The Hill (2/10, Sullivan) reports on “partisan tensions over gun control” that emerged yesterday during a meeting of the Senate Judiciary Committee while members took up a mental healthcare reform measure from Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX). Cornyn’s bill “seeks to increase treatment for” people with mental illnesses “as an alternative to imprisonment – a bipartisan goal.” Democrats, however, contend that “other sections of the bill would make it easier for” people with mental illnesses to “get guns.” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) said, “That is the opposite direction from which we should be moving.”

Related Links:

— “Gun politics stymie mental health push,” Peter Sullivan, The Hill, February 11, 2016.

HealthDay (2/10, Preidt) reports, “Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) teens who experience severe harassment can suffer from serious mental health problems,” a study published online Jan. 21 in the American Journal of Public Health suggests. After following some “250 LGBT youth in Chicago for four years,” researchers found that adolescents at highest risk for “lasting mental health problems – such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder – were those who suffered moderate harassment (such as having things thrown at them) that increased over time and those who had continuously high levels of harassment (such as physical or sexual assault)” while the study was going on.

Related Links:

— “Lasting Damage Seen in LGBT Teens Who Suffer Harassment,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 10, 2016.

According to USA Today (2/10, Szabo), a 5,200-patient study published online Feb. 10 in the New England Journal of Medicine and supported by National Institute on Aging reveals that “dementia rates fell steadily over the past four decades, most likely due to declining rates of heart disease.” The biggest decline was seen in rates of vascular dementia, “although rates of Alzheimer’s disease also fell.” The study’s findings were based on data collected from the Framingham Heart Study.

The New York Times (2/11, A14, Belluck, Subscription Publication) reports that the study “provides the strongest evidence to date that a more educated population and better cardiovascular health are contributing to a decline in new dementia cases over time, or,” at a minimum, are “helping more people stave off dementia for longer.” Both findings “suggest that the long-term cost of dementia care may not be as devastatingly expensive as policy makers had predicted.” Nevertheless, “the actual number of dementia patients will increase because” aging baby boomers are “living longer.”

Related Links:

— “Study finds dementia rates falling steadily,” Liz Szabo, USA Today, February 11, 2016.

Medscape (2/9, Brooks) reports that once again, the Food and Drug Administration is “proposing to reclassify electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) from a high-risk to a low-risk intervention,” a change which “the American Psychiatric Association (APA) is encouraging its members to support.” In a blog post, APA CEO and medical director Saul Levin, MD, MPA and APA president Renée Binder, MD, wrote, “[I]t is so important for psychiatrists to take the lead in expressing their views in regard to the role that ECT plays in clinical practice and in the treatment of major depressive disorder.” In an interview with Medscape, Dr. Binder said, “Psychiatrists are in the position of knowing about ECT, and they should provide comments on this issue.” The agency’s “draft guidance on the proposed reclassification and a link for posting comments can be accessed online” here.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

According to the Washington Post (2/9, Johnson) “Wonkblog,” a research letter published online Feb. 9 in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that “guns, drugs and motor vehicle crashes account for half of the life-expectancy gap between men in the United States and other high-income countries.” While the US spends more per person on healthcare than any other nation, life expectancy in the US “trails that of people in other high-income countries.”

The AP (2/9, Tanner) reports the findings strengthen “the argument that improving US life expectancy will require addressing premature deaths among younger ages, said Jessica Ho, a Duke University sociologist.” Ho said buttressing “gun laws, making safer cars and addressing the root causes of drug use, including income inequality, are among policies that might help.”

Bloomberg News (2/9, Tozzi) reports that “political realities make bridging the chasm between European and US laws unlikely” regarding gun violence. Nevertheless, “some American firearm deaths could be avoided by encouraging safer gun storage.” Deaths from illicit drugs and prescription medications may also “be affected by looser US practices in prescribing opioids, according to the JAMA report.”

HealthDay (2/9, Preidt) reports that under the pilot 24/7 Sobriety Program launched in South Dakota in 2005, offenders “must undergo breathalyzer tests twice a day or wear bracelets that continuously check for alcohol.” Individuals “who skip or fail the tests are immediately jailed for a short time.” The study, conducted by RAND Corp. researchers, found that “the largest reductions occurred among causes of death linked with excessive drinking.”

Related Links:

— “Three very American reasons we’re still so unhealthy,” Carolyn Y. Johnson, Washington Post, February 9, 2016.

The AP (2/10, Marcelo) reports that “organizations that work with refugees said it’s too early to assess the full scope of” Syrian “arrivals’ mental health needs.” Some “experts estimate 10 to 20 percent of incoming Syrians will have war-related psychological problems warranting treatment.” For that reason, “experts say it’s important to keep tabs on the emotional state of new arrivals, since symptoms may not appear until months or years later.” The stresses of finding employment, “adjusting to a new culture or dealing with life apart from family” may also “contribute to mental health problems, said” Bengt Arnetz, MD, PhD, MPH, “a professor at Michigan State University who has been studying trauma in Middle Eastern refugees.”

Related Links:

— “REFUGEE MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS COULD OVERWHELM, EXPERTS FEAR,” Philip Marcello, Associated Press, February 10, 2016.

Medscape (2/9, Brown) reports, “The numbers of men and women in medical school and medical residency programs are approximately equal, but the proportion of women in leadership positions in nine major clinical specialties is much lower,” research published in the March issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology suggests. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after searching “the websites of 950 academic departments of nine specialties to determine the gender of department-based leaders (chair, vice chair, and division director) and residency program directors” in the specialties of “anesthesiology, diagnostic radiology, general surgery, internal medicine, neurology, obstetrics and gynecology, pathology, pediatrics, and psychiatry.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The AP (2/8, Aney) reports that “many law enforcement officers” across the US are spending “more and more of their time dealing with people” with mental illnesses who are in a crisis situation. Now, “a growing number of police officers…have completed Crisis Intervention Training (CIT) to hone their street-counselor skills.” The “week-long course” covers the “basics of behavioral health and an array of de-escalation techniques” to help interactions “end peacefully.”

Related Links:

— “Rural police chiefs see uptick of mentally ill on streets,” Kathy Aney, Washington Times via Associated Press, February 8, 2016.

Reuters (2/8, Doyle) reports that concussion may result in a threefold increase in the long-term suicide risk in adults, the findings of a 235,000-participant study published online Feb. 8 in the Canadian Medical Association Journal suggest.

According to AFP (2/8), “the likelihood of suicide was even greater among those whose head injury was incurred on the weekend, suggesting they had hurt themselves during a recreational activity.” Overall, whether concussions were incurred on the job or during recreation, “the average time from concussion to subsequent suicide was nearly six years.”

The ABC News (2/8, Hawkins) website reports that because “each additional concussion is associated with a further increase” in the risk for suicide, the study’s lead researcher, Donald Redelmeier, MD, of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada, “said the findings emphasize that it’s important for medical” professionals “to be aware of a patient’s concussion history.” Dr. Redelmeier also “said he is hopeful that the research will encourage doctors to take a second look at patients who had a concussion, even if the concussion occurred years ago.”

Related Links:

— “Risk of suicide increases three-fold after a concussion,” Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, February 8, 2016.

The Los Angeles Times (2/8, Healy) “Science Now” blog reports that yesterday, the US Preventive Services Task Force “recommended that physicians routinely screen children between 12 and 18 for depression and have systems in place either to diagnose, treat and monitor those who screen positive or to refer them to specialists who can.” The USPSTF’s recommendations now “bring depression screening for adolescents into line with recently issued depression-screening recommendations that apply to adults.”

Reuters (2/8, Seaman) reports that the recommendations were published online Feb. 8 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

According to CNN (2/8, Storrs), the USPSTF has decided that “for children younger than 12, there is not enough evidence around which tests work and which treatments are effective to recommend that doctors screen all individuals in this age group.” For children 12 and older, the USPSTF supports “the use of antidepressant medication for treating adolescents who have depression,” in addition to cognitive behavioral therapy or a combination of CBT and medication.

Related Links:

— “Adolescents should be screened for depression too, federal panel says,” Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, February 8, 2016.