USA Today (11/27, O’Donnell) reports physicians “say alcohol is often the most dangerous substance for the body to withdraw from – and still more so, when attempted without medical supervision.” Currently, some “16 million people in the United States have alcohol use disorder, which the” National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism defines “as ‘compulsive alcohol use, loss of control over alcohol intake, and a negative emotional state when not using.’” In 2016, “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention counted 831 deaths…that could be characterized as related to alcohol withdrawal.” Currently, the NIAAA does “not have an estimate of deaths from alcohol detox.”

Related Links:

— “Quitting alcohol can be deadly: Hundreds in the US die each year, “Jayne O’Donnell, USA TODAY, November 27, 2018.

Multiple Sclerosis News Today (11/27, Gisler) reports a study published in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry found that “changeable lifestyle factors influence the risk and severity of depression associated with multiple sclerosis (MS).” The researchers studied 2,224 patients with MS for the study. The research found an association between alcohol consumption and depression, while a “healthy diet and vitamin D and omega-3 supplementation had a somewhat positive influence on changes in depression score.”

Related Links:

— “Lifestyle Factors Tied to MS-related Depression, Large Study Finds, “Santiago Gisler, Multiple Sclerosis News Today, November 27, 2018.

Healio (11/27, Demko) reports that in “the first published” research that examined “viewing patterns and reactions to the show ‘13 Reasons Why,’” investigators “found that about half of youth viewers presenting to a psychiatric” emergency department “with suicide-related concerns reported the series increased their suicide risk.” Included in the study were “87 parent-youth dyads – 71% of the youth were female – who completed a battery of questionnaires to examine their interaction with the show during their ED visit between July 2017 and March 2018.” The findings were published online Nov. 20 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “‘13 Reasons Why’ may influence suicide risk among vulnerable youths, “Savannah Demko, Healio, November 27, 2018.

MedPage Today (11/26, Monaco) reports, “Among young children, the prevalence of eating disorders was similar between girls and boys,” researchers concluded. In fact, “in a large, nationally representative sample of American children, ages nine to ten years, about 1.4% (95% CI 1.0%-1.8%) had a diagnosed eating disorder according to” the American Psychiatric Association’s “DSM-5 criteria,” the study found. Included in the study were “data on over 4,500 children (majority were boys and white) who participated in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study,” which was “supported by the” National Institutes of Health “and other federal partners.” The findings were published online Nov. 26 in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “MedPage Today, (requires login and subscription), November 26, 2018.

The Economist (11/24) reported that around the world, the suicidal “rate has fallen by 38% from its peak in 1994.” Consequently, “over 4m lives have been saved – more than four times as many people as were killed in combat over the period.” Interestingly, this “decline has happened at different rates and different times in different parts of the world.” The exception is the US, where the suicide rate “has risen by 17% to 12.8 – well above China’s current rate of seven.”

In a separate but related article, The Economist (11/24) reported the rising US suicide rate “is largely among white, middle-aged, poorly educated men in areas that were left behind by booms and crushed by busts.” The US, “in particular, could spare much pain by learning from the progress elsewhere” to reduce suicide rates, including “better health services, labour-market policies and curbs on booze, guns, pesticide and” medications.

Related Links:

— “Suicide is declining almost everywhere, The Economist, November 24, 2018.