Postpartum Depression Risk; Vit D for Depression; Social Anxiety Spray Trial Paused

New moms with a family history of psychiatric illness faced more than a two times higher risk for postpartum depression. (JAMA Psychiatry)

The FDA granted fast track designation to the investigational drug REL-1017, a novel NMDA receptor channel blocker, for major depression, Relmada Therapeutics announced.

A Brazilian study found that inpatients with severe mental illness had significantly higher rates of idiopathic epilepsy, tuberculosis, HIV, and acute hepatitis than the general population. (Lancet Psychiatry)

Babies that were born premature — specifically prior to 39 weeks — saw higher rates of cognitive problems, inattention, and ADHD. (Journal of Pediatrics)

Taking at least 2,000 IU of vitamin D supplementation per day helped ease some symptoms of depression, according to a meta-analysis of 41 randomized controlled trials. (Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition)

“There is a danger of losing a generation of talented, promising scientists, and this could stall progress in understanding and treating psychiatric illnesses,” warned authors of a new correspondence in Lancet Psychiatry.

After VistaGen Therapeutics’ phase III PALISADE-1 study — which tested the investigational social anxiety disorder nasal spray — flopped, the company paused enrollment and is conducting an interim analysis in its phase III PALISADE-2 study.

Washington state’s largest psychiatric hospital was ordered to pay over $2 million to four former employees assaulted by a patient. (AP)