Reuters (5/31, Norton) reports that according to a study published online May 2 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, babies born to mothers on antidepressants may be born a few days earlier or may even have seizures shortly after being born. After examining data on some 228,876 babies born in Tennessee, researchers found that second-trimester maternal antidepressant use was associated with infants being born up to five days before their due date. Maternal third-trimester use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants was associated with neonate seizures. Because depression itself is a serious problem, the study authors recommended that women who are on medications for depression speak to their physicians about whether they should discontinue taking antidepressants during pregnancy.

Related Links:

— “More questions on antidepressants during pregnancy,”Amy Norton, Reuters, May 30, 2012.

Reuters (5/31, Seaman) reports that, according to research published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, driving while very tired may be nearly as dangerous as driving while drunk.

Related Links:

— “Sleepy, drunken drivers equally dangerous: study,”Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, May 30, 2012.

The New York Daily News (5/29, Blau) reports that in New York City, “dangerously drunken revelers, whose numbers have nearly doubled citywide in the last five years, are now the fifth-leading cause of emergency room visits at public hospitals.” In fact, “teenage binge drinking is a key culprit behind the number of ER visits, which have skyrocketed citywide from 7,958 in 2007 to 15,620 in 2011, city records show.” Binge drinking by teenagers in New York City “has become such a crisis that the Health Department launched a $200,000 ad campaign in 2011 warning of the perils of alcohol abuse.”

Related Links:

— “Drunken teenage revelers now fifth-leading cause of emergency room visits at city’s public hospitals,”Reuven Blau, New York Daily News, May 28, 2012.

On its website, Fox News (5/25, Crees) reported, “Researchers at Portland State University analyzed the blood-alcohol levels in nearly 58,000 suicide cases across 16 states and found that 22 percent of victims were drunk when they died.” Specifically, 24 “percent of men and 17 percent of women who committed suicide had blood-alcohol levels of at least 0.08 g/dL, the legal standard for intoxication,” according to a study published online May 24 in the journal BMJ Injury Prevention. The study “was funded with a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.”

Related Links:

— “Study: Nearly a quarter of US suicide victims intoxicated at time of death,”Alex Crees, Fox News, May 25, 2012.

In the Huffington Post (5/25), Dr. Susan Blumenthal, a former Assistant Surgeon General, and Deepa Kannappan, a Stanford University health policy intern at the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress, examined in “The Blog” how America is handling mental health challenges, “a major 21st-century public health challenge.” The two recommended that public policy focus on understanding specific risk factors for various groups, improving education and reducing stigma, and “providing parity for health insurance coverage for mental illness.”

Related Links:

— “Overcoming Stigma and Improving Mental Health in America,”Susan Blumenthal, Huffington Post, May 25, 2012.