CNN (8/4, Hunt) reports, “Some researchers had thought insufficient levels of vitamin D may play a role in depression but the findings of a large study of more than 18,000 US adults ages 50 years or older published” Aug. 4 in JAMA “has found no evidence of that impact.” For the study, “half of the adults, who had no clinically relevant depressive symptoms at the start of the study, took vitamin D3 (one of two types of Vitamin D supplements) in the amount of 2000IU per day, more than the current recommended amount in the United States,” while the “other half took a placebo.” Investigators tracked participants “for 5.3 years on average.”

Also providing similar coverage are MedPage Today (8/4, Hlavinka), HealthDay (8/4, Reinberg), and Psychiatric News (8/4).

Related Links:

— “Vitamin D doesn’t prevent depression in older adults, large study finds, “Katie Hunt, CNN, August 4, 2020

The New York Times (8/3, Kolata) reports researchers found “the risk for a person to develop dementia over a lifetime is now 13 percent lower than it was in 2010” in the US and Europe. Researchers observed the decrease “despite the lack of effective treatments or preventive strategies.” The findings were published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Dementia on the Retreat in the U.S. and Europe, “Gina Kolata, The New York Times, August 3, 2020

Medscape (8/3, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found “depression and anxiety in patients with COVID-19 may reflect penetration of the novel coronavirus into the central nervous system (CNS).” The findings were published in The Laryngoscope.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (8/3, Parodi) reports, “COVID-19 survivors suffer higher rates of psychiatric disorders including post-traumatic stress (PTSD), anxiety, insomnia and depression, according to a study conducted by San Raffaele hospital in Milan on Monday.” The Milan “survey showed that more than half of the 402 patients monitored after being treated for the virus experienced at least one of these disorders in proportion to the severity of the inflammation during the disease.” The report was published in Brain, Behavior and Immunity.

Related Links:

— “Some COVID-19 survivors suffer psychiatric disorders, Italian study says, “Emilio Parodi, Reuters, August 3, 2020

Healio (7/31, Gramigna) reported, “A behavioral pain management intervention was associated with improved pain-related outcomes among individuals with substance use disorders and chronic pain,” investigators concluded in a study that randomized “to treatment 264 men, with 133 to ImPAT [Improving Pain During Addiction Treatment] and 131 to SPC [supportive psychoeducational control], and 246 women, with 122 to ImPAT and 124 to SPC, with the goal of recruiting approximately equal numbers of men and women to examine results by sex.” The findings were published online July 29 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Behavioral pain management effective for substance use disorders, chronic pain, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, July 31, 2020