Healio (5/12, Herpen) reports, “Individuals with opioid use disorder [OUD] and polysubstance use were less likely to initiate treatment with buprenorphine and naltrexone than those without polysubstance use,” researchers concluded in a study that “sought to examine buprenorphine and naltrexone initiation among those diagnosed with” OUD, “with and without concurrent substance use disorder.” For the study, investigators “utilized insurance claims between 2011 and 2016 from United States IBM databases to find instances of medication initiation for OUD in 179,280 treatment-seeking individuals (50.5% male), aged 12 to 64 years, with a primary diagnosis of OUD.” The findings were published online May 10 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Those with opioid use disorder, polysubstance use less likely to initiate MOUD treatment “Robert Herpen, Healio, May 12, 2022

HealthDay (5/12, Preidt) reports, “Americans’ rates of depression and anxiety spiked during the first year of the pandemic, but the increases were much more pronounced among Black, Hispanic and Asian people than among white people,” investigators concluded. The study revealed that when “comparing 2019 to April-May 2020, probabilities of depression and anxiety were 218% larger for white people, 280% larger for Black people, 344% larger for Hispanic people and 560% larger for Asian American people.” The findingswere published online March 22 in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

Related Links:

— “Depression, Anxiety Hit Minorities Hardest During Pandemic ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, May 12, 2022

CNN (5/11, Christensen) reports, “Even two years after their initial infection, the majority of people who were hospitalized with Covid-19 early in the pandemic had lingering symptoms, according to a new study.” Investigators “found that 55% of patients still had at least one Covid-19 symptom two years later,” which “was actually an improvement from six months after infection, when 68% had symptoms.”

US News & World Report (5/11, Smith-Schoenwalder) reports, “Fatigue and muscle weakness were the most commonly reported symptoms.” Meanwhile, “fewer people reported symptoms of anxiety or depression after two years than after six months, decreasing from 23% at six months to 12% at two years.” The findingswere published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.

MedPage Today (5/11, Walker) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “More than half of early Covid-19 patients at one hospital had symptoms two years later, study finds “Jen Christensen, CNN, May 11, 2022

MedPage Today (5/11, DePeau-Wilson) reports, “Use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) during the first trimester of pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk for neonatal seizures and epilepsy in childhood,” researchers concluded after conducting an “analysis of a Swedish registry.” The findings were published online May 11 in the journal Neurology

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (5/11, Kornfield) reports, “More Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021 than any previous year, a grim milestone in an epidemic that has now claimed 1 million lives in the 21st century, according to federal datareleased Wednesday.” Over “100,000 Americans died of drug overdoses in 2021, up 15 percent from the previous year, according to an estimate released by the National Center for Health Statistics.”

The New York Times (5/11, A1, Weiland, Sanger-Katz) reports that “a growing share of deaths continue to come from overdoses involving fentanyl…and methamphetamine.”

The AP (5/11, Stobbe) reports “overdoses involving fentanyl and other synthetic opioids surpassed 71,000.” Also, there was “a 23% increase in deaths involving cocaine and a 34% increase in deaths involving meth and other stimulants.”

USA Today (5/11, Alltucker) and the Wall Street Journal (5/11, Kamp, Subscription Publication) also report.

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Healio (5/10, VanDewater) reports, “Parturients with more severe postpartum pain experienced more severe anxiety,” researchers concluded after surveying “64 patients admitted for delivery between May 24 and July 30, 2021, to Meriter Hospital in Madison, Wisconsin, using the seven-item General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) questionnaire and the American Pain Society-Patient Outcome Questionnaire.” The study revealed that when “compared with parturients without anxiety, those with GAD-7 scores indicating moderate to severe anxiety had higher maximum pain scores during the first and second days after delivery” and were “also were more likely to have spent more time in severe pain during both periods.” The findings were presented at the 2022 ACOG Annual Clinical & Scientific meeting.

Related Links:

— “Postpartum pain associated with anxiety severity “Kalie VanDewater, Healio, May 10, 2022

According to MedPage Today (5/10, Ruprecht), “over the last decade, more than half of young adults with depression reported not receiving treatment…and important reasons were related to cost and stigma.” Researchers arrived at these conclusions after examining survey data from “more than 21,000 patients diagnosed with a” major depressive episode (MDE) “over the previous 12 months using DSM-IV criteria.” While “cost of care was the most common problem for young patients with” MDEs, during this same period, “the proportion of young people saying they had inadequate insurance for treatment also increased from 7.2% to 15.8%.” Further “barriers to care included people not knowing where to go for treatment, worrying about confidentiality, not wanting to take medication, and not having the time.” The findings were published online May 10 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The Washington Post (5/10, Berman) reports, “The surge in gun violence across the United States in 2020 pushed the firearm homicide rate that year to its highest level in a quarter-century, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday.” The “rise in fatal shootings affected communities nationwide, but there were wide gaps across racial, ethnic and economic lines, with the increases in 2020 broadening already existing disparities, the CDC found.”

The New York Times (5/10, Rabin) reports, “Homicides involving firearms were generally highest, and showed the largest increases, in poor communities, and exacted a disproportionate toll on younger Black men in particular.” Over “half of gun deaths were suicides, however.”

The Hill (5/10, Weixel) reports, “Firearms were involved in 79 percent of all homicides in 2020, an increase of nearly 35 percent from 2019.”

The Wall Street Journal (5/10, Elinson, Subscription Publication) also reports.

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (5/9, George) reports, “Eight modifiable risk factors were linked to more than one in three cases of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementia in the U.S.,” investigators concluded in a study that “gathered risk factor prevalence information from 378,615 participants in the 2018 CDC Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and extracted relative risks for each factor from recent meta-analyses.” These “eight risk factors – midlife obesity, midlife hypertension, physical inactivity, depression, smoking, low education, diabetes, and hearing loss – were associated with 36.9%…of Alzheimer’s and dementia cases,” investigators found, and “risk factors differed based on sex, race, and ethnicity.” The findings were published online in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

According to CNN (5/6, Howard), beginning “this summer, every state will be rolling out 988 as the new National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number to call for mental health crises.” In some states, however, “questions remain around funding the transition, staffing call centers and having response teams ready.” In fact, “no more than half of states have enacted or introduced legislation in preparation for 988’s debut, scheduled for July 16, according to data from the National Academy for State Health Policy.” Despite some states’ lack of preparation, “the transition to 988 is “not optional,” according to the US Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.”

Related Links:

— “States prepare for summer launch of new 988 suicide prevention number “Jacqueline Howard, CNN, May 6, 2022