Thursday, March 24, 2005

Trauma stress under-recognised BBC story - "Continued stress and anxiety after traumatic experiences is far more common than realised, say experts. Five in 100 men and 10 in 100 women will get post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence says. It says PTSD is under-recognised in the NHS and is urging better screening and treatment by issuing new guidelines. Symptoms, including flashbacks, anger, anxiety and depression, can occur soon after a traumatic event or years later..." See also another, related story at the BBC site and new guidelines (in Adobe Acroabt format) published by the UK's National Institute for Clinical Excellence on the treatment of PTSD.  
  

Antidepressants Don't Raise Heart Attack Risk Health Day News story at Yahoo - "Underlying depression, not antidepressants themselves, may be responsible for the increased risk of heart attack associated with taking antidepressants, according to a new study. Researchers reporting in the current issue of Heart analyzed data on 60,000 British patients diagnosed with a first heart attack between 1998 and 2001, comparing their use of antidepressants with that of 360,000 randomly selected individuals without a history of heart attack."  
  

A Study Ties Loss of a Child to Mental Ills New York Times story based on a study in the New England Journal of Medicine - "The death of a child not only alters a family forever but also sharply increases the risk that parents will later be hospitalized for a mental illness, researchers are reporting in the largest study to date of parent bereavement and mental health. The risk is greatest during the first year after the child's death but remains elevated even five years afterward, the researchers found, and includes higher rates of schizophrenia, depression and abuse of drugs and alcohol." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free]. See also the NEJM abstract.