Healio (6/7, Oldt) reports, “Long-acting injectable antipsychotic medications and clozapine were associated with highest rates of prevention of relapse in schizophrenia,” researchers found after analyzing “linked data from nationwide databases to determine risk for rehospitalization and treatment failure among all individuals in Sweden with schizophrenia aged 16 to 64 years.” The findings were published online June 7 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Long-acting injectable antipsychotics best for relapse in schizophrenia,”Amanda Oldt, Healio, June 07, 2017.

Reuters (6/7, Emery) reports on a study finding that women taking lithium for bipolar disorders during their first trimester of pregnancy are not as much at risk of having a child with a heart malformation as once believed. The article reports, “In the analysis of 1.3 million pregnancies, the overall rate of heart malformation in the babies of women treated with lithium was 2.41 percent versus 1.15 percent for women not exposed to the drug, representing a relative risk increase of 65 percent for babies of mothers taking the drug.” However this risk is “a much more modest risk in cardiac effects” than once believed. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Risk of heart defect in babies of women on lithium is less than thought,”Gene Emery, Reuters, June 07, 2017.

The Huffington Post (6/7, Fraga) reports many women in rural America who suffer from postpartum depression struggle to find help or get treatment. The article adds that postpartum depression is the most common complication of pregnancy and affects almost one-fifth of new mothers.

Related Links:

— “What It’s Like To Have Postpartum Depression In Rural America,”Juli Fraga, The Huffington Post, June 07, 2017.

HealthDay (6/9, Preidt) reported, “Depression affects about one-third of hospital patients and could slow their recovery,” researchers found after reviewing data from “20 studies on depression screening in hospitals.” The findings were published in the May 2016 issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Depression Can Slow Hospital Patients’ Recovery: Study,”Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 06, 2017.

Healio (6/5, Tedesco) reports, “Elders reporting persistent moderate-to-severe pain have an increased risk for memory decline and dementia,” researchers found after evaluating data on some “10,065 community-dwelling older adults aged 62 years or older in 2000 who had participated in the Health and Retirement Study.” Participants “were interviewed in 1998 and 2000 and answered questions on pain and cognition.” The findings were published online June 5 in JAMA Internal Medicine. Psychiatric News (6/5) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Persistent pain associated with accelerated cognitive decline,”Alaina Tedesco, Healio, June 5, 2017.