Tardive Dyskinesia with 2nd-Generation Antipsychotics Re-Established, “Caitlyn Bahrenburg, MD Magazine, October 8, 2018.

Modern Healthcare (10/5, Johnson, Subscription Publication) reported that a decade after the “landmark” Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act was passed, some “advocates contend access to care for millions remains elusive.” Modern Healthcare said the problems stem from “a lack of consistency in the oversight and enforcement on the part of federal and state regulators to get insurers to comply with existing parity laws.” A report this week from ParityTrack found that 43 states had low marks in mental health parity.

Related Links:

— “Mental health parity remains a challenge 10 years after landmark law, “Steven Ross Johnson, Modern Healthcare, October 5, 2018.

Healio (10/8) reports, “First-time mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy during the seasons with shorter daylight hours were at greater risk for postpartum depression,” researchers concluded. The findings of the 279-woman study were published online Sept. 27 in the Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Fewer daylight hours in late pregnancy linked to depression, Healio, October 8, 2018.

Reuters (10/8, Carroll) reports, “LGBT adolescents are more likely than other kids their age to try to kill themselves,” research indicated. In fact, “data pooled from 35 earlier studies show that sexual minority youth were more than three times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers,” the meta-analysis found, with “transsexual youth” being “at highest risk, nearly six times as likely to attempt suicide as heterosexual peers.” The findings were published online Oct. 8 in JAMA Pediatrics. MedPage Today (10/8, Hlavinka) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “LGBT youth at higher risk for suicide attempts, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, October 8, 2018.

Congressional Quarterly (10/4, Williams, Subscription Publication) reports “opioid use among Medicare patients has fallen by 18 percent in recent years but remains widespread.” Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) experts reviewed data “showing nearly one in three enrollees in the government health program filled at least one opioid prescription in 2016.” Rachel Schmidt, a principal policy analyst for MedPAC, said, “Even though it’s cut back some, it’s still a lot of people.” The commission sees a need for better opioid tracking at hospitals and is expected to final recommendations due to Congress in March.

Related Links:

— “Congressional Quarterly, Subscription Publication, October 4, 2018.

Oncology Nurse Advisor (10/2, Garbutt) reports on a study presented at 2018 ASCO Quality Care Symposium in Phoenix, Arizona, finding that integrating “mental health professionals into the cancer care team can improve recognition and management of delirium in cancer patients.” For the study at the Cleveland Clinic, “psychiatrists, psychologists, and clinical social workers accompanied caregivers on multidisciplinary rounds to facilitate discussions about delirium and its management.” The findings appear in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Related Links:

— “Integrating Mental Health Into Multidisciplinary Oncology Care Improves Inpatient Care, “Tiffany Garbutt, PhD, Oncology Nurse Advisor, October 02, 2018.

Marc Siegel MD, professor of medicine and medical director of Doctor Radio at NYU Langone Health writes in an op-ed for The Hill (10/1) to discuss the rising suicide rates in the US, saying “the numbers are not subtle.” A report by the CDC found that “between 1999 and 2016 suicide rates increased in almost all states, with a greater than 30 percent increase in 25 states.” CDC’s Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control Dev Houry says research “demonstrates that many factors contribute to suicide beyond mental health conditions alone,” adding that “overdose misuse associated with the opioid overdose epidemic could be driving the suicide rate higher.” Siegel adds that “research has shown that talking about suicide not only doesn’t cause it to occur, but can also help prevent it, by breaking through an individual’s isolation and decreasing associated stigma.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide rates are rising across the US and the numbers are not subtle, “Dr. Marc Siegel, The Hill, October 01, 2018.