CNN (3/21, Cheng) reports, “The US Federal Communications Commission has taken the first step toward adopting a rule that would require telecommunications companies to route calls to the 988 suicide and crisis lifeline based on the caller’s physical location rather than their phone number’s area code.”

The agency’s chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, “said she has submitted a notice of proposed rulemaking to the full commission and expects the rule to pass a vote in the next several weeks, given bipartisan support for the change.” She said, “When people reach out to 988 for help, they should have confidence that the support they receive is local.”

Related Links:

— “988 mental health crisis calls may soon be routed based on location rather than area code,” Mira Cheng, CNN, March 21, 2024

Bloomberg Law (3/18, Díaz , Subscription Publication) reports, “President Joe Biden signed an executive order to strengthen women’s health research standards across federal agencies and prioritize its funding, part of a broader effort to close the gap on long-standing disparities.” Biden “called it the ‘most comprehensive executive actions ever taken to improve women’s health’ at a White House event on Monday, and said it highlighted the administration’s efforts to bolster economic gains for women.”

NBC News (3/18, Kenny ) reports Biden “announced more than 20 new actions and commitments by federal agencies, including $200 million for research at the National Institutes of Health.” The Administration “described the investments as a first step toward a ‘Fund on Women’s Health’ that Biden called on Congress to invest in during his State of the Union address this month.”

Related Links:

— “Biden signs executive order to boost women’s health research,” Summer Concepcion, Fiona Glisson and Caroline Kenny, NBC News, March 18, 2024

HCP Live (3/18, Derman) reports, “Middle-aged adults in the US report significantly greater levels of loneliness than their European counterparts, and this is suggested to be because of weaker family ties and greater income inequality, a recent study” found. When “broken down to age groups, baby boomers in the US reported greater levels of loneliness than England, Continental Europe, Mediterranean Europe, and Nordic Europe.”

With regard to “Generation X, adults in the US reported greater levels of loneliness in all the same nations as baby boomers did except in England, which had an insignificant difference.” The findings were published in American Psychologist.

Related Links:

— “US Middle-Aged Adults Report Loneliness More Than European Adults: Why Is This?,” Chelsie Derman, HCP Live, March 18, 2024

HealthDay (3/15, Mundell ) reported that “heart-healthy…diets appear to slow biological aging, helping to protect the brain.” Investigators “found that folks who most closely adhered to what is called the Mediterranean-Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet had slower aging, as measured by DunedinPACE, as well as lowered odds for dementia and early death.”

The researchers determined that “overall…about 27% of the association between a healthy diet and lowered dementia risk is probably due to slowed aging.” The research was published in the Annals of Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Eating Healthy Slows ‘Aging Clock,’ Helping to Shield Your Brain From Dementia,” Ernie Mundell
, HealthDay, March 15, 2024

NBC News (3/17, Edwards ) reports, “Teenage boys are drowning in just as much of the depression and anxiety that’s been well documented in girls,” and “experts warn that many young men struggling with their mental health are left undetected and without the help they need.” NBC News adds, “Depression in boys may go unnoticed…experts said, because boys usually don’t show it through signs of melancholy typically found in girls.”

Related Links:

— “‘Boys are disappearing’ from mental health care as signs of depression go undetected,” , NBC News, March 17, 2024

HealthDay (3/14, Miller) reports, “College students who use drugs like Adderall to help them focus on their studies may be setting themselves up for trouble.” In a survey published in the International Journal of Psychological and Behavioral Sciences, researchers “asked 700 undergraduates across the United States about drugs commonly used by students – including ADHD medications like Adderall, cannabis, nicotine, alcohol, MDMA and ecstasy.”

The researchers “found that using one substance appears to prime the brain for using others.” They also “linked use of one substance to generally poorer mental health and lower ability to fight off stress. And less frequent use led to mental distress – potentially promoting continued use.”

Related Links:

— “Taking ‘Study Drugs’ Like Adderall Could Be Gateway to More Drug Abuse,”
Carole Tanzer Miller, HealthDay, March 14, 2024

CNN (3/13, Rogers ) reports that research indicates that interacting with dogs “may strengthen people’s brain waves associated with rest and relaxation, as measured by brain tests, according to a small study.” The findings were published in PLOS One.

NBC News (3/13, Bendix ) reports, “Researchers in South Korea attached headsets of electrodes to 30 adults, then measured changes in their brainwaves as they interacted with a poodle.” The research “indicated that walking the dog made the participants feel more relaxed, brushing her improved concentration, and playing with her yielded both of these effects. “

Related Links:

— “Interacting with dogs may affect multiple areas of the brain, study finds,”Kristen Rogers, CNN, March 13, 2024

ABC News (3/13, Gomez ) reports, “The White House has launched a nationwide call-to-action to save lives from opioid overdoses – an election year effort to tackle the opioid crisis.” On Wednesday, the Biden Administration “said it hopes the new effort will help get Naloxone, a drug meant to reverse opioid overdose, into as many communities as possible, increase training and broaden access to the drug.” The FDA “approved two Naloxone nasal sprays for over-the-counteruse” last year. With HHS funding, the White House “has delivered free life saving medications across the country preventing more than 600,000 overdose deaths and delivered nearly 10 million Naloxone kits, [White House Domestic Policy Advisor Neera] Tanden said.”

Related Links:

— “White House launches new effort to prevent opioid overdoses,”Justin Gomez, ABC News, March 13, 2024

HCP Live (3/14, Derman) reports, “People who received therapy for anxiety before the COVID-19 pandemic had similar anxiety symptoms before, throughout, and after the pandemic, a new study found.” In the study, “multilevel regression models showed there were no significant differences between therapy start times, and no increase in anxiety during the acute pandemic phase (March 20, 2020 – July 1, 2020).” The findings were published in PLOS One.

Related Links:

— “Having Therapy for Anxiety Before the Pandemic Prevented Uptick in Symptoms After,” Chelsie Derman, HCP Live, March 14, 2024

CNN (3/12, Christensen ) reports, “High school seniors’ use of delta-8, a cannabis compound that’s sometimes marketed as ‘light THC’ or a legal alternative to weed, is ‘appreciable,’ according to a new study, particularly in states that don’t have a legal weed option for adults.” In the study, 11.4% of high school seniors “said they had used delta-8 THC in the past year, and even though weed is illegal for teens, 30.4% of the participants reported using it.” And among those “who reported that had they used delta-8 in the previous year, 68.1% used it at least three times, 35.4% had used it at least 10 times, and nearly 17% used it at least 40 times. Close to 91% of the delta-8 users also reported using weed.”

NBC News (3/12, Syal) reports, “The new study found that delta-8 use by high school seniors was higher in the South and the Midwest and in states where recreational marijuana isn’t legal.” It “was also more likely to be used in states where there are no regulations on its use.” Currently, delta-8 “is banned or severely restricted in 24 states and Washington, D.C., according to CBD Oracle, a cannabis consumer research company.” The study was published in JAMA.

Psychiatric News (3/12) reports researchers “examined data from the 2023 Monitoring the Future study, a nationally representative classroom-based survey of 8th, 10th, and 12th grade students” that “included 2,186 responses.”

Related Links:

— “A significant number of US 12th-graders report using delta-8 products, study says, and it may be a public health concern,”Jen Christensen, CNN, March 12, 2024