HealthDay (6/18, Preidt) reports that research suggests that individuals “who have a relative with Tourette syndrome or a tic disorder are at increased risk for the same condition.” The study suggests that “the highest risk is among first-degree relatives, such as siblings, parents and children.” Investigators came to these conclusions after analyzing “data from more than 4,800 people in Sweden diagnosed with Tourette syndrome and chronic tic disorder between 1969 and 2009.”

Related Links:

— “Tourette Risk Seems to Be Driven by Genetics,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 17, 2015.

The Congressional Quarterly (6/17, Attias, Subscription Publication) reports that the “revised version” of HR 2646, “a wide-reaching mental health bill by Rep. Tim Murphy [R-PA], appears to have picked up the tentative support of” Mental Health America, “a group that endorsed a rival measure last year, but Democrats still have concerns about Murphy’s effort.” For example, at yesterday’s Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing, “some witnesses and panel Democrats aired concerns…including how the bill addresses a protection and advocacy program and court-ordered treatment for certain individuals with serious mental illness in a community.” At the hearing, “subcommittee Chairman Joe Pitts, R-Pa., said the panel would act on the legislation.”

Related Links:

— Congressional quarterly (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (6/16, Norton) reports that research indicates that an increasing “number of US kids are landing in the” emergency department (ED) due to “self-inflicted injuries.” Investigators found that “between 2009 and 2012, self-injuries accounted for a rising percentage of children’s” ED “trips – increasing from 1.1 percent to 1.6 percent of all visits.” The researchers came to these conclusions after looking at information from a national database. The findings were published online June 15 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “U.S. Hospitals Seeing More Kids With Self-Inflicted Injuries,” Amy Norton, HealthDay, June 15, 2015.

In continuing coverage, Forbes (6/16) contributor Todd Essig writes that in a study published online in the American Journal of Public Health, investigators from the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Institutes of Health described the development of “a ‘big data’ algorithm allowing clinicians to more reliably identify those at increased risk for suicide.” Commenting on predictive modeling as a tool for identifying people at high risk for suicide, National Institute of Mental Health Director Thomas Insel, MD, said, “It’s particularly encouraging that these analyses use the types of data available to any large health care system.” He added, “These methods could help us prevent civilian as well as veteran suicides.”

Related Links:

— “How ‘Big Data’ Can, And Can’t, Prevent Suicide,” Todd Essig, Forbes, June 15, 2015.

Scott Pelley reported on the CBS Evening News (6/15, story 6, 2:45, Pelley) that the VA estimates that 22 of the two million American veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan “die each day by their own hand.” Correspondent Chip Reid added that two veterans have “launched an Instagram suicide prevention network” which encourages veterans “who are having suicidal thoughts to call them, any time, day or night.”

Related Links:

— “VIDEO: Veterans launch Instagram page to prevent suicide,” Scott Pelley, CBS News, June 15, 2015.

The New York Times (6/16, A14, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports, “Marijuana use did not increase among teenagers in the states in which medical marijuana has become legal,” according to a study published online June 16 in The Lancet Psychiatry. The study, which “covered a 24-year period and was based on surveys of more than one million adolescents in 48 states,” reveals, however, that “states that had legalized medical use had higher prevailing rates of teenage marijuana use before enacting the laws, compared with states where the drug remains illegal.”

Related Links:

— “Medical Use of Marijuana Doesn’t Increase Youths’ Use, Study Finds,” Benedict Carey, New York Times, June 15, 2015.

The Los Angeles Times (6/13, Dayton) reported that “exercise, mental health,” and “nutrition…can affect how someone lives during and after cancer treatment.” The article looks into how each of these three things can impact individuals with cancer.

In a related article, the Los Angeles Times (6/13, Dayton) reported that “some factors that improve quality of life may also increase survival.” The Times added that “managing symptoms and decreasing impairments that come from cancer treatment is closely linked with psychological well-being, says Dr. Julie Silver…creator of Survivorship Training and Rehabilitation, or STAR, a certification program that assists hospitals in developing cancer rehabilitation programs.”

Related Links:

— “Battling cancer with exercise, nutrition and mental health,” Lily Dayton, Los Angeles Times, June 12, 2015.

The Los Angeles Times (6/12, Khan) reports in “Science Now” that “poison center calls linked to synthetic cannabinoids have spiked roughly fourfold in just the first few months of 2015, according to a report from the” CDC published in the June 12 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The data compiled by the CDC reveal that “between January and May 2015, poison centers received 3,572 calls linked to synthetic cannabinoid use – a 229% jump over the 1,085 calls received during the same period in 2014.” Ages of the user ranged from seven months to 72 years, with a median age of 26. The authors of the report conclude that the sudden spike demonstrates the need for stricter regulation.

Related Links:

— “Increase in poisoning reveals dangers of ‘synthetic marijuana,’ CDC says,” Amina Khan, Los Angeles Times, June 11, 2015.

Health Day (6/12, Mozes) reports, “Close to one in 10 American men suffers from depression or anxiety, but fewer than half get treatment,” according to survey results published June 11 in an NCHS Data Brief, a publication of the CDC. The US-wide survey “of more than 21,000 men also found that among younger males, blacks and Hispanics are less likely than whites to report mental health symptoms.” Stephen J. Blumberg, PhD, associate director for science, division of health interview statistics at the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, said, “We suspect that there are several social and cultural pressures that lead black and Hispanic men to be less likely than white men to seek mental health treatments.” Blumberg added, “These pressures, which include ideas about masculinity and the stigma of mental illness, may be more pronounced for men of color.”

Related Links:

— “Many U.S. Men With Depression, Anxiety Don’t Get Treated, CDC Finds,” Alan Mozes, Health Day, June 11, 2015.

The New York Times reports that VA and NIMH researchers have “developed a database they say can identify veterans with a high likelihood of suicide, in much the same way consumer data is used to predict shopping habits.” The database, detailed in a study published June 11 in the American Journal of Public Health, uses a “computer algorithm using hundreds of variables” that has showed success in testing. While “many of the risk factors, such as being hospitalized for a psychiatric condition or making a previous suicide attempt, may seem obvious, said” Michael Schoenbaum, PhD, of the NIMH, one of the study’s authors, investigators “found that these high-risk patients, who should have been flagged by doctors and other health care staff under traditional suicide prevention protocols now in place, were not.” Schoenbaum said, “The database is so overwhelmingly better than just guessing, which is what we’ve been doing.”

USA Today (6/12, Zoroya) reports, “Using records from more than 3,000 patients who committed suicide between 2008 and 2011,” researchers “identified a range of factors from age, gender and race to service-connected disabilities, homelessness and hospitalizations that could be part of formula for singling out groups of veterans most at risk for suicide.” Next, investigators “used the formula to identify about 600 veterans whose suicide rates were 60 to 80 times higher than other VA patients, or only 1/100th of 1%.” The study revealed “a group – 1/10th of a percent of the veteran population – who were 30 to 39 times more likely to take their lives.”

Related Links:

— “Database May Help Identify Veterans on the Edge,” Dave Phillips, New York Times, June 11, 2015.