HCPlive (6/8, Walter) reports, “As the COVID-19 pandemic continued, physician visits for individuals with postpartum mental illnesses were significantly higher than what was expected based on prepandemic data,” investigators concluded after comparing “physician visit rates for postpartum mental illness in Ontario during the pandemic with rates that were expected based on prepandemic patterns.” The findingsof the “population-based, repeated cross-sectional study” were published online June 7 in CMAJ.

Related Links:

— “Increase in Postpartum Physician Visits During COVID-19 Pandemic “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, June 8, 2021

MedPage Today (6/7, Kneisel) reports, “Language development scores at age two were similar for children of women with epilepsy taking antiseizure medications and children with healthy mothers,” researchers concluded in an analysis that “included 292 children of women with epilepsy (median age of about 2, 53% girls) and 90 children of healthy women (median age of about 2, 52% boys).” According to the article, “most of the mothers with epilepsy were taking lamotrigine (Lamictal; 46%) or levetiracetam (Keppra; 33.2%),” and “about 45% were taking both.” The findings were published online in JAMA Neurology.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

HCPlive (6/7, Iopoce) reports researchers have “examined the frequency of use and persistent use of benzodiazepine” medications “in patients undergoing major and minor surgery.” After examining claims data from the Marketscan Database from “nearly 50 million enrollees with commercial insurance from 350 payers and six million Medicaid recipients from 12 states,” the research team “found that a small percentage of surgical patients receive benzodiazepine prescriptions, but one in five of these patients use the” medication “persistently.” The findings were published online June 3 in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Perioperative Benzodiazepine Prescription Linked to Persistent Use in Surgical Patients “Connor Iapoce, HCPlive, June 7, 2021

HealthDay (6/7) reports, “Only 29 percent of children and adolescents with gender dysphoria receive a gender dysphoria-related diagnosis (GDRD), and 25 percent are prescribed gender-affirming hormonal treatment (GAHT),” investigators concluded in a study that included “958 gender-diverse children and adolescents who did not have a GDRD or GAHT at index.” Researchers then compared “the rates of first GDRD and first GAHT prescription.” The findings were published online June 7 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Diagnosis, Treatment of Gender Dysphoria Varies Among Children
“Physician’s Briefing Staff, HealthDay, June 7, 2021

HealthDay (6/4) reported, “Methamphetamine users are at increased risk for physical and mental health problems as well as other substance use disorders,” investigators concluded in an “analysis of data from the U.S. National Survey on Drug Use and Health for 2015 to 2019.” The study revealed that “meth users were nearly twice as likely as non-users to have two or more chronic medical conditions.” What’s more, “they were more than three times as likely to have mental illness, and more than four times as likely to have a substance use disorder involving drugs such as heroin, prescription stimulants, prescription opioids, cocaine and sedatives.” In addition, users of meth “had higher rates of liver disease (hepatitis or cirrhosis), lung disease (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma), and HIV/AIDS than non-users.” The findings were published online June 3 in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Other Health Woes Common When Meth Addiction Strikes ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay , June 4, 2021

HCPlive (6/4, Walter) reported research indicates that “drinking rates are actually down during the” COVID-19 “pandemic in a sample of “473 “18-25 year old Ontario [Canada] residents, while mental health issues including depression, stress, and anxiety remain a concern.” The study authors theorized that “some potential reasons for the decrease in alcohol use include socializing restrictions, as well as a reduction of individuals living with roommates or in group living situations as peer influence is usually a strong predictor of alcohol misuse.” The findings were published online in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

Related Links:

— “Drinking Down, Depression Up Among Young People During COVID-19 “Kenny Walter, HCPlive, June 4, 2021

The New York Times (6/3, Blum) explores the topic of virtual reality therapy which has shown some success at treating anxiety, phobias, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Some virtual reality therapies “build on a sometimes-divisive therapeutic technique called prolonged exposure, developed by Edna Foa, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.” Even though “some experts have worried the practice might overwhelm or re-traumatize patients, prolonged exposure is now widely accepted as an effective tool to treat chronic PTSD.”

Related Links:

— “Virtual Reality Therapy Plunges Patients Back Into Trauma. Here Is Why Some Swear by It. “Dani Blum, The New York Times, June 3, 2021

Healio (6/3, Gramigna) reports, “Opioid agonist treatment reduced mortality rates among people with opioid dependence,” researchers concluded in a systematic review and meta-analysis that “included 15 randomized clinical trials with 3,852 total participants and 36 primary cohort studies with 749,634 total participants.” The findings were published online June 2 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Opioid agonist treatment ‘important intervention’ for those with opioid dependence “Joe Gramigna, Healio, June 3, 2021

MedPage Today (5/30, Monaco) reported, “Nearly half all patients with hypothyroidism reported experiencing ‘brain fog,’ even before receiving a diagnosis,” investigators concluded after conducting “an online survey of over 5,000 people with hypothyroidism.” The study revealed that “905 (17.1%) said they experienced new-onset brain fog symptoms in the weeks or months following their initial diagnosis,” but “46% of all patients questioned said they experienced brain fog symptoms prior to receiving their hypothyroidism diagnosis.” The findings were presented at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology’s virtual annual meeting.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (6/2) reports, “Older adults being treated for depression with a combination of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and medication appear to have similar cognitive improvements over time as those treated with medication only,” investigators concluded after examining “six-month neurocognitive outcomes for a total of 120 patients with remitted depression who received either a combination of ECT (right unilateral ultrabrief pulse ECT), venlafaxine, and lithium or venlafaxine and lithium only as part of the” Prolonging Remission in Depressed Elderly study. The findings were published online May 17 in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “ECT, Medication Combo Found as Safe as Medication Alone to Maintain Remission From MDD, Psychiatric News, June 2, 2021