Weight gain has long been an unwanted side effect of medicines commonly used to treat psychiatric conditions such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia. Some patients may quit their meds to avoid piling on pounds. Or if they stick to their meds and weight gain continues, they face higher risks for diabetes and liver disease. However,… read on > read on >
Could the immune system play a role in why some women become depressed during and after a pregnancy? Swedish researchers have uncovered a “bidirectional relationship” between pregnancy-linked depression and autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, ulcerative colitis and celiac disease. In other words, women who experienced depression specific to a pregnancy were more… read on > read on >
When you’re looking for a cheap and easy way to get around town, which is safer — a scooter or a bike? A nationwide look at injuries related to both suggests biking may be the safer way to go. UCLA researchers report that scooter injuries nearly tripled across the U.S. between 2016 and 2020, many… read on > read on >
Depression that emerges around the time of pregnancy raises a woman’s risk for suicide sharply and for many years, new Swedish research shows. The study found that a new mom’s odds for suicide soars seven-fold in the year after a diagnosis of perinatal depression — depression that arises just before, during or after a pregnancy.… read on > read on >
Social media is abuzz with the possibility that newfangled weight loss drugs can also reduce cravings for alcohol, a new study says. Across a number of Reddit threads, users of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic reported that they felt less need to drink beer, wine and liquor. Threads bearing titles like “Did scientists accidentally invent an… read on > read on >
A ‘secret shopper’ study finds that for many American families, accessing inpatient treatment for a teen battling addiction can be next to impossible. “If you are a family in crisis and you have a kid for whom outpatient treatment is not an option, you hope to be able to call the closest residential facility to… read on > read on >
HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is a lifeline for Americans, many of them gay men, who are at high risk of contracting the virus that causes AIDS. But a case that is winding its way through the court system might push the cost of PrEP to levels that are unaffordable for many — and that could… read on > read on >
Teens who are active are doing their bones a lasting favor, Japanese researchers report. “Physical exercise in adolescence affects BMD [bone mineral density] more than 50 years later in older adults,” said lead researcher Dr. Yoshifumi Tamura, a faculty member at Juntendo University in Tokyo. “Our findings can guide the selection of sports played during… read on > read on >
An average of 22 U.S. teens die each week from drug overdoses, a death toll driven by the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl, a new study reports. Researchers also have identified 19 “hotspot” counties where fatal ODs are occurring as much as double the national average. The overdose death rate for 14- to 18-year-olds now stands… read on > read on >
“School spirit” appears to provide long-lasting mental health benefits for Black teens, new research finds. School connectedness – the degree to which students feel like part of to their school community – is a protective factor against depression and aggressive behavior later in life among Black students, researchers report in the Journal of Youth and… read on > read on >
