American journal of preventive medicine
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Studies have tried to link obesity rates and physical activity with multiple aspects of the built environment. ⋯ Environments perceived as obesogenic are associated with lower property values. Studies in additional locations need to explore to what extent other perceived environment measures can be reflected in residential property values.
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This paper focuses on the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention's Research Prioritization Task Force's Aspirational Goal 2 (screening for suicide risk) as it pertains specifically to children, adolescents, and young adults. Two assumptions are forwarded: (1) strategies for screening youth for suicide risk need to be tailored developmentally; and (2) we must use instruments that were created and tested specifically for suicide risk detection and developed specifically for youth. Recommendations for shifting the current paradigm include universal suicide screening for youth in medical settings with validated instruments.
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We summarize outcomes for several pharmacologic and neurostimulatory approaches that have been considered potential treatments to reduce suicide risk, namely, by reducing suicide deaths, attempts, and ideation in various clinical populations. Available treatments include clozapine, lithium, antidepressants, antipsychotics, electroconvulsive therapy, and transcranial magnetic stimulation. ⋯ Research pathways to better understand and treat suicidal ideation and behavior from a neurobiological perspective are proposed in light of this foundation of information and the limitations and challenges inherent in suicide research. Such pathways include trials of fast-acting medications, registry approaches to identify appropriate patients for trials, identification of biomarkers, neuropsychological vulnerabilities, and endophenotypes through the study of known suicide risk-mitigating agents in hope of determining mechanisms of pathophysiology and the action of protective biological interventions.
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Suicide is a leading cause of death in the U. S. As both the rate and number of suicides continue to climb, the country struggles with how to reverse this alarming trend. ⋯ Other resources will have to be built, perhaps by enhancing existing federal surveillance systems or constructing new ones. The article concludes with suggestions for immediate and longer-term actions that can strengthen public data resources in the service of reducing suicide in the U. S.
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Suicide in later life is a major public health concern in the U. S., where more than 6,000 older adults take their own lives every year. Suicide prevention in this age group is made challenging by the high lethality of older adults' suicidal behavior; few survive their first attempt to harm themselves. ⋯ Second is research on the impact of general health promotion that optimizes well-being and independent functioning for older adults on suicide outcomes. Third concerns the study of approaches to the provision of mental health care that is evidence-based, accessible, affordable, acceptable, and integrated with other aspects of care. The fourth area of high priority for research is approaches to improvement of social connectedness and its impact on suicide in older adults.