MedPage Today (9/6, Walsh) reports that research involving nearly 2,000 individuals published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism suggests that “the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or tricyclic antidepressants among women in midlife didn’t lead to a greater rate of bone loss.” Researchers found that, “among women enrolled in the longitudinal Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation, yearly decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine averaged 0.63% in new users of SSRIs compared with 0.68% in those not taking antidepressants (P=0.37).” The study also indicated that “among those taking the tricyclic antidepressants, the annual lumbar spine BMD decrease was 0.40% (P=0.16 compared with nonusers).”

Related Links:

— “Antidepressants Have No Effect on Bone Loss, “Nancy Walsh, MedPage Today, September 5, 2013.

Broad print and online media coverage was given to a small study that found that video games requiring multitasking may help boost cognitive abilities in seniors. The New York Times (9/5, A14, Richtel, Subscription Publication) reports that, according to a research letter published online Sept. 4 in the journal Nature, “scientists have discovered that swerving around cars while simultaneously picking out road signs in a video game can improve the short-term memory and long-term focus of older adults.”

USA Today (9/5, Weintraub) reports that “after 12 hours of playing a road game designed to improve attention and focus, healthy people ages 60 to 79 performed as well as people” five decades younger. What’s more, six months later, “the improvements were still evident” and even “extended beyond the skills learned for the game.”

The AP (9/5, Ritter) reports that in the study, 16 healthy 60- to 85-year-old individuals “showed gains in their ability to multitask, to stay focused on a boring activity and to keep information in mind,” all cognitive powers that “normally decline with age.”

Related Links:

— “, “Matt Richtel, The New York Times, September 4, 2013.

The Military Times (9/4, Kime) reports that yesterday, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced that “seeking mental health treatment is a ‘choice that embodies moral courage, honor and integrity’ and recommended those who need help call the Military Crisis Line, 800-273-8255, anytime.” Hagel’s announcement comes at the start of Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. Meanwhile, Jacqueline Garrick, director of the Suicide Prevention Office, “said officials are working to reduce the stigma of seeking behavioral health treatment.”

Related Links:

— “Hagel: Getting mental health help shows ‘courage, honor and integrity’, “Patricia Kime, The Military Times, September 3, 2013.

NBC Nightly News reported, “Tonight we are presenting a special report on a special challenge facing upwards of 15 million American families and that’s Alzheimer’s,” an incurable disease that “an estimated 5.5 million Americans are living with” currently. NBC News correspondent Maria Shriver “visited one innovative program where medical students learn from the people who are actually living with Alzheimer’s.”

On its website, NBC News (9/4, Kernis, Carroll) reports that the Buddy Program, “created in 1998 by Darby Morhardt of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine…pairs medical students with Alzheimer’s patients, or ‘mentors.’” The program aims to help “improve medical student knowledge and familiarity with Alzheimer’s, while heightening sensitivity and empathy towards dementia patients.” This particular program “has been replicated at Boston University, Dartmouth College and Washington University and other medical schools around the country.”

Related Links:

— “Alzheimer’s patients mentor med students in buddy program, “Jay Kernis, NBC News, September 3, 2013.

USA Today (9/4, Hellmich) reports on the findings of a new study published in the journal Child Development that found parents who engage their teens by “shouting…yelling, screaming, swearing, insulting or calling them names,” can “increase the risk that the adolescent will misbehave and suffer symptoms of depression.” Exposure to prolonged stress, and ongoing discipline and criticism can lead to mental health and physical problems, fueling “difficulties and rebellion in kids.” Experts note a better method is constructive consequences, which educate rather than cause humiliation.

Related Links:

— “Parents: Yelling and swearing at teens can backfire, “Nanci Hellmich, USA Today, September 4, 2013.

HealthDay (8/31, Reinberg) reported that, according to a study published Aug. 30 in the journal BMC Medicine, “alcohol in moderation may benefit mental health.” Researchers arrived at that conclusion after following “more than 5,500 light-to-moderate drinkers for up to seven years,” none of whom had drinking problems or depression at the start of the study. After adjusting for confounding factors, researchers found that “participants who drank two to seven glasses a week were the least likely to suffer from depression,” compared to people who did not drink at all.

Related Links:

— “Glass of Wine a Day May Ward Off Depression, Study Suggests, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, August 30, 2013.

Reuters (8/29, Doyle) reports that research published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery suggests that depression may be common among individuals who have survived head and neck cancer, but these patients rarely seek help for the mental health. Investigators looked at questionnaire responses from more than 200 survivors of head and neck cancer who had undergone radiation treatment. The researchers found that while a small proportion of the individuals found to report the highest levels of depression took antidepressants or underwent psychotherapy one year after completing radiation treatments, none of these patients were receiving such mental health treatments five years after radiation.

Related Links:

— “Few head and neck cancer survivors seek mental help, “Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, August 28, 2013.

MedPage Today (8/29, Gever) reports that, according to a study published online Aug. 28 in JAMA Psychiatry, “suspicions that psychiatric medications increase the mortality risk associated with mental illness were not borne out in a review of clinical trial data.” In the majority of cases, “death rates among more than 90,000 adult participants in trials of drugs for depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, anxiety, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) were, for the most part, the same or lower in those assigned to active” medications versus placebo, with the sole exception of “heterocyclic antidepressants, a class of old-line agents such as imipramine and amitryptiline.”

Related Links:

— “Psych Drugs Don’t Raise Death Risk in Mental Illness, “John Gever, MedPage Today, August 29, 2013.

HealthDay (8/29, Dallas) reports that, according to a study from the Global Burden of Disease Study published online Aug. 29 in The Lancet, in 2010, “mental and substance abuse disorders were the leading cause of nonfatal health issues” globally. A separate study in the same issue found that “opioid dependence causes the greatest health burden of all illicit drugs.” An accompanying commentary “noted that the ‘relative lack of information about the prevalence of mental and drug use disorders, and the harms associated with these disorders, emphasizes the need…for increased efforts to quantify both the prevalence of mental and drug use disorders and the risks posed by these conditions.”

The NPR (8/29, Knox) “Shots” blog reports that two legal substances, smoking and alcohol, “account for around 10 percent of the worldwide burden of illness and death.”

Related Links:

— “Mental and Substance Disorders Major Cause of Nonfatal Illnesses, “Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, August 28, 2013.

USA Today (8/29, Szabo) reports that, according to a study published online Aug. 28 in JAMA Psychiatry, “depression may be far more common in men than previously estimated.” When symptoms such as “anger, aggression, substance abuse or risk taking, such as gambling or womanizing,” were factored in, in addition to traditional symptoms such as trouble sleeping and crying, investigators discovered that approximately “30% of both men and women had been depressed at some point in their lives.”

In a front-page story, the Los Angeles Times (8/29, A1, Healy) reports that the study’s conclusion upends “long-accepted statistics indicating that, over their lifetimes, women are 70% more likely to have major depression than men.” What’s more, when depression’s “symptoms are properly recognized in men, major depression may be even more common in men than in women.”

Related Links:

— “New criteria increase number of men with depression, “Liz Szabo, USA Today, August 28, 2013.