Healio (10/15, Gramigna) reports, “Psychosocial interventions in combination with psychotherapy appeared beneficial for outpatients with bipolar disorder,” researchers concluded in a study that “included 39 randomized clinical trials with 3,863 participants that compared pharmacotherapy plus manualized psychotherapy with pharmacotherapy plus a control intervention for patients with bipolar disorder.” The findings were published online Oct. 14 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Psychiatric News (10/15) quotes an accompanying editorial that observes the study “may further serve as a call to action to enhance availability and uptake of these treatments in the community.” The editorialists added, “Unfortunately, data suggest substantially lower rates of psychotherapy receipt (26%-50%) compared with medication management (46%-90%) among adults with [bipolar disorder].”

Related Links:

— “Adjunctive psychotherapy may benefit patients with bipolar disorder “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 15, 2020

HealthDay (10/14, Preidt) reports catheter ablation “is more effective than medications in reducing dementia risk in people with the heart rhythm disorder atrial fibrillation (AF),” according to researchers who “analyzed data on patients…including more than 9,100 who had catheter ablation and nearly 18,000 who were treated with medications” and found that “catheter ablation reduced the incidence of dementia by 27% compared to medication.” The findings were published in the European Heart Journal.

Related Links:

— “A-Fib Treatment Reduces Patients’ Dementia Risk “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 14, 2020

MedPage Today (10/14, George) reports, “Severe apathy in cognitively normal older people was tied to an increased risk of future dementia,” investigators concluded after following “2,018 white and Black community-dwelling older adults in the NIH’s Health, Aging, and Body Composition” cohort. The study revealed that “compared with older adults who had low levels of apathy, those with severe apathy were nearly twice as likely to develop probable dementia.” The study authors posited their research provides “novel evidence for apathy as a prodrome of dementia.” The findings were published online Oct. 14 in the journal Neurology.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (10/14, Gramigna) reports, “Cigarette smoking appeared linked to increased amounts of Alzheimer’s disease risk biomarkers,” investigators concluded in a study that “sought to investigate the link between cigarette smoking and” cerebrospinal fluid “biomarkers of neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, neuroprotection and oxidation.” Researchers then “analyzed these biomarkers among 191 adult men in China both with and without significant cigarette exposure.” The findings of the “case-control study” were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Cigarette smoking may increase risk for Alzheimer’s disease “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 14, 2020

Healio (10/13, Downey) reports, “Approximately 21% of children aged nine to 12 years experience cyberbullying in some form…a survey conducted by the Cartoon Network and the Cyberbullying Research Center” revealed. The “responses from the national survey of 1,034 preteens showed that 15% of respondents witnessed cyberbullying, 15% experienced cyberbullying themselves, and 3% reported cyberbullying others.” Click here to see the findings.

Related Links:

— “Preteens experience ‘concerning’ level of cyberbullying, survey finds “Ken Downey Jr., Healio, October 13, 2020