People living with an autoimmune disease are nearly twice as likely to suffer from mood problems like depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder, a new large-scale study says. The risk of mood disorders is 87% to 97% higher in people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and Graves’ syndrome, researchers reported June 24 in the BMJ Mental Health. This risk remains higher even after accounting for other factors like age, income and family history of psychiatric disorders, researchers found. “Together, these results support the hypothesis that exposure to chronic inflammation may be associated with a greater risk for affective disorders,” concluded the research team led by Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots with the University of Edinburgh Center for Clinical Brain Sciences in the U.K. For the study, researchers drew on data from 1.5 million people participating in a new large-scale U.K. health study. Upon recruitment to the ongoing study, people provided a history of their physical and mental health. In all, more than 37,800 of the study participants reported living with an autoimmune condition. About 29% of people with an autoimmune illness said they’d been previously diagnosed with a mood disorder, compared with 18% of the general population, results show. This included more than 25% versus 15% diagnosed with depression, and 21% versus nearly 13% diagnosed with anxiety. Women with autoimmune diseases were…  read on >  read on >

People living with an autoimmune disease are nearly twice as likely to suffer from mood problems like depression, anxiety or bipolar disorder, a new large-scale study says. The risk of mood disorders is 87% to 97% higher in people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and Graves’ syndrome, researchers reported June 24 in the BMJ Mental Health. This risk remains higher even after accounting for other factors like age, income and family history of psychiatric disorders, researchers found. “Together, these results support the hypothesis that exposure to chronic inflammation may be associated with a greater risk for affective disorders,” concluded the research team led by Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots with the University of Edinburgh Center for Clinical Brain Sciences in the U.K. For the study, researchers drew on data from 1.5 million people participating in a new large-scale U.K. health study. Upon recruitment to the ongoing study, people provided a history of their physical and mental health. In all, more than 37,800 of the study participants reported living with an autoimmune condition. About 29% of people with an autoimmune illness said they’d been previously diagnosed with a mood disorder, compared with 18% of the general population, results show. This included more than 25% versus 15% diagnosed with depression, and 21% versus nearly 13% diagnosed with anxiety. Women with autoimmune diseases were…  read on >  read on >

A popular crisis support line for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults is shutting down July 17, federal officials confirmed this week. The “Press 3” option on the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which offers specialized support for LGBTQ+ callers, will no longer be available. The same is true for the “PRIDE” text option, The Associated Press said. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) said it made the decision to better serve all callers instead of separating services. The decision was made to “no longer silo the services,” and “to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously helped through the Press 3 option,” the agency said in a June 17 statement. Since it launched in September 2022, the LGBTQ+ line has handled nearly 1.3 million calls, according to SAMHSA data. LGBTQ+ advocates say the change puts vulnerable youth at greater risk. “Suicide prevention is about people, not politics,” Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that helps LGBTQ+ youth in crisis, told The AP.  “The administration’s decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible,” Black said. The Trevor Project is one of seven groups that provide 988 crisis support services. It says it alone handled nearly…  read on >  read on >

A popular crisis support line for LGBTQ+ youth and young adults is shutting down July 17, federal officials confirmed this week. The “Press 3” option on the 988 National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, which offers specialized support for LGBTQ+ callers, will no longer be available. The same is true for the “PRIDE” text option, The Associated Press said. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) said it made the decision to better serve all callers instead of separating services. The decision was made to “no longer silo the services,” and “to focus on serving all help seekers, including those previously helped through the Press 3 option,” the agency said in a June 17 statement. Since it launched in September 2022, the LGBTQ+ line has handled nearly 1.3 million calls, according to SAMHSA data. LGBTQ+ advocates say the change puts vulnerable youth at greater risk. “Suicide prevention is about people, not politics,” Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project, a nonprofit that helps LGBTQ+ youth in crisis, told The AP. “The administration’s decision to remove a bipartisan, evidence-based service that has effectively supported a high-risk group of young people through their darkest moments is incomprehensible,” Black said. The Trevor Project is one of seven groups that provide 988 crisis support services. It says it alone handled nearly…  read on >  read on >

Women working the night shift appear to have an increased risk of asthma, a new study says. Women who only work nights have a 50% increased risk of moderate to severe asthma compared to those on the day shift, researchers reported June 16 in the journal ERJ Open Research. Researchers did not find a similar link between night shift work and asthma in men. “This type of research cannot explain why shift work and asthma are linked,” lead researcher Robert Maidstone, a research fellow at the University of Manchester in the U.K., said in a news release. “However, it could be because shift work disrupts the body clock, including the levels of male and female sex hormones.” Bolstering this argument, researchers found that postmenopausal women on the night shift not using hormone replacement therapy had a nearly doubled risk of moderate to severe asthma, results show. Asthma is already known to disproportionately impact women more than men, researchers said in background notes. “Women generally have more severe asthma, and higher rate of hospitalization and death from asthma compared to men,” Maidstone said. Previous research also has found that night shift workers are more likely to have moderate or severe asthma. This led researchers to see if night shift work would drive asthma risk even higher among women. For the study, researchers tracked the health of…  read on >  read on >

Women working the night shift appear to have an increased risk of asthma, a new study says. Women who only work nights have a 50% increased risk of moderate to severe asthma compared to those on the day shift, researchers reported June 16 in the journal ERJ Open Research. Researchers did not find a similar link between night shift work and asthma in men. “This type of research cannot explain why shift work and asthma are linked,” lead researcher Robert Maidstone, a research fellow at the University of Manchester in the U.K., said in a news release. “However, it could be because shift work disrupts the body clock, including the levels of male and female sex hormones.” Bolstering this argument, researchers found that postmenopausal women on the night shift not using hormone replacement therapy had a nearly doubled risk of moderate to severe asthma, results show. Asthma is already known to disproportionately impact women more than men, researchers said in background notes. “Women generally have more severe asthma, and higher rate of hospitalization and death from asthma compared to men,” Maidstone said. Previous research also has found that night shift workers are more likely to have moderate or severe asthma. This led researchers to see if night shift work would drive asthma risk even higher among women. For the study, researchers tracked the health of…  read on >  read on >

Talk therapy can help stroke survivors who are in the throes of depression or anxiety, a new study says. About half of patients (49%) fully recovered from a post-stroke mood disorder after participating in talk psychotherapy, researchers reported recently in the journal Nature Mental Health. Overall, 71% of stroke survivors experienced a significant improvement in symptoms of depression or anxiety through talk therapy, results show. “We also found that the sooner stroke survivors begin talking therapy, the better the outcomes,” lead author Jae Won Suh, a mental health research fellow with University College London in the U.K., said in a news release. “It is essential for general practitioners and other clinicians working with stroke survivors to screen for depression and anxiety symptoms and refer patients for psychological therapy as early as possible,” she added. It’s estimated that depression affects 1 in 3 stroke survivors, and anxiety more than 1 in 4, researchers said in background notes. Survivors have a doubled risk of depression and a quadrupled risk of anxiety in the first year after their stroke. For the new study, researchers tracked data from all 1.9 million patients who attended NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression services in England between 2012 and 2019, including nearly 7,600 stroke survivors. The free National Health Service program offers cognitive-behavioral therapy and counseling for U.K. residents with mood…  read on >  read on >

Talk therapy can help stroke survivors who are in the throes of depression or anxiety, a new study says. About half of patients (49%) fully recovered from a post-stroke mood disorder after participating in talk psychotherapy, researchers reported recently in the journal Nature Mental Health. Overall, 71% of stroke survivors experienced a significant improvement in symptoms of depression or anxiety through talk therapy, results show. “We also found that the sooner stroke survivors begin talking therapy, the better the outcomes,” lead author Jae Won Suh, a mental health research fellow with University College London in the U.K., said in a news release. “It is essential for general practitioners and other clinicians working with stroke survivors to screen for depression and anxiety symptoms and refer patients for psychological therapy as early as possible,” she added. It’s estimated that depression affects 1 in 3 stroke survivors, and anxiety more than 1 in 4, researchers said in background notes. Survivors have a doubled risk of depression and a quadrupled risk of anxiety in the first year after their stroke. For the new study, researchers tracked data from all 1.9 million patients who attended NHS Talking Therapies for Anxiety and Depression services in England between 2012 and 2019, including nearly 7,600 stroke survivors. The free National Health Service program offers cognitive-behavioral therapy and counseling for U.K. residents with mood…  read on >  read on >

Magic mushrooms might be key to quelling depression among people battling cancer. A single dose of psilocybin provided sustained reductions in depression and anxiety among cancer patients diagnosed with major depression, according to small-scale study published June 16 in the journal Cancer. “One dose of psilocybin with psychological support to treat depression has a long-term positive impact on relieving depression for as much as two years for a substantial portion of patients with cancer, and we’re exploring whether repeating the treatment resolves depression for more than half of the patients,” lead researcher Dr. Manish Agrawal, CEO and co-founder of Sunstone Therapies, said in a news release. About 25% of people living with cancer have depression severe enough it can impact their odds of survival, researchers said in background notes. For the phase 2 clinical trial, 28 patients with cancer and major depression took a single 25-milligram dose of psilocybin while being guided by a therapist. Psilocybin is the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. Two years later, about half of the patients had significant and sustained reduction in their depression symptoms, results show. For a quarter of the patients, their sustained reduction in depression did not require any additional psychedelic or antidepressant medications, researchers said. About 43% also had sustained reduction of anxiety symptoms, researchers added. Previous research has noted that these sort of positive benefits…  read on >  read on >