The CBS News (6/2, Kraft) website reports that a study published in the June issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience “suggests that a good night’s sleep may play an important role in helping protect the brain against memory decline associated with Alzheimer’s.” In a study involving 26 older adults who were cognitively normal, investigators “found that a deficit in deep non-REM sleep, a sleep cycle associated with memory retention, was associated with a higher risk of buildup of brain proteins which are believed to play a role in triggering Alzheimer’s disease.” In turn, that “buildup of toxic beta-amyloid proteins in the brain then leads to further sleep deprivation.”

TIME (6/2, Park) reports that “the higher amount of amyloid and the disturbed sleep were also associated with worse performance on simple paired-word memory tests, which the researchers gave the volunteers both before and after a night’s sleep.”

HealthDay (6/2) points out that the “26 mentally healthy adults ages 70 to 79” recruited for the study “underwent brain imaging to assess plaque buildup, and were asked to remember pairs of words before and after a night’s sleep.” While participants slept “overnight, researchers measured their brain waves, and the next day they conducted MRI scans during the memory testing.”

Related Links:

— “Poor sleep may contribute to Alzheimer’s disease,” Amy Craft, CBS News, June 1, 2015.

HealthDay (6/2, Dallas) reports that the results of a 900-participant study published June 1 in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention suggests that “the emotional health of cancer caregivers may affect the mental health of the loved ones they are caring for.” The study found that “when their husbands, wives or partners experience symptoms of depression, cancer survivors are more likely to develop depression themselves, say researchers at the US National Cancer Institute (NCI).”

Related Links:

— “Cancer Patient’s Health Affected by Spouse’s Mood,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, June 1, 2015.

US News & World Report (6/2, Olivero) reports that “pediatric healthcare [professionals] are playing an expanded role in screening” for postpartum depression in new mothers as “research underscores the importance of healthy mother-baby relationships to an infant’s brain development.” The American Academy of Pediatrics “recommends universal surveillance and screening of postpartum depression by pediatric care [professionals], and national health care quality measures now include maternal depression,” US News reports. Insurers are also beginning to cover for screening of postpartum depression.

Related Links:

— “How Pediatricians are Helping Moms With Postpartum Depression,” Magaly Olivero, U.S. News & World Report, June 1, 2015.

HealthDay (6/1, Preidt) reports that according to “a large review” involving 42 studies, patients in the intensive care unit “who develop delirium have a higher risk of death, longer hospital stays and are more likely to have mental impairment after leaving the hospital.” Study authors said delirium is more common in elderly patients as well as “patients with preexisting mental impairments and the terminally ill.” The study was published May 31 in the British Medcal Journal.

Related Links:

— “ICU Delirium Tied to Higher Death Risk, Study Says,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, May 31, 2015.

The KQED-TV (5/30, Dornhelm) “State of Health” blog reported that new CMS “guidelines stipulate that nursing homes are graded on the percent of their dementia patients receiving antipsychotic medications,” a grade that “becomes part of their rating on Nursing Home Compare.” Reducing antipsychotic use “requires new approaches and retraining staff.” The article cited examples of “patient-centered care, which means being attentive to the cues people give and trying to understand what is bothering them even if they can’t communicate it directly.”

Related Links:

— “Calming Dementia Patients Without Powerful Drugs,” Rachel Dornhelm, Kaiser Health News, May 29, 2015.

Noting that Medicare covers grief and loss counseling for family caregivers for up to a year following a beneficiary’s death, the Kaiser Health News (5/30, Andrews) reported that a new study “found that hospice services had only a modest impact on symptoms of depression in surviving spouses.” The study, published online in JAMA Internal Medicine last week, “examined symptoms of depression among 1,016 surviving spouses who were interviewed as part of the Health and Retirement Study, an ongoing survey of a representative sample of adults older than age 50.” More than half of spouses experienced a worsening of their depressive symptoms “following their loved one’s death, regardless of whether they used hospice, the study found.”

Related Links:

— “Medicare Pays For Spouses To Get Grief Counseling Through Hospice,” Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News, May 29, 2015.

Reuters (5/29, Rapaport) reports that the results of a 146-participant study published online April 19 in the Journals of Gerontology Series A suggest that better fitness during middle age may be linked to a healthier brain in later years. In an email, lead author Qu Tian, a gerontology researcher at the US National Institute on Aging, said, “The current findings suggest that maintaining high fitness in midlife may boost brain health on average 20 years later in adults who have not yet experienced cognitive impairment.”

Related Links:

— “Fitness in middle age linked to healthier brain in later years,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, May 28, 2015.

In continuing coverage, the Washington Post (5/29, Sun) “To Your Health” blog reports that in an NCHS Data Brief, the CDC has released results of a study suggesting that “women in every age group in the United States were more likely than men to have serious mental health problems.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after analyzing data from the National Health Insurance Survey. The report “also found that more than one-fourth of people age 65 or older who are afflicted with these mental health problems have difficulty feeding, bathing and dressing themselves,” a finding that “researchers said…was surprising.”

Related Links:

— “Report: Women are more likely to have serious mental health problems than men,” Lena H. Sun, Washington Post, May 28, 2015.

In a 5,700-word piece, the New York Times Magazine (5/31, MM35, Solomon) reports that “antenatal depression, or depression suffered during pregnancy…affects up to 15 percent of expectant women.” When the condition is severe, it poses a dilemma for women who are taking antidepressant medications, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Many women are afraid to take them for fear of harming the fetus. Untreated depression, however, has “been linked in multiple studies to miscarriage, pre-eclampsia, preterm birth, neonatal complications and smaller newborns.”

What’s more, maternal depression may “alter a newborn’s amygdala…while high levels of stress during pregnancy are associated with cognitive impairment and slowed language development.” Women should consult with their physicians on what to do. In some cases, cognitive behavioral therapy or interpersonal therapy may provide a medication-free alternative.

Related Links:

— “The Secret Sadness of Pregnancy With Depression,” Andrew Solomon, New York Times Magazine, May 28, 2015.

Kaiser Health News (5/27, Andrews) reports that while it is “clear that second opinions can help individual patients make better medical decisions, there’s little hard data showing that second opinions lead to better health results overall.” A study provided by second-opinion service Best Doctors found that more than 40% of nearly 6,800 examined second opinions “resulted in diagnostic or treatment changes.” Another study reviewing existing research “found that 10 to 62 percent of second opinions resulted in major changes to diagnoses or recommended treatments.” However, it is not clear how outcomes are changed. Hardeep Singh of the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, who co-authored both studies, said, “What is the real diagnosis at the end? The first one or the second one? Or maybe both are wrong.”

Related Links:

— “Second Opinions Often Sought But Value Is Not Yet Proven,” Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News, May 26, 2015.