The CBS Evening News (1/28, story 9, 1:50, Glor) reported, “A new study finds lowering blood pressure could rut the risk of developing a brain disorder that can lead the Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.”

The New York Times (1/28, Belluck) reports researchers “found that people with hypertension who received intensive treatment to lower their blood pressure were less likely than those receiving standard blood pressure treatment to develop minor memory and thinking problems that often progress to dementia.” The findings were published online in JAMA.

Medscape (1/28, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports that in the 9,361-patient, “Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial Memory and Cognition in Decreased Hypertension (SPRINT MIND)” study, investigators found that “targeting systolic blood pressure (SBP) to 120 mmHg lowered the risk for” mild cognitive impairment (MCI) “by 19% compared with targeting to 140 mmHg.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (1/28, Rapaport) reports, “Children and adolescents who suffer from depression or behavior problems may be more likely to play potentially fatal ‘choking games’ to achieve a euphoric high than young people who don’t have mental health issues,” research indicated.

HealthDay (1/28, Gordon) reports that the research focused on a particular choking game, where investigators “found that nearly 10 percent of the almost 1,800 middle schoolers surveyed had tried it,” and youngsters “who had participated were about twice as likely to be depressed or to have a conduct disorder.” The findings were published online Jan. 28 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Depressed kids more likely to play choking game, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 28, 2019

Healio (1/28, Demko) reports, “The risk for death by suicide in people with autism spectrum disorder [ASD] from Utah – especially females – increased over time and was greater than in those without ASD between 2013 and 2017,” researchers concluded. The findings of the “20-year, population-based study” were published online in the journal Autism Research.

Related Links:

— “Suicide risk among people with ASD increases over 20 years in Utah, “Savannah Demko, Healio, January 28, 2019

USA Today (1/26, Brown) reported in a story focused on weighted blankets that “according to the American Psychiatric Association’s annual poll, 40 percent of Americans said they felt more anxious in 2018 than they did in 2017 – which saw a 36 percent increase over 2016.”

Related Links:

— “Weighted blankets: Here’s how the trendy bedding got so popular, “Dalvin Brown, USA Today, January 26, 2019

The NPR (1/25, Chatterjee) “Shots” blog reported, “The percentage of outpatient medical visits that led to a benzodiazepine prescription doubled from 2003 to 2015,” research indicated, with “about half” of “those prescriptions” coming “from primary care physicians.”

Medscape (1/25, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reported the study also found that “benzodiazepines are often coprescribed with opioids and other sedating medications, frequently for conditions other than anxiety and insomnia,” researchers concluded after analyzing data on “more than 386,000 ambulatory care visits from 2003 through 2015.” The findings were published online Jan. 25 in JAMA Network Open.

MD Magazine (1/25, Kunzmann) reported, “As opioids lose favor among healthcare” professionals, the study authors advised clinicians to “remain aware of the potential danger that overuse or misuse of benzodiazepines can harbor.” The study authors also “called for efforts addressing the limited use of the sedatives – whether it be in guidelines or prescription-monitoring programs – to focus on primary care.”

Current Or Recent Benzodiazepine Use May Be Associated With An Increased Risk For Pneumonia, Review Suggests . According to Healio (1/25, Demko), “current or recent benzodiazepine use was linked to an increased risk for pneumonia,” researchers concluded. The findings of the 10-study review were published online Jan. 8 in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Steep Climb In Benzodiazepine Prescribing By Primary Care Doctors, “Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, January 25, 2019

Reuters (1/27, Borter) reported some “psychiatrists say internet addiction, characterized by a loss of control over internet use and disregard for the consequences of it, affects up to eight percent of Americans and is becoming more common around the world.” But, “neither the World Health Organization (WHO) nor the American Psychiatric Association recognize internet addiction as a disorder.” In 2018, “however, the WHO recognized the more specific Gaming Disorder following years of research in China, South Korea, and Taiwan, where” experts “have called it a public health crisis.”

Related Links:

— “The digital drug: Internet addiction spawns U.S. treatment programs, “Gabriella Borter, Reuters, January 27, 2019

Reuters (1/24, Rapaport) reports that research suggests “a diagnosis with certain types of cancer can still be upsetting enough to increase a patient’s risk of suicide.” Investigators looked at “data on more than 4.6 million cancer patients, including 1,585 people who died by suicide within one year of their diagnosis.” The data indicated “this was a suicide rate about 2.5 times higher than what would be expected in the general population.” The findings were published online in the journal Cancer.

Related Links:

— “Suicide risk rises in year following cancer diagnosis, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 24, 2019

HealthDay (1/24, Reinberg) reports, “Young people jailed in adult prisons, often while awaiting trial or sentencing, are at high risk for suicide, and the prison system is doing little to stop it,” researchers concluded. The researchers “reviewed 2003-2012 data from the National Violent Death Reporting System on more than 200 suicides among jailed teens and adults in their 20s, as well as more than 9,900 suicides among youths not in jail.” The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry published the findingsonline Jan. 23.

Related Links:

— “Teens’ Odds for Suicide May Triple While in Jail: Study, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, January 24, 2019

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