The Washington Post (5/14, Cimons) reported, “The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health says up to two-thirds of women in perimenopause report cognitive problems, although estimates as to the extent of affected women differ among experts.” It’s also “still unclear what causes these deficits – hormones or other factors – and whether they continue postmenopause.” One recent study “of low-income women of color, some of them HIV infected, suggests that cognitive declines may linger into postmenopause for some, although demographics also may influence this, says Stephanie Faubion, medical director of the North American Menopause Society (NAMS), which published the research in its journal, Menopause.” Peter Schmidt, “chief of the behavioral endocrinology branch at the National Institute of Mental Health and one of the study authors, says: ‘I think it’s very clear that a subgroup of women do develop depression, for some for the first time in their lives, and there is evidence that declining estrogen contributes to its development.’”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (5/14, Reinberg) reported researchers found “people with heart failure are 20% more likely than those with cancer to develop depression within five years of their diagnosis.” The findings were published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology.

Related Links:

— “Depression Even More Common With Heart Failure Than Cancer ” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, May 14, 2021

Healio (5/13, Ernst) reports researchers found “entorhinal hypometabolism identified on fluorodeoxyglucose PET scans served as a ‘strong and independent predictor’ of future cognitive decline in” patients with preclinical Alzheimer’s disease. The findings were published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Entorhinal hypometabolism on PET scan predicts cognitive decline in preclinical AD “Julia Ernst, Healio, May 13, 2021

Healio (5/13, Gramigna) reports researchers found in a randomized clinical trial that “patients with opioid dependence who received subcutaneous buprenorphine reported higher satisfaction and lower treatment burden vs. those who took sublingual buprenorphine.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Psychiatric News (5/13) reports the study’s “results highlight the importance of using patient-reported outcomes when developing medication treatment for substance use disorders.”

Related Links:

— “Patients report subcutaneous buprenorphine preferable to sublingual formulation “Madison Weller, Healio, May 13, 2021

Healio (5/13, Gramigna) reports researchers conducted a cross-sectional study and found that “borderline personality disorder diagnosis and related criteria of self-injurious behaviors and chronic emptiness significantly increased suicide attempt risk.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Self-injurious behaviors, chronic emptiness increase suicide attempt risk in BPD “Joe Gramigna, Healio, May 13, 2021