In continuing coverage, CNN (9/12, Scutti) reports, “Screening mothers for depression during early well-child visits led to significantly fewer reports of depression at nine months postpartum,” researchers found after studying some 3,000 women in the Netherlands. The study revealed that only “3% of the screened mothers experienced minor or major depression at nine months postpartum, compared with 8.4% of the mothers who weren’t screened during the visits.” The findings were published online Sept. 12 in Pediatrics. Psychiatric News (9/11) also covered the story.

Related Links:

— “An easy opportunity to screen moms for postpartum depression,” Susan Scutti, CNN, September 12, 2017.

Healio (9/12, Leitenberger) reports, “More than a third of transgender high school students in California reported having suicidal thoughts in the past year, almost twice that of their cisgender peers,” researchers found after evaluating “data on more than 910,000 high school students who participated in the 2013 to 2015 California Healthy Kids Survey, and a weighted subsample of almost 36,000 students representative of the state’s student population.” The findings were published in the September issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Transgender youth nearly twice as likely to report suicidal thoughts,” Perez-Brumer A, et al., Healio, September 12, 2017.

HealthDay (9/8, Preidt) reported, “By taking folic acid around the time of conception, mothers-to-be may reduce their child’s risk of pesticide-related autism,” researchers found after examining data on “300 children aged 2 to 5 with autism and 220 without the developmental disorder.” The findings were published online Sept. 8 in Environmental Health Perspectives.

Related Links:

— “Could Folic Acid Fight a Cause of Autism?,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 8, 2017.

Reuters (9/8, Rapaport) reported, “Protecting young undocumented immigrants known as ‘dreamers’ from deportation may also help lower the risk of mental health problems for their US-born children,” researchers concluded after examining data on “5,653 mothers in Oregon born just before and after the cutoff for DACA eligibility.” The findings were published online Sept. 8 in the journal Science.

Related Links:

— “DACA tied to better mental health for children of immigrants,” Lisa Rapaprt, Reuters, September 8, 2017.

Healio (9/7, Oldt) reports, “Screening for postpartum depression in well-child care was associated with lower rates of depression and improvements in parenting, anxiety and mental health functioning when compared with usual care,” researchers concluded in a study involving some 3,089 mothers. The findings were published online Sept. 5 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Postpartum depression screening in well-child care lowers maternal depression rates,” van der Zee-van den Berg AI, et al., Healio, September 7, 2017.

Young Women With Anorexia Nervosa Who Resume Menstruation By End Of Treatment May Experience Greater Improvement In Psychological, Physiological Well-Being Than Those Who Do Not, Small Study Suggests.
Medscape (9/7, Davenport) reports, “Young women with anorexia nervosa (AN) who resume menstruation by the end of treatment experience greater improvement in both psychological and physiologic well-being than those who do not,” researchers found after studying 39 women with AN and 40 women with bulimia nervosa. The findings were presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Medscape (9/6, Jenkins) reports that researchers found “no increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease following treatment with androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) in a group of men age 67 years and older with advanced prostate cancer.” The research was published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. This “finding contrasts with recent reports suggesting that there is an increased risk for cognitive impairment in patients who receive ADT.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (9/6, Kelland) reports, “Treating young people who suffer from insomnia by using online cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) could reduce debilitating mental health problems such as anxiety and depression,” researchers concluded in a study involving some 3,755 UK university students. The findings were published online Sept. 6 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

According to MedPage Today (9/6, Bachert), the authors of an accompanying comment“noted that internet therapies are an easily available and low-cost option for insomnia which ‘might help reduce the burden of mental ill health and prevent onset of symptoms such as hallucinations and paranoia.’”

Related Links:

— “Treating insomnia can ease depression and paranoia, study finds,” Kate Kelland, Reuters, September 6, 2017.

The AP (9/5, Sharon Cohen |, Ap) reports, “Some of the most common stress-related reactions to disasters such as Harvey are anxiety, a change in appetite, insomnia and a sense of uncertainty…according to Dr. Anita Everett, president of the American Psychiatric Association.” Dr. Everett said, “It’s a little bit like a grieving process.” She added, “We sort of expect that there’s going to be waves of worry, waves of anxiety and that’s all within the normal experience.” Still, Dr. Everett “says that those who are struggling three months after a disaster and can’t work or make decisions may want to seek professional help.”

Related Links:

— “Harvey began with raging winds, but its legacy will be water,” Sharon Cohen, Associated Press via Washington Post, September 5, 2017.

The New York Times (8/31, Carroll, Frakt, Subscription Publication) reports on the likely long-term health consequences for people living in communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey, particularly its associated floods. Hurricanes and floods are associated with more than just the expected immediate death toll; such disasters frequently lead to an increase in nonlethal injuries, waterborne illnesses, communicable diseases, sanitation problems, and increase in depression rates, chronic heart and respiratory illnesses, and other health issues that lead to a higher mortality rate in flooded areas for month after the waters recede.

The Times concludes, “Everyone is understandably focused on the immediate dangers from flooding. But analysis of previous natural disasters shows that Harvey’s survivors will need attention and care far into the future.”

Related Links:

— “The Long-Term Health Consequences of Hurricane Harvey,” AARON E. CARROLL and AUSTIN FRAKT, New York Times, August 31, 2017.