Healio (1/16, Laday) reports, “Frequent mental distress is commonly reported among adults with arthritis across all 50 states and Washington, D.C., with the highest prevalence reported in the Appalachian region and southern states,” investigators concluded after evaluating data “provided by 147,288 respondents.” The findings were published online Jan. 3 in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Related Links:

— “Mental distress highly prevalent among adults with arthritis in Appalachia, southern US, “Jason Laday, Healio, January 16, 2020

Healio (1/15, Gramigna) reports, “College students’ alcohol use behaviors may be closely related to their perceptions of the alcohol-related behaviors and attitudes of other students within their close-knit peer group,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from a sample of 1,054 college students (61% female) across 35 intact same-sex club sport teams.” The study revealed that “perceptions of peers being more approving of drinking prospectively predicted greater alcohol use frequency at later timepoints, which is indicative or conformity processes.” The findings were published online Jan. 13 in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Related Links:

— “College students’ peer groups significantly influence alcohol use, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, January 15, 2020

MD Magazine (1/15, Rosenfeld) reports, “More openness from physicians about overcoming mental health issues could increase the likelihood that medical students will access care if they need it,” researchers concluded after surveying “second-year medical students and” conducting “a physician panel and small-group discussion to learn the benefit of exposure to physicians with self-disclosed histories of having overcome mental illness.” The 43-student study revealed that “91% of students agreed knowing veteran physicians who struggled with mental health issues, got treatment, and were doing well could make them more likely to seek care if they ever needed it.” The findings were published online Jan. 8 in the Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development.

Related Links:

— “Mental Health Openness Improves Med Students’ Attitudes, “Samara Rosenfeld, MD Magazine, January 15, 2020

The Wall Street Journal (1/15, Abbott, Subscription Publication) reports a Medscape survey indicates almost half of physicians age 40 to 54, members of Generation X, reported burnout, as did nearly 40 percent of Millennials and Boomers. About half of the 15,000 respondents reported willingness to trade salary for improved work-life balance.

Related Links:

— “Physician Burnout Is Widespread, Especially Among Those in Midcareer, “Brianna Abbott, The Wall Street Journal, January 15, 2020

Medscape (1/15, Brauser, Subscription Publication) reports that even though “diet can influence mental health and cognitive function, evidence of benefit for many specific diets is actually quite weak,” investigators concluded “in the ‘most up-to-date overview of the new field of nutritional psychiatry.’” The overview “found strong evidence that following a ketogenic diet of high fat and low carbohydrates may reduce seizures in children with epilepsy” and “also confirmed that the Mediterranean diet guards against depression and anxiety.” Additionally, the review revealed “a strong link between vitamin B12 deficiency and an increased risk of fatigue, depression, and memory problems,” but found only “inconclusive” evidence “of any efficacy of vitamin D supplements or any nutrient in mitigating symptoms of autism or” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. The findings were published in the December issue of the journal European Neuropsychopharmacology.

Related Links:

— “Diet and Mental Health: The Evidence to Date, “Deborah Brauser, Medscape, January 15, 2020

HealthDay (1/15, Reinberg) reports, “After a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy,” one in six women may have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) “nearly a year later,” researchers concluded after studying some “650 women who experienced a miscarriage – defined as loss of pregnancy before 12 weeks – or an ectopic pregnancy.” The findings were published online Dec. 13 in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Related Links:

— “Trauma of Miscarriage May Trigger PTSD, ” Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, January 15, 2020

The Washington Post (1/14, Rich, Higham, Horwitz) reports that data from the Drug Enforcement Administration “shows that more than 100 billion doses of oxycodone and hydrocodone were shipped nationwide from 2006 through 2014 – 24 billion more doses of the highly addictive pain pills than previously known to the public.” In July, The Post “reported that the data revealed that the nation’s drug companies had manufactured and distributed more than 76 billion pain pills.” The “two additional years of information – 2013 and 2014 – was recently posted by a data analytics company managed by lawyers for the plaintiffs in a massive lawsuit against the opioid industry.”

Related Links:

— “More than 100 billion pain pills saturated the nation over nine years, “Steven Rich, Scott Higham and Sari Horwitz, The Washington Post, January 14, 2020

Psychiatric News (1/14) reports, “College students in states where recreational use of marijuana is legal appear to be using marijuana more frequently than peers in states where such use is not legal,” researchers concluded after analyzing survey responses from “undergraduates aged 18 to 26 to the National College Health Assessment survey between 2008 and 2018.” Included in that final sample were “234,669 students who attended 135 college in seven U.S. states where recreational use of marijuana was legalized, and 599,605 students who attended 454 colleges in 41 states where recreational use was not legal.” The study revealed that “students who attended college in states where recreational use of marijuana is legal were 23% more likely to report marijuana use than students in states where such use is not legal.” The findings were published online Dec. 13 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “College Students in States With Legalized Marijuana Report Greater Use of Drug, Psychiatric News, January 14, 2020

Healio (1/14, Schaffer) reports, “Women with polycystic ovary syndrome [PCOS] are more likely to have an eating or sleeping disorder and report decreased sexual satisfaction than those without PCOS,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from 36 studies conducted through August 2018 assessing prevalence of any eating, sleep or sexual function disorders among women with PCOS (n = 349,529).” The findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis were published online in Clinical Endocrinology.

Related Links:

— “PCOS increases likelihood of eating, sleeping disorders, “Regina Schaffer, Healio, January 14, 2020

NPR (1/15, Chatterjee) reports that “an estimated 1 in 7 pregnant women and new mothers become clinically depressed during pregnancy or postpartum” across the US, but their obstetricians “often lack the skills to address this common problem,” which results in few women getting “a diagnosis or treatment.” However, “a statewide program in Massachusetts offers support to obstetricians and gynecologists in screening for and treating depression in pregnant women and new moms.” Nancy Byatt, founding medical director of the program known as the Massachusetts Child Psychiatry Access Program for Moms (MCPAP for Moms), “says she developed the program after doctors told her they didn’t know how to help pregnant and new moms recover from depression, and that they needed a ‘lifeline’ to support them.”

Related Links:

— “‘A Lifeline’ For Doctors Helps Them Treat Postpartum Depression , “Rhitu Chatterjee, NPR, January 15, 2020