Medscape (1/22, Davenport) reported that “the risk of depression following a diagnosis of diabetes falls during the second decade of having the disease and then rapidly rises,” investigators “have discovered, in a study that suggests there is a J-shaped relationship between the two conditions.” The researchers “found that living with diabetes initially doubles the risk of depression.” Medscape added, “Treatment and disease acceptance may then contribute to a lower likelihood of depressive symptoms, before the risk is” nearly “tripled after the third decade.” The researchers came to these conclusions after studying more than 5,400 men who were between the ages of 70 and 89.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Medscape (1/22, Melville) reports that research suggests that “suicide during pregnancy and in the postnatal period, though uncommon, is associated with important risk factors, including a greater likelihood of having received a diagnosis of depression and a lower chance of having received treatment, compared with suicides occurring outside of the perinatal period.” The study also found that “perinatal women who died as a result of suicide were younger than the women who died by suicide but who were not in the perinatal period (crude OR, -6.39; P < .0001).” Additionally, “they were more likely to be married (OR, 4.46; P < .0001), to have had illness of shorter duration (OR 2.93; P < .001), and to have no history of alcohol misuse (OR, 0.47; P = .027).” Investigators came to these conclusions after looking at data from the UK National Confidential Inquiry into Suicides and Homicides by People with Mental Illness. Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (1/24, Boyles) reports that research suggests “both new-onset and persistent depression are common among” individuals “with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),” particularly “women with the disease and patients with a history of stroke.” Investigators found that nearly “one in four patients had depressive symptoms lasting at least 3 years in an analysis of data on close to 1,600 participants in the longitudinal ECLIPSE study, designed to examine COPD progression.” Additionally, “depression was” linked to “worse COPD outcomes.” The findings were published in the journal CHEST.

Related Links:

— “Persistent Depression Common With COPD,” Salynn Boyles, MedPage Today, January 24, 2016.

New York Magazine (1/21) reports that “according to a study in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, diagnoses of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder” increased “55 percent for girls between 2003 and 2011.” Similar to “autism, early research on AD/HD focused heavily on young white boys; just one percent of research focuses on girls.” According to New York Magazine, this “means the American Psychiatric Association’s guidelines for AD/HD were male-centric – only recently did the diagnosis criteria change from symptoms being noticeable by age 7 to age 12, to account for the later onset in girls.

Related Links:

— “Why More Girls — and Women — Than Ever Are Now Being Diagnosed With ADHD,” Tanya Basu, New York Magazine, January 20, 2016.

HealthDay (1/26, Preidt) reports, “Family and friends of people who commit suicide are at high risk for attempted suicide themselves,” a study published online Jan. 26 in the journal BMJ Open suggests. Included in the study were some “3,400 university staff and students, aged 18 to 40, who experienced the sudden death of a relative or friend from natural causes or suicide.” People “whose relative or friend died of suicide were 65 percent more likely to attempt suicide than if the person died from natural causes.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide Risk Rises Among Family, Friends of Suicide Victims: Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 26, 2016.