The NPR (3/6, Jaffe) “Morning Edition” program and “Shots” blog report that “antipsychotics are much less effective than non-drug treatments in controlling the symptoms of dementia, according to a” review (3/6) published March 4 in the British Medical Journal. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after examining “more than two decades of scientific studies.” The review’s authors “say the treatments that showed the best results were the ones that trained caregivers how to communicate calmly and clearly, and to introduce hobbies or other activities for the patient.” The piece also notes that the FDA has warned that “antipsychotics increase the risk of death for people with dementia.”

Related Links:

— “Behavioral Therapy Helps More Than Drugs For Dementia Patients,” Ina Jaffe, National Public Radio, March 5, 2015.

HealthDay (3/6, Preidt) reports that research to be presented at the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting suggests that “treating depression with antidepressants may have an added bonus: reducing heart risks.” Investigators looked at data on approximately 5,300 individuals “with moderate to severe depression.” The researchers found that those “who took antidepressants alone had a 53 percent lower risk of death, heart disease and stroke over three years than those who did not take antidepressants or statins.”

Related Links:

— “Easing Depression May Boost Heart Health, Study Finds,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 5, 2015.

The AP (3/6, Stobbe) relays that a report released March 5 by the CDC reveals that “the suicide rate for girls and young women in the US continues to rise, at a pace far faster than for young males.” The reason for the steady increase in female suicides remains unclear, but “one expert said it may be because more girls and young women are hanging themselves or using other forms of suffocation.”

The NBC News (3/6, Fox) website reports that CDC researchers, led by suicide expert Thomas Simon, PhD, found that “during 1994-2012, suicide rates by suffocation increased, on average, by 6.7 percent and 2.2 percent annually for females and males, respectively,” they wrote in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “REPORT: SUICIDES BY GIRLS AND YOUNG WOMEN CONTINUE TO CLIMB,” Mike Stobbe, Associated Press, March 5, 2015.

The Washington Post (3/6, Paquette) “Wonkblog” reports that during the years from 1999 to 2011, “death rates climbed substantially among only white women, ages 15 to 54.” A study released March 5 from the Urban Institute has now “attributed half the rise to ‘accidental poisoning,’ or drug overdoses” from prescription painkillers (opioids). In fact, “deaths from painkiller overdoses among women have increased more than 400 percent since 1999, the CDC reports, compared with 265 percent among men.”

Related Links:

— “Why death rates among white women are soaring,” Danielle Paquette, Washington Post, March 5, 2015.

Bloomberg News (3/12, Cao) reports that according to a survey conducted by the National Safety Council, “About one in seven believe it’s appropriate to share” prescription opioids “with friends and family.” Additionally, 28% believe sharing is “slightly risky,” with “little or no negative consequences,” while 26% believe “it’s a misdemeanor.” Just 32% realize it’s a felony, “punishable by at least a year in jail.”

Related Links:

— “Most Painkiller Users Don’t Know Opioid Sharing Is Felony,” Jing Cao, Bloomberg News, March 11, 2015.

HealthDay (3/12, Preidt) reports on a study (3/12) of people who hear “voices” published in the Lancet Psychiatry. The study covered “127 people who had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder and 26 others with no history of mental illness.” The study, led by Angela Woods of Durham’s Center for Medical Humanities, consisted of an online questionnaire. Eighty-one percent attested to hearing multiple voices, while two-thirds of those responding also recounted “physical effects from the voices, such as hot or tingling sensations in their hands and feet.”

The surveys also showed that while most had negative associations with the voices, “31 percent of the participants also felt positive emotions.” In addition, 45 percent of respondents said that the voices were not “purely auditory” but were “thought-like or ‘in-between’ voices with both thought-like and auditory features.”

Related Links:

— “Study Highlights Complexity of ‘Hearing Voices’,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 11, 2015.

The New York Times (3/9) “Well” blog reports that a new study, published in JAMA, suggests using benzodiazepine drugs “to relieve anxiety before surgery” have “little beneficial effect and may even delay recovery.” The researchers observed 1,062 “patients admitted to French hospitals for surgery requiring general anesthesia.” One-third “took 2.5 milligrams of lorazepam (Ativan), a third received a placebo, and a third were given no premedication.” They found lorazepam “was associated with more postsurgery amnesia” as well as a delay in recovery of cognitive abilities. Additionally, “quality of sleep was impaired in the lorazepam group, but not in the others” and “ventilation tubes were kept in significantly longer in the lorazepam group.”

Related Links:

— “A Time to Avoid Anxiety Drugs,” Nicholas Bakalar, New York Times, March 9, 2015.

The Washington Times (3/10, Klimas) reports that according to Defense Department data released Monday, suicides “for the first three quarters of 2014 are down among members of the National Guard and reserves.” According to the data, “suicides among National Guardsmen decreased 30 percent compared to 2013.” Between January and September 2014, 68 National Guardsmen committed suicide, “down from 97 over that same time period the previous year.” Similarly, reservists saw “about a 12 percent decrease.” In the first three quarters of 2014, 58 reservists committed suicide, “down from 66 over the same time period in 2013.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide down among reservists, National Guardsmen: report,” Jacqueline Klimas, Washington Times, March 9, 2015.

TIME (3/10, Worland) reports that research published in JAMA Pediatrics indicates that “young people who live in rural areas kill themselves at twice the rate as youth who live in cities.” While “there aren’t clear-cut explanations for suicide…geographical differences seem to play a role, the researchers found.” Those residing “in rural areas have less access to mental health services, more stigma surrounding help-seeking and freer access to guns than their urban counterparts.”

In the Washington Post (3/9, Bernstein) “To Your Health” blog, Lenny Bernstein writes that the investigators “examined 66,595 suicides by people ages 10 to 24 between 1996 and 2010.” The researchers “found suicide rates of 19.93 per 100,000 for males and 4.4 per 100,00 for females in rural areas, compared to 10.31 per 100,000 for males and 2.39 per 100,000 for females in urban areas.”

Related Links:

— “This Is Where Young People Are More Likely to Commit Suicide,” Justin Worland, Time, March 9, 2015.

USA Today (3/10, Ungar, O’Donnell) reports that health insurance coverage for mental and physical illness remains unequal “despite promises that Obamacare would help level the playing field, mental health advocates and researchers say.” A new study published online in Psychiatric Services found that consumer information on a quarter of ACA plans examined by researchers appeared to violate a Federal “parity” law designed to stop discrimination in coverage for people with mental health or addiction problems. The study, which examined plans in two state-run exchanges, “found two big problems: financial disparities such as different co-pays or deductibles for mental and physical health services; and more stringent requirements for ‘prior authorizations’ from insurers before patients can get mental health services.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health coverage unequal in many Obamacare plans,” Laura Ungar and Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, March 9, 2015.