In a blog entry for the Huffington Post (10/18), psychiatrists Herbert Pardes, MD, vice chairman of the board of trustees of New York-Presbyterian Hospital, and Jeffrey A. Lieberman, MD, Chair of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and President-Elect, American Psychiatric Association, write, “As more Americans with mental illnesses face fewer available mental health services, we risk rising rates of suicide, homelessness and mental health-related incarcerations.” They contend, “In this current environment of a struggling economy, rising debt and political gridlock, it is not realistic to expect significant increases in funding necessary to shore up our mental health system.” However, “the process of reform currently underway provides opportunities that should lead to improvements in the quality and efficiency of mental health care delivery,” such as patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations.

Related Links:

— “New Hope for Mental Health, the Huffington Post Blog, October 17, 2012.

HealthDay (10/18, Preidt) reports that “the rate of prescription painkiller abuse among American youth is 40 percent higher than in previous generations, and it is now the second most common type of illegal drug use after marijuana,” according to a new study published Oct. 16 in the Journal of Adolescent Health. According to the article, study author Richard Miech said in a news release that the “current generation’s abuse of prescription pain medications…is ‘higher than any generation ever measured.'” Examining data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health from 1985 to 2009, researchers found that prescription painkiller abuse led to “a 129 percent increase in emergency department visits between 2004 and 2009,” and “a more than 500 percent increase in the number of people seeking treatment for addiction to prescription opioids between 1997 and 2007.”

Study: Illicit Drug Use Down, Prescription Medication Use On The Rise. MedPage Today (10/18, Fiore) reports that researchers reported at a poster session at the American Society of Anesthesiologists meeting that “as abuse of prescription painkillers continues to rise, patients are using fewer illicit drugs.” The article says that Asokumar Buvanendran, MD, of Rush University Medical Center, and colleagues reported that “while the incidence of abuse of oxycodone (OxyContin) and other prescription painkillers rose about 1 percentage point each year between 2007 and 2009, rates of illicit drug use — that includes marijuana, cocaine, and heroin — fell 4 percentage points each year during that time.” MedPage Today details that “to assess trends in abuse of prescription and illicit drugs, the researchers looked at data from the Drug Abuse Warning Network (DAWN) for 11 major metropolitan areas between 2007 and 2009.”

Related Links:

— “Painkiller Abuse by Kids Way Up, Study Finds,”Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 17,2012.

Reuters (10/18, Norton) reports that use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants appears to be associated with somewhat increased chances of a hemorrhagic stroke, according to a meta-analysis published online Oct. 17 in the journal Neurology. For the study, investigators analyzed the results of 16 studies encompassing some 500,000 individuals.

HealthDay (10/18, Gordon) reports, “The increased risk for drugs such as Prozac (fluoxetine) and Paxil (paroxetine), however, still translates only to about a one in 10,000 rate of a hemorrhagic stroke for anyone taking an SSRI for a year.” In addition, “the raised risk tends to be strongest during the first few weeks and months after starting an SSRI,” the meta-analysis found.

WebMD (10/18, Doheny) reports, “For most people, though, the risk of stroke linked with these drugs is low, says researcher Daniel G. Hackam, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at Western University in London, Ontario, Canada.” In general, “he says, ‘the additional bleeding risk is one per 10,000 people treated with SSRIs for one year.'” But, “for those who already have risk factors for bleeding stroke…the risk is higher, he says.”

Meanwhile, according to MedPage Today (10/18, Bankhead), “a separate analysisshowed that concomitant use of an SSRI and an anticoagulant significantly increased the risk of brain hemorrhage compared with anticoagulant use alone.” Even though “the analysis yielded statistically significant results, investigators offered a cautious assessment of the implications in an article reported in the Oct. 30 issue of Neurology.” Medscape (10/18, Brooks) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Antidepressants linked to risk of brain bleeds ,”Amy Norton, Reuters, October 17, 2012.

The NBC News (10/17, Stokes) “Vitals” blog reports, “Alcoholism may be twice as fatal for women as for men, according to a” study published online Oct. 16 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. After examining data on 4,070 individuals in Germany, all of whom were asked about their alcohol use, then following the group for 14 years, researchers found that “nearly a fifth of the alcoholics had died.”

HealthDay (10/17, Reinberg) quotes the study’s lead author, who explained in a statement, “First, we found that annualized death rates were 4.6-fold higher for females and 1.9-fold higher for males compared to the age- and gender-specific general population.” Next, “we found that the mean age at death was 60 for females and 58 for males, both of which are about 20 years lower than the mean age at death among the general population.” Notably, “drinking appears to contribute more to early death than other risk factors, such as smoking, he noted.” The Daily Mail (UK) (10/17, Preece) also covers the story.

Small Study: Two Weeks Of Abstinence May Reverse Brain Damage From Alcohol Abuse. HealthDay (10/17, Dallas) reports, “Two weeks of abstinence from drinking can reverse damage to the brain caused by chronic alcohol abuse,” according to a study published online Oct. 16 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after examining “49 alcoholics from an inpatient alcohol-withdrawal treatment program,” then comparing them to 55 controls who did not abuse alcohol. Brain scans were conducted on all participants within 24 hours of detoxification and repeated “after two weeks of supervised abstinence.”

Related Links:

— “Alcoholism Shortens Life More Than Smoking: Study, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, October 16, 2012.

MedPage Today (10/17, Fiore) reports that “enlisting anesthesiologists’ significant others to keep a watchful eye may help reduce substance abuse among their partners, researchers” said during an oral session at the American Society of Anesthesiologists. MedPage Today notes that “about 85% of significant others — most of whom had been through a training program — felt they could identify signs of drug abuse among their anesthesiologist partners, according to Shahla Escobar, MD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and colleagues.” Escobar remarked, “helping them recognize the signs of substance abuse may have a salutary effect on the overall well-being of residents.”

Related Links:

— “If Docs Abuse Drugs, Spouses Can Help Spot It, “Kristina Fiore, Medpage Today, October 16, 2012.