HealthDay (10/5, Mozes) reported that research published in Pediatrics suggests that “a simple, short mental health test already used for pediatric patients has been found effective at predicting post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) risk among preschoolers seriously injured by such things as a burn or car crash.” The “Pediatric Emotional Distress Scale” questionnaire “was retooled into the PEDS-Early Screener (or PEDS-ES), designed to sift through parent-provided information and zero in specifically on long-term PTSD risk among injured preschoolers.” The study indicated that “by establishing an optimal scoring method, investigators achieved an 85 percent success rate at picking up PTSD risk, and a 63 percent success rate at specifically predicting the onset of either full or partial PTSD.”

Related Links:

— “New Test Spots Risk for PTSD in Injured Kids, “Alan Mozes, HealthDay, October 4, 2013.

In an 1,800-word article, USA Today (10/5, Zoroya) reports that the US “Army, which recorded an average of six suicides per week last year, now stands at the edge of a science-driven answer” to the problem of military suicides “as radical as it is uncomplicated: predicting which soldiers are likely to kill themselves so they can be stopped before it’s too late.” The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), along with researchers from several US universities have developed a “computer code…designed to” help predict which soldiers are likely to commit suicide. USA Today added, “NIMH epidemiologist Michael Schoenbaum, a lead scientist in the effort, says he and others on the team applied a complex set of risk factors – such as psychiatric illness, deployment history or drug or alcohol abuse – to a computer assessment of soldiers, producing a rating that’s a ‘flag for whom do you target for special care.’”

Related Links:

— “Army explores predicting suicides as way to prevent them, “Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, October 7, 2013.

The Time (10/2, Park) “Healthland” blog reports that research published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings suggests that statins may be associated with a reduced risk of cognitive decline. Investigators analyzed data from “16 studies that involved people taking statin medications who were also tested on memory, attention and organizational skills,” and found “that longer term use of the drugs may prevent dementia.” Additionally, the researchers “found that use of statins for less than a year did not have any adverse effects on cognitive functions.” The article points out that last year, the FDA said that statins labels must carry warnings about an increased risk of memory problems.

Related Links:

— “Statin Drugs Linked to Lower Risk of Cognitive Decline, “Alice Park, Time, October 1, 2013.

Reuters (10/2, Kelland) reports that, according to a study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, evaluation tools to predict the probability of a psychopathic inmate’s likelihood of committing another offense appear to have little or no value. After analyzing data on some 1,396 incarcerated males in the UK, researchers found that the accuracy rate of three various assessment tools was under 50 percent. The study authors concluded that court officials and probation boards should not rely on these test scores.

Related Links:

— “Predicting violence in psychopaths is ‘no more than chance’, “Kate Kelland, Reuters, October 2, 2013.

The New York Times (10/3, Bakalar) “Well” blog reports that, according to a study published online Oct. 2 in the journal Neurology, “depression may be an independent risk factor for Parkinson’s disease.” For the study, investigators “followed 4,634 patients with depression and 18,544 matched controls for” an entire decade. The study excluded individuals “who received a diagnosis of depression within five years of their Parkinson’s diagnosis.” This exclusion was made to rule out any possibility that depression itself could be an early symptom of Parkinson’s.

On its website, CBS News (10/3, Jaslow) reports that people “who had depression were more than three times more likely to develop Parkinson’s than those who were not depressed.” The study’s lead author “pointed out to CBS News.com that the study showed two groups in particular appeared to be at higher risk for Parkinson’s: elderly people over 65 with depression, and people with difficult-to-treat-depression, who were defined as having to alter their antidepressant treatment regimen two or more times.”

Related Links:

— “Depression Tied to Parkinson’s Risk, “Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, October 2, 2013.