HealthDay (2/4, Preidt) reports that research published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests “depression increases the risk of heart disease and stroke in older adults.” Investigators studied “more than 7,300 seniors in France with no history of heart disease, stroke or dementia at the start of the study period” who “were assessed again two, four and seven years later.”

Neurology Advisor (2/4, Stiles) reports that the investigators “found that adults 65 years and older who had high levels of depression on one, two, three, or four occasions had 15%, 32%, 52%, and 75% greater risk, respectively, of experiencing heart disease or stroke during the 10 years of the study.

Related Links:

— “Depression May Boost Seniors’ Risk for Heart Disease, Stroke,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 4, 2016.

HealthDay (2/3, Norton) reports that a meta-analysis published online Jan. 19 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society reviewed 16 prior studies and “found that seniors tended to show poorer health after they stopped driving – particularly in terms of depression.”

In addition to being twice as likely to experience depression after they stop driving, the review found that individuals “who gave up driving were also more likely to die over the next three to five years…even when researchers accounted for people’s initial health and mental sharpness.”

The study’s authors emphasized the need to balance “on a case-by-case basis” the physical and mental benefits that senior citizens receive from driving with the need to discourage driving by those who cannot do so safely.

Related Links:

— “When Seniors Stop Driving, Poorer Health May Be a Passenger,” Amy Norton, HealthDay, February 3, 2016.

Reuters (2/3, Seaman) reports that depression in a parent appears to negatively affect how youngsters perform in school, the findings of a study involving some 1.1 million Swedish children suggest. The findings were published online Feb. 3 in JAMA Psychiatry. An accompanying editorial explains that by treating mothers for depression, problems in their children can be reduced.

TIME (2/3, Gorman) reports that even though all youngsters “were affected by their parents’ diagnoses, maternal depression had a larger negative effect than paternal, and the link to poor performance was strongest among female children.”

Related Links:

— “Parents’ depression may affect kids’ school performance,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, February 3, 2016.

USA Today (2/2, Szabo) reports, “Women of childbearing age should avoid alcohol unless they’re using contraception, federal health officials said” yesterday. “‘Alcohol can permanently harm a developing baby before a woman knows she is pregnant,’ said Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Schuchat pointed out, “About half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, and even if planned, most women won’t know they are pregnant for the first month or so, when they might still be drinking.”

The Washington Post (2/2, Izadi) reports in “Health & Science” that “an estimated 3.3 million women who drink are sexually active but not on birth control, according to a CDC report released” yesterday. In addition, “three out of four women who want to get pregnant don’t stop drinking alcohol when they stop using” contraception. The agency “warns that consuming alcohol during pregnancy can lead to fetal alcohol spectrum disorders,” and “there is no known amount of alcohol that’s safe to consume while pregnant.”

Related Links:

— “CDC: Young women should avoid alcohol unless using birth control,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, February 3, 2016.

USA Today (2/2, Kelly) reports that the House on Tuesday failed to override President Obama’s veto of legislation that would have repealed large parts of the Affordable Care Act and defunded Planned Parenthood. The 241-186 vote “fell short of the two-thirds needed, ensuring that the Affordable Care Act will remain in place at least through the final year of Obama’s term.” House Republicans expected to lose the override vote, “but they are hoping to use the issue to convince voters to elect a GOP president to help them overturn the 2010 heath care law in the next Congress.”

The AP (2/2, Fram) says the near party-line vote was “solely an exercise in election-year political messaging.” House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) told reporters, “What we’re proving today is if we have a Republican president next year, we will repeal Obamacare.” Ryan added that the GOP will offer an ACA replacement plan this year that will lower costs and “restore the doctor-patient relationship.”

Related Links:

— “House fails to override president’s veto of Obamacare repeal,” Erin Kelly, USA Today, February 3, 2016.

Reuters (2/3, Doyle) reports that seafood consumption appears to be tied to reduced Alzheimer’s pathology in carriers of the APOE4 allele, according to an autopsy study published online Feb. 2 in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Interestingly, even though seniors who consumed the most seafood had elevated levels of mercury in their brain, they appeared not to have suffered any adverse effects from it.

Related Links:

— “Eating fish may benefit older adults at risk for dementia,” Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, February 2, 2016.

HealthDay (2/1, Reinberg) reports, “Declining weight from middle-age years to late life may be a sign of impending dementia,” a study published online Feb. 1 in JAMA Neurology suggests. After analyzing “data on almost 1,900 men and women 70 and older who took part in the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging,” researchers found that “people who lose weight over decades appear to have an increased risk for losing memory and thinking skills – called mild cognitive impairment [MCI] – which can lead to dementia.”

Investigators concluded that “a loss of 11 pounds every 10 years may indicate as much as a 24 percent higher risk for loss of mental ability.”

According to Medical Daily (2/1, Cara), several theories may explain the link between weight loss and the risk for dementia. Perhaps weight loss is “an early warning symptom of MCI/dementia, since it’s already known that a loss of appetite is often seen in the elderly, particularly the more frail they are.”

Another theory is that “psychological conditions like depression may also increase the risk of weight loss and MCI simultaneously.” It could also be that “the same protein deposits that accumulate in the brain and can lead to dementia can also interfere with a person’s sense of smell, which in turn reduces calorie intake.”

Related Links:

— “Weight Loss Starting at Midlife Tied to Later Dementia Risk in Study,” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, February 1, 2016.

According to Reuters (2/1, Rapaport), a study published online Feb. 1 in JAMA Pediatrics suggests that many adolescents who receive a diagnosis of depression may not be getting proper follow-up assessment, therapy or medication.

HealthDay (2/1, Preidt) reports that after tracking “the care of more than 4,600 teens with depression symptoms,” researchers found that “36 percent of the teens received no treatment at all within three months of their diagnosis, and more than two-thirds (68 percent) did not have any follow-up assessment.” In addition, “40 percent of those teens who were prescribed antidepressants did not undergo documented follow-up care, the researchers reported.”

Related Links:

— “Many depressed teens don’t get needed treatment,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, February 1, 2016.

The New York Times (2/1, A12, Carey, Subscription Publication) reported, “A new approach to treating early schizophrenia, which includes family counseling, results in improvements in quality of life [QoL] that make it worth the added expense,” a study published online Jan. 31 in Schizophrenia Bulletin suggests. The study “included 183 people who received typical care and 223 who got…more comprehensive services.” The study, a cost analysis based on the National Institute of Mental Health’s RAISE (Recovery After Initial Schizophrenia Episode) trial data, “was an important test of the new care program’s value.”

The study concluded that “coordinated specialty care for young people with first-episode psychosis may be more cost-effective than typical community care,” Psychiatric News (2/2) reports. In fact, “when converted to monetized Quality Adjusted Life Years…benefits exceeded costs, especially at future generic drug prices.”

Related Links:

— “New Plan to Treat Schizophrenia Is Worth Added Cost, Study Says,” Benedict Carey, New York Times, February 1, 2016.

The Washington Post (1/31, Nutt) “Health & Science” blog reported that loneliness “is increasingly seen today as a serious public health hazard.” Researchers are finding that “social isolation changes the human genome in profound, long-lasting ways,” resulting in damage “comparable to the injuries to health from smoking and, even worse, from diabetes and obesity.”

Related Links:

— “Loneliness grows from individual ache to public health hazard,” Amy Ellis Nutt, Washington Post, January 31, 2016.