HCPlive (1/27, Butera) reports research suggests there may be “significant associations” between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) and “common allergic conditions such as food allergy, respiratory allergy, and skin allergy” in children. Included in the study were “192,573 children aged four to 17 years old.” The study revealed that the “weighted prevalence” of AD/HD “was higher among children with allergic conditions.” The findings were published online in the journal Nutrients.

Related Links:

— “ADHD Associated with Food, Skin and Respiratory Allergy “Armand Butera, HCPlive, January 27, 2022

Psychiatric News (1/27) reports, “Psychiatrists view telemedicine as a tool to facilitate engagement with care, encourage patients to keep appointments, and improve adherence with treatment,” investigators concluded after conducting “semi-structured interviews with 20 psychiatrists treating adults in outpatient settings across the” US from June 25 to August 4, 2021. The findings were published online Jan. 26 in Psychiatric Services, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.

Related Links:

— “Most Patients Considered Good Candidates for Telemedicine, Psychiatrists Report, Psychiatric News, January 27, 2022

NBC News (1/27, Matsakis) reports, “Meta and TikTok pulled advertisements from” Cerebral, “a major mental healthcare startup, this week after receiving inquiries from NBC News.” The two “social media platforms found the ads promoted negative body images and contained misleading health claims.” Some “experts have raised concerns about the advertising tactics mental health care startups have been using to attract patients they do believe are appropriate candidates for their services.” John Torous, MD, MBI, who chairs the American Psychiatric Association’s Mental Health IT committee, said, “When you see ads like this, you kind of worry about their marketing, who they want to reach, and how they’re reaching people.” Due to the fact that mental healthcare “startups are often backed by venture capital, they may have a mandate to grow as quickly as possible in order to provide a return to investors, he said.”

Related Links:

— “Instagram and TikTok pull ads from startup Cerebral linking ADHD to obesity “Louise Matsakis, NBC News, January 27, 2022

Healio (1/26, Herpen) reports, “U.S. adults who display moderate or greater symptoms of depression are more likely to endorse misinformation related to the COVID-19 vaccine,” investigators posited.

According to Psychiatric News (1/26), additionally, those “who believed misinformation about COVID vaccines were less likely to be vaccinated or be willing to get the vaccine,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data from U.S. adults who responded to at least one of two online surveys conducted between April 1 and May 3, 2021, and between June 9 and July 7, 2021.” The findings of the 15,464-participant survey study were published online Jan. 21 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “US adults with depression more likely to endorse misinformation about COVID-19 vaccine “Robert Herpen, Healio, January 26, 2022

Kaiser Health News (1/26, Covert) reports, “Miscarriage, which occurs in about a quarter of all pregnancies, is the most common form of loss of a pregnancy.” However, “there are no national laws that protect people when they need time off from work to deal with the loss.” Across the US, 30 “states and five localities…have enacted laws that require employers to offer workers accommodations related to pregnancy, which can include time off to recover from a miscarriage,” yet “outside those states, workers are protected only by” the Pregnancy Discrimination Act or the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Related Links:

— “After Miscarriages, Workers Have Few Guarantees for Time Off or Job-Based Help ” Bryce Covert, Kaiser Health News, January 26, 2022

Healio (1/26, Gavel) reports, “Tulsie Patel, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist with Talkiatry in New York City,” who “has experience in medication management, individual and group therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation,” discussed “common mental health impacts of miscarriage.” Dr. Patel said, “Miscarriage can be incredibly traumatic for a woman,” and “as such, it is likely that many women will experience severe distress, grief and even symptoms of depression and anxiety.” She added, “It is important to note that their symptoms may persist or worsen and develop into a diagnosis of major depressive disorder, PTSD or anxiety disorder.” Dr. Patel then went on to say treatment of such issues is dependent upon the patient’s symptoms, and “may range from listening and offering support to therapy or even medication management.”

Related Links:

— “Q&A: Mental health needs after miscarriage require ‘open line of communication’ “Richard Gawel, Tulsie Patel, MD Healio, January 26, 2022

HealthDay (1/25, Mann) reports “older adults who maintain a steady weight as they age are less likely to experience rapid cognitive decline, regardless of how much they weigh to start,” according to research published in Alzheimer’s & Dementia: the Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association. Investigators “analyzed data from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center on about 16,000 older adults” and found that “after about five years of follow-up, everyone showed some degree of mental decline, but it was more than 60% faster in the group with fluctuating BMIs compared to those whose BMI stayed stable.”

Related Links:

— “Keeping Weight Stable Could Help Save Your Brain “Denise Mann, HealthDay, January 25, 2022

MedPage Today (1/25, Grant) reports, “Many first-year residents felt their new depressive symptoms were getting in the way of their functionality,” investigators concluded in “a cohort study of 15,566 medical interns.” The study revealed “a significant increase in average depression scores relating to clinical impairment – such as difficulty performing social, occupation, and other important tasks.” The findings were published online Jan. 25 in a research letter in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Bloomberg Law (1/25, Hansard, Subscription Publication) reports, “Health plans and insurers are failing to deliver parity in mental health coverage as required by law,” according to the 2022 Report to Congress on the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (PDF) issued on Jan. 25 by the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury.

According to Fierce Healthcare (1/25, Minemyer), the report also “highlights one of the feds’ largest enforcement activities to date on mental health parity: a $15.6 million settlement with UnitedHealthcare.” That insurer “would routinely lower reimbursement rates for out-of-network behavioral health services and would flag members with behavioral health needs for utilization reviews.” Included in the August 2021 settlement were “$13.6 million in wrongfully denied claims and $2 million in lawyer fees and penalties.”

Related Links:

— “Insurers Falling Down on Mental Health Parity, Agencies Say (1) “Sara Hansard, Bloomberg Law, January 25, 2022

MedPage Today (1/24, George) reports, “Stroke recurrence and severity raised the risk of dementia, data from the prospective Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study showed.” Researchers found that “incident dementia rates were especially elevated in people with multiple strokes over time and with more severe strokes, suggesting a dose-response relationship between stroke severity and recurrence and risk of dementia.” The findings were published in JAMA Neurology.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)