HealthDay (3/23, Mozes) reports that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants appear not “to raise the risk for heart trouble among young and middle-age patients,” the findings of a 238,963-patient study published online March 22 in the BMJ suggest. After examining data on “different types of antidepressants, as well as dosage and duration,” researchers “concluded there was ‘no significant association’ between SSRIs and an increased risk for heart attack, stroke or an irregular heartbeat.”

Related Links:

— “Study Finds No Heart Risk From SSRI Antidepressants,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, March 23, 2016.

Newsweek (3/23, Main) reports new research revealed that those “who smoke marijuana on a regular basis for years and those who are dependent on it are significantly more likely to have economic and social problems at midlife than those who use it only occasionally or not at all.” Researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,000 people in New Zealand who were interviewed regularly from birth to age 38. The findings were published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.

Related Links:

— “REGULAR MARIJUANA USE LINKED TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS,” Douglas Main, Newsweek, March 23, 2016.

HealthDay (3/23, Preidt) reports that research suggests individuals “who develop depression after being diagnosed with heart disease may be more likely to have a heart attack or die than those without depression.” Researchers looked at data on approximately “23,000 heart patients in…Ontario who were diagnosed with heart disease.” The investigators found that over “an average follow-up of three years, those with depression were 83 percent more likely die of any cause and 36 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those without depression.” The research was scheduled to be presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting.

Related Links:

— “Depression Tied to Worse Outcomes for Heart Patients,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 23, 2016.

Medscape (3/17, Harrison) reports that researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are “sounding the alarm over a possible increase in unknown cognitive and behavioral harms that widespread cannabis use may unmask.” A clinical review conducted by NIDA Director Nora Volkow, MD, revealed that “as legalization of” cannabis “for recreational and medical use spreads, vulnerable populations, especially adolescents, are exposed to toxic effects of the drug.” Dr. Volkow “explained that young brains are engaged in a protracted period of ‘brain programming,’ in which everything an adolescent does or is exposed to can affect the final architecture and network connectivity of the brain.” The findings were published in the March issue of JAMA Psychiatry.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (3/21, Seaman) reports that the percentage of US seniors taking at least five supplements or medications has risen, research published online March 21 in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests. With this rise comes an increase in the number of serious and major medication interactions, the study revealed.

The CBS News (3/21, Vernon) website reports that 47 percent of “Americans age 75 and older took five or more prescription drugs in 2011, nearly double the 24 percent that did so in 1999, just 12 years earlier.” For people in the age range of 65 to 74, the percentage is comparable at 33 percent for 2011 and 23 percent in 1999.

Related Links:

— “Older Americans taking more medications,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, March 21, 2016.

Medscape (3/21, Davenport) reports, “Psychiatry is facing an ongoing crisis because pharmaceutical companies are not investing in” research into new psychiatric medications, “warned an investigator who has turned to nonpsychiatric” medicines “in a bid to find optimally effective treatments for his patients with mental illness.” At the European Psychiatric Association’s 24th Congress, Dominik Wincewicz, MD, of Poland’s Medical University of Bialystok suggested that “researchers…look beyond psychiatry into other specialties, such as cardiology, where already approved drugs have shown benefits in managing stress and cognitive impairment.”

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The AP (3/22, Finley) reports that some veterans are “increasingly using cannabis” to manage their post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) “even though it remains illegal in most states and is unapproved by the Department of Veterans Affairs because major studies have yet to show it is effective against PTSD.” Even though studies have “been contradictory and limited, some former members of the military say pot helps them manage their anxiety, insomnia and nightmares.”

Related Links:

— “VETERANS ARE USING POT TO EASE PTSD, DESPITE SCANT RESEARCH,” Ben Finlay, Associated Press, March 22, 2016.

Reuters (3/21, Seaman) reports that young transgender women appear to have an increased likelihood of mental health issues, including addiction or depression, the findings of a 300-patient study published online March 21 in JAMA Pediatrics suggest.

HealthDay (3/21, Mozes) points out that “mental health and substance abuse issues are roughly two to four times greater among these transgender women than among the US population at large,” the study found.

According to MedPage Today (3/21, Walker), an accompanying editorial observed, “Timely and appropriate care for transgender adolescents and young adults is imperative to help them achieve health and wellness.” The study received financial support from the National Institute of Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Depression, addiction common among young transgender women,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, March 21, 2016.

The Huffington Post (3/18, Holmes) reported that investigators “from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed answers from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health and found that one in seven children experiences a psychological disorder.” The study data, “based on more than 35,000 children ages two to eight,” examined “parents’ responses about their child’s language problems, learning disabilities, reported” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, “anxiety, depression and more.”

Related Links:

— “An Astonishing Number Of Kids Have Psychological Disorders,” Lindsay Holmes, Huffington Post, March 18, 2016.

MedPage Today (3/17, Jackson) reports, “Older adults who are severely depressed and getting worse over time may be at higher risk of developing dementia,” the findings of a 2,488-participant study published online March 16 in JAMA Psychiatry suggest. The study, which received support from the National Institute on Aging, the National Institute for Nursing Research, and the National Institute of Mental Health, among others, revealed that “a high and increasing depressive symptom trajectory was associated with significantly increased risk of dementia.” While “moderate and increasing symptom trajectory was not associated with increased risk of dementia,” it “may be related to underlying neurodegenerative disease, researchers reported.”

Related Links:

— “Worsening Depression Tied to Dementia Risk,” Kay Jackson, MedPage Today, March 17, 2016.