The New York Times (11/16, Reynolds, Subscription Publication) reports, “Exercise may be an effective treatment for depression and might even help prevent us from becoming depressed in the first place,” the findings of three studies suggest. The three “studies pool outcomes from past research involving more than a million men and women and, taken together, strongly suggest that regular exercise alters our bodies and brains in ways that make us resistant to despair.” The studies can be seen here, here, and here.

Related Links:

— “How Exercise Might Keep Depression at Bay,”Gretchen Reynolds, The New York Times, November 16, 2016.

Reuters (11/15, Rapaport) reports that research suggests “women with a history of depression may have lower survival odds with breast cancer than patients without past mental health problems.” The study included approximately “45,000 women with early-stage breast malignancies.” Investigators found that “13 percent of patients previously treated with antidepressants died within five years of their cancer diagnosis, compared with 11 percent of women who hadn’t ever taken medication for depression.” The findings were published online in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Related Links:

— “Past depression tied to worse breast cancer survival odds,”Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, November 15, 2016.

HealthDay (11/15, Reinberg) reported that “the rate of diagnoses for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) “among US preschoolers has leveled off,” and the “prescribing rate of stimulant medications for these young patients has also stayed steady, a promising trend that researchers credit to treatment guidelines that were introduced” five years ago by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Those guidelines “called for a standardized approach to diagnosis, and recommended behavior therapy,” not medications, “as the first-line therapy for preschoolers.”

Medscape (11/15, Phillips) reports some “21, 558 visits from 143,881 children at 63 primary care practices” were included in the study, the findings of which were published online Nov. 15 in Pediatrics. The author of an accompanying editorialobserved, “This approach ‘is an innovative process that can provide more rigorous information about moving evidence into practice.’

Related Links:

— “Guidelines May Have Helped Curb ADHD Diagnoses in Preschoolers,” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, November 15, 2016.

Reuters (11/14, Rapaport) reports a study published in Pediatrics found that since 1988, “the proportion of middle-income mothers who think physical punishment is appropriate has dropped from 46 percent to 21 percent.” During the same time period, the “share of mothers endorsing time-out surged from 41 percent to 81 percent.” lead study author Rebecca Ryan, a psychology researcher at Georgetown University, explained, “Support for corporal punishment has been falling at least since the 1990s, in part due to social science research that suggests spanking is linked to negative outcomes for children like delinquency, antisocial behavior, psychological problems, and alcohol and drug abuse.” She added that there is “little evidence” to support that “spanking or other forms of physical discipline are effective in the long term at reducing unwanted child behaviors or encouraging children to internalize – to really believe in – parents’ rules.”

Related Links:

— “Fewer U.S. parents say they spank their kids,”Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, November 14, 2016.

Kaiser Health News (11/14, Luthra) reports on community paramedics who are trained to help “psychiatric patients in need of care avoid winding up in the emergency room, where they can get ‘boarded’ for days, until they are released or a bed frees up at an inpatient facility.” After being dispatched to a scene with a patient with a potential mental health crisis, paramedics talk to the patient about “what, precisely, the issue is, asking also about issues like a patient’s mental health history, drug use and insurance status.” The information is used to determine “the next steps for the patient — maybe it is a hospital or a psych facility, or maybe it is outpatient care.” The pilot program of specialized paramedics was launched in Modesto a year ago, and “similar projects are also underway in North Carolina, Minnesota, Texas, Colorado and Georgia.”

Related Links:

— “Community Paramedics Work To Link Patients With Mental Health Care,”Shefali Luthra, Kaiser Health News, November 14, 2016.