Related Links:

— “Is Your Child Emotionally Ready for College?, “Anthony Rostain and B. Janet Hibbs, Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2019

MD Magazine (8/22, Walter) reports, “By mapping the brain of” patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and their “family members, investigators have learned different patterns in the brain that could help lead to better diagnosis practices.” After conducting “a meta-analysis of global and subcortical brain measures of 6008 participants, 1228 of which are first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia (FDR-SZ), 852 of which are first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar disorder (FDRs-BD), 2246 control subjects, 1016 patients with schizophrenia and 666 patients with bipolar disorder from 34 schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder family cohorts using standardized methods,” researchers “found that the first-degree relatives of bipolar patients had significantly larger intracranial volume (d = +.16, q < .05 corrected), while the first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients had smaller thalamic volumes than the control subjects (d = −0.12, q < .05 corrected).” The findings were published online June 13 in Biological Psychiatry: A Journal of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Therapeutics. Related Links:

— “Relatives of Patients with Psychotic Disorders Have Distinct Brain Abnormalities, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, August 22, 2019

Healio (8/22, Demko) reports, “Patients receiving buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder were more likely to use medications for unrelated, chronic conditions like depression,” research indicated. In the large “retrospective cohort study,” investigators “quantified the effect of buprenorphine treatment on adherence to five therapeutic classes – antilipids, antipsychotics, antiepileptics, antidiabetics and antidepressants – among commercially ensured patients with opioid use disorder using Truven Health’s MarketScan data.” The study revealed that “buprenorphine use was associated with a higher likelihood of adherence to all chronic medication classes included in the analysis, especially antidepressants.” The findings were published in the September issue of the journal Medical Care.

Related Links:

— “Buprenorphine for opioid dependence may improve treatment adherence for depression, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 22, 2019

HealthDay (8/22, Brown) reports that mixing marijuana with opioids “may leave users vulnerable to mental health issues,” research indicated. In addition, the 450-adults study revealed that “those who combined pot and opioids for pain were also more likely to abuse other drugs such as cocaine, alcohol and sedatives.” The findings were published in the July/August issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Mixing Marijuana With Opioids May Not Be Good for Mental Health, “Shannon Brown, HealthDay, August 22, 2019

The New York Times (8/21, Reynolds) reports, “For women with serious depression, a single session of exercise can change the body and mind in ways that might help to combat depression over time, according to a new study of workouts and moods.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise published the study that found endocannabinoids increasing for prescribed exercise rather than “go-as-you-please exercise.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times, “Gretchen Reynolds, The New York Times, August 21, 2019