The Houston Chronicle (1/17, Report) reports that a recent survey “found that misconceptions regarding postpartum depression persist, despite increased exposure and discussion in recent years.” The survey found that 30 percent of respondents “do not believe there is a difference between the ‘baby blues’ and postpartum depression, even though the two conditions are distinct.” Deepali Patni, M.D., FACOG, an OB/GYN at Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, said, “Postpartum depression is a serious mood disorder,” and a diagnosis “can come as a surprise” for new mothers, who chalk up their “feelings of sadness, anxiety, and helplessness to the exhaustion of being a new mom.”

Related Links:

— “Survey: Misconceptions regarding postpartum depression persist despite increased exposure and discussion, The Houston Chronicle, January 17, 2019

On its “All Things Considered” program and in its “Shots” blog, NPR (1/16, Neighmond) reports that “even simple housework like cooking or cleaning may make a difference in brain health” as people age into their “70s and 80s.” For the study, investigators “looked at 454 older adults who were 70 or older when the research began.” Of these participants, “191 had behavioral signs of dementia and 263 did not.” Each participant was “given thinking and memory tests every year for 20 years.” After participants died, investigators examined their brains.

MedPage Today (1/16, George) reports the postmortem study revealed that “higher levels of physical activity and motor abilities were independently associated with better cognition in older adults, even when brain lesions or biomarkers linked to dementia were present.” The findings were published online Jan. 16 in Neurology. The authors of an accompanying editorial wrote, “The results of randomized trials of physical exercise suggest that exercise leads to increases in brain tissue, including in the hippocampus, where atrophy is an early and important finding in Alzheimer’s disease.” They added, “Alternatively, physical exercise itself might reduce brain pathology.”

Related Links:

— “Daily Movement — Even Household Chores — May Boost Brain Health In Elderly, “Patti Neighmond, NPR, January 16, 2019

U.S. News & World Report (1/17, Galvin) reports a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests “the share of households that have guns is the single strongest predictor of how many young people commit suicide in a state.” CDC data show that nearly 45,000 used guns to commit suicide in 2015 and 2016, and “more than 2,000 of those deaths were among people ages 10 to 19, with 42 percent of youth suicides involving guns.” According to the report, “an average of 52.5 percent of households owned guns in the 10 states with the highest youth suicide rates, while just 20 percent of households owned guns, on average, in the 10 states with the lowest youth suicide rates.” The study found that “overall, the youth suicide rate rose about 27 percent with each 10 percentage-point increase in household gun ownership.”

Editorial Warns Of Risks Associated With Dementia, Gun Ownership. A Bloomberg Opinion (1/16) editorial discusses the potential risks associated with gun ownership among older adults with age-related dementia. Bloomberg argues, “to prevent tragedy, society must take steps to keep lethal weapons away from those who put themselves or others at risk.” Bloomberg also suggests physicians discuss gun ownership with family members of patients with dementia.

Related Links:

— “Youth Suicide Rates Higher in States With More Guns, “Gaby Galvin, U.S. News & World Report, January 17, 2019

HealthDay (1/16, Preidt) reports that “the risk of suicide is more than four times higher among Americans with cancer than those without the disease,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data on 8.6 million U.S. cancer patients diagnosed with invasive cancer…between 1973 and 2014.” The findings were published online Jan. 14 in Nature Communications.

Related Links:

— “Cancer Diagnosis May Quadruple Suicide Risk, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 16, 2019

MedPage Today (1/16, Hlavinka) reports, “Risk of a second mental disorder increased sharply in the year following an individual’s initial diagnosis, and this risk continued beyond a decade,” researchers concluded in a “Danish study of nearly six million people.” The findings were published online Jan. 16 in JAMA Psychiatry.

According to Healio (1/16, Demko), the author of an accompanying editorial wrote that “these findings, along with findings from family, twin and molecular genetic studies, signify ‘an exciting time for psychiatric research, with opportunities to develop new and more successful approaches to classifying mental disorders.’”

Psychiatric News (1/16) reports that “some categories of disorders” appear to have “exceptionally strong odds of occurring together.” For instance, the study found that “compared with an individual not diagnosed with a mental disorder, an individual diagnosed with a mood disorder was 30 times more likely to be diagnosed later with a personality disorder or a developmental disorder, and 20 times more likely to be diagnosed with schizophrenia or a substance use disorder.”

Related Links:

— “Individuals With a Mental Disorder at Increased Risk for Subsequent Diagnoses, Psychiatric News, January 16, 2019