HealthDay (8/16, Preidt) reported, “Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment of obstructive sleep apnea [OSA] can ease depression in people with heart disease,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from nearly 2,700 patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and moderate-to-severe heart disease who were enrolled in the Sleep Apnea Cardiovascular Endpoints” study. The findings were published online June 13 in the journal EClinicalMedicine.

Related Links:

— “For Heart Patients, CPAP Treatment May Ease Depression: Study, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 16, 2019

HealthDay (8/16) reported, “Transgender college students are two to four times more likely than their classmates to have mental health problems,” research indicated.

Healio (8/16, Demko) reported researchers arrived at this conclusion after examining “mental health status by gender identity among undergraduate and graduate students across U.S. campuses using data from the 2015 to 2017 Healthy Minds Study, an internet-based survey of 63,994 cisgender and 1,237 gender minority students.” The findings were published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Higher Risk of Mental Health Problems for Transgender College Students: Study, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 16, 2019

Psychiatric News (8/16) reported, “Military personnel who have firearms at home and a history of thoughts of death or self-harm are less likely to store their firearms in a safe manner than those with no such history,” researchers concluded after examining “the firearm storage practices of 1,652 active-duty military personnel who were seen in military primary care clinics between July 2015 and August 2018.” The findings of the 1,652-participant study were published online Aug. 16 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Military Personnel With Suicidal Ideation Less Likely to Store Firearms Safely at Home, Psychiatric News, August 16, 2019

TIME (8/15, Ducharme) reports that one-third of U.S. adults “are so stressed by the prospect of mass shootings that they avoid visiting certain places or attending certain events, according to a new survey from the American Psychological Association (APA) and the Harris Poll.” The survey, “released shortly after a pair of mass shootings in Dayton, Ohio and El Paso, Texas left 31 people dead in the course of one weekend, found that an overwhelming majority of American adults – 79% – experience some amount of stress related to mass shootings. A third of the 2,000 respondents said that fear was so great they avoid going to certain places or events, and almost a quarter said they’ve changed their lives due to fear of mass shootings.”

Related Links:

— “A Third of Americans Avoid Certain Places Because They Fear Mass Shootings, “JAMIE DUCHARME, TIME, August 15, 2019

The AP (8/15, Stobbe) reports, “As many as 50 people in at least six states have come down with breathing illnesses that may be linked to e-cigarettes or other vaping products.” So far, “no deaths have been reported, but at least a few have come close.” Physicians “say the illnesses resemble an inhalation injury, with the body apparently reacting to a caustic substance that someone breathed in.”

The NBC News (8/15, Edwards) website reports that physicians who spoke with NBC News explained that “most patients are otherwise healthy teenagers or young adults who come to the hospital with symptoms of a bad respiratory infection: shortness of breath, chest pain, fatigue and coughing.” Symptoms rapidly worsen, and many of these patients “need to go on ventilators.” So far, no one has been able to “pinpoint any specific device, brand or ingredient tying the cases together.”

Related Links:

— “Doctors suspect vaping behind dozens of lung illnesses in US, “Mike Stobbe, AP, August 15, 2019