The Army's Quick Fix for Soldier Suicides: Anti-Depressive Nasal Spray
A U.S. Army Soldier on Patrol with Iraqi Soldiers in 2007 USAF The U.S. Army tallied 38 confirmed or suspected suicides among its ranks last month--that's among both active- and non-active-duty members including the Army National Guard and Army Reserve--the highest rate of suicide within the branch yet observed, further underscoring a mental health crisis that the services have yet to get a handle on. But help may be coming in an unlikely form: nasal spray. The Army is funding a study into a new kind of treatment for soldiers wracked by suicidal thoughts that could deliver anti-depressive chemicals to the brain via the nasal passages. Thyrotropin-releasing hormone, or TRH, is a neurochemical that has proved an effective anti-depressant and anti-suicidal treatment in previous research. But it has trouble crossing what's known as the blood-brain barrier, that natural boundary that keeps the nervous system free of potentially harmful substances in...