Medscape (4/25, Melville) reports, “Exposure to one or more potentially traumatic events in a lifetime is associated with a host of potential negative behavioral and physical effects, ranging from mental illness and depression to substance abuse, asthma, and” hypertension, the findings of a new report from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality indicate.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Medscape (4/25, Melville) reports, “Alcohol use disorder [AUD] is associated with a nearly sixfold increase in all-cause mortality across age groups, but the risks are linked to individual and familial predispositions in early adulthood and to the course of alcohol abuse in later years,” the findings of a large study published online April 20 in JAMA Psychiatry indicate. An accompanying editorial called for “further studies on specific causes of mortality associated with AUDs in early to middle adulthood and their association with risk taking and violent experiences.” The study received funding support from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, among others.

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On the front of its Personal Journal section, the Wall Street Journal (4/25, D1, Lagnado, Subscription Publication) reports on efforts by some major hospitals to place psychiatrists as well as other mental healthcare professionals throughout the hospital to help identify patients with emotional and psychological issues that could impede the overall healing process.

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— “Hospitals Test Putting Psychiatrists on Medical Wards,” Lucette Lagnado, Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2016.

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.”

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— “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).”

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