Reuters (4/17, Seaman) reports, “Antidepressant use right before and during pregnancy may be linked with a higher risk of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children,” researchers concluded after examining data from 10 studies. The findings of the review were published online April 17 in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Anti-depressant use before, during pregnancy tied to autism risk,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, April 17, 2017.

HealthDay (4/17, Preidt) reports that research published in online in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association, indicates “cervical cancer screening rates are much lower among women with severe mental illness than among other women.” Investigators looked at 2010-11 California Medicaid data. The data indicated “that 20 percent of women with severe mental illness were screened for cervical cancer.” However, “42 percent of women in the general population received screening.”

Related Links:

— “Just 1 in 5 Mentally Ill Women Gets Cervical Cancer Screenings,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 17, 2017.

The AP (4/17) reports that a lawsuit filed in federal court in Connecticut and “seeking class-action status” contends “the US Army has issued less-than-honorable discharges for potentially thousands of service members without adequately considering the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder [PTSD] and other mental health conditions.” Plaintiffs in the suit are “two Army veterans from Connecticut who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan” who allege “they were wrongly denied honorable discharges.”

Related Links:

— “LAWSUIT: ARMY SHOULD FACTOR PTSD IN DISCHARGE DECISIONS,” Associated Press, April 17, 2017.

Healio (4/17, Oldt) reports there appears not to be “a strong association between mental and behavioral disorders and” Alzheimer’s disease, researchers concluded after conducting “a nationwide nested case-control study of all Finnish individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and matched controls (n = 27,948 pairs).” The findings were published in the June issue of European Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Mental, behavioral disorders do not increase Alzheimer’s disease risk,” Tapiainen V, et al., Healio, April 17, 2017.

Reuters (4/17, Rapaport) reports, “More than eight million American adults suffer from serious psychological distress, and they’re less likely to access healthcare services than other people,” researchers found after examining “survey data on health care use from 2006 to 2014 for a nationwide sample of 207,853 US adults ages 18 to 64.” The study revealed that “people with serious psychological distress, which includes any mental illness severe enough to require treatment, are three times more likely to be too poor to afford care and 10 times more likely to be unable to pay for medications.” The findings were published online April 17 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

CNN (4/17, Scutti) reports, “The study may help explain why the suicide rate is up to 43,000 people each year, said” lead study author Judith Weissman, PhD, JD, a research manager at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. Weissman “noted that the affected groups are late baby boomers and Generation Xers,” people whom “‘some have described as experiencing not a better horizon but a worse horizon than their parents,’ she said.” Weissman added, “The Great Recession of 2008 had a tremendous impact on adults with serious psychological distress.”

Related Links:

— “Mentally ill accessing less U.S. health care,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, April 17, 2017.