The NPR (1/25, Chatterjee) “Shots” blog reported, “The percentage of outpatient medical visits that led to a benzodiazepine prescription doubled from 2003 to 2015,” research indicated, with “about half” of “those prescriptions” coming “from primary care physicians.”

Medscape (1/25, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reported the study also found that “benzodiazepines are often coprescribed with opioids and other sedating medications, frequently for conditions other than anxiety and insomnia,” researchers concluded after analyzing data on “more than 386,000 ambulatory care visits from 2003 through 2015.” The findings were published online Jan. 25 in JAMA Network Open.

MD Magazine (1/25, Kunzmann) reported, “As opioids lose favor among healthcare” professionals, the study authors advised clinicians to “remain aware of the potential danger that overuse or misuse of benzodiazepines can harbor.” The study authors also “called for efforts addressing the limited use of the sedatives – whether it be in guidelines or prescription-monitoring programs – to focus on primary care.”

Current Or Recent Benzodiazepine Use May Be Associated With An Increased Risk For Pneumonia, Review Suggests . According to Healio (1/25, Demko), “current or recent benzodiazepine use was linked to an increased risk for pneumonia,” researchers concluded. The findings of the 10-study review were published online Jan. 8 in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Steep Climb In Benzodiazepine Prescribing By Primary Care Doctors, “Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, January 25, 2019

Reuters (1/27, Borter) reported some “psychiatrists say internet addiction, characterized by a loss of control over internet use and disregard for the consequences of it, affects up to eight percent of Americans and is becoming more common around the world.” But, “neither the World Health Organization (WHO) nor the American Psychiatric Association recognize internet addiction as a disorder.” In 2018, “however, the WHO recognized the more specific Gaming Disorder following years of research in China, South Korea, and Taiwan, where” experts “have called it a public health crisis.”

Related Links:

— “The digital drug: Internet addiction spawns U.S. treatment programs, “Gabriella Borter, Reuters, January 27, 2019

Reuters (1/24, Rapaport) reports that research suggests “a diagnosis with certain types of cancer can still be upsetting enough to increase a patient’s risk of suicide.” Investigators looked at “data on more than 4.6 million cancer patients, including 1,585 people who died by suicide within one year of their diagnosis.” The data indicated “this was a suicide rate about 2.5 times higher than what would be expected in the general population.” The findings were published online in the journal Cancer.

Related Links:

— “Suicide risk rises in year following cancer diagnosis, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, January 24, 2019

HealthDay (1/24, Reinberg) reports, “Young people jailed in adult prisons, often while awaiting trial or sentencing, are at high risk for suicide, and the prison system is doing little to stop it,” researchers concluded. The researchers “reviewed 2003-2012 data from the National Violent Death Reporting System on more than 200 suicides among jailed teens and adults in their 20s, as well as more than 9,900 suicides among youths not in jail.” The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry published the findingsonline Jan. 23.

Related Links:

— “Teens’ Odds for Suicide May Triple While in Jail: Study, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, January 24, 2019

Healio (1/23, Demko) reports, “Robust evidence supports a protective relationship between objectively assessed physical activity and major depression risk,” researchers concluded in a “two-sample mendelian randomization study” involving data on some 611,583 adults. The findings were published online Jan. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. The author of an accompanying editorial observed, “The data have told us – over and over – that exercise is a viable plan to minimize the burden of mental illness. The question is how we execute against this plan,” he added.

Related Links:

— “Physical activity protects against depression, “Savannah Demko, Helio, January 23, 2019