The Las Vegas Review-Journal (9/8) reported that CMS has expanded access to programs for autistic children by informing states that Medicaid will now cover Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic and Treatment coverage. This initiative is expected to greatly decrease the amount of children on a wait list for services, which is currently 477 in Nevada.
Related Links:
— “Medicaid change aids autistic children,” Yesenia Amaro, Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 5, 2014.
HealthDay (9/5, Preidt) reports that according to a study recently published in the journal Burns, “adult survivors of childhood burns are at increased risk for depression and suicidal thoughts.” The study of “300 people in Australia who were hospitalized for burns between 1980 and 1990” revealed that “42 percent of the participants had experienced some type of mental illness, 30 percent had suffered depression and 11 percent had attempted suicide.”
Related Links:
— “Serious Childhood Burns Tied to Long-Term Mental Health Risks,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 4, 2014.
HealthDay (9/5, Preidt) reports, “Nearly 10 percent of Americans aged 12 and older were illicit drug users in 2013, and almost 20 million said they used marijuana, making it the most widely used drug,” according to a report issued yesterday by the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). The report “also found that more than 14 percent of adults aged 18 and older said they received mental health treatment or counseling in the past year, and that nearly 44 million had a mental illness in 2013.” In addition, 10 “million adults aged 18 and older said they had a serious mental illness in the past year that interfered with a major life activity, according to the report.”
Related Links:
— “10 Percent of Americans Admit to Illicit Drug Use,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 4, 2014.
Bloomberg News (9/4, Kitamura) reported that according to a report (9/5) issued by the World Health Organization, “a death by suicide occurs every 40 seconds somewhere in the world.” The WHO’s first-ever global report on suicide also found that approximately “three-quarters of those suicides occur in low- and middle-income countries, where self-poisoning by pesticide is the leading cause, and other common methods include hanging and firearms, the WHO said.”
McClatchy (9/5, Zarocostas, Subscription Publication) reports that around the world, “an estimated 804,000 people killed themselves in 2012, a rate of about 11.4 per 100,000 population.” Men “were almost twice as likely as females to kill themselves, WHO reported, with a rate of 15.0 per 100,000 for men, versus 8.0 for women.” In the US, “of the 43,361 Americans who killed themselves in 2012, 34,055 were male and 9,306 for female.”
Related Links:
— “Suicide Every 40 Seconds Requires Prevention Measures,” Makiko Kitamura, Bloomberg News, September 4, 2014.
On its front page, the Washington Post (9/3, A1, Kunkle) reports that “recent findings suggest that biological, genetic and even cultural influences may play heavy roles” in why more women than men get Alzheimer’s disease. For example, “a recent study…found that women with the APOe4 gene were twice as likely to get Alzheimer’s as women who did not carry the gene,” even though “the risk factor appeared to be little different between men who had the APOe4 gene and those who did not.”
Women are more likely to develop depression, and previous research has tied late-life depression to dementia. Scientists are also trying to narrow down the role played by the hormone estrogen, which helps regulate brain metabolism in females.
Related Links:
— “Why do more women get Alzheimer’s? Research points to genetics, other factors,” Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post, September 3, 2014.
Modern Healthcare (9/4, Rice, Subscription Publication) reports that, according to a study published in the September issue of JAMA Psychiatry, “an estimated 267,000 patients visited an emergency department between 2009 and 2011 because of adverse drug events such as overdose, excessive sleepiness and head injuries associated with use of psychiatric prescriptions.”
Specifically, researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Johns Hopkins University found that some “89,094 adult patients visited an emergency department annually because of adverse drug events from taking sedatives, antidepressants and antipsychotics.” In September 2013, through the Choosing Wisely campaign, the American Psychiatric Association issued “a list of recommendations for safe-prescribing of antipsychotics.”
Related Links:
HealthDay (9/2, Preidt) reports on a new study that challenges the perception that marijuana is not addictive, highlighting that many teen marijuana users showed withdrawal symptoms when they made efforts to stop using the drug. “As more people are able to obtain and consume cannabis legally for medical and, in some states, recreational use, people are less likely to perceive it as addictive or harmful,” study co-author John Kelly, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Addiction Medicine, said in a statement.
In the new study, researchers followed outcomes for 127 teens between the ages of 14 to 19. “Of those 90 teens, 76 (84 percent) met criteria for marijuana dependence, including increased tolerance for, and use of, marijuana, as well as unsuccessful attempts to reduce or stop using the drug,” the article notes.
Related Links:
— “‘Pot Addiction’ May Be Real, Study Suggests,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 2, 2014.
The NPR (9/2, Hobson) “Shots” blog reported that, according to the results of a 340-patient study published online Sept. 1 in the journal Pediatrics, taking stimulant medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) in childhood appears not to lead to “height deficits in adulthood.”
HealthDay (9/3, Reinberg) reports that the study’s lead author “said this study is unique because it followed a group of people with AD/HD who were taking stimulant medications and compared them with a group with AD/HD who were not taking medication and also a group that didn’t have AD/HD.” All participants “were followed from childhood to adulthood, she said.” HealthDay also notes, “AD/HD is one of the most common disorders of childhood, according to the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).”
Related Links:
— “More Evidence That ADHD Drugs Don’t Curb Ultimate Height,” Katherine Hobson, National Public Radio, September 1, 2014.
Reuters (9/2, Doyle) reports a study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that regular dinners with their families may help children cope with online bullying. The study also suggests that other means of talking with family members, such as during car rides, also helps.
TIME (9/2, Sifferlin) reports on the study indicating “about 1 in 5 young people experience some form of online bullying, which can have serious effects on mental health and behavior.” Investigators found “a positive association between cyberbullying and problems like anxiety, depression and self-harm as well as substance abuse like frequent drinking and prescription drug abuse.”
Related Links:
— “Family dinners may help kids cope with cyberbullying,” Kathryn Doyle, Reuters, September 1, 2014.
The New York Times (9/2) reports in its “Well” blog of potential risks to newborn babies stemming from pregnant women’s use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants such as Prozac (fluoxetine). The piece notes that up to “14 percent of pregnant women take antidepressants,” and the FDA has warned that Paxil (paroxetine) could be responsible for birth defects. The blog posting notes that the “prevailing attitude among doctors has been that depression during pregnancy is more dangerous to mother and child than any drug could be. Now a growing number of critics are challenging that assumption.”
The paper points out that three new studies have highlighted concerns about long-term developmental effects for SSRIs, including one by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, who noted in April “that boys with autism were nearly three times more likely to have been exposed to S.S.R.I.s before birth than typically developing boys.”
Related Links:
— “Are Antidepressants Safe During Pregnancy?,” Roni Caryn Rabin, New York Times, August , 2014.