In his column for the New York Times (1/5, Subscription Publication), Nicholas Kristof invited readers to tell him about the issues they think “deserve more attention in 2014,” and his own is mental health. He says that mental illness in the US poses “a greater risk to our well-being than, say, the Afghan Taliban or Al Qaeda terrorists, yet in polite society there is still something of a code of silence around these topics.” He says media outlets are complicit, because too much coverage focuses on extreme cases, when progress is possible. Kristof says the topic is “not sexy, and it doesn’t involve Democrats and Republicans screaming at each other, but it is a source of incalculable suffering that can be remedied.”

Related Links:

— “First Up, Mental Illness. Next Topic Is Up to You., “Nicholas Kristof, The New York Times, January 4, 2014.

The Los Angeles Times (1/4, Morin) “Science Now” blog reported that while “a history of depression among expectant mothers remains the greatest single risk factor for postpartum depression, a new study finds that fear of childbirth may also predispose some women to the condition.” Investigators, in a study “published Friday in the journal BMJ Open…concluded that fear of childbirth increases the risk of postpartum depression about threefold in women without a history of depression, and fivefold in women with known depressive disease.”

Related Links:

— “Fear of childbirth linked to postpartum depression, study finds, “Monte Morin, Los Angeles Times, January 3, 2014.

Research suggesting that Medicaid expansion may not lead to a reduction in emergency department (ED) use was covered on one of last night’s national news broadcasts, in print in several newspapers, including in two front-page stories, and on several websites. Nearly all sources point out that the findings appear to refute the contention, often espoused by supporters of the Affordable Care Act, that expanding Medicaid would reduce ED use. The CBS Evening News (1/2, story 5, 2:00, Dubois) reported, “A new report out today calls into question one of the main goals of the” ACA: “to get people to stop using the” ED “as their primary care doctor by making more of them eligible for Medicaid.”

In a front-page story, the New York Times (1/3, A1, Tavernise, Subscription Publication) reports that the research, “published in the journal Science, compared thousands of low-income people in the Portland,” Oregon “area who were randomly selected in a 2008 lottery to get Medicaid coverage with people who entered the lottery but remained uninsured.” Individuals “who gained coverage made 40 percent more visits to the” ED “than their uninsured counterparts.” The researchers found that “the pattern was so strong that it held true across most demographic groups, times of day, and types of visits, including for conditions that were treatable in primary care settings.”

Related Links:

— “Emergency Visits Seen Increasing With Health Law, “Sabrina Tavernise, The New York Times, January 02, 2014.

US News & World Report (12/31, Firth) reports that research published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences suggests that “our bodily responses to specific emotions may…be distinct.”

The Los Angeles Times (12/31, Healy) “Science Now” blog reports that researchers found “that across five different experiments ranging in size from 32 to 305 subjects, participants linked seven different emotions with the same somato-sensory experiences with such consistency, it could not be a matter of chance.” The study indicated that “the pairings they made were consistent whether they were asked to react to emotionally suggestive words or to read short stories and view films that conjured strong emotional responses.”

National Public Radio (12/31, Doucleff) “Shots” blog wrote participants “reported that happiness and love sparked activity across nearly the entire body, while depression had the opposite effect: It dampened feelings in the arms, legs and head.” The study found that “danger and fear triggered strong sensations in the chest area, the volunteers said.” Meanwhile, “anger was one of the few emotions that activated the arms.”

Related Links:

— “Emotions move us in the same places, study says, “Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, December 30, 2013.

The AP (12/31) reports that yesterday, Michigan’s Lt. Gov. Brian Calley (R), “signed legislation…that allows for the expansion of the state’s mental health court program.” One of four related measures “authorizes circuit and district courts to create mental health courts,” as well as “authorizes the family division of a circuit court to institute a mental health court for juveniles.” The other bills determine the criteria for mental health court eligibility and require that people go along with what the courts order them to do.

HealthDay (12/31, Dallas) reports that according to a study published online Dec. 30 in JAMA Neurology, hypothyroidism appears not to be associated with “mild dementia or impaired brain function.” Researchers arrived at this conclusion after examining “more than 1,900 people, including those with mild and more severe cases of hypothyroidism.” The participants ranged in age from 70 to 89.

Related Links:

— “Underactive Thyroid Not Linked to Memory Problems, “Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, December 30, 2013.

Research suggesting Vitamin E may be beneficial for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease was covered on two of Tuesday’s national news broadcasts, in the print editions or on the websites of several major papers, and by several other major websites and wires. Most sources pointed out that while the vitamin was associated with a delay in the loss of function in Alzheimer’s patients, it had no impact on memory and has not been shown to prevent the disease. ABC World News (12/31, story 5, 1:10, Muir) reported that “a newstudy” indicated that “Vitamin E may” be beneficial for some patients with Alzheimer’s.

On the CBS Evening News (12/31, story 7, 2:15, Dubois), CBS’ Elaine Quijano reported, “Since the exact cause of Alzheimer’s is still being debated, researchers aren’t sure how the vitamin helps,” but “they believe it protects brain cells from Alzheimer’s damage.”

USA Today (1/1, Weintraub) reported, “Research a decade ago showed that vitamin E was helpful in late-stage Alzheimer’s disease.” The new research, “published Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association finds the benefits extend to people with mild to moderate forms of the disease.”

Related Links:

— “Vitamin E may aid those with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s, “Karen Weintraub, USA Today, December 31, 2013.

The Columbus (OH) Dispatch (12/29, Rowland, Candisky) detailed efforts to improve the US mental healthcare system in the past year since the Newtown, CT school shootings. In a webcast, American Psychiatric Association president Jeffrey Lieberman, MD, of Columbia University, said that the combination of the Mental Health Parity Act and the Affordable Care Act “will have tremendous impact of historic significance.” The article also examined measures passed in Ohio to improve mental healthcare, including “Gov. John Kasich’s initiative to expand Medicaid, which will provide health coverage to tens of thousands of adults in need of treatment for mental illness and substance abuse, and provide additional state aid for community-based services.”

Related Links:

— “‘Broken’ mental-health system made a few improvements this year, “Darrel Rowland, The Columbus Dispatch, December 29, 2013.

In an opinion piece in the Baltimore Sun (12/29), psychiatrist John J. Boronow, MD, of the Sheppard Pratt Health System, and psychiatrist Steven S. Sharfstein, MD, president and CEO of the Sheppard Pratt Health System, called for passage in Maryland of an “‘assisted outpatient treatment’ (AOT) law, also called Outpatient Civil Commitment.” According to the two psychiatrists, “many AOT programs in other states have been the subject of studies – most exhaustively in North Carolina and New York – and have been shown to reduce hospitalization, homelessness, incarceration and, not the least, the costs of care for individuals with major mental illness.”

Related Links:

— “Close the mental health revolving door [Commentary], “John J. Boronow, The Baltimore Sun, December 29, 2013.

In continuing coverage, Reuters (12/28, Huggins) reported that research published online in Stroke suggests that greater levels of anxiety may be associated with a higher risk of stroke.

On its website, TIME (12/28, Nicks) reported that investigators looked at data on more than 6,000 “men and women over about 16 years.” The researchers found that “anxiety is responsible for a relatively small uptick, 14 percent, in the risk of suffering a stroke.”

The Huffington Post (12/28) reported that although the research “does not show that anxiety causes stroke,” study author Maya Lambiase, PhD, “noted that people with greater anxiety levels might be more likely to engage in unhealthy behaviors such as sedentary activity or smoking, which are known stroke risk factors.” Meanwhile, “other potential factors could include higher blood pressure or stress hormone levels.”

Related Links:

— “Anxiety linked to stroke risk, “C.E. Huggins, Reuters, December 27, 2013.