HealthDay (11/20, Norton) reported, “The number of women who contemplate suicide or self-harm during or after pregnancy may be on the rise,” investigators concluded in a study revealing that “among nearly 600,000 U.S. childbearing women, researchers found that close to 2,700 were diagnosed with suicidality in the year before or after giving birth.” The findings were published online Nov. 18 in JAMA Psychiatry.

According to Psychiatric News (11/20), the study “authors noted that Black women, those with lower incomes, and younger women experienced the larger increases in suicidality.” They wrote, “Given the severe maternal mortality crisis among racial/ethnic minority individuals, especially Black women, it is imperative to include psychiatric risks in predictive models and practice guidelines.”

Related Links:

— “Suicidality Among Childbearing Women Found to Increase Over 12-Year Period, Psychiatric News, November 20, 2020

Modern Healthcare (11/19, Castellucci, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found “patients with coronavirus – particularly those over 65 – may present to healthcare settings with only symptoms of delirium rather than well-known signs of the virus like fever and shortness of breath.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

STAT (11/19, Cooney) reports that in the study, “more than one-fourth of older patients…arrived at hospital emergency rooms with delirium, and 37% of these patients had no typical Covid-19 signs, such as fever or shortness or breath.”

Psychiatric News (11/19). also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Modern Healthcare Requires Subscription

The Washington Post (11/19, A1, Shammas) reports, “With Thanksgiving a week away and coronavirus cases exploding nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday recommended against traveling or gathering for the holiday, urging Americans to consider celebrating in their own households instead.” In the agency’s “first news briefing in months, officials said they were alarmed to see 1 million new cases reported across the United States within the past week.” As the nation’s death toll “since the start of the pandemic reached 250,000, officials spoke of the risks in stark terms, warning that as friends and relatives get together over the holidays, they could inadvertently bring the coronavirus with them.”

Related Links:

— “CDC recommends against Thanksgiving travel amid surge of coronavirus cases “Brittany Shammas, The Washington Post, November 19, 2020

Cardiovascular Business (11/19) reports researchers found “social isolation during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in more patients arriving at the emergency department (ED) with high blood pressure.” The findings were presented at the Argentine Congress of Cardiology 2020 virtual meeting.

Related Links:

— “COVID-related social isolation associated with high blood pressure “Michael Walter, Cardiovascular Business, November 19, 2020

Frailty Appears To Be Key Risk Factor For Age-Related Cognitive Dysfunction And Dementia, Research Suggests
HCPlive (11/18, Meglio) reports research indicates that “health-deficit accumulation, specifically among older Americans, affects the likelihood of progressive cognitive impairment, as well as the likelihood of cognitive improvement independent of the APOE ε4 allele.” For the study, investigators “calculated a frailty index score using the deficit-accumulation approach in participants aged 50 years and older from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center.” The 14,490-participant study revealed that frailty appears to be “a key risk factor for age-related cognitive dysfunction and dementia.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Researchers Find New Method to Measure Cognitive Impairment, Dementia “Marco Meglio, HCPlive, November 18, 2020