US News & World Report (1/28, Miller) reports that an article published this month in ​ the journal Military Medicine examines pregnancy rates among US servicewomen. Even though oral contraceptives and “some other forms of contraception are covered by the military (women are allowed a 180-day supply prior to deployment), access can be spotty, according to a 2013 study in the journal Contraception that found one-third of the 281 active duty servicewomen surveyed couldn’t get the type of birth control they wanted before deploying, and 41 percent had trouble refilling prescriptions on duty.

It is estimated that “rates of unintended pregnancies among active duty servicewomen range between 50 percent and 62 percent – the same as the civilian population, the Military Medicine article reports.” Retired colonel and forensic psychiatrist Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, MD, MPH, “urges the military to take birth control ‘much more seriously’ by better educating service members during basic training and counseling women on long-term birth control options like IUDs.” ​

Related Links:

— “Military Fertility: It’s Complicated,” Anna Medaris Miller, US News & World Report, January 28, 2016.

HealthDay (1/28, Preidt) reports that even though “fewer Americans are smoking, the rates of psychiatric disorders among those who do – particularly more recent smokers – are on the rise,” the findings of a study published online Jan. 26 in Molecular Psychiatry suggest. After analyzing “data from 25,000 people born in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s,” researchers found that “nicotine-dependent smokers who began smoking in the 1980s were more likely than older smokers to have psychiatric conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder or antisocial personality disorder.”

Related Links:

— “Mental Disorders Increasing for Younger Smokers,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 28, 2016.

According to Reuters (1/29, Rapaport), a study published online Jan. 29 in Pediatrics reveals that women who are obese while pregnant may have nearly double the likelihood of giving birth to a child with autism. When expectant mothers are both obese and diabetic, the risk for autism in their offspring may be quadrupled. Researchers arrived at these conclusions after examining data on some 2,734 pairs of mothers and babies tracked between 1998 and 2014.

Related Links:

— “Maternal obesity, diabetes tied to increased autism risk in kids,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 29, 2016.

CNN (1/25, Grinberg) reports that the American Psychiatric Association “has called for the development and testing of better methods to identify high-risk individuals who should be denied gun access, implying that current criteria under federal law related to mental illness are inadequate to serve as a basis for gun disqualification.”

In a position statement, the APA points out that “while research shows most people diagnosed with serious mental health conditions are never violent toward others, and most violent individuals do not suffer from these major mental disorders, merely having a diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder should not be the only basis for disqualification from firearms.”

Some “common mental health conditions – including personality disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder and alcohol use disorder – tend to be associated with the risky mix of pathological anger with gun access,” the APA has found.

Related Links:

— “Gun violence not a mental health issue, experts say, pointing to ‘anger,’ suicides,” Emanuella Grinberg, CNN, January 25, 2016.

In a 2,500-word article titled “As Mass Killings Rise, How Can Sheriffs Keep Guns From Mentally Unstable?,” McClatchy (1/22, Gordon) reported, “Addressing the obstacles to keeping firearms away from mentally troubled people has emerged as an area of potential common ground among some stakeholders in the…debate over gun control.” But, “any attempt at compromises is sure to be complicated by thorny legal, ethical and political questions over how to balance mental health patients’ privacy, Americans’ Second Amendment rights…and the need to keep guns away from those posing a clear danger.”

Related Links:

— “As mass killings rise, how can sheriffs keep guns from mentally unstable?,” Greg Gordon, McClatchy, January 22, 2016.

In a nearly 1,600-word article, the Scientific American (1/25, Landhuis) reports, “Recent studies in North America, the UK and Europe suggest that dementia risk among seniors in some high-income countries has dropped steadily over the past 25 years.” Should that trend be “driven by midlife factors such as building ‘brain reserve’ and maintaining heart health, as some experts suspect, this could lend credence to staying mentally engaged and taking cholesterol-lowering drugs as preventive measures.”

Related Links:

— “Is Dementia Risk Falling?,” Esther Landhuis, Scientific American, January 25, 2016.

Karen Ranus and Greg Hansch, both of NAMI Texas, and Dennis Borel, of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities, write in the Austin (TX) American-Statesman (1/26, Subscription Publication) that “because guns are now allowed in Texas’ 10 state-run psychiatric hospitals, individuals accessing treatment for serious and persistent mental health conditions are now at higher risk for trauma and more vulnerable to suicide.” The trio says that “as advocates for individuals with mental illness and their families,” they “have grave concerns about this major policy shift, which allows the open carry of guns in areas used in the treatment and care of a highly vulnerable population in our state hospitals.”

Related Links:

— “Commentary: Open carry in state hospitals fails to protect vulnerable,” Karen Ranus, Greg Hansch, and Dennis Borel, Austin American-Statesman, January 26, 2016.

In his column in the Boston Globe (1/25), Kevin Cullen writes that last month, Rep. Joe Kennedy (D-MA) “filed a bill that would require insurers to disclose how often they deny mental health and substance abuse claims and to explain why.” Kennedy’s measure “is just one piece aimed at reforming a dysfunctional system in which we have tried to lock up rather than treat those with mental illnesses and addictions.” In the “next seven months,” Kennedy is planning “to roll out a series of reforms,” Cullen says.

Related Links:

— “Forcing the conversation on mental health,” Kevin Cullen, Boston Glone, January 25, 2016.

NPR (1/23, Wen) reported that “many young people falsely believe that…synthetic drugs provide a safe and legal alternative with the same high as illicit drugs,” even though “some synthetic cannabinoids can be up to 100 times more potent than marijuana.” In addition, “users don’t know which of thousands of chemical combinations they may be taking.” As a result, “cities across the U.S. have seen surges in” ED “visits and hospitalizations tied” to synthetic drugs.

Related Links:

— “Young People Surprised By Risky Synthetic Drugs They Considered Safe,” Leana Wen, National Public Radio, January 23, 2016.

Medscape (1/22, Davenport) reported that “the risk of depression following a diagnosis of diabetes falls during the second decade of having the disease and then rapidly rises,” investigators “have discovered, in a study that suggests there is a J-shaped relationship between the two conditions.” The researchers “found that living with diabetes initially doubles the risk of depression.” Medscape added, “Treatment and disease acceptance may then contribute to a lower likelihood of depressive symptoms, before the risk is” nearly “tripled after the third decade.” The researchers came to these conclusions after studying more than 5,400 men who were between the ages of 70 and 89.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)