MedPage Today (8/30, George) reports that research indicated “nightmares that occurred twice a week or more were linked with cardiovascular disease in relatively young military veterans, even after controlling for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).” Investigators found, in the study of 3,468 US military veterans, that “frequent distressing dreams were associated with hypertension,…heart problems,…and myocardial infarction…after adjusting for age, race, and sex.” The findings were presented “at virtual SLEEP 2020, a joint meeting of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) and the Sleep Research Society.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (8/30, George) reports, “More than half the people surveyed in an online population study experienced serious sleep difficulties during the COVID-19 pandemic, but certain individuals reported better sleep.” Speaking at the virtual SLEEP 2020, Rebecca Robillard, PhD, of the University of Ottawa, described “three distinct profiles of sleep-related behaviors…during the pandemic.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

CNN (8/28, Thomas) reported experts wrote a letter published in the American Journal of Psychiatry arguing that the coronavirus pandemic has had a disproportionately large impact on people with developmental and intellectual disabilities, and that this population needs special support during the pandemic. The letter’s authors wrote, “People with intellectual and developmental disabilities were disproportionately isolated prior to the pandemic, and the intensification of that isolation stands only to weaken the community for all citizens.”

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— “Covid-19 has disproportionately impacted those living with developmental disabilities, “Naomi Thomas, CNN, August 30, 2020

HealthDay (8/30, Preidt) reports researchers found that older Americans with depression have shown “resilience to the stress of physical distancing and isolation.” The findings were published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

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— “Seniors With Depression Show Resilience in Face of Pandemic, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 30, 2020

Healio (8/26, Ernst) reports, “Patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures have a standardized mortality ratio 2.5 times greater than the general population and die at a rate similar to patients with drug-resistant epilepsy,” investigators concluded after examining “mortality rates among patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures who were admitted for video-EEG monitoring.” The findings of the 5,508-patient study were published online in the journal Neurology.

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— “Diagnosis of psychogenic nonepileptic seizures has ‘implications for future mortality’, “Julia Ernst, Healio, August 26, 2020