@torsha There is an enormous unmet need for evidence-based strategies for preventing addiction-related suicide, since people with substance use disorders have a 10-fold increased risk of suicide. Based upon these new study findings, the Preventing Addiction Related Suicide (PARS) program can now be considered the first such evidence-based intervention for this extremely high-risk population, Dr. Ries said at the virtual annual meeting of the American Association of Suicidology.

@kanupriya The best way to conceptualize it is that it is the propensity to get angry easily or more frequently as compared to peers in response to frustration. To better understand the potential association between irritability and suicidality, the investigators reviewed results of three trials involving adults with MDD. These trials were the Combining Medications to Enhance Depression Outcomes (CO-MED) trial, which included 665 patients; the Establishing Moderators and Biosignatures of Antidepressant Response in Clinical Care (EMBARC) trial, which included 296 patients; and the Suicide Assessment Methodology Study (SAMS), which included 266 patients.

@miraj The risk for depression or clinically relevant depressive symptoms (total of incident and recurrent cases) was not significantly different between the vitamin D3 group (609 depression or clinically relevant depressive symptom events; 12.9/1000 person-years) and the placebo group (625 depression or clinically relevant depressive symptom events; 13.3/1000 person-years). The hazard ratio was 0.97 (95% CI, 0.87 – 1.09; P = .62).

@naresh Disturbances were found in resting state functional connectivity (rsFC) between the salience network (SN) and other large-scale networks that support goal-directed behavior, especially in patients with depression who also had features of apathy. Even after participants had completed escitalopram treatment, apathy-related variability in functional connectivity was associated with poor antidepressant response and persistent cognitive dysfunction.

@koushin It has been shown previously that Parkinson's is associated with increased vascular disease in the brain. It could be that we are observing the same changes in the vasculature in the retina. We have seen similar changes in the retinal blood vessels in Alzheimer's but there is more retinal thinning in Alzheimer's disease

@somraj Investigators enrolled 296 sedentary men and women with MCI (mean age, about 75 years). All were randomly allocated to either an aerobic exercise group (maintaining a heart rate at about 70% to 85%) or a stretching and balance group (maintaining heart rate < 35%). Both groups exercised four times a week for about 30 to 40 minutes. In the first 12 months they were supervised by a trainer at the YMCA and then they exercised independently for the final 6 months.

@shipra While previous investigations determined that the MIND diet is associated with a slower cognitive decline, the current study furthered the diet and brain health evidence by assessing the impact of brain pathology in the diet-cognition relationship

@arvind UPFs are high in sugar, fat, and salt and low in protein and fiber. They include soft drinks, salty and sugary snacks, ice cream, sausage, deep-fried chicken, yogurt, canned baked beans and tomatoes, ketchup, mayonnaise, packaged guacamole and hummus, packaged breads, and flavored cereals. Previous studies have shown a link between their consumption and higher rates of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and all-cause mortality. Li and his team wanted to test for an association with dementia.

@mitranshu By engaging more frequently in healthy physical and mental activities, people may reduce their risk of dementia, irrespective of their inherited genetic susceptibility

@sandy The analysis was part of the CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adult) study, which enrolled 3375 participants 18 to 30 years of age who had at least three follow-up visits over 25 years. After this time, participants were assessed by using three cognitive tests: the Digit Symbol Substitution Test (DSST), the Stroop test, and the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Researchers assessed physical activity through questionnaires. They defined low physical activity as activity below the bottom quartile of baseline levels (<300 kcal/50-minute session three times per week). About 17% of participants had a long-term pattern of low physical activity.

@guzmin For seniors who are homebound, have no family, or do not belong to community or faith groups, a medical appointment or home health visit may be one of the few social interactions they have, the report notes. Healthcare providers and systems may be "first responders" in recognizing lonely or socially isolated patients, committee chair Dan Blazer, MD, from Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, said during a press briefing.

@hena The analysis found that having been the victim of a sexual assault might be a potential causal risk factor for psychotic experiences. On the other hand, having experienced a physical violent crime, cannabis use, and prolonged worry after embarrassment showed a pleiotropic association and appeared to be an aftereffect of psychotic experience.

@giridhar It's difficult to guess what might help without knowing anything about your present diet. My best guess is that you might be lacking in omega 3 fatty acids. You can get omega 3 from fish like salmon, sardines, mackerel or flounder. Or you can also get it from foods like ground flaxseeds walnuts etc.
There are fish oil supplements but I think the best source comes from eating natural whole foods. One or two servings of fish per week should be helpful, assuming you don't currently have enough omega-3 in your diet.

There needs to be a healthy balance between omega 3 and omega 6. Omega 6 comes from grain-fed animal protein. So the more omega 6 you get, the more omega 3 you would need to keep a healthy balance. You can also achieve balance by cutting back on grain-fed animal protein, assuming you that you do have some omega-3 in your diet.

@prachi A psychodynamic treatment such as transference-focused psychotherapy, and a cognitive behavioral approach like dialectical behavior therapy, can be useful in patients with BPD. In addition, psychiatrists commonly use medications to target individual symptoms of BPD disorder, including psychosis.

@nancy Individuals with psychiatric disorders are at increased risk of suicide. However, the risk is higher in patients with BPD versus those with other disorders and occurs independently of common psychiatric comorbidities associated with BPD. To understand the reason suicide risk is so strong in patients with BPD, the investigators analyzed data from the Collaborative Longitudinal Study of Personality Disorders, which included adults with one of four personality disorders and a comparison group of match controls with major depressive disorder (MDD).

@panama A life course perspective on brain health supports the formulation of policy and public health interventions to reduce alcohol use and misuse at all ages

@simon Previous research suggests higher brain iron may be involved in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. However, it's unclear whether deposition plays a role in alcohol's effect on the brain and if it does, whether this could present an opportunity for early intervention with, for example, chelating agents. The study included 20,729 participants in the UK Biobank study, which recruited volunteers from 2006 to 2010. Participants had a mean age of 54.8 years, and 48.6% were female. Participants self-identified as current, never, or previous alcohol consumers. For current drinkers, researchers calculated the total weekly number of UK units of alcohol consumed. One unit is 8 grams. A standard drink in the US is 14 grams. They categorized weekly consumption into quintiles and used the lowest quintile as the reference category.

@aroon Special attention, in particular, should be given to those aged 65 to 74 who have serious hearing and/or vision impairment [because], if the relationship with dementia is found to be causal, such interventions can potentially mitigate the development of cognitive impairment

@aishadipta Measuring gait speed is really simple, cheap, and quick; and the test can be used in the clinic along with a cognitive screen to see if someone has a risk of dementia

@aagami The results showed a positive association between high consumption of whole milk and the rate of cognitive impairment in older adults at high risk for cardiovascular disease compared with those who consumed less milk during a 2-year follow-up period. The people who consumed the most whole milk showed cognitive impairment. However, no significant associations were observed between the consumption of low-fat milk and dairy products or with fermented (yogurt and cheese) or nonfermented (all types of milk) dairy