Medscape (8/8, Brooks) reports that a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, “supports a link between inflammation and depression and the antidepressant potential of combining a statin with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).”

The 872,216-patient study revealed that patients “with depression who took both an SSRI and a statin were far less likely to contact a psychiatric hospital, both in general and for treatment of depression, than their peers who took an SSRI alone.” An accompanying editorial observes the findings warrant “further investigation of the antidepressant potential of the combined treatment in larger randomized trials.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (8/5, Preidt) reported that adolescents “struggling with mental health disorders are more likely to smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol and use marijuana,” researchers found. The findings of the 4,000-student study were published online in the American Journal on Addictions.

Related Links:

— “Mental Illness May Make Teens Vulnerable to Drugs, Alcohol,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 5, 2016.

Medical Daily (8/5, Dovey) reported that “a recent study” published in the Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics “has found evidence that the risk of a child developing an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is 14 times higher if an older sibling has ASD.” The study’s “findings are based on the results of the medical records of 53,336 children born from 2001 to 2010.”

Related Links:

— “Children With Autism May Increase Siblings’ Risk Of Developing The Disorder,” Dana Dovey , Medical Daily, August 5, 2016.

TIME (8/4) reports, “Psychiatrists and mental health advocates say America today needs more than 30,000 child and adolescent psychiatrists, and has only 8,300,” a need that continues to increase, particularly in rural or underserved areas. Telepsychiatry has now “emerged as a practical approach to reaching more young people.” And, “despite any potential downsides…the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics all acknowledge its prominence and offer resources for patients and” healthcare professionals “on how to practice it.”

Related Links:

— “For Some Rural Teens, Psychiatric Help Is Now Just a TV Screen Away,” Emma Ockerman, Time, August 4, 2016.

The Washington Post (8/3, Guo) reports in “Wonkblog” that a study published in the Journal of Family Psychology found that “getting married causes both men and women to drink less often compared to being single” and “also causes both men and women to cut down on the number of drinks they have in a single sitting — men in particular.” In addition, “getting a divorce doesn’t seem to make people drink more often, but both men and women have more drinks in each sitting.” Researchers evaluated “nearly 2,500 pairs of male and female twins from the state of Washington, who answered questions how often and how much they usually drink.”

Related Links:

— “Marriage changes how men drink in weird ways,” Jeff Guo, Washington Post, August 3, 2016.