HealthDay (3/11, Dotinga) reports that research to be published in Psychological Science “raises the prospect that people in their 40s and 50s do a better job of translating emotional signals from other people, while seniors have more overall knowledge.” The study also found that “young adults…think faster and have more short-term memory.” These “findings are based in part on an analysis of the responses of slightly over 48,500 people who took online tests on the websites gameswithwords.org and testmybrain.org.”

Related Links:

— “Brainpower Peaks in Different Ways as People Age, Study Finds,” Randy Dotinga, HealthDay, March 10, 2015.

HealthDay (3/11, Preidt) reports that research published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics suggests that “depression may increase the risk of poor nutrition and obesity among Americans receiving food assistance.” Investigators followed “more than 600 people who were the main food shoppers in low-income families living in ‘food deserts’ in Pittsburgh.” The study found “a strong link between depression, poor nutrition and high body-mass index.”

Related Links:

— “Depression May Worsen Problem of Obesity Among the Poor,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 10, 2015.

TIME (3/11, Worland) reports that research published in Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes suggests that “intense stress and depression in people with coronary heart disease creates a ‘perfect storm’ that can increase the risk of death.”

Reuters (3/10, Doyle) reports that investigators looked at data on approximately 4,400 individuals with coronary heart disease who were at least 45 years old.

HealthDay (3/11, Reinberg) reports that “over an average six years of follow-up, 1,337 participants died or had a heart attack.” The investigators found that “the risk was 48 percent higher for those with stress and serious depression than those not feeling emotionally drained, but only for the first 2.5 years.”

Related Links:

— “Depression and Stress Could Be ‘Perfect Storm’ for Heart Disease Patients,” Justin Worland, Time, March 10, 2015.

The Huffington Post (3/7, Couch) reports that a study published March 3 in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that “providing homeless people with housing first and foremost is vital in getting them off the streets for good.” The two-year study involved “nearly 1,200 homeless individuals” with a mental illness who lived in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg, Canada. Researchers followed “two groups of homeless people with mental illness – one (the ‘intervention’ group) was given rent supplements to access stable housing, as well as provided with case management services, while the other (or ‘usual care’ group) only had access to existing housing and support services in their communities.)” People in the intervention group ended up staying in stable housing some 73.2 percent of the time, whereas those getting usual care stayed in stable housing only 23.6 percent of the time, the study found.

Related Links:

— “This Critical Step Could Keep Homeless People With Mental Illness Off The Streets,” Robbie Couch
, Huffington Post, March 6, 2015.

The NPR (3/6, Jaffe) “Morning Edition” program and “Shots” blog report that “antipsychotics are much less effective than non-drug treatments in controlling the symptoms of dementia, according to a” review (3/6) published March 4 in the British Medical Journal. Researchers arrived at that conclusion after examining “more than two decades of scientific studies.” The review’s authors “say the treatments that showed the best results were the ones that trained caregivers how to communicate calmly and clearly, and to introduce hobbies or other activities for the patient.” The piece also notes that the FDA has warned that “antipsychotics increase the risk of death for people with dementia.”

Related Links:

— “Behavioral Therapy Helps More Than Drugs For Dementia Patients,” Ina Jaffe, National Public Radio, March 5, 2015.