USA Today (1/30, Dastagir) reports on the increasing number of Americans committing suicide. Figures (pdf) released Jan. 30 from the CDC “show 48,344 people died by suicide in 2018, up from 47,173 the year before.” What’s more, “since 1999, the suicide rate has climbed 35%.” Currently, “suicide is the nation’s 10th-leading cause of death, with 14.2 deaths per 100,000 people.” What’s more, even though “thousands of people die by suicide each year, millions think about it.” For example, “in 2017, 10.6 million American adults seriously thought about suicide, 3.2 million made a plan, and 1.4 million attempted it, according to the CDC.”

Related Links:

— “More and more Americans are dying by suicide. What are we missing?, “Alia E. Dastagir, USA Today, January 30, 2020

Reuters (1/29, Carroll) reports researchers found that “nearly half of deployed soldiers thinking about suicide show no obvious signs that would help mental health professionals identify them.” The researchers analyzed “data on almost 4,000 soldiers serving in Afghanistan in 2012” and “found that 40% of those who said they had contemplated suicide in the past 30 days had not been diagnosed with a major mental health problem and did not show any other signs that would help [healthcare professionals] to identify them as being at risk.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Many soldiers thinking about suicide show no signs, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, January 30, 2020

HealthDay (1/28, Preidt) reports, “Girls tend to be diagnosed with autism at an older age than boys, perhaps delaying essential treatment,” research indicated. Included in the study were “the first 1,000 participants in the Rhode Island Consortium for Autism Research and Treatment.” The study revealed that “on average, girls were diagnosed with autism nearly 1.5 years later than boys.”

Healio (1/28, Gramigna) reports that the study also “reported a high rate of co-occurring psychiatric and medical conditions among those affected.” For example, “approximately 50% of participants reported another neurodevelopmental disorder, such as” AD/HD “or intellectual disability; 44.1% reported a psychiatric disorder; 42.7% reported a neurological condition, such as seizures/epilepsy, migraines, or tics; 92.5% reported at least one general medical condition and approximately 33% reported other behavioral problems.” The findings were published online Jan. 20 in the journal Autism Research.

Related Links:

— “Girls With Autism Diagnosed Later Than Boys, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 28, 2020

Medscape (1/28, Franki, Subscription Publication) reports, “The Food and Drug Administration is strengthening a previous warning regarding the uncommon risk of serious bowel complications associated with the schizophrenia medication clozapine.” According to an FDA press release, “clozapine affects bowel function in a majority of patients, and constipation is a common adverse event associated with clozapine use.” These effects “can uncommonly progress to serious bowel complications, including complete bowel blockage, and can result in hospitalization or even death if the constipation is not diagnosed and treated quickly.”

Related Links:

— “FDA Strengthens Bowel Complication Warning for Clozapine, “Lucas Franki, Medscape, January 28, 2020

Reuters (1/27, Carroll) reports that “more than a third of gynecologists don’t screen for” depression in perimenopausal women, according to a study published in Menopause, “even though studies have shown that some 40% of women experience depression as they go through menopause.” Researchers surveyed gynecologists and found that “while most of the gynecologists surveyed said they believed they could recognize depression in perimenopausal women, almost half did not feel confident in their ability to treat depressed patients.” The article mentions that the researchers sent survey invitations to 500 members of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and 206 participated.

Related Links:

— “Depression common in lead-up to menopause, but few gynecologists screen for it, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, January 27, 2020