HealthDay (3/23, Mozes) reports that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants appear not “to raise the risk for heart trouble among young and middle-age patients,” the findings of a 238,963-patient study published online March 22 in the BMJ suggest. After examining data on “different types of antidepressants, as well as dosage and duration,” researchers “concluded there was ‘no significant association’ between SSRIs and an increased risk for heart attack, stroke or an irregular heartbeat.”

Related Links:

— “Study Finds No Heart Risk From SSRI Antidepressants,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, March 23, 2016.

Newsweek (3/23, Main) reports new research revealed that those “who smoke marijuana on a regular basis for years and those who are dependent on it are significantly more likely to have economic and social problems at midlife than those who use it only occasionally or not at all.” Researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,000 people in New Zealand who were interviewed regularly from birth to age 38. The findings were published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.

Related Links:

— “REGULAR MARIJUANA USE LINKED TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS,” Douglas Main, Newsweek, March 23, 2016.

HealthDay (3/23, Preidt) reports that research suggests individuals “who develop depression after being diagnosed with heart disease may be more likely to have a heart attack or die than those without depression.” Researchers looked at data on approximately “23,000 heart patients in…Ontario who were diagnosed with heart disease.” The investigators found that over “an average follow-up of three years, those with depression were 83 percent more likely die of any cause and 36 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those without depression.” The research was scheduled to be presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting.

Related Links:

— “Depression Tied to Worse Outcomes for Heart Patients,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 23, 2016.

Medscape (3/17, Harrison) reports that researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are “sounding the alarm over a possible increase in unknown cognitive and behavioral harms that widespread cannabis use may unmask.” A clinical review conducted by NIDA Director Nora Volkow, MD, revealed that “as legalization of” cannabis “for recreational and medical use spreads, vulnerable populations, especially adolescents, are exposed to toxic effects of the drug.” Dr. Volkow “explained that young brains are engaged in a protracted period of ‘brain programming,’ in which everything an adolescent does or is exposed to can affect the final architecture and network connectivity of the brain.” The findings were published in the March issue of JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (3/21, Seaman) reports that the percentage of US seniors taking at least five supplements or medications has risen, research published online March 21 in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests. With this rise comes an increase in the number of serious and major medication interactions, the study revealed.

The CBS News (3/21, Vernon) website reports that 47 percent of “Americans age 75 and older took five or more prescription drugs in 2011, nearly double the 24 percent that did so in 1999, just 12 years earlier.” For people in the age range of 65 to 74, the percentage is comparable at 33 percent for 2011 and 23 percent in 1999.

Related Links:

— “Older Americans taking more medications,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, March 21, 2016.