Healio (9/23, Demko) reports, “Current risk prediction algorithms for cardiovascular disease that do not include severe mental illness as a predictor could be underestimating” cardiovascular disease (CVD) “risk by as much as 60%,” research indicated. The findings of the “prospective cohort study of 495,388 primary care patients aged 30 to 74 years without prior CVD (the PREDICT study)” were published online Sept. 18 in PLOS ONE.

Related Links:

— “Cardiovascular disease risk may be underestimated among mentally ill, “Savannah Demko, Healio, September 23, 2019

NBC News (9/22, Stenson) reports on its website that autism research is moving away from finding a cure and toward helping people with autism “lead healthier, happier lives.” The article says, “When autism research started to really accelerate a couple decades ago, many scientists thought finding a cure might be easier,” but autism researcher Len Abbeduto, the director of UC Davis’ MIND Institute in Sacramento, said, “I think that given the complexity and the variability of the causes and the manifestations of autism, trying to come up with a cure is probably not the right approach.”

Related Links:

— “Why the focus of autism research is shifting away from searching for a ‘cure’, “Jacqueline Stenson, NBC News, September 22, 2019

MD Magazine (9/20, Walter) reported that “sertraline (Zoloft), a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI),” appears to lead “to an early reduction in anxiety symptoms commonly found in depression, long before any of the depressive symptoms are reduced,” research indicated. Included in the study were 653 patients. The findings of the “double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial” were published online Sept. 19 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Common Antidepressant More Effective for Treating Anxiety, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, September 20, 2019

The New York Times (9/20, Steinhauer) reported that Be Connected, a veteran-focused suicide prevention program, has earned “a rare – and quiet – spot of bipartisan cooperation between congressional Democrats…and the Trump administration, which has moved aggressively to try to turn around the intransigent veteran suicide rate.” The program’s philosophy is based on an “increasing awareness that suicidal veterans often are best reached through members of their own community, and not the federal government.” Its goal “is to intervene on ‘the myriad issues that service members and their families struggle with’ before they ‘lead to crisis,’” according to Thomas Winkel, director of the Arizona Coalition for Military Families, which operates the program. The Times explains that “by identifying veterans who have the kinds of struggles that often lead to suicide, the program can connect them with the services they need while they still can be helped.”

Related Links:

— “Program to Prevent Suicide by Veterans Earns Bipartisan Support, “Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times, September 20, 2019

The New York Times (9/20, Sohn) reported that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “can affect both children and adults, but it has increasingly become a common condition of childhood.” Even though “the American Academy of Pediatrics doesn’t recommend giving children a diagnosis of” AD/HD “until after age four, one study found that nearly half of the 237,000 two-to-five-year-olds who had an” AD/HD “diagnosis in 2011 and 2012 were diagnosed before age four.” Medications to treat the condition, particularly “short-acting amphetamines…have been approved for children as young as three,” and “liquid, dissolvable and chewable formulations of methylphenidate” are now “available for little kids who can’t yet swallow” tablets. But, “with concerns over – and a lack of data about – how such medications might affect young brains in the long term, some researchers are trying to spread the word about other, nonmedication options, such as behavior therapies and training programs for parents of preschoolers with the condition.”

Related Links:

— “Your Toddler Has A.D.H.D. Should You Medicate?, “Emily Sohn, The New York Times, September 20, 2019