Category Archives: In The News

Review: People With Mental Health Disorders May Die At Younger Ages

The Orlando (FL) Sentinel (2/12, Santich) reports that a review published online Feb. 11 in JAMA Psychiatry suggests that individuals “with mental illness face twice the risk of dying early as the rest of the population — even though death is most often due to natural causes.” What’s more, even though “the mortality risk is highest for individuals with serious mental illness — such as major depression or schizophrenia — there is still an elevated death rate for milder, more common illnesses, such as anxiety.” Researchers reached these conclusions after having “analyzed more than 200 studies in 29 countries on six continents that compared death rates among those with mental illness versus a control group or the general population.”

HealthDay (2/12, Norton) reports that the “risk of death from ‘unnatural causes’ – including suicide and accidents – was seven times higher” for people with mental illnesses. However, “their odds of dying from physical health conditions were also elevated, by an average of 80 percent,” the study found.

Related Links:

— “Mental illness doubles risk of dying early, study says,” Kate Santich, Orlando Sentinel, February 11, 2015.

IOM Panel Says Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Is Real

In a segment lasting nearly three minutes, NBC Nightly News (2/10, story 9, 2:50, Holt) reported that on Tuesday, a panel from the Institute of Medicine “declared that” chronic fatigue “syndrome is not only real, but the vast majority of people who suffer from it haven’t even been diagnosed.” NBC News correspondent Ann Thompson explained that the IOM “issued a new set of symptoms to help doctors recognize the disease,” such as “a drop-off in normal activity for more than six months with profound exhaustion, sleep that doesn’t refresh, and symptoms that get worse after physical or mental exertion, plus either cognitive impairment” or symptoms that only improve when patients are lying down.

The New York Times (2/10, Tuller) “Well” blog reported that chronic fatigue syndrome is also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, and “many experts now refer to the condition as ME/CFS.” However, the IOM panel “recommended that the illness be renamed ‘systemic exertion intolerance disease.’” The blog also points out that the IOM “panel was convened at the request of the Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and other federal agencies.”

Related Links:

— “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Gets a New Name,” David Tuller, New York Times, February 10, 2015.

House, Senate Leaders Sign Veterans Suicide-Prevention Bill; Now Goes To President

The Washington Times (2/11, Klimas) reported that yesterday, US House and Senate leaders “signed the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act in a rare ceremony to formally acknowledge that the bill passed both chambers.” The measure now heads to “the White House, where President Obama is expected to sign it Thursday afternoon.” Among its provisions, the legislation will initiate “a loan repayment pilot program to recruit and retain mental health professionals and require annual third-party reviews to determine which VA mental health programs are working.”

Related Links:

— “Veteran suicide prevention bill approved by Congress, sent to president,” Jacqueline Klimas, Washington Times, February 10, 2015.

Fallibility Of Human Memory At Center Of Brian Williams Controversy

In print and in its “Well” blog, the New York Times (2/10, D6, Parker-Pope) reports, “Numerous scientific studies show that memories can fade, shift and distort over time,” and it is even possible for “entirely new false memories” to “be incorporated into our memory bank, embedded so deeply that we become convinced they are real and actually happened.” Now, “the fallibility and the malleability of the human memory is at the center of a national controversy involving Brian Williams, the ‘NBC Nightly News’ anchor,” who has temporarily stepped down from his anchor responsibilities after his claim of having been in a helicopter that came under fire.

Related Links:

— “Was Brian Williams a Victim of False Memory?,” Tara Parker-Pope, , February 9, 2015.

Energy Drinks Associated With Greater Hyperactivity, Inattention Risk In Middle-School Kids

TIME (2/10, Sifferlin) reports that a study published in the journal Academic Pediatrics suggests that “middle schoolers who consume sweetened energy drinks are 66% more at risk for hyperactivity than other kids.” After surveying some “1,649 students in 5th, 7th, and 8th grade about their beverage consumption and” then assessing their inattention and hyperactivity levels, researchers concluded, “Despite considering numerous types of beverages in our analyses (e.g., soda, fruit drinks), only energy drinks were associated with greater risk of hyperactivity/inattention.”

Related Links:

— “Energy Drinks May Drive Kids to Distraction,” Alexandra Sifferlin, Time, February 9, 2015.

Women May Experience More Stress After Heart Attack, Which May Impact Recovery.

Reuters (2/10, Doyle) reports that research published in Circulation indicates that young women may experience more stress following a heart attack than male counterparts, which could potentially explain why female patients have worse recovery than men.

The Today Show Online (2/10, Raymond) reports that investigators looked at data on nearly 2,400 female patients and more than 1,100 male patients, all of whom had survived a heart attack and who were participating in the Variation in Recovery: Role of Gender on Outcomes of Young AMI Patients (VIRGO). The researchers found that “Women had worse recovery one month after heart attack on multiple outcome measures, such as chest-pain-related physical function and quality of life as well as overall health.” Female patients “had a significantly higher level of mental stress.” Higher stress levels “among women partially explained their worse recovery.”

Related Links:

— “After heart attack, women more stressed than men,” Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, February 9, 2015.

Poll: Many Workers Say They Would Not Disclose Mental Health Problem To Their Manager

HealthDay (2/7, Preidt) reported that survey results published recently in the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine reveal that “many workers say they wouldn’t tell their manager if they had a mental health problem.” A poll conducted by Canada’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health “of more than 2,200 working adults in the province of Ontario found that 38 percent would not disclose a mental illness to a manager.”

Related Links:

— “Stigma Keeps Employees From Admitting to a Mental Illness: Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 6, 2015.

Researchers: Military Life Exposes Soldiers To Series Of Factors Placing Them At Higher Risk For Suicide

TIME (2/7, Worland) reported that that while “the reasons for the high suicide rates” among veterans “are not entirely clear…researchers say that military life exposes soldiers to a series of risk factors that place them at a heightened suicide risk, even though someone in the military is usually healthier physically than someone in the general population.” Among other things, “combat exposes soldiers to traumatic life and death situations, and depression and PTSD may result.” Some soldiers suffer brain injuries. According to Time, “All of these ailments have been linked to increased risk of suicide.”

Related Links:

— “This Bill Could Help Veterans With Mental Health,” Justin Worland, Time, February 6, 2015.

Report: Chaplains Say Many Veterans, Service Members Seek Help From Clergy, Not Mental Health Professionals

The Dallas (TX) Morning News (2/9, Aguilera) reports that approximately “59 percent of chaplains in the VA system and 79 percent in the active-duty military said they perceive that veterans and service members commonly seek help from clergy instead of a mental” healthcare professional, “according to a 2013 report published by the VA and the Pentagon.” Meanwhile, “over 80 percent of chaplains working in the VA system or in the active-duty military said it’s not uncommon to meet a veteran or service member who is suicidal, according to the survey.”

Related Links:

— “Dallas VA conference discusses clergy’s role in suicide prevention,” Jasmine Aguilera, Dallas Morning News, February 8, 2015.

Study To Analyze Genetic Material To Adjust Medications In Patients With Mental Illnesses

The Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette (2/9, Smydo) reports, “The University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health will participate in a study that could hasten the day when a patient’s genetic profile, not trial and error, helps a doctor determine which medications to prescribe.” Included in the “28-month, $350,000 study” will be “about 400 volunteers with mental-health disorders who are clients of NHS Human Services in Allegheny, Beaver, Dauphin and Lehigh counties.” Investigators “will analyze genetic material from about half of the volunteers and use those insights to make medication adjustments aimed at optimizing drug performance and decreasing side effects and adverse drug interactions,” while the other participants, who will serve as the control group, will get “usual care.”

Related Links:

— “Pitt study seeks to refine prescribing through genetics,” Joe Smydo, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, February 9, 2015.