Alzheimer’s disease pathology was common in people diagnosed with other dementias

MedPage Today (4/28, George ) reports, “Alzheimer’s disease pathology was common in people diagnosed with other dementias, a large cross-sectional study in Sweden showed.” Investigators found that “while most patients clinically diagnosed with Alzheimer’s had evidence of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) amyloid and tau pathology, those biomarkers also emerged in people with other dementias.”

Among “nearly 14,000 adults, a clear, Alzheimer’s-like profile based on three CSF biomarkers – amyloid-beta 1-42, total tau (t-tau), and phosphorylated tau 181 (p-tau181) measurements – was seen in 68% of people with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, 65% of late-onset Alzheimer’s, and 52% of people with mixed Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia.” Meanwhile, “among people without an Alzheimer’s diagnosis, the Alzheimer’s profile emerged in 25% of people with unspecified dementia, 9% of people with Parkinson’s disease dementia, and 8% of people with frontotemporal dementia.”

The findings were published in JAMA Neurology.

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Antidepressants Effectively Treat Depression In Patients With History Of Heart Attacks Without Adverse Impacts, Study Finds

Psychiatric News (4/28) reports, “Antidepressants effectively treat depression in patients who have a history of heart attacks without adversely impacting their long-term prognosis, according to a study issued in BMC Psychiatry.” Additionally, antidepressents “were linked to a decreased risk of heart attack recurrence.” Further, while baseline depression scores did not differ between control and treatment groups, “antidepressant treatment significantly reduced depression scores at long-term follow-up.”

Antidepressants “did not increase the risk of adverse cardiac events, all-cause mortality, or rehospitalization for heart disease.” Researcher Hongquan Wan and colleague wrote, “Meta-analyses indicate that post–[heart attack] depression is associated with a 1.6- to 2.7-fold increased risk of mortality and cardiovascular events during long-term follow-up, highlighting the critical need for effective interventions.”

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— “Antidepressants Effective, Safe for Patients After Heart Attacks,” Psychiatric News, April 28, 2025

Adults with previous medical debt more likely to forgo mental health care

Healio (4/25) reported that approximately 33% of adults with past-year medical debt “had forgone mental health care.” According to a research letter published in JAMA Health Forum, adults with previous medical debt “were more likely to forgo mental health care due to cost.” Kyle J. Moon, BS, PhD student trainee in the Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told Healio that “given the high prevalence of medical debt (roughly one in seven people), this should raise concern about how medical debt may contribute to, or even exacerbate, the mental health treatment gap.” Further, “with less than half of adults receiving care for any mental disorder, prior research suggests that medical debt may exacerbate this gap by eroding patient trust in the system or raising the threshold for care, Moon and colleagues wrote.”

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— “US adults with medical debt more likely to forgo mental health care,” Moira Mahoney, Healio, April 25, 2025

Budget Proposal Seeks To Cut Funding For Narcan Grants

The New York Times (4/25, Hoffman ) reported that the Trump Administration’s budget proposal “plans to terminate a $56 million annual grant program that distributes” Narcan doses “and trains emergency responders in communities across the country to administer them.” The Times explains, “Narcan saves hundreds of thousands of lives a year and is routinely praised by public health experts for contributing to the continuing drop in opioid-related deaths.” However, documents show the proposal will include the grant “among many addiction prevention and treatment programs to be zeroed out.”

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Study Finds “Too Much Sleep” Per Night Could Effect Cognitive Function, Particularly For Adults With Depression

Psychiatric News (4/25) reported a new study in Alzheimer’s & Dementia finds that too much sleep per night may effect cognitive function – particularly for adults with depression. Overall, “compared with participants with average sleep, those with long sleep had poorer performance in global cognition, executive function, visuospatial memory, and verbal learning/memory tasks.” Researchers wrote, “These findings suggest that sleeping ≥ 9 hours per night is associated with cognitive differences equivalent to 6.5 years of brain aging.” Further, “the strongest negative associations between long sleep and cognition were among individuals with depressive symptoms, regardless of antidepressant usage.

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— “Long Sleep Duration Linked to Poorer Cognitive Performance,” Psychiatric News, April 25, 2025

Justice Department Memo Directs Enforcement Of Administration Policies Regarding Select Procedures For Transgender-Identifying Minors

CNN (4/23, Gannon, Perez ) reports, “Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday issued a memo of directives to Justice Department employees to enforce the Trump administration’s policies targeting gender-affirmingcare for minors.” The memo, CNN says, “specifically targets the medical community, saying that it has given families ‘misleading advice,’ when seeking the help of medical professionals for this type of care.” CNN adds that “major mainstream medical associations” – including the American Psychiatric Association, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, among others – “have affirmed the practice of gender-affirming care.”

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— “Attorney general directs Justice Department employees to enforce policies targeting care for transgender minors,” Casey Gannon and Evan Perez, CNN, April 23, 2025

Alzheimer’s Researchers Await Renewal Of Federal Funding

CNN (4/24, Howard ) reports that 14 of 35 Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers had their funding halted by the NIH last month as the Trump Administration stopped $65 million in funding for research. About a dozen Alzheimer’s disease research centers “are still waiting for their federal funding to be renewed, said Dr. Michael Greicius, professor of neurology and neurological sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, whose Alzheimer’s center is among those awaiting a decision.”

Greicius and his colleagues “had to hold off on starting research projects because they didn’t know whether there will be funding coming in.” HHS spokesperson Andrew Nixon explained in an email Thursday that the NIH is “committed to advancing groundbreaking research in Alzheimer’s disease. However, we also have a responsibility to ensure that all grant proposals align with the established policies.”

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— “Uncertainty around NIH funding leaves Alzheimer’s studies in limbo,” Jacqueline Howard, CNN, April 24, 2025

Female patients who enter menopause early may face greater age-related cognitive decline

HealthDay (4/23, Thompson ) reports a study found that “women who entered menopause before 40 had a greater cognitive decline than women who entered menopause after 50.” Researchers observed that “women who entered menopause early tended to experience a more dramatic decline in their thinking and memory skills than those whose menopause occurred in middle-age.” They noted the link “remained even after researchers accounted for the potential effect of depression on the women’s brain health.” Furthermore, “women who entered menopause at the more usual time of life wound up with better cognitive function than men of the same age, researchers found.” The study was published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

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— “Early Menopause Might Mean Greater Age-Related Brain Decline,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 23, 2025

Oral Varenicline Plus Behavioral Counseling Effective At Helping Teenage And Young Adult Patients Quit E-Cigarettes, Study Finds

STAT (4/23, Todd , Subscription Publication) reports a study found that “using the oral pill varenicline in combination with behavioral counseling is the most effective way for young people” to quit e-cigarettes. In the study, half of participants ages 16 to 25 who took varenicline for 12 weeks “were able to abstain from e-cigarettes for the last month of that period, compared to 14% of the placebo group. After a total of six months, 28% of people in the varenicline group were still vape-free, compared to 7% of the placebo group.” Although the study was fairly small, its authors believe it “to be the first trial of a vaping cessation medication in young people.” Its findings can have “significant implications for how pediatricians and school health care providers treat nicotine addiction.” The study was published in JAMA.

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— “Many young people want to quit vaping. A new study says medication can help,” Sarah Todd, STAT, April 23, 2025

Anxiety, Depression Rates Among Children Rose From 2016 To 2022, Data Show

HealthDay (4/23, Thompson ) reports 10.6% of children “suffered from anxiety in 2022, up from 7.1% in 2016,” and “depression among children increased to 4.6% from 3.2%” during the same period, according to researchers who analyzed National Survey of Children’s Health data. The results – published as a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics – “showed that some physical maladies among children decreased even as their mood disorders rose.”

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— “Mood Disorders Have Increased Among Kids, Teens,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, April 23, 2025