HealthDay (10/31, Preidt) reports, “Many pregnant women may wonder if antidepressants – or other drugs acting on the brain’s neurotransmitters – might raise their” infants’ “odds of developing autism.” A new study “suggests that’s not the case.” However, “a mother’s health before and during pregnancy may play a role in autism spectrum disorders,” researchers concluded after evaluating “the risks associated with 180 medications that target neurotransmitters, including antidepressants and antipsychotics,” using “data from nearly 100,000 children born in Israel between 1997 and 2007.” The findings were published online Oct. 31 in JAMA Psychiatry.

According to MedPage Today (10/31, George), the authors of an accompanying editorial wrote, “It would be hasty to conclude that specific drug classes have no associations with autism because there may be other mechanisms at play.” The editorialists added, “Further, it is important to recognize that a full profile of the pharmacological properties of many of the drugs examined in this study is still unknown.” Healio (10/31, Demko) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Autism Risk: Mom’s Health May Matter More Than Meds, ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, October 31, 2018.

Newsweek (10/30, Gander) reports, “Teenagers and young adults who use cannabis could find it harder to learn,” research indicated. Quitting the substance, however, “was found to boost the memory of regular users after one month.” Included in the study were “88 teenagers and young adults, between the ages of 16 to 25 years old, who used cannabis at least once a week.” The young people “who stopped using the drug appeared to improve at learning new information after only one week,” while “the control group experienced no change.” The findings were published online Oct. 30 in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

According to the NPR (10/30, Cohen) “Shots” blog, “more than 14 percent of middle and high school students reported using marijuana within the last month, finds a National Institutes of Health surveyconducted” last year. What’s more, “marijuana use has increased among high schoolers over the past 10 years, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.” Also covering the story are U.S. News & World Report (10/30, Hansen) and HealthDay (10/30, Thompson).

Related Links:

— “Cannabis Study: Memory and learning Improve When Teens Quit Smoking , “Kashmira Gander, Newsweek , October 30, 2018.

Healio (10/30, Demko) reports, “Both prolonged exposure and sertraline showed good short- and long-term efficacy across a range of outcomes among patients with” post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), research indicated. What’s more, “patients with PTSD who selected their form of treatment – prolonged exposure or sertraline – showed more improvement than those who were prescribed one or the other regardless of preferences,” the study revealed. The findings of the 200-patient, “doubly randomized preference trial” were published online Oct. 19 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Patient treatment preference plays role in improving PTSD outcomes, “Savannah Demko, Healio, October 30, 2018.

TIME (10/29, Heid) reports, “Young people who spend seven hours or more a day on screens are more than twice as likely to be diagnosed with depression or anxiety than those who use screens for an hour a day,” researchers concluded after examining data “from more than 40,000 kids ages two to 17” that “was collected as part of the Census Bureau’s 2016 National Survey of Children’s Health.” The findings were published online Oct. 18 in the journal Preventive Medicine Reports.

Related Links:

— “There’s Worrying New Research About Kids’ Screen Time and Their Mental Health, “Markham Heid, TIME, October 29, 2018.

The AP (10/29, Tanner) reports, “Gun injuries, including many from assaults, sent 75,000 U.S. children and teens to emergency” departments (EDs) “over nine years at a cost of almost $3 billion,” researchers concluded in “a first-of-its-kind study.” The study revealed that “11 of every 100,000 children and teens treated in U.S.” EDs “have gun-related injuries,” amounting “to about 8,300 kids each year.” The findings, which were published online in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics, “highlight that gun violence involving kids extends beyond mass shootings that gain the most attention, said Dr. Robert Sege, co-author of an American Academy of Pediatrics gun injuries policy.” Dr. Sege had no involvement in the study.

HealthDay (10/29, Preidt) reports, “Males were five times more likely than females to be treated for gunshot wounds, and the rate was highest among males aged 15 to 17, at nearly 86” ED “visits per 100,000 people,” investigators found. The principal “causes of gunshot wounds were assault (49 percent), unintentional injuries (39 percent) and suicide (two percent).”

Related Links:

— “Gun-Related Injuries Send More Than 8,000 Kids a Year to the Emergency Room: Study, “Lindsey Tanner, AP, October 29, 2018.