Depression screening for kids
Only about 50 per cent of adolescents with depression get diagnosed before reaching adulthood. And as many as 2 in 3 depressed teens don’t get the care that could help them. “It’s a huge problem,” says Dr. Rachel Zuckerbrot, a board-certified child and adolescent psychiatrist and associate professor at Columbia University. To address this divide, the American Academy of Pediatrics has issued updated guidelines this week that call for universal screening for depression. “What we’re endorsing is that everyone, 12 and up, be screened at least once a year,” Zuckerbrot says. The screening, she says, could be done during a well-visit, a sports’ physical or during another office visit. Zuckerbrot helped write the guidelines, which have been in development for a while. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force also recommends depression screening, and many pediatricians have already woven the screenings into their practices. The risk of teen depression and suicide is linked to smartphone use, study says.
Vaccination debate rages in Italy
In Italy, the fight against measles has moved from the doctor's office to the political battleground. The nation is facing one of its worst epidemics of measles in recent years, reporting a six-fold increase in cases last year that accounted for a quarter of all the cases in Europe. And yet the government's response — a new law requiring parents to vaccinate their kids against measles and nine other childhood diseases — has become one of the most divisive issues going into March 4 general elections. Public health authorities are incredulous that the small but loud anti-vax movement has gained traction during an entirely preventable measles outbreak, thanks to an election campaign.
For dementia: brain donation requests
Older people in Wales are being urged to think about donating their brains after they die to help scientists researching dementia. Researchers at Cardiff University are not actively recruiting at the moment but are still keen to hear from people aged over 85 without a diagnosis.While they also recruit donors with dementia as healthy brains are needed for comparisons. Donor Ken Baxter, 75, said: “When I’m finished, it isn’t any use to me.” Since 2009, 460 people in Wales have signed up, with 79 successful donations made to the Brains for Dementia Research project. They are recruited through its team at the university, which is working to identify which genes contribute to a person’s susceptibility to developing Alzheimer’s disease. Baxter, a donor, decided to donate his brain after seeing how dementia affected a friend.