USA Today (9/8, Cannon) reports, “Marijuana use among U.S. college students hit a historic high in 2020, while alcohol use might have taken a pandemic-induced dip,” investigators concluded in the “National Institute on Drug Abuse’s annual ‘Monitoring the Future’ [PDF] study.” In the meantime, “alcohol use was less common among college students than in previous years,” showing “decreases from 2019 in terms of binge drinking, getting drunk and overall alcohol use.” These “changes in substance use came as COVID-19 forced college students to navigate social distancing measures, online classes and an overall muted version of normal campus life,” which, “for some students…was fully remote” last year.

Related Links:

— “Marijuana use among US college students hits record high during pandemic, study shows “Jay Cannon, USA TODAY, September 8, 2021

HealthDay (9/7, Norton) reports research indicates that postponing retirement “a few years might help older adults retain more of their mental sharpness.” After examining “data on more than 20,000 older Americans, researchers estimated that if all of those people waited until age 67 to retire, their collective cognitive health would benefit.” The findings were published in the journal SSM – Population Health.

Related Links:

— “Postponing Retirement Might Help Keep Dementia at Bay ” Amy Norton, HealthDay, September 7, 2021

The New York Times (9/8, F-15, Steinhauer) reports that “thousands of veterans who served in the wars that began after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks” still struggle “with health problems, trauma and feelings of displacement and alienation.” For many, these feelings “grew more intense as the United States completed its withdrawal from Afghanistan last month and the Taliban regained control of the country.”

Related Links:

— “Veterans Struggle With Issues That Are Often Invisible to Others ” Jennifer Steinhauer, The New York Times, September 8, 2021

Healio (9/3, Burba) reported, “Ending physician suicide from burnout relies on early identification of and intervention for unwellness before it leads to impairment, according to a speaker at the Ending Physician Burnout Global Summit.” Owen Muir, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at the Baylor College of Medicine, said, “When we’re addressing physician burnout, we have to address the fact that it’s not always just burnout. … Burnout is a pervasive problem, but mental illness also exists, and we are particularly vulnerable.”

Related Links:

— “Early intervention key to combatting physician burnout, suicide “Kate Burba, Healio, September 3, 2021

HealthDay (9/3, Preidt) reported, “Transgender people have double the odds of dying early compared to folks whose identity matches the sex they were assigned at birth (cisgender), a long-term study finds.” This “added risk did not decrease over time, according to an analysis of data collected from more than 4,500 transgender people in the Netherlands between 1972 and 2018.” The findings were published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.

HCPlive (9/3, Walter) also covered the study.

Related Links:

— “Transgender People Face Twice the Odds for Early Death: Study ” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 3, 2021

Reuters (9/5, Baertlein) reported healthcare workers are struggling with trauma and cases of PTSD as COVID-19 surges again. HHS warned in March healthcare workers are exhausted and traumatized, and staffing shortages are affecting patient care. As the Delta variant spreads, healthcare workers face further burnout and challenges. The American Medical Association “has tapped a military psychologist and the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) National Center for PTSD to help it measure the pandemic’s impact,” with the results, presented in May at an American Psychiatric Association conference, showing “a PTSD rate of 49.5% among nonphysicians and 36% for doctors. Rates of suicidal thoughts increased as workers spent more time on COVID-19 units.”

Related Links:

— “Each COVID-19 surge poses a risk for healthcare workers: PTSD “Lisa Baertlein, Reuters, September 5, 2021

Reuters (9/2, Nebehay) reports, “More than 55 million people worldwide are living with dementia, a neurological disorder that robs them of their memory and costs the world $1.3 trillion a year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday” in a report. Aging populations mean “the number of sufferers is projected to rise to 78 million by 2030 and 139 million by 2050.”

The Hill (9/2, Mastrangelo) reports, “World health officials said they are on pace to fall short of projected goals agreed upon in 2015 to combat dementia,” while “a majority of patients are in low- or middle-income countries.”

Related Links:

— “Number of people with dementia set to jump 40% to 78 mln by 2030 -WHO “Stephanie Nebehay, Reuters, September 2, 2021

MedPage Today (9/1) reports, “For soldiers in the U.S. Army, the risk of suicide attempt was highest in the first 30 days after being diagnosed with suicidal ideation, a recent study found.” The findings show “those more likely to attempt suicide in the 30 days after suicidal ideation diagnosis were soldiers under the age of 21” and “those with 1-2 years of service.” The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Psychiatric News (9/1) also reports on the study.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Healio (9/1) reports, “Burnout, work exhaustion and disengagement are prevalent among physician assistants and may lead to anxiety, depression and medical errors, according to findings.” The researchers found “that depression influences feelings of professional fulfillment and medical errors, but these are also mediated by symptoms of burnout, specifically work exhaustion and interpersonal disengagement.” The study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

Related Links:

— “Burnout among PAs contributes to medical errors, mental health problems “Maria Marabito, Healio, September 1, 2021

The Washington Post (8/31, Reiley) reports, “Childhood obesity rose significantly during the pandemic, according to a new study” published in Journal of the American Medical Association Network. Drawing on electronic health record data from nearly 200,000 children ages 5 to 17, the research “is considered one of the largest of its kind, experts said.” It “pointed to an increase in obesity among the youngest age group” – children between the ages of 5 and 11 – “during the pandemic year that was higher than the increase in this group over the past 20 years.” The Post adds, “Among 12- to 15-year-olds, the study showed a rise in obesity levels during the pandemic that matched the increase that had occurred over the past 20 years. And among 16- to 17-year-olds, the pandemic year weight gain was about half the rate of increase in obesity compared to what teenagers that age had shown over the past 20 years.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)