HealthDay (7/24, Norton) reports that “antidepressant treatment may help” heart attack “patients avoid a second heart attack,” research indicated.

Healio Cardiology Today (7/24, Dobkowski) reports, “Patients with depression and recent” acute coronary syndrome (ACS) “who were treated with escitalopram had lower risk for major adverse cardiac events compared with those given placebo,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from 300 patients with depression and recent ACS.” The findings were published in the July 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Related Links:

— “Treating Depression May Prevent Repeat Heart Attack, “Amy Norton, HealthDay, July 24, 2018.

STAT (7/24, Thielking) reports research indicates that “a supportive manager might help employees with depression miss fewer days on the job.” After examining “survey data from 16,000 employees and managers in 15 countries, including the U.S.,” researchers “found that workplaces where managers support and help employees with depression have lower rates of missed days on the job due to depression.” Such “support can come in the form of a formal policy, a referral system for care, or transitional support to help employees take time off work for mental health reasons and then return to their roles.” The findings were published online July 23 in BMJ Open. HealthDay (7/24, Preidt) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Employees with depression miss fewer days when managers are supportive, study finds, “Megan Thielking, STAT, July 24, 2018.

HealthDay (7/23, Gordon) reports researchers concluded that women may be underdiagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease while men may be overdiagnosed with the condition, because many tests used to diagnose the condition rely on verbal memory, which women tend to be better at. The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association annual meeting.

Related Links:

— “Why Alzheimer’s May Be Tougher to Spot in Women, “Serena Gordon, HealthDay, July 23, 2018.

Reuters (7/23, Rapaport) reports that research suggests “fathers of young children may be almost as likely as new mothers to experience symptoms of depression.”

Medscape (7/23, MacReady, Subscription Publication) reports that investigators found that “of the fathers screened in a large, population-based cohort, 4.4% had a positive result for depression, which is similar to the percentage of mothers who screened positive, at 5.0%.” The findings were published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “New dads need depression screening, too,”Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, July 23, 2018.

MedPage Today (7/20, Monaco) reported, “Depression during pregnancy for mothers was tied to several adverse outcomes for the baby,” research indicated. The study revealed that “compared with mothers who did not have depression, those who were diagnosed with major depressive disorder during pregnancy had several raised inflammatory and cortisol biomarkers in their third trimester.” What’s more, “children exposed to depression in utero had adverse effects on neurobehavioral functioning as early as six days postnatal” and were less able to handle stress as evidenced by “higher cortisol responses” over time. The findings of the 106-woman study were published online July 19 in Psychoneuroendocrinology.

Related Links:

— “Offspring Feel Effects of Maternal Depression After Birth,”Kristen Monaco, MedPage Today, July 20, 2018.