Reuters (12/29) reported that women who smoke during pregnancy may increase their children’s risk for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, according to a review of medical studies published in Pediatrics. The review found that mothers who did smoke while pregnant “had an overall 60 percent higher risk of having a child with AD/HD compared to women who didn’t smoke,” with even higher rates for heavy smokers.

Related Links:

— “Cigarette smoking during pregnancy linked to ADHD risk in offspring,” Cheryl Pleitzman Weinstock, Reuters, December 29, 2017.

Reuters (1/2, Crist) reports that according to a study published online in the journal Neurology, “teens exposed to traumatic or terror events may have a higher risk for weekly and daily migraines.” The study followed 213 survivors of a 2011 terrorist attack. The researchers examined “recurrent migraines and tension-type headaches” among the group, ages 13 to 20, and “found the terror attack survivors reported many recurring tension-type headaches and migraines.” Additionally, they noted that “female survivors reported three times more weekly or daily headaches than similar young women in the general population in Norway.”

Related Links:

— “Traumatic events increase headaches and migraines,” Carolyn Crist, Reuters, January 2, 2018.

CNBC (1/2, LaVito) reports that a study published in JAMA Pediatrics finds that “any use of e-cigarettes, hookah, non-cigarette combustible tobacco or smokeless tobacco in one year doubled the chance that youths smoked cigarettes the following year.” The study’s results “were adjusted for factors like sociodemographic and environmental smoking risk.” Researchers add that using “multiple products further increased the odds.”

Related Links:

— “Teens who try tobacco products that aren’t cigarettes are twice as likely to try cigs a year later,” Angelica LaVito, CNBC, January 2, 2018.

Healio (10/11, Oldt) reports, “Patients recently discharged from acute psychiatric care were more likely to exhibit violent behaviors if they reported continued cannabis use,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from the MacArthur Risk Assessment Study for 1,136 psychiatric patients recently discharged.” The findings were published online Sept. 21 in Frontiers in Psychiatry: Forensic Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Persistent cannabis use linked to violence in mental health,” Dugré JR, et al., Healio, October 11, 2017.

HealthDay (10/11, Preidt) reports, “Talk therapy may help relieve menopause-related sleep problems and depression, [according to] a new study” that was scheduled to be presented at the North American Menopause Society’s annual meeting. Patients who underwent “four cognitive behavioral therapy sessions targeting insomnia and hot flashes in a small group of menopausal women…had improvements in sleep and depression, and the results were similar regardless of depression severity.” According to HealthDay, “a small group” of women took part in the study.

Related Links:

— “Talk Therapy May Help Menopause Woes,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 11, 2017.

Healio (10/10, Oldt) reports, “Treatment responses to citalopram were comparable among older and younger adults with major depressive disorder [MDD],” researchers concluded after analyzing data on some “2,280 nonpsychotic adults, of whom 106 were older adults, with DSM-4-TR-defined MDD.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Citalopram similarly effective for depression in older, younger adults,” Steiner AJ, et al., Healio, October 10, 2017.

U.S. News & World Report (10/11) reports many older adults struggle to receive mental healthcare services because of factors such as being “hindered by modern culture perpetuating the stigmas and misconceptions of ageism and mental health issues; social isolation; high health care costs; and a dwindling supply of geriatric caregivers for America’s growing older population.” The article says HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and Health Resources and Services Administration are working to expand access to mental healthcare at the primary care setting.

Related Links:

— “A Look Into Older Adults’ State of Mind,” Katelyn Newman, U.S. News & World Report, October 11, 2017.

The New York Times (10/11, Denizet-Lewis, Subscription Publication) examines severe anxiety among teens in a 7,600-word article. The piece profiles teens who have struggled with severe anxiety and their treatment, such as medications, hospitalizations, and residential treatment facilities. The article mentions that “anxiety is the most common mental-health disorder in the United States, affecting nearly one-third of both adolescents and adults, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.” The piece also discusses current research and studies on anxiety.

Related Links:

— “Why Are More American Teenagers Than Ever Suffering From Severe Anxiety?,” BENOIT DENIZET-LEWIS, New York Times, October 11, 2017.

USA Today (10/10, May, Rossman) reports, “World Mental Health Day, Oct. 10, is a day to combat the stigma that mental health struggles aren’t real.”

Healio (10/10) reports that World Mental Health Day was observed on Oct. 10. In 2015, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, “an estimated 43.4 million adults aged 18 or older in the US experienced any mental illness within the past year.” What’s more, “serious mental illness occurred among an estimated 9.8 million adults in the US in 2015, representing 4% of all US adults.”

Related Links:

— “World Mental Health Day: People who got real about mental health,” Ashley May and Sean Rossman, USA Today, October 10, 2017.

Reuters (10/6, Crist) reports that children in elementary school, particularly those between ages eight and 10 “with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial anomalies may struggle more than older kids with anger, anxiety, depression and stress,” researchers found after surveying “99 patients at the UCLA Craniofacial Clinic ranging in age from 8 to 17 years.” The findings were published online Oct. 1 in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety, depression greatest in younger kids with facial birth defects,” Carolyn Crist, Reuters, October 6, 2017.