Pandemic Has Stopped People With Opioid Addiction From Receiving Treatment, Study Indicates

HealthDay (4/21, Norton) reports researchers found the COVID-19 pandemic has stopped many people in the US from receiving treatment for opioid addiction, “possibly contributing to the national surge in overdose deaths.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Pandemic Has Blocked Access to Treatment for Many Americans Hooked on Opioids ” Amy Norton, HealthDay, April 21, 2021

House Votes To Extend Ban On Fentanyl Copycats

The Hill (4/21, Marcos) reports the House “easily passed legislation on Wednesday to extend a ban on copycats of fentanyl, a highly addictive synthetic opioid, that is set to expire on May 6 without congressional action.” Lawmakers “passed the bill by voice vote to extend through Oct. 22 the federal government’s ability to regulate fentanyl analogues as one of the most strictly controlled drugs with no accepted medical use and a high potential for abuse.”

Related Links:

— “House votes to extend ban on fentanyl-like substances “Cristina Marcos, The Hill, April 21, 2021

Children As Young As Nine Have Increased Risk Of Major Depressive Disorder If One Or More Generations In Family Also Affected, Study Data Show

MedPage Today (4/21, Grant) reports, “Children as young as 9 years old have an increased risk of major depressive disorder and other psychopathologies if one or more generations in their family were also affected, an analysis of Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study data showed.” Parent reports showed that “the weighted prevalence of depressive disorder in children ages 9 to 11 years was 3.8% for those with no family history of depression, 5.5% for children who had a depressed grandparent but no depressed parent, and 10.4% for those who only had an affected parent.” Furthermore, “this trend was similar for a range of other psychiatric disorders, including all anxiety-related disorders.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

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MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Omega-3 Supplementation May Slow Accelerated Aging By Altering Body’s Response During, After A Stressful Event, Small Study Suggests

Healio (4/20, Gramigna) reports, “Omega-3 supplementation may slow accelerated aging by altering the body’s response during and after a stressful event,” researchers concluded after evaluating “the effects of omega-3 supplementation on biomarkers related to cellular aging following a laboratory speech stressor among 138 middle-aged participants who were sedentary and overweight.” The findings were published online April 20 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Omega-3 supplementation may slow stress-related accelerated aging
Joe Gramigna, Healio, April 20, 2021

High-Profile Police Killings Of Black People Appear To Exact Heavy Mental Health Toll On Black Americans, Researchers Say

HealthDay (4/20, Thompson) reports research indicates that “high-profile police killings of Black people may take a big mental health toll on psyches across the” US. After gauging “Americans’ mental health ratings with data from a federal health survey that interviews more than 400,000 U.S. adults each year,” investigators “found that, on average, Black Americans reported an increase in ‘poor mental health days’ during weeks where more than one deadly racial incident was in the news.” The study revealed “no change in white Americans’ mental health ratings during those weeks,” however. The findings were published online April 19 ahead of print in PNAS.

Related Links:

— “High-Profile Police Brutality Cases Harm Black Americans’ Mental Health: Study “Amy Norton, HealthDay, April 20, 2021

Compared With Oral Antipsychotics, LAI Antipsychotics May Provide Benefit In Prevention Of Hospitalization, Relapse For Schizophrenia, Systematic Review Suggests

Healio (4/19) reports, “Long-acting injectable [LAI] antipsychotics provided significant benefit in prevention of hospitalization or relapse for schizophrenia compared with oral antipsychotics,” researchers concluded after analyzing data from “137 studies, of which 32 were randomized controlled trials, 65 were cohort studies and 40 were pre-post studies.” The findings of the systematic review and comparable meta-analysis were published online April 13 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “LAIs more beneficial for certain schizophrenia outcomes than oral antipsychotics “Joe Gramigna, Healio, April 19, 2021

Researchers Examine Link Between Mental Health And Exercise During The Pandemic

HealthDay (4/19, Collins) reports researchers at McMaster University found that stress and anxiety can stop people from exercising, so “some people may need mental health support to exercise during the pandemic.” The researchers conducted a survey and concluded that stress and anxiety related to the pandemic was tied to a decrease in how much people exercise. The findings were published in PLOS ONE.

Related Links:

— “Pandemic Stress Keeps Many From Exercising ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, April 19, 2021

Deaths From Substance Misuse Among Americans Have Not Risen Uniformly Across Demographic Groups

The New York Times (4/19, Ndugga, Frakt) reports, “American deaths from misuse of substances, including alcohol, have increased over the past two decades, but not uniformly across various demographic groups.” For example, “overall rates of alcohol abuse and related deaths have consistently and significantly increased for white non-Hispanic Americans, while Black Americans have experienced a much slower and less significant incline, and some other groups have had declines.”

Related Links:

— “What’s Behind the Growth in Alcohol Consumption? ” Nambi Ndugga and Austin Frakt, The New York Times, April 19, 2021

Congress Debates Telehealth Reimbursement Policy For After The Pandemic

Modern Healthcare (4/16, Tepper, Subscription Publication) reported, “As members of Congress decide how to expand access to telehealth after the pandemic, one of the biggest questions has centered around how much Medicare” healthcare professionals “should be paid for virtual care.” And “while the rates Medicare pays for telehealth and in-person services are currently the same, that arrangement – along with several other CMS telehealth waivers – expires at the end of the public health emergency absent Congressional action,” so healthcare professionals are now “pressuring Congress and CMS to keep payment parity – or something close to it – after the pandemic ends.”

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— “Modern Healthcare (requires login and subscription)