The AP (4/23, Johnson) reported, “Seven years after US regulators slapped their strictest warning on two popular smoking-cessation medicines citing risks of suicidal behavior, a large international study found no such risk.”

According to HealthDay (4/23, Preidt), a new, FDA-requested, 8,000-participant study published online April 22 in The Lancet on Friday suggests anti-smoking medications Chantix (varenicline) and Wellbutrin (bupropion) “don’t appear to raise the risk of serious mental health disorders such as depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.” An accompanying editorial observed the study shows “neuropsychiatric adverse events occurring during smoking cessation are independent of the medication used.

Heavy Marijuana Use In Late Adolescence May Put Men At Higher Risk For Death By Age 60, Study Finds.
The CBS News (4/22, Marcus) website reported, “Heavy marijuana use in the late teen years puts men at a higher risk for death by age 60,” the findings of a study published online April 22 in the American Journal of Psychiatry suggest. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after analyzing “the records of more than 45,000 men beginning in 1969 and 1970.” Kevin Hill, MD, MHS, “a member of the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry, told CBS News, ‘One of the key messages from a study like this comes down to two words: dose matters.’” Included in the study were adolescents “who had used marijuana more than 50 times.”

HealthDay (4/22, Preidt) reported that men “who were heavy marijuana users in their late teens were 40 percent more likely to die by age 60 than those who never used the drug, the investigators found.”

Related Links:

— “STUDY: NO SUICIDE RISK FOR ANTI-SMOKING PILLS CHANTIX, ZYBAN,” Linda A. Johnson, Associated Press, April 23, 2016.

Medscape (4/21, Ault) reports the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has issued a new report concluding that the US “needs a federally led, far-reaching strategy to reduce the continuing stigma associated with mental health disorders and substance use disorders.” The report, called “Ending Discrimination Against People With Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change,” was “requested by the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

In “Health & Science,” the Washington Post (4/22, Keating, Bernstein) reports research (pdf) released Friday by the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics found the suicide rate in the US rose 24 percent between 1999 and 2014 to 13 per 100,000 people, led by an even greater rise among middle-aged white people, particularly women. The overall rise in part can be attributed to substance addiction, “gray divorce,” and the rise of the Internet and social media. In addition, economic distress in wake of the recent recession appears to underpin some of the increase for middle-aged Caucasians.

Disturbingly, the suicide rate among young girls is also increasing, the Los Angeles Times (4/21, Healy) reports in “Science Now.” For example, “among girls five to 15 years old – a segment of the population among whom suicide was a rare phenomenon in 1999, rates of suicide tripled between 1999 and 2014, with one suicide yearly for every 6,660 such girls.”

USA Today (4/22, Asrar) reports that CDC behavioral scientist Kristin Holland, PhD, MPH, “believes there are multiple factors contributing towards the increase in suicide rate, and mental health is only one of them.” She stated, “Many people view suicide as a mental health problem, but many people who die of suicide do not have a mental health problem. It’s a public health problem.” Holland added, “We do not have enough resources directed at suicide prevention, especially compared to funding behind other leading causes of death.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. suicide rate has risen sharply in the 21st century,” Dan Keating and Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post, April 22, 2016.

Reuters (4/20, Seaman) reports that US veterans who suffered sexual trauma during military service may have an increased risk of homelessness, the findings of a 601,892-veteran study published online in JAMA Psychiatry suggest.

According to HealthDay (4/20, Preidt), the study “also found that among veterans with military sexual trauma, men were at greater risk for homelessness than women.” An accompanying editorial called for “a change of culture within the military.”

Related Links:

— “Military sexual trauma tied to increased risk of homelessness,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, April 20, 2016.

MedPage Today (4/19, Susman) reports, “A high percentage of former National Football League players show evidence of having experienced traumatic brain injury [TBI], most likely from concussions and near-concussions suffered in playing the violent sport,” the findings of a 40-patient study presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s annual meeting suggest. Of those former players “who underwent diffusion tensor MRI scans, 17 (43%) were diagnosed with” TBI, the study found.

Related Links:

— “Nearly Half of Former NFL Players Show Signs of Brain Injury,” Ed Susman, MedPage Today, April 19, 2016.