HealthDay (2/10, Preidt) reports that “nearly one-third of older COVID-19 survivors develop new health problems in the months after their infection,” according to a study in which researchers “analyzed 2020 health insurance data from more than 133,000 Americans 65 and older who were diagnosed with COVID before April 1, 2020.” Among these patients, “32% sought medical attention in the several months after their diagnosis for one or more new or persistent health conditions,” the study published in The BMJ found. Researchers “found the COVID patients had a higher risk for a number of conditions, including respiratory failure, fatigue, high blood pressure and mental health diagnoses.”

Related Links:

— “1 in 3 Adults With COVID Develops Other Health Issues Later: Study “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, February 10, 2022

Psychiatric News (2/10) reports, “Family structure, socioeconomic status, and the experience of racism were primarily associated with negative impacts of COVID-19 across family generations in minority communities, more so than preexisting medical or psychiatric conditions,” investigators concluded in research utilizing “data from the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, a long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States.” The study revealed that “among the 9,267 youth and their caregivers…social determinants of inequity, including lower socioeconomic status, living in single-parent households, and experiencing racism, were primarily associated with negative COVID-19 experiences, such as food insecurity and financial worry.” The findings were published online Feb. 9 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Study Identifies Factors Associated With Negative COVID-19 Experiences, Psychiatric News, February 10, 2022

Healio (2/10, Miller) reports data indicate that “people who survived COVID-19 were more likely to report symptoms of anxiety, depression or both compared with those who did not have a history of the disease.” Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing data from “survey responses from 3,633 U.S. adults,” then using the “Patient Health Questionnaires and the General Anxiety Disorder screening tool to evaluate clinical levels of anxiety, depression and psychological distress.” The findings were published online Jan. 12 in the European Journal of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “COVID-19 survivors three times more likely to report anxiety “Janel Miller, Healio, February 10, 2022

MedPage Today (2/9, George) reports, “Dementia incidence tripled in lonely older adults who otherwise would be expected to have relatively low risk based on age and genes,” investigators concluded in a study that “assessed 2,308 participants who were dementia-free at baseline with an average age of 73.” The study revealed that “lonely older people under age 80 without an APOE4 allele had a threefold greater risk of dementia…over 10 years than similar people who weren’t lonely.” What’s more, “regardless of age or APOE4 status, lonely older adults had a higher 10-year dementia risk compared with those who weren’t lonely.” The findings were published online in the journal Neurology.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (2/9) reports, “Addiction to digital technology is bound to become an increasing focus of psychiatrists, wrote addiction psychiatrist Petros Levounis, MD, MA,” a professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry and associate dean at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, in a special report published on Feb. 1 in Psychiatric News. The diagnosis of “technological addictions accurately requires more research. ‘Only one technological addiction has been semi-officially recognized by APA as of DSM-5: internet gaming disorder is in Section III of our manual as a condition for further study,’” Dr. Levounis wrote. Still, Dr. “Levounis said that the framework used to define internet gaming disorder could be extended to other online behaviors that addiction specialists agree may be of concern: online gambling, online shopping, cybersex, internet surfing, texting/emailing, and social media.”

Related Links:

— “Overuse of Digital Technology May Indicate Addiction, Expert Says, Psychiatric News, February 9, 2022

Psychiatric News (2/8) reports, “Youth and young adults who start taking prescription opioids appear to have double the risk of suicidal behaviors compared with those who do not start taking prescription opioids,” investigators concluded after analyzing “Swedish population-register data on nearly 1.9 million individuals aged nine to 29 years for whom there was no record of prior opioid prescriptions.” The study team “tracked prescriptions dispensed to these youth and young adults beginning in January 2007 and diagnosed self-injurious behavior and death by suicide through December 2013.” The findings were published online Feb. 7 in the journal Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Initiation of Prescription Opioids May Slightly Increase Risk of Suicide in Some Youth, Psychiatric News, February 8, 2022

According to the New York Times (2/8, Caron), in the past few years, “clinical trials have shown that MDMA, when combined with talk therapy, can bring relief to those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, a finding that has elevated MDMA’s reputation from party drug to potential therapeutic.” Now, “some couples, drawn to the drug’s ability to produce feelings of empathy, trust and compassion, have started using unregulated MDMA on their own in an effort to help them reconnect, improve communication and have better sex.” Experts warn, however, that “MDMA, an amphetamine derivative, can have serious side effects,” and the illegal drug is “risky for people to use…on their own.” Smita Das, MD, PhD, MPH, who chairs the American Psychiatric Association’s Council on Addiction Psychiatry, said, “This can include everything from a ‘bad trip,’ to reckless behavior to psychiatric symptoms like panic attacks or physical effects like hypertension or interactions with other medications.”

Related Links:

— “Can MDMA Save a Marriage? “Christina Caron, The New York Times, February 8, 2022

ABC News (2/8, Livingston) reports, “U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy told lawmakers on Tuesday that the pandemic has had a ‘devastating’ impact on the mental health of America’s young people.” Murthy said, “I’m deeply concerned as a parent and as a doctor that the obstacles this generation of young people face are unprecedented and uniquely hard to navigate and the impact that’s having on their mental health is devastating.” His “main recommendations are to ensure access to ‘high-quality, culturally competent care,’ focusing on prevention with school and community-based programs and developing a better understanding of the impact technology and social media have on young people.”

Related Links:

— “Pandemic’s impact on youth mental health ‘devastating’: Surgeon General “Kelly Livingston, ABC News, February 8, 2022

HealthDay (2/7) reports “adults with chronic pain use a variety of pain management strategies, including opioids, but the majority use nonopioid management techniques,” data indicate. Investigators “found that 54.7% of adults with chronic pain only used nonopioid pain management techniques, while 10.7, 4.4, and 30.2% used both opioids and nonopioid techniques, used opioids only, and did not report any pain management techniques,” respectively, “during the past three months.” The findings of the 31,916-participant study were published as a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Various Strategies Used by U.S. Adults to Manage Chronic Pain “Physician’s Briefing Staff, HealthDay, February 7, 2022

CNN (2/7, LaMotte) reports “people using e-cigarettes to quit smoking found them to be less helpful than more traditional” smoking cessation aids, according to a study, published Monday in the journal BMJ that analyzed the latest 2017 to 2019 data from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study. The study found that “nearly 60%” of daily e-cigarette users who were former smokers had resumed smoking by 2019. Study researcher John Pierce said, “This is the first time we found e-cigarettes to be less popular than FDA-approved pharmaceutical aids, such as medications or the use of patches, gum, or lozenges.” He added, “There’s no evidence that the use of e-cigarettes is an effective cessation aid.”

Related Links:

— “E-cigarettes were less effective than gum and other nicotine replacement aids, study says “Sandee LaMotte, CNN, February 7, 2022