Healio (4/20, Firment) reported, “Young people with schizophrenia had elevated risk for sudden cardiac death, and biopsychosocial factors related to social isolation impacted the cardiac risk factor burden in individuals with schizophrenia, researchers” concluded in a study also revealing that “among young people with sudden cardiac death who were referred for autopsy, individuals with schizophrenia were more likely to have nonischemic cardiomyopathy compared with individuals without schizophrenia.” The findings of the 579-individual postmortem study were published online in the journal JACC: Clinical Electrophysiology.

Related Links:

— “Schizophrenic individuals have increased risk for sudden cardiac death “Hunter Firment, Healio, April 20, 2023

CNN (4/20, Christensen) reports, “The rate of suspected suicides and suicide attempts by poisoning among young people rose sharply during the Covid-19 pandemic,” with the rate increasing 73% “from 2019 to 2021” in “children 10 to 12 years old,” according to an analysis published online April 21 in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The study examined “what the National Poison Data System categorized as ‘suspected suicides’ by self-poisoning for 2021 among people ages 10 to 19; the records included both suicide attempts and deaths by suicide.” The data revealed that “attempted suicides and suicides by poisoning increased 30% in 2021 compared with 2019, before the pandemic began.”

Related Links:

— “Suicides and suicide attempts by poisoning rose sharply among children and teens during the pandemic “Jen Christensen, CNN , April 20, 2023

Healio (4/20, Southall) reports, “A depression diagnosis before and after a breast cancer diagnosis appeared associated with worse survival outcomes, according to study results.” The research indicates “that early detection and continued management of depression are imperative to improve patient survival, researchers concluded.” The findings were published in Cancer.

Related Links:

— “Depression before, after diagnosis linked to higher risk for breast cancer death “Jennifer Southall, Healio , April 20, 2023

HealthDay (4/20, Thompson) reports, “Suspected suicide attempts linked to marijuana overdoses have been steadily increasing over the past decade,” investigators concluded.

HCPlive (4/20, Walter) reports researchers “described suicidal cannabis exposures reported to US poison centers between 2009-2021 and compared case characteristics before and during the pandemic.” They then examined some “18,698 intentional, suspected suicidal cannabis exposures between 2009-2021.” The findings were published online April 19 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Could Better Access to Marijuana Be Linked to Rising Suicide Rates? “Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 20, 2023

Healio (4/19, VanDewater) reports, “People who directly experienced sexual trauma had lower reward responsiveness compared with those who experienced other types of trauma,” researchers concluded in a study that “enrolled 223 undergraduate students with a history of trauma.” The findings were presented in a poster at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America Conference.

Related Links:

— “Direct sexual trauma associated with impaired reward response “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, April 19, 2023