Healio (3/2, Schaffer ) reported, “Epidemiological data show women with schizophrenia are 63% more likely to develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) during 3.5 years of follow-up compared with those without the condition, with a greater risk observed for women with obesity.” Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing “data from 4,124,508 adults without baseline CVD or renal replacement therapy.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Related Links:

— “Data show ‘robust’ relationship between schizophrenia, heart disease in women,”Regina Schaffer, Healio, March 2, 2024

Psychiatric News (3/1) reported, “A large majority of U.S. adults who have pets feel that their pets have a positive impact on their mental health, according to the latest findings from APA’s Healthy Minds Poll.” In a news release, APA President Petros Levounis, M.D., M.A., said, “It’s easy to overlook the role of pets when we’re talking about mental health.” Dr. Levounis added, “But for people who do enjoy the company of animals, they can be a source of companionship, comfort, love, and friendship. I routinely encourage adoption of a pet to my patients who struggle with addiction to alcohol, drugs, or technology. We’re also starting to see more and more research around the role that animals can play in recovery from depression and other psychiatric disorders.”

Related Links:

— “Pet Ownership Has a Positive Impact on Mental Health, APA Poll Finds, Psychiatric News, March 1, 2024

The Washington Post (2/29, Pannett ) reports, “A review of research involving almost 10 million people has found a direct association between eating too many ultra-processed foods…and more than 30 health conditions, including heart disease, anxiety and early death.” For the research published in the BMJ, investigators examined “45 ‘pooled meta-analyses’ from 14 review articles involving nearly 10 million people” and “found ‘convincing evidence’ that higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with about a 50 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease-related death, a 48 to 53 percent higher risk of anxiety and common mental disorders, and a 12 percent greater risk of Type 2 diabetes.” Also, “highly suggestive evidence…indicated that diets high in ultra-processed foods were associated with a 21 percent greater risk of death from any cause.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

(2/29, Garzella) reports, “A USA TODAY analysis of Medicaid data for the 60 most used psychiatric drugs showed a growing number of people sought mental health treatment and medication during the pandemic as it pushed people into isolation and dismantled support systems.” Additionally, “the analysis also revealed a lingering effect of the pandemic: Mental health-related prescriptions rose further in 2022, up 12% from 2019, outpacing the less than 1% growth in overall prescriptions.” Dr. Smita Das, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s addiction council, said, “This is just coming to a point where for many people, it’s been unmanageable.” But “one silver lining of the pandemic…said” Dr. Das, is, “We all started to talk about mental health more and bring it to the forefront.”

Related Links:

— “Mental health crisis fuels the post-pandemic rise in medication use,”Cecilia Garzella, USA Today , February 29, 2024

The New York Times (2/29, Jewett , Hoffman ) reports, “Alcohol-related deaths surged in the United States by nearly 30 percent in recent years…according to a new studypublished by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

CNN (2/29, Christensen ) reports, “In 2020-21, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, there were an average of about 488 deaths per day from excessive alcohol drinking, according to” the report. The data indicated that “the average number of deaths related to excessive alcohol use increased more than 29% from 2016-17 to 2020-21.” The report found that “during 2016-2017 there were 137,927 alcohol-related deaths, but for 2020-2021, there were 178,307.” This “increase in deaths related to excessive alcohol seemed to hit all ages.”

HealthDay (2/29, Mundell ) reports that the study found that “men continue to lose their lives to alcohol in greater numbers than women,” but “the rate at which women are dying from excessive drinking is rising faster than that of men.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)