Medscape (1/30, Anderson) reports that a study published in the January issue of the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence suggests that “as users of heroin and other opioids get older, their risk for overdose death increases dramatically.” Researchers also found that even though “male users had almost double the rate of drug-related poisoning in early adulthood compared with female drug users, the difference narrowed considerably with age.” The investigators came to these conclusions After studying more than 198,000 “men and women actively using or being treated for opioid use in England from April 1, 2005, to March 31, 2009.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (1/30, Preidt) reports that research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine “supports the notion that repeated blows to the head in boxing or the martial arts can damage the brain.” Investigators studied “93 boxers and 131 mixed martial arts experts,” as well as 22 individuals who had never suffered a head injury. “MRI brain scans and tests of memory, reaction time and other intellectual abilities showed that the fighters who had suffered repeated blows to the head had smaller brain volume and slower processing speeds, compared to non-fighters.”

Related Links:

— “More Evidence That Boxing Can Lead to Brain Damage,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, January 30, 2015.

The CBS News (1/30, Firger) website reports that a study suggests that “people who binge-watch television tend to be among the most depressed and lonely.” In the study, investigators “surveyed 316 young people about their television-viewing habits.” In addition, “the study participants, all between the ages of 18 and 29…answered questions about how frequently in life they experienced feelings of depression and loneliness.”

Newsweek (1/30, Kutner) reports that researchers at the University of Texas “discovered a correlation between binge-watching and loneliness, depression, and having self-regulation deficiency, which is an inability to control compulsions.”

Related Links:

— “Depression, loneliness linked to binge-watching TV,” Jessica Firger, CBS News, January 29, 2015.