In a special piece for the Wall Street Journal (11/27, Agronin, Subscription Publication), geriatric psychiatrist Marc E. Agronin, MD, vice president for behavior health and clinical research at Miami Jewish Health, writes that memory loss in persons in their middle years most often may be attributed to factors besides Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia.

Related Links:

— “Baby Boomers, Relax. It Probably Isn’t Dementia,”Marc Agronin, The Wall Street Journal, November 27, 2016.

Medscape (11/25, Harrison) reported, “Almost one-third of patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) also have a diagnosis of depression,” researchers found after reviewing some “57 studies involving 20,892 patients.” The findings of the meta-analysis were published online Nov. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HCP Live (11/23) reported that “family-based cognitive behavioral therapy [CBT] may be a key factor in treating children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have problems sleeping.” The findings of the 81-child study were published in the June issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental June issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental.

Related Links:

— “Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Children with Autism and Sleep Disorders, MD Magazine, November 23, 2016.

HealthImaging (11/23, Pearson) reported, “The shared environment of twins – possibly in utero as well as in childhood – ups the risk of brain incidental findings associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in both siblings even when only one of them has ASD,” researchers found after comparing magnetic resonance imaging “brain scans of 50 ‘case pairs’ of twin children in whom at least one twin had a diagnosis of ASD with the scans of 32 non-ASD control pairs.” The findingswere published online Nov. 22 in Autism Research.

Related Links:

— “MRI suggested as part of initial autism workup of twins, especially boys,”Dave Pearson, HealthImaging , November 23, 2016.

Healio (11/23, Oldt) reported, “Cognitive processing therapy administered individually was more effective than therapy administered in a group for PTSD among active-duty service members who developed PTSD postdeployment,” researchers found after conducting “a randomized clinical trial among 268 active-duty service members with PTSD after deployment who achieved stability with medication.” The findings were published online Nov. 23 in JAMA Psychiatry. The author of an accompanying editorial observed the study “also highlights that we have probably come about as far as we can with currently dominant clinical approaches.” For that reason, “other strategies are urgently needed to effectively address remaining research and clinical gaps concerning the health care needs of combat veterans.”

Related Links:

— “Individual cognitive therapy more effective than group therapy for PTSD,”Amanda Oldt, Healio, November 23, 2016.