The Pittsburgh Business Times (6/16, Subscription Publication) reports that research suggests that individuals “with Type 1 diabetes have a higher risk of premature death as their symptoms of depression increase.” For each “one point increase on a 32-point depression measurement scale, study participants showed a 4 percent increase in risk for mortality, even after controlling for such things as age, gender, smoking and cholesterol, lead author Cassie Fickley said.”

Related Links:

— “Depression increases risk of premature death for diabetics,” Kris B. Mamula, Pittsburgh Business Times, June 16, 2014.

The New Orleans Times-Picayune (6/17, Castellano) reports a recent study published in Pediatrics indicates family violence can incite “critical DNA changes that could hasten mental and physical illness” in children. After studying children in the New Orleans, Louisiana, area, “Children ages five to 15 who witnessed family violence, experienced a family member’s suicide or had a family member incarcerated were more likely to undergo cellular aging as evidenced by a shortening of the tips of their chromosomes, the study showed.” The article notes the NIH provided lead study author Dr. Stacy Drury with “$2.4 million to study how families can help prevent such health declines in children related to violence.”

Related Links:

— “Childhood family violence alters DNA, Tulane study of New Orleans kids shows,” Rebecca Catalanello, New Orleans Times-Picayune, June 16, 2014.

In a 2,000-word article, the New York Times (6/17, D1, Belluck, Subscription Publication) reports that “many women” suffering from maternal mental illness “have been afraid to admit to terrifying visions or deadened emotions, believing they should be flush with maternal joy or fearing their babies would be taken from them.” However, “advocacy groups on maternal mental illness are” now “springing up, and some mothers are blogging about their experiences with remarkable candor.” Meanwhile, “a dozen states have passed laws encouraging screening, education and treatment.”

Related Links:

— “After Baby, an Unraveling: A Case Study in Maternal Mental Illness,” Pam Belluck, New York Times, June 16, 2014.

The Burlington (VT) Free Press (6/12, Hemingway) reports that over the “past 15 months, Vermont has been on a mission to quell a growing heroin addiction problem in the state.” Efforts to do so have “involved busting up drug rings importing heroin to the state, vastly expanding opiate addiction treatment programs with collaboration of treatment hubs and local doctors and arming cops and ambulance workers with a drug that can reverse the effects of an opiate overdose.” Back in January, Gov. Peter Shumlin (D-VT) “devoted his entire State of the State message to the Legislature to the heroin problem and what to do about it.”

Related Links:

— “In Vermont, on the front lines of war on heroin,” Sam Hemingway, Burlington Free Press via USA Today, June 12, 2014.

USA Today (6/12, Smith, DeMio) reports on the growth of heroin addiction, saying that “there are medicine-based treatments available today that can give addicts a fighting chance.” The story cites Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, saying that “the stigma attached to drug addiction has dragged down development and investment in better treatment options.”

The story mentions methadone and buprenorphine as possible means of controlling heroin cravings, and naltrexone. It also says that researchers are trying to develop “vaccines.” Volkow is quoted saying, “Multiple targets look promising, but we cannot move them (forward) because research on medication development is terribly expensive,” adding, “the pharmaceutical companies have been resistant to get into the space.”

Related Links:

— “Heroin addicts left trapped; families, heartbroken,” Carrie Blackmore Smith and Terry DeMio, Cincinnati Inquirer via USA Today, June 12, 2014.