The Wall Street Journal (4/12, Loftus, Subscription Publication) reports that research published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that prescription drug shortages in the US have led to sharp price increases for alternative treatments. According to the University of Utah Drug Information Service, there are currently about 176 active shortages.

Related Links:

— “Prescription-Drug Shortages Help Push Up Prices of Similar Drugs,” Peter Loftus, Wall Street Journal, April 12, 2017.

Healio (4/11, Oldt) reports, “Among individuals receiving care within the Veterans Health Administration, substance use disorders were associated with higher risk for suicide, particularly among women,” researchers found after conducting “a cohort study of national administrative health records for all Veterans Health Administration users in 2005 (n = 4,863,086).” The findings were published online March 16 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Substance abuse may indicate suicide risk in women,” Bohnert KM, et al., Healio, April 11, 2017.

Reuters (4/11, Rapaport) reports, “Middle-aged people with risk factors for heart attacks and stroke are also more likely to develop changes in the brain that can lead to Alzheimer’s disease,” researchers concluded after examining “data from 346 adults who had been evaluated for vascular risk factors since the late 1980s, when they were 52 years old on average and none of them had dementia.” Then, more than 20 years “later, when participants were around 76 years old, they had brain scans that looked for evidence of Alzheimer’s” in the form of amyloid plaques.

According to MedPage Today (4/11, Fiore), “unlike midlife vascular risk factors, late-life vascular risk factors were not associated with brain amyloid deposition on late-life PET scans,” the findings revealed. The study, which was “supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute,” was published April 11 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Related Links:

— “Risk factors for heart disease and stroke also tied to Alzheimer’s,” Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, April 11, 2017.

MD Magazine (4/10, Colwell) reports, “A Mediterranean-style diet has the potential to treat major depression,” researchers found in a randomized 67-participant study, the findings of which were published Jan. 30 in BMC Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Mediterranean Diet Shows Benefit for Depression,” Carolyn Colwell, MD Magazine, April 10, 2017.

Medscape (4/10, Melville) reports, “Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in middle-aged women is linked with significant cognitive impairment, with the effect stronger in those with comorbid depression,” researchers found after evaluating “data on 14,029 women from the Nurses’ Health Study II.” The findings were presented at the Anxiety and Depression Association of America Conference 2017.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)