Trace Amounts of Lithium in Drinking Water Associated with Lower Suicide Rates in Men
Studies in Japan, Austria, and Texas have reported that trace amounts of lithium in drinking water are associated with lower suicide rates. A new study seeks to clarify these findings by removing any statistical factors other than lithium levels that could produce these results.
The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, collected 434 lithium samples in drinking water over three years, and compared these with suicide rates in the population of 274 municipalities of Kyushi Island in Japan.
The researchers, led by Nobuyoshi Ishii, then controlled for size of population, proportion of elderly people, proportion of one-person households, proportion of people with a college education or more, proportion of people engaging in primary industry, overall unemployment rates, annual marriage rates, annual mean temperature, and annual savings in per person in Japan’s popular postal bank. In places with slightly higher trace levels of lithium in drinking water, there was a lower rate of suicides in men. Suicide rates for women and overall were not significantly associated with lithium levels.
People with High Inflammation Respond Best to EPA Omega-3 Fatty Acids in Depression
Omega-3 fatty acids are found in some green vegetables, vegetable oils, and fatty fish. There is some evidence that omega-3 fatty acid supplements can reduce depression, but researchers are trying to clarify which omega-3s are most helpful, and for whom. A new study in Molecular Psychiatry suggests that depressed people with higher inflammation may respond best to EPA omega-3 fatty acids compared to DHA omega-3 fatty acids or placebo. Researchers led by M.H. Rapaport divided people with major depressive disorder into “high” and “low” inflammation groups based on their levels of the inflammatory markers IL-1ra, IL-6, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, leptin, and adiponectin. Participants were randomized to receive eight weeks of treatment with EPA omega-3 supplements (1060mg/day), DHA omega-3 supplements (900mg/day), or placebo.
While overall treatment differences among the three groups as a whole were negligible, the high inflammation group improved more on EPA than on placebo or DHA, and more on placebo than on DHA. The authors suggest that EPA supplementation may help relieve symptoms of depression in people whose depression is associated with high inflammation levels, a link common among obese people with depression.
Editor’s Note: These data add to a study by Rudolph Uher et al. in which people with high levels of C-reactive protein responded better to the tricyclic antidepressant nortriptylene, while those with low levels of the inflammatory marker responded better to the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressant escitalopram.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids Improve Attention in Boys
A new study finds that omega-3 fatty acid supplementation improves attention in boys both with and without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The study by Dienke J. Bos and colleagues in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology included 40 boys (aged 8–14) with ADHD and 39 demographically matched controls. Participants were given 10 g per day of margarine supplemented with either omega-3 fatty acids (eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)) or placebo.
The children who received EPA/DHA supplementation showed improvements in attention (as rated by parents) compared to those who received placebo. Improvement was greater in the children with ADHD. Supplementation did not affect cognitive control or brain activity on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Those boys who received omega-3s showed higher DHA levels on followup.
Low Vitamin D Levels in Childhood Can Predict Hardening of the Arteries in Adulthood
A new study from Finland suggests that low vitamin D levels in childhood and adolescence can predict atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries, in adulthood. The study, by Markus Juonala and colleagues in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, included 2,148 people whose vitamin D levels were measured at ages 3–18. They were checked for atherosclerosis at ages 30–45. Those participants with the lowest levels of vitamin D in their youth were at much higher risk for thickened arteries as adults. The finding was independent of other cardiovascular risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure, poor eating, lack of exercise, and obesity.
Editor’s Note: While it is not yet clear if low vitamin D levels directly cause the development of atherosclerosis, it is important to maintain sufficient vitamin D in childhood for a host of reasons, including strong bones. Children with sufficient vitamin D levels are more likely to have normal moods and behavior than those deficient in vitamin D.
Maternal Warmth Does Not Negate Corporal Punishment
New research shows that expressions of maternal warmth following corporal punishment do not reduce children’s anxiety, and may even increase it.
The study by Jennifer E. Lansford and colleagues was published in the Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. The researchers interviewed over a thousand children aged 7–10 and their mothers about what type of physical punishment occurs in their family, and about anxiety and aggression in the children. They followed up again after one and two years. The study took place in eight countries: China, Colombia, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States.
In general, corporal punishment increased anxiety in the children, while maternal warmth decreased it. How warmth and physical punishment interacted depended on the country. Anxiety increased over time in families where the mothers were high on both corporal punishment and warmth. Lansford and colleagues wrote that it might be “simply too confusing and unnerving for a child to be hit hard and loved warmly all in the same home.”
The researchers suggest that parents use nonphysical ways to promote desirable behavior in their children, including putting younger children in time-out and requiring teenagers to participate in activities that help others.
Mother’s Treatment for Depression Can Affect Children’s Symptoms
Studies have found that when a depressed mother’s symptoms remit, her children are less likely to show psychiatric symptoms. A new study by Myrna M. Weissman and colleagues in the American Journal of Psychiatry randomized 76 mothers to treatment with escitalopram, bupropion, or a combination of the two, and assessed the impact of the mothers’ treatment on their 135 children (aged 7–17).
There were no significant differences in the mothers’ symptoms or remission, but children’s depressive symptoms and functioning improved more if their mothers received (only) escitalopram. Only in that group was a mother’s improvement associated with her children’s improvement.
Mothers in the escitalopram group reported greater improvement in their ability to listen and talk to their children compared to the mothers in other groups, and the children of the mothers in the escitalopram group reported that their mothers were more caring.
Children of mothers with low negative affect improved significantly, while children of mothers with high negative affect only improved if their mothers were in the escitalopram group.
The authors suggest that for a mother’s improvement to help her children’s symptoms, her anxious distress and irritability must be reduced, and these may be better targeted with escitalopram than bupropion.
Family Intervention in Early Childhood Can Help Children Cope with Stress
Enduring stressful life events in childhood can affect children long-term. Children who experience neglect can show increased levels of cortisol, a stress hormone. Family interventions can reduce these levels, and a new study shows that the impact of these interventions can be lasting. The study, by Kristin Bernard and colleagues in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, included 115 children whose families had been referred to Child Protective Services after allegations of neglect. After an incident of neglect in early childhood, the families received either an experimental intervention called ABC (focused on increasing parental nurturance to child distress, increasing synchronous interactions, and decreasing frightening parental behavior) or a control intervention (which provided educational information about child development). When the children reached preschool age about three years later, the researchers collected the children’s cortisol levels at waking and bedtime on three different days.
The children whose families received the ABC intervention had more typical cortisol levels than those whose families had received the control intervention. The ABC children had higher morning cortisol, with a steeper decline throughout the day, compared to a more blunted cortisol rhythm in the control group children. These patterns resembled differences in the two groups observed three months after the initial intervention. The authors concluded that the ABC intervention has long-term effects on children’s physiological stress system, helping them maintain health and adjustment.
Recovery and Relapse After a First Mania
The timeframe during which recovery and recurrence occur in people with a first episode of mania are somewhat variable. A meta-analysis by Andréanne Gignac and colleagues published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry in 2015 offers some new information. The meta-analysis included eight studies with a total of 734 participants in a first episode of mania. Syndromal recovery rates (when patients no longer met diagnostic criteria for bipolar disorder) were 77.4% at six months after first episode of mania and 84.2% at one year after. However, some symptoms lingered, and only 62.1% of patients reached a period of symptomatic recovery within one year.
Recurrence rates were 25.7% within six months, 41.0% within one year, and 59.7% by four years. Those who were younger at the time of the first episode were at higher risk for relapse within one year.
Editor’s Note: On the positive side, most recovered, but on the negative side, at one year, 60% remained symptomatic and 40% had a recurrence. What is not clear is how intensively patients were treated and monitored. The main message of this study is that a first episode of mania is not trivial and deservces concerted acute and long-term treatment. When expert multimodal treatment is given results are vastly more superior than treatment as usual (Kessing et al. British Journal of Psychiatry 2013).
Collaborative Care and Education Reduces Bipolar Depression
There is increasing evidence that patients with bipolar disorder benefit from special programs or clinics designed to teach them skills to cope with their illness. A 2015 article by Trijntje Y.G. van der Voort and colleagues in the British Journal of Psychiatry evaluated the effectiveness of a Dutch program that provided collaborative care to people with bipolar disorder.
One hundred thirty-eight patients in an outpatient clinic were randomized to receive either treatment as usual or a program of nurse-provided collaborative care that included psychoeducation, problem-solving treatment, systematic relapse prevention contracts, and monitoring of outcomes. These services were managed by mental health nurses. Those patients who received collaborative care had significantly less time with depressive symptoms at the 6-month and 12-month marks, and less severe depressive symptoms at 12 months (all findings with p values less than .01).
There was no significant difference in manic symptoms or treatment adherence. The authors suggest that collaborative care improves treatment for people with bipolar disorder, especially depression, which is most closely linked to impaired quality of life and disability.
Editor’s Note: Given this study and about a dozen others like it, it is time to conclude that psychoeducation and other components of collaborative care noted here are critical to the long-term management of bipolar disorder. Patients and their family members should insist that this be a part of routine care.
Specialty Treatment for First Episodes of Psychosis Effective
A study published online in the journal Psychiatric Services comparing a specialty clinic that provides medication, family education, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), and case management to improve employment and educational outcomes with treatment as usual for people in a first episode of psychosis found that the specialty treatment was associated with fewer and shorter hospital stays and better vocational engagement during one year of follow-up.
Most participants were referred to the study from inpatient psychiatric units. Those randomly assigned to receive treatment as usual typically did so in outpatient treatment settings. Those randomly assigned to the specialty treatment group joined the Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis (STEP) program at the Connecticut Mental Health Center, where they could choose from any of the available interventions.
Other studies have found that comprehensive intervention encompassing psychoeducation, family therapy and other services can reduce psychotic symptoms. The authors of this study, Vinod H. Srihari and colleagues, concluded that a US public-sector model of early intervention in psychotic illness could be both feasible and effective.
Editor’s Note: In the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2013, Kessing et al. demonstrated even more dramatic and persistent benefits (for at least 6 years) of 2 years of specialty clinic care versus treatment as usual for patients with a first hospitalization for mania (many of whom were also psychotic). Together these two articles indicate the extreme importance of getting off to a good start in the management of major psychiatric illness. Such specialty programs are desperately needed for better management of childhood-onset mania.
