Healio (10/29, Jenkins ) reports, “A community coalition-engaged intervention led to a statistically significant reduction in overdose deaths involving any opioid and psychostimulantsother than cocaine, according to a study.” T

he researchers said that the “results suggest that community-focused, data-driven interventions that scale up evidence-based practices with a communications campaign may collectively contribute to successes in addressing the evolving nature of some opioid-involved polysubstance overdose deaths.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Community-engaged intervention reduces polysubstance overdose deaths by 37%,” Cassandra Jenkins, Healio, October 29, 2024

HealthDay (10/29, Thompson ) reports, “Weed use among U.S. teenagers fell dramatically over the past decade, a new study shows.” Researchers found that “by 2021, only about 16% of teens said they were currently using marijuana, down from 23% in 2011.” Study results indicate that “all grades experienced a notable decline in current weed use, particularly among ninth graders.” The findings were published in Pediatric Reports.

Related Links:

— “Marijuana Use Has Fallen ‘Dramatically’ Among U.S. Teens,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, October 29, 2024

Endocrinology Advisor (10/28, Kuhns) reports, “Individuals with diabetes have a significantly higher risk for suicide than the general population, according to study results.” Researchers found that “over time, the suicide risk increased from 1999 to 2015 and then slightly declined from 2016 to 2020, though it remained higher than in earlier years, among individuals with diabetes.” The findings were published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

Related Links:

— “Suicide Risk Factors Could Include Diabetes,” Lisa Kuhns PhD, Endocrinology Advisor, October 28, 2024

The Washington Post (10/25, Gilbert ) reported that Americans who cannot find or afford a professional therapist “are turning to artificial intelligence, seeking help from chatbots that can spit out instantaneous, humanlike responses – some with voices that sound like a real person – 24 hours a day at little to no cost.”

Organizations that operate mental health chatbots “say their users collectively would total in the tens of millions, and that doesn’t count those who use apps like ChatGPT that aren’t marketed for mental health but are praised on social media as a popular therapy hack.” The Post added that more than 6 million people with a mental illness last year “wanted but didn’t receive treatment.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (10/25, Weiland ) reported that according to new federal data, overdose deaths in the US “decreased by more than 12 percent between May 2023 and May 2024,” which represents “a major development in the nation’s efforts to combat the effects of fentanyl.” However, according to a Georgetown University analysis, the number of “fatal overdoses among Black Americans typically increased between 2022 and 2023, while deadly overdoses among white Americans often decreased.” The Times said the findings “reveal a continuation of what federal and state health officials have described as a two-track epidemic, with white Americans experiencing better outcomes and Black Americans struggling to keep up.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

The Hill (10/24, Ventura) reports, “Nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults said the government is not doing enough to ensure access to affordable mental health care, a new West Health-Gallup Healthcare surveyfound.” The new “survey revealed that 73 percent of Americans said that the government was not doing enough to ensure affordable access to mental health care, compared to 12 percent who said that it was doing about the right amount.” About 7% “said the government was doing too much, while another 7 percent said they didn’t know.”

Related Links:

— “Most say not enough being done to ensure affordable mental health care: Survey,” Juliann Ventura, The Hill, October 24, 2024

HealthDay (10/24, Thompson ) reports, “Suicide risk is highest on Monday in the United States and around the world, an international team of researchers has discovered.” The researchers said, “Mondays and New Year’s Day were both associated with increased suicide risk in most countries.” Study results indicate that “Mondays constitute 15% to 18% of total suicides, compared with other days.” Study “results also show that weekend suicide risk varies greatly between countries.” The findings were published in the BMJ.

Related Links:

— “One Day of the Week Has Highest Suicide Risk,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, October 24, 2024

Healio (10/23, Cooper ) reports, “A single saline injection, openly prescribed as a placebo, yielded approximately 1 month of chronic back pain improvement, along with longer-term benefits in depression and sleep, according to data.” The investigators “described the placebo injection’s pain relief benefit as ‘modest in magnitude’ but clinically significant and comparable with the effect sizes of typical treatments such as NSAIDs, but with fewer adverse events.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Open-label placebo injection demonstrates ‘modest’ benefit in chronic back pain,” Justin Cooper, Healio, October 23, 2024

ABC News (10/23, Kindelan ) reports, “Thousands of bottles of a popular antidepressant medication are being recalled due to the presence of what the National Library of Medicine describes as a toxic chemical, according to a notice from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.” The recall impacts “the medication duloxetine, which is sold under the brand name Cymbalta, according to the FDA’s notice of the voluntary recall, which began Oct. 10.” The recalled “capsules were found to contain a higher level of N-nitroso-duloxetine than is permitted, according to the recall notice.”

USA Today (10/23, Ardrey ) reports the FDA “announced a Class II recall for more than 7,000 bottles of” the antidepressant. The drug “was distributed across the country and manufactured by Towa Pharmaceutical Europe.”

Related Links:

— “Thousands of bottles of popular antidepressant recalled: 3 things to know,” Katie Kindelan, ABC News, October 23, 2024

MedPage Today (10/22, DePeau-Wilson ) reports, “Among mothers, a history of eating disorders or body mass index (BMI) outside the normal range was associated with a higher risk of neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders in their offspring, according to a Finnish population-based cohort study.” In the “analysis of nearly 400,000 mothers and nearly 650,000 offspring, the largest effect sizes were for non-specified maternal eating disorders in association with childhood sleep disorders…and social functioning and tic disorders.” Researchers found that “for maternal severe prepregnancy obesity, the largest effect size was for intellectual disabilities.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)