HealthDay (10/17, Reinberg) reports that, according to a report released by the US National Center for Health Statistics, “depression and obesity tend to go hand in hand.” Researchers found that the “combination was so common that 43 percent of depressed adults were also obese,” with the association “even more prevalent among those taking antidepressants: 55 percent of those patients were also obese.”

Related Links:

— “Obesity and Depression Often Twin Ills, Study Finds,” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, October 16, 2014.

HealthDay (10/16, Mozes) reports that, according to a study published online Oct. 15 in the journal Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, “residents of major US metropolitan areas who need a psychiatrist are often likely to come up empty-handed, regardless of ability to pay.” After attempting “to get an appointment with 360 outpatient psychiatrists based in either Boston, Houston or Chicago,” researchers encountered “wrong numbers, unreturned phone calls, and full practices.”

Related Links:

— “Just Try Getting an Appointment With a Psychiatrist,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, October 15, 2014.

HealthDay (10/16, Preidt) reports that, according to a study published online in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, adolescent “girls have more relationship-related stress than boys, which puts them at greater risk for depression.” After assessing “400 white and black American teens” for depression four times at intervals of approximately seven months, researchers found that “girls had more relationship-related stress (such as fights with parents or friends) than boys, which increased their risk for depression.”

Related Links:

— “Teen Girls May Face Greater Risk of Depression,” Robery Priedt, HealthDay, October 15, 2014.

Medwire News (10/16, Piper) reports that according to a 634-patient study published online Oct. 13 in the journal Bipolar Disorders, “experiencing verbal abuse in childhood has a lasting negative effect on the course of bipolar disorder [BD].” Researchers found that “verbal abuse in isolation was associated with an earlier onset of bipolar disorder and worse prognosis compared with no abuse.” What’s more, “the effect of verbal abuse on age of bipolar onset was related to its frequency, with patients reporting having experienced verbal abuse ‘occasionally’ or ‘frequently’ developing bipolar disorder earlier than those experiencing it ‘never’ or ‘rarely.’”

Related Links:

— “Verbal abuse worsens bipolar disease outcome,” Lucy Piper, MedWire, October 16, 2014.

In print and in its “Well” blog, the New York Times (10/14, D5, Brody) reports that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) “is often socially, emotionally and vocationally crippling.” But, when the condition is “properly treated, 60 percent to 85 percent of patients improve significantly and remain better for years, although booster sessions often are needed to maintain improvement.”

The most effective treatment technique is a form of cognitive behavior therapy called “exposure and response prevention…done once or twice a week for up to 30 hours total.” Patients with OCD may also suffer from anxiety and depression. Treatment is more effective if started sooner than later, and the condition will not go away on its own.

Related Links:

— “O.C.D., a Disorder That Cannot Be Ignored,” Jane E. Brody, New York Times, October 13, 2014.

HealthDay (10/14, Preidt) reports that according to a study presented Oct. 7 at the Eating Disorders Association of Canada’s annual meeting, “eating disorders can begin before puberty and may be linked with other mental health issues.”

After evaluating some 215 eight- to 12-year-old children, researchers found that “more than 15 percent of the kids made themselves vomit occasionally, and about 13 percent had bulimic-like behaviors.” Notably, “psychiatric problems were present in 36 percent of the children’s families, and many of the children had mental health issues such as anxiety and mood and attention disorders, the study found.”

Related Links:

— “Eating Disorders May Start in Elementary School,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 13, 2014.

The New York Times (10/13, A10, Kolata, Subscription Publication) reports that according to research published online Oct. 12 in the journal Nature, “researchers created what they call Alzheimer’s in a Dish – a petri dish with human brain cells that develop the telltale structures of Alzheimer’s disease.”

By so doing, “they resolved a longstanding problem of how to study Alzheimer’s and search for drugs to treat it; the best they had until now were mice that developed an imperfect form of the disease.” Essentially, investigators at the Massachusetts General Hospital grew human neurons in a gel. The neurons had been given “genes for Alzheimer’s disease.”

Related Links:

— “Breakthrough Replicates Human Brain Cells for Use in Alzheimer’s Research,” Gina Kolata, New York Times, October 12, 2014.

The Baltimore Sun (10/10, Doran) reports on Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections, or PANDAS, a disorder in which “children experience an atypical immune system reaction which can cause obsessions, compulsions, motor and vocal tics, anxiety, mood swings and cognitive and learning challenges.”

Although little is known about the syndrome, “recent neurological research, led by National Institutes of Health (NIH) researchers and other scientists and physicians around the nation, has expanded the boundaries of what is known about these conditions.”

In Maryland “and many other states, Oct. 9th has been designated PANDAS Awareness Day,” which the paper says creates educational opportunities.

Related Links:

— “Little known disorder underscores education needs [Commentary],” Patricia Rice Doran, Baltimore Sun, October 9, 2014.

On its front page and as part of its “The Cost of Not Caring” series, USA Today (10/10, A1, Zoroya) reports in a 2,900-word article called “40,000 Suicides Annually, Yet America Simply Shrugs,” that the “nearly 40,000 American lives lost each year make suicide the nation’s 10th-leading cause of death, and the second-leading killer for those ages 15-34.”

In recent years, “biological research [has] led scientists…to assert that suicidal behavior is a disorder that deserves to be included in the bible on mental health illnesses – the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder – so doctors could better diagnose, identify and move into treatment those who are suicidal,” and “American Psychiatric Association officials who periodically revise the manual want more study.”

Maria Oquendo, MD, a psychiatry professor at Columbia University, said, “They (the authors) said it’s an idea that obviously needs to be considered but is not quite ready for inclusion.”

Related Links:

— “40,000 suicides annually, yet America simply shrugs,” Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, October 9, 2014.

The New York Times (10/8, Reynolds) “Well” blog reported that according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Pediatrics, physical activity appears to enhance cognitive performance in youngsters. The study of 220 eight- and nine-year-old children revealed that kids who took part in a year-long exercise program “displayed substantial improvements in their scores on each of the computer-based tests of executive function.”

In addition, “they were better at ‘attentional inhibition,’ which is the ability to block out irrelevant information and concentrate on the task at hand, than they had been at the start of the program, and had heightened abilities to toggle between cognitive tasks.”

Related Links:

— “How Exercise Can Boost Young Brains,” Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, October 8, 2014.