Kaiser Health News (5/27, Andrews) reports that while it is “clear that second opinions can help individual patients make better medical decisions, there’s little hard data showing that second opinions lead to better health results overall.” A study provided by second-opinion service Best Doctors found that more than 40% of nearly 6,800 examined second opinions “resulted in diagnostic or treatment changes.” Another study reviewing existing research “found that 10 to 62 percent of second opinions resulted in major changes to diagnoses or recommended treatments.” However, it is not clear how outcomes are changed. Hardeep Singh of the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center and Baylor College of Medicine, who co-authored both studies, said, “What is the real diagnosis at the end? The first one or the second one? Or maybe both are wrong.”

Related Links:

— “Second Opinions Often Sought But Value Is Not Yet Proven,” Michelle Andrews, Kaiser Health News, May 26, 2015.

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (5/27, Roth) reports in the “largest study of its kind,” researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden have “determined that actual autism rates probably have not changed in recent years, even though diagnoses of autism cases continue to climb.” Researchers “found that about 1 percent of those in an ongoing study of twins met the criteria for having autism, even though the number of officially diagnosed autism cases in the country’s national health registry had climbed steadily over a 10-year-period.”

Related Links:

— “Swedish study suggests cases of autism have not been rising,” Mark Roth, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 26, 2015.

HealthDay (5/27, Thompson) reports that Mount Sinai School of Medicine researchers have found that hospice care “may help a surviving spouse better cope with depression following the death of a loved one.” Lead author Katherine Ornstein said, “If a spouse dies, you’re more likely to be depressed. That’s the way it is. Hospice doesn’t get rid of that. But we found that the group in hospice is improving afterward.”

Related Links:

— “Hospice May Help Ease Depression After Loss of Spouse,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, May 26, 2015.

The Washington Post (5/23, Gorman) “Health & Science” blog reported that “when it comes to mental health care, Asian Americans often get short shrift.” Investigators “say people in this minority group, which makes up about five percent of the US population, are less well studied and less likely to seek treatment than other ethnicities.” For many Asian American teens dealing with depression and other psychiatric disorders, sometimes “parents stand in the way of treatment, intentionally or not.” Ranna Parekh, MD, director of the division of diversity and health equity for the American Psychiatric Association, said, “It takes a few generations before they can finally be free.” The APA provides a fact sheet on its website detailing mental health issues of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Related Links:

— “For many Asian Americans, depression is an unfamiliar word,” Anna Gorman, Washington Post, May 22, 2015.

HealthDay (5/23, Dotinga) reported that anger often appears to escalate rapidly “in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) when they’re depressed,” according to a study published earlier this month in the journal Psychological Trauma: Theory Research, Practice and Policy. After examining “the mental-health records of almost 2,100 soldiers – mostly men – who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and later sought treatment,” researchers found that “those who showed signs of depression and PTSD had higher levels of anger and believed they were more likely to hurt themselves.” Nearly three-fourths “of those with signs of PTSD also appeared to suffer from depression,” the study found.

Related Links:

— “Depression May Intensify Anger in Veterans With PTSD: Study,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, May 22, 2015.