Psychiatric News (11/21) reports “several studies have shown that individuals with a parent who died by suicide have an increased risk of suicide or self-harm themselves compared with individuals with living parents or a parent who died from other causes,” but a new study “now finds that this risk may be particularly elevated when the individual reaches the same age at which the parent died by suicide.” The researchers said, “Our findings support the idea of a dynamic process of grief, in so much as the elevated risk of suicidal behavior at [parental] age correspondence might also represent a period of loss orientation and increased distress.” The findings were published in Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior.

Related Links:

— “Reaching Age at Which Parent Died by Suicide Increases Suicide Risk Among Offspring,” Psychiatric News, November 21, 2024

The New York Times (11/21, Hoffman , Weiland ) reports, “After years of relentless rises in overdose deaths, the United States has seen a remarkable reversal.” For seven consecutive “months, according to federal data, drug fatalities have been declining.” Expanded prevention, treatment, “and education efforts are playing a role, but drug policy experts believe there is another, surprising reason: changes in the drug supply itself, which are, in turn, influencing how people are using drugs.” For example, “the fentanyl on the street is starting to become weaker.” According to addiction experts, “other interventions contributed to the declining fatalities, including wider distribution of overdose reversal medications” and “an uptick in some states in prescriptions for medication that suppresses opioid cravings.”

CNN (11/21, McPhillips ) reports, “The US Drug Enforcement Administration says that less fentanyl is present in the nation’s illicit pill supply and that is helping drive down overdose deaths in the United States.” However, “experts say that there are limitations to this claim and that many other factors are probably playing a role.”

Related Links:

— “Less-potent fentanyl pills may be playing a role in decrease of US overdose deaths, DEA says,” Deidre McPhillips, CNN, November 21, 2024

Psychiatric News reports, “A panel convened by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted overwhelmingly…against key provisions of the Clozapine Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) after hearing from clinicians, patients, and caregivers who said access to this effective schizophrenia medication was thwarted by red tape.” The FDA “panel voted 14-1 against the REMS requirement that prescribers document and pharmacies verify patients’ absolute neutrophil counts (ANC) before dispensing clozapine.” Additionally, the panel “voted 14-1 against the need for educating prescribers and pharmacists on the risk of clozapine-induced severe neutropenia and ANC monitoring.”

Related Links:

— “FDA Panel Votes 14-1 Against Clozapine REMS,” Psychiatric News, November20 , 2024

MedPage Today (11/20, DePeau-Wilson ) reports, “Diagnoses of postpartum depression (PPD) increased significantly across all racial and ethnic groups and prepregnancy body mass index (BMI) categories over the past decade, according to a California-based cross-sectional study.” An analysis of over “400,000 pregnancies found that prevalence of PPD doubled from 2010 to 2021 (9.4% vs 19%).” Although “rates increased across all groups, the largest increases were seen in those who identified as Asian and Pacific Islander (280% increase) and non-Hispanic Black (140% increase).”

The findings were published in JAMA Network Open. Ludmila De Faria, MD, the chair for APA’s Council on Women’s Mental Health, “said these findings are a huge positive and also a call to action.” She said, “It confirms what we know, that all of the emphasis on early detection and screening has paid off, and now more people are definitely being identified that struggle with postpartum depression. … The issue is, do they all have access to care?”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (11/19, George ) reports, “Genetic risk for Alzheimer’s disease and dementia appeared to be partly offset by high levels of cardiorespiratory fitness, U.K. Biobank data suggested.” Investigators found that “overall, high cardiorespiratory fitness was associated with better global and domain-specific cognitive functions and lower risk of dementia in both middle-age and older adults.”

The data indicated that “the incidence rate ratio of all-cause dementia was 0.60…for high versus low cardiorespiratory fitness. Dementia onset was delayed by 1.48 years…in the high fitness group.”

Meanwhile, “among people with moderate or high genetic dementia risk scores, high cardiorespiratory fitness attenuated dementia risk by 35%…compared with low fitness.” The findings were published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)