The CBS Evening News (4/18, story 9, 1:15, Pelley) reported, “Studies have shown that pregnant women who take antidepressants are more likely to have children with autism.” Now, research looks into whether the medication is causing this.

TIME (4/18, Park) reports that in two studies, investigators “found that other factors, including genes linked to mental illness, may be more strongly associated with autism than exposure to antidepressants.” One study “analyzed data from more than 1.5 million children whose mothers reported on whether they used antidepressants during pregnancy,” while the other study examined “more than 35,000 births and also compared rates of autism among brothers and sisters whose mothers used antidepressants during some pregnancies but not others.” The studies, both of which were published April 18 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Related Links:

— “Does Taking Antidepressants During Pregnancy Cause Autism?,” Alice Park, Time, April 18, 2017.

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.