The Boston Globe (5/17, Vaznis) reports Massachusetts schools have embarked on programs to help reintroduce students who have been absent from school due to mental health issues. For example, Brooklyn High School partnered with the Brookline Community Health Center to create the Bridge for Resilient Youth in Transition program, which enables students “to catch up on schoolwork, receive some extra therapy, and ease back into the daily routine of school.” The program is housed in a two-room suite at the school. According to the article, Brookline is planning to expand the program nationwide.

Related Links:

— “Schools struggle to cope with rising mental health needs,” James Vaznis, Boston Globe, May 17, 2016.

Medical Daily (5/16, Olson) reports that the findings of a study published online May 11 in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry suggests “how a diet rich in omega-3s, which are naturally found in salmon, tuna, avocado, and seeds, influences a child’s behavior on the short and long-term basis.” The study, which involved some 290 11- and 12-year-old kids, found that children who “who had a combination of” cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and “omega-3s and an omega-3s-only intervention reported less aggression compared to the groups receiving only CBT or information on aggression.”

Related Links:

— “Omega-3 Benefits Child Brain Development, May Reduce Aggressive Behavior,” Samantha Olson, Medical Daily, May 16, 2016.

HealthDay (5/12, Thompson) reports, “People taking one of the alternative mood stabilizers were 40 percent more likely to harm themselves compared to patients on lithium,” researchers found.

According to MedPage Today (5/12, Jenkins), the findings of the 6,671-patient study published online May 11 in JAMA Psychiatry also reveal that “self-harm rates in those prescribed valproate were not higher than in those on other nonlithium maintenance therapies, contrary to the an existing… warning” by the Food and Drug Administration.

Psychiatric News (5/12) quotes the study authors, who theorized, “The lower rates of self-harm in those prescribed lithium may be due either to improved mood stabilization compared with other treatments or specific effects on impulsive aggression and risk taking.” The study authors concluded, “Self-harm, unintentional injury, and suicide are important morbidity and mortality outcomes in BPD [bipolar disorder] that appear to be amenable to modification through appropriate drug treatment.”

Related Links:

— “Lithium Beats Newer Meds for Bipolar Disorder, Study Finds,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, May 12, 2016.

USA Today (5/10, Painter) reports, “Zero-tolerance policies that kick bullies out of school are not the answer to the persistent bullying problem plaguing the nation’s classrooms, playgrounds and social media sites,” National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine experts pointed out in a new report called “Preventing Bullying Through Science, Policy, and Practice.” Instead, experts “said prevention efforts should…target entire schools and give extra attention to students at risk or already involved in bullying, including both victims and the perpetrators themselves.”

The AP (Unknown Date, Kerr) reports that “zero-tolerance policies may lead to an underreporting of bullying because suspensions are perceived as too punitive,” the report found. Instead, “programs that teach children how to get along with one another and what to do if they see kids who are being bullied, are more effective…said” Frederick Rivara, MD, MPH, chairman of the committee who wrote the report and a professor of pediatrics and epidemiology at the University of Washington. Rivara also “cautioned that bullying has lasting negative consequences and cannot be ignored.”

Related Links:

— “Report: Expelling bullies doesn’t work, but education might,” Kim Painter, USA Today, May 10, 2016.

Reuters (5/10) reports that when compared to members of the general population, former NFL players appear not to be at an increased risk for suicide, research suggests. CDC researchers arrived at this conclusion after examining the suicide rate for some 3,500 retired NFL members. The study was published online May 6 in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Ex-NFL players not at greater risk of suicide than general population: study,” Joseph Ax, Reuters, May 10, 2016.

Reuters (5/10, Rapaport) reports that medication and psychotherapy may help adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) deal with their symptoms better and improve scholastically, the findings of a 17-study review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggest. Nevertheless, the authors of the review concluded that the treatment needs of teens differ markedly from those of children who are younger. For example, certain extended-release forms of stimulant medications may be better options for teens.

Related Links:

— “Teens with ADHD have special treatment needs,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, May 10, 2016.

HealthDay (5/10, Norton) reports that in the study, participants were randomized “to either 12 weeks of meditation and other yoga practices, or 12 weeks of memory enhancement training – which taught strategies for improving forgetfulness.” While “both groups did a little better on tests of verbal memory,” participants in the “meditation group showed a bigger change, on average, in tests of visual-spatial memory – which is needed for navigating while walking or driving, or trying to recall a location.” In addition, participants in the meditation group “showed fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety.”

Related Links:

— “Meditation May Sharpen Memory,” Amy Norton, HealthDay, May 10, 2016.

US News & World Report (5/9, Leonard) reports that on Monday, the Obama Administration announced a challenge called “A Bill You Can Understand,” which seeks to provide simpler medical bills. HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell made the announcement during the Health Datapalooza conference. The article says, “An overarching goal of the contest is to come up with a better bill design that will help patients understand what they owe, what their health insurance plan covers and whether the bills they receive are accurate and complete.”

Related Links:

— “Obama Administration: Design a Better Medical Bill,” Kimberly Leonard, US News & World Report, May , 2016.

The San Diego Union-Tribune (5/9, Fikes) reports that a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that insurers and patients “could safely save many billions of dollars annually by swapping out a more expensive drug for a less expensive generic in the same class of drugs.” The researchers suggest going “beyond the common practice of substituting a generic drug for a brand-name drug with the identical active ingredient” because “in many instances, a generic with a different chemical makeup, prescribed for the same disease, could work just as well.”

STAT (5/9, Silverman) reports that consumers paid “nearly one-third of those additional costs” from prescribing brand-name drugs over generics “through out-of-pocket payments.” Researchers found that “most of the extra spending was for widely prescribed medicines, including drugs used to treat high cholesterol; schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; depression; acid reflux; and high blood pressure.”

Related Links:

— “,” Bradley J. Fikes, San Diego Union-Tribune, May 9, 2016.

Medwire News (5/9, Piper) reports, “Patients with late-life depression have an increased risk of dementia if their symptoms increase over time, whereas a single episode of depression, even if severe, does not carry a significant risk,” research suggests. The findings of the 3,325-participant study were published online April 29 in The Lancet Psychiatry. An accompanying editorial observed, “More studies of depression trajectories over a long period, with inclusion of biological measures, are necessary to understand the link between depression and dementia, in particular the underlying mechanisms.”

Related Links:

— “Depression course predicts dementia risk,” Lucy Piper, Medwire News, May 9, 2016.