HealthDay (10/24, Thompson ) reports, “Suicide risk is highest on Monday in the United States and around the world, an international team of researchers has discovered.” The researchers said, “Mondays and New Year’s Day were both associated with increased suicide risk in most countries.” Study results indicate that “Mondays constitute 15% to 18% of total suicides, compared with other days.” Study “results also show that weekend suicide risk varies greatly between countries.” The findings were published in the BMJ.

Related Links:

— “One Day of the Week Has Highest Suicide Risk,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, October 24, 2024

Healio (10/23, Cooper ) reports, “A single saline injection, openly prescribed as a placebo, yielded approximately 1 month of chronic back pain improvement, along with longer-term benefits in depression and sleep, according to data.” The investigators “described the placebo injection’s pain relief benefit as ‘modest in magnitude’ but clinically significant and comparable with the effect sizes of typical treatments such as NSAIDs, but with fewer adverse events.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Open-label placebo injection demonstrates ‘modest’ benefit in chronic back pain,” Justin Cooper, Healio, October 23, 2024

ABC News (10/23, Kindelan ) reports, “Thousands of bottles of a popular antidepressant medication are being recalled due to the presence of what the National Library of Medicine describes as a toxic chemical, according to a notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” The recall impacts “the medication duloxetine, which is sold under the brand name Cymbalta, according to the FDA’s notice of the voluntary recall, which began Oct. 10.” The recalled “capsules were found to contain a higher level of N-nitroso-duloxetine than is permitted, according to the recall notice.”

USA Today (10/23, Ardrey ) reports the FDA “announced a Class II recall for more than 7,000 bottles of” the antidepressant. The drug “was distributed across the country and manufactured by Towa Pharmaceutical Europe.”

Related Links:

— “Thousands of bottles of popular antidepressant recalled: 3 things to know,” Katie Kindelan, ABC News, October 23, 2024

MedPage Today (10/22, DePeau-Wilson ) reports, “Among mothers, a history of eating disorders or body mass index (BMI) outside the normal range was associated with a higher risk of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in their offspring, according to a Finnish population-based cohort study.” In the “analysis of nearly 400,000 mothers and nearly 650,000 offspring, the largest effect sizes were for non-specified maternal eating disorders in association with childhood sleep disorders…and social functioning and tic disorders.” Researchers found that “for maternal severe prepregnancy obesity, the largest effect size was for intellectual disabilities.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Oncology Nurse Advisor (10/21, Garlapow) reports, “Aerobic physical activity (APA) modestly reduced depressive symptoms in adults with cancer, with significant effects observed within 1 month of intervention and 6 to 12 months postintervention, according to results from a systematic review and meta-analysis.” The “study encompassed 25 randomized clinical trials with 1931 participants aged 18 to 80 years and showed a significant reduction in self-reported depression scores following APA interventions.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Physical Activity Reduced Long-Term Depression in Patients With Cancer,” Megan Garlapow, PhD, Oncology Nurse Advisor, October 21, 2024