ADVOCACY NEWS FROM NAMI NEW JERSEY:
1. BIPOLAR ILLNESS SOARS AS A DIAGNOSIS FOR THE YOUNG
2. AMERICAN GIRLS' SUICIDE RATES SPIKE
3. NEW SCHIZOPHRENIA DRUG SHOWS PROMISE IN TRIALS
4. DEPRESSION MORE HARMFUL, SAYS STUDY
5. SOUTH JERSEY RESIDENT SHOT DEAD BY TROOPER
6. AUTOPSY YIELDS FEW ANSWERS FOR FAMILY
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BIPOLAR ILLNESS SOARS AS A DIAGNOSIS FOR THE YOUNG
The number of American children and adolescents treated
for bipolar disorder increased 40-fold from 1994 to 2003,
researchers report today in the most comprehensive study
of the controversial diagnosis. Experts say the number has
almost certainly risen further since 2003. Many experts
theorize that the jump reflects that doctors are more aggressively
applying the diagnosis to children, and not that the incidence
of the disorder has increased. But the magnitude of the
increase surprises many psychiatrists. They say it is likely
to intensify the debate over the validity of the diagnosis,
which has shaken child psychiatry.
Read
the NY Times report (free to register)
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AMERICAN GIRLS' SUICIDE RATES SPIKE
The suicide rate among preteen and young teen girls spiked
dramatically in a disturbing shift that federal health officials
say they can't fully explain. For all young people between
ages 10 to 24, the suicide rate rose 8 percent from 2003
to 2004 — the biggest single-year bump in 15 years
— in what one official called "a dramatic and
huge increase."
The report, based on the latest numbers available, was
released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention and suggests a troubling reversal in recent trends.
Suicide rates had fallen by 28.5 percent since 1990 among
young people.
Read the Associated Press story:
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5iqbNkWQufq1RvybGGAbs9nRTZdSA
The CDC Report:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/suicide
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NEW SCHIZOPHRENIA DRUG SHOWS PROMISE IN TRIALS
In a clinical trial of about 200 patients, an experimental
drug from Eli Lilly reduced schizophrenia symptoms without
the serious side effects of current treatments, according
to a paper published in the journal Nature. The drug must
still be evaluated on many more patients to test for the
possibility of side effects that have not yet emerged, and
it is at least three to four years from completing regulatory
review. But schizophrenia researchers said the trial’s
results were surprising and impressive, especially since
the drug works in a different way from existing antipsychotic
medicines, all of which have serious side effects, including
substantial weight gain and tremors.
Read
the NY Times report (free to register)
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DEPRESSION MORE HARMFUL THAN ANGINA, SAYS STUDY
Depression can do more physical damage to a person's health
than several long-term diseases, according to a World Health
Organisation study published in the Lancet. Results showed
that depression had more impact on sufferers than angina,
arthritis, asthma, and diabetes.
"On the basis of our results, addressing the further
exacerbation of disability due to depression needs to be
a priority of health systems worldwide," wrote Dr Moussavi.
"Primary care providers must be taught not to ignore
the presence of depression when patients present with a
chronic physical condition."
He said that this would only be achieved by reducing the
stigma around mental illness and alerting doctors and the
public at large that depression was a disease at least on
a par with physical chronic diseases in damaging health.
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/sep/07/medicineandhealth.lifeandhealthinsurance
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SOUTH JERSEY RESIDENT SHOT DEAD BY TROOPER
A state trooper fatally shot a 51-year-old man early yesterday
after he walked out of the bedroom of his South Jersey home
carrying two long guns and pointed one of them at troopers,
the Attorney General's Office said. The incident is being
investigated by the attorney general's shooting response
team, which looks into shootings involving police officers
statewide.
Troopers initially went to the Salem County home after
getting a report that a man was behaving erratically, only
to leave minutes later after being told that he had calmed
down, authorities said. His son called the State Police
again about six hours later, this time to report that Nelson
had ingested a large number of pills and was suicidal, authorities
said. When troopers arrived, they found him holding a handgun
to his head.
Read more:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-8/118914162159770.xml&coll=1
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AUTOPSY YIELDS FEW ANSWERS FOR FAMILY
Toxicology pending for Greystone patient
The results of an autopsy done on a 38-year-old Greystone
Park Psychiatric Hospital patient who died two weeks ago
were "inconclusive" and it will be at least a
month before results of toxicological tests on the Jersey
City man are known, officials said.This was the fourth death
at Greystone this year, including two "unexpected deaths,"
according to state records. A 34-year-old patient, died
in late June. Preliminary autopsy results showed his death
was likely due to natural causes, but results of toxicology
tests have yet to be released.
Read Lawrence Ragonese’s Report:
http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/morris/index.ssf?/base/news-3/118905469118220.xml&coll=1
