The AP (9/22, Johnson) reports the US death toll from coronavirus has passed 200,000, “by far the highest in the world.” The US is seeing close to 770 deaths daily on average, and a model from the University of Washington predicts the US death toll “will double to 400,000 by the end of the year as schools and colleges reopen and cold weather sets in.”

Reuters (9/22, S) reports the most deaths from coronavirus recorded in a single day in the US was 2,806 on April 15. According to CDC data, over 70% of people in the US who have died from the virus were older than 65.

Politico (9/22, Wanneh) reports that since January, there have been around 6.9 million cases of coronavirus in the US, according to the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. The US accounts for 4% of the world’s population, but has recorded around 20% of the world’s deaths from the virus.

CNN (9/22, Yan) reports that back in March, NIAID Director Dr. Anthony Fauci predicted that COVID-19 could kill 200,000 Americans and “skeptics lambasted him and accused him of fearmongering.” CNN compares the loss of life from COVID-19 to “109 Hurricane Katrinas” or a 9/11 “every day for 66 days.”

The Wall Street Journal (9/22, Calfas, Subscription Publication) and Newsweek (9/22, Kim) also cover the story.

Related Links:

— ““Unfathomable”: US death toll from coronavirus hits 200,000 “Carla K. Johnson, AP, September 22, 2020

Psychiatric News (9/22) reports “data from an emergency department in Richmond,” VA, indicate that “the number of nonfatal opioid-related overdoses may have risen during the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among people who are Black,” researchers concluded after examining “the number of nonfatal opioid overdoses recorded in electronic medical records from VCU’s Emergency Department from March to June 2019 with those that occurred from March to June 2020 – the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic.” The study revealed that “nonfatal opioid overdoses increased from 102 between March and June 2019 to 227 between March and June 2020.” The findings were published in JAMA.

Related Links:

— “Nonfatal Opioid Overdoses Rose During COVID-19 Pandemic, Report Suggests, Psychiatric News, September 22, 2020

Healio (9/22, Gramigna) reports, “Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids appeared to have a small but significant beneficial effect on perinatal depression,” investigators concluded in a meta-analysis that “included data from 18 randomized controlled trials with 4,052 participants published up to Feb. 18, 2019.” The findingswere published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Omega-3 supplementation offers small but significant effect on perinatal depression “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 22, 2020

STAT (9/22, Gopalakrishna) reports, “A large new study finds that mental health care for many children in the U.S. falls far short, particularly when it comes to the follow-up treatment they receive.” Investigators arrived at that conclusion after examining “insurance claims from children between the ages of 10 and 17 covered by Blue Cross Blue Shield.” Out “of the more than 2 million children included in the study, nearly one in 10 had a claim related to mental illness between 2012 and 2018,” but “only 71% of the children received treatment in the three months that followed an initial insurance claim.” The findings were published online Sept. 21 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Related Links:

— “New research shows many children with mental health conditions don’t get follow-up care “Pratibha Gopalakrishna, STAT, September 22, 2020

CNN (9/21, Prior) reports a smartphone app based on the idea that people trying to quit smoking can benefit from acknowledging and accepting their cravings may help stop smoking, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Jonathan Bricker of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, the study’s lead author, said, “The problem is that when you try to avoid what you’re feeling and what you’re thinking, you paradoxically create more of what you’re trying to avoid.”

Healio (9/21, Miller) reports that in the study, the iCanQuit smartphone app, which is based on acceptance and commitment therapy, was more effective at helping people quit smoking than NCI’s QuitGuide, a “clinical practice guidelines app based on avoidance of smoking triggers.”

Related Links:

— “Quitting smoking apps that help you acknowledge your triggers work better, study shows “Ryan Prior, CNN, September 21, 2020

MedPage Today (9/21, Hlavinka) reports, “Transgender youth who presented to a clinic for gender-affirming care in early adolescence had fewer mental health problems than adolescents who first sought care when older, or in later stages of puberty,” investigators found in a study that revealed that “among 300 teens seeking gender-affirming care, a significantly higher proportion of adolescents older than 15 reported experiencing mental health problems compared with children under 15.” The findings were published online Sept. 16 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (9/18) reported, “Hospitals and emergency services should be prepared for a possible influx of adolescents and young adults with alcohol-related emergencies as their localities open up after COVID-19 lockdowns,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data on ED visits of patients aged 13 to 24 years that occurred during…the last three weeks of lockdown, April 10, 2020, to May 3, 2020,” and “the first three weeks after reopening, May 4, 2020, to May 27, 2020.” The study revealed that “the proportion of alcohol-related emergency department (ED) visits to two Italian hospitals jumped for this population in the weeks following the end of this spring’s lockdown compared with the same time frame in 2019.” The findings were published online Sept. 15 in the Journal of Adolescent Health.

Related Links:

— “Researchers Warn of Post-Lockdown Influx of Alcohol-Related Emergencies Among Youth, Psychiatric News, September 18, 2020

Healio (9/18, Gramigna) reported, “Alcohol-induced loss of consciousness appeared associated with a subsequent increase in dementia risk,” investigators concluded after analyzing “data of 131,415 participants in seven cohort studies conducted in the U.K., France, Sweden and Finland.” Included in the data were people “aged 18 to 77 years, were free of diagnosed dementia and reported alcohol consumption at baseline.” The findings of the “multicohort study” were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “People who lose consciousness due to alcohol at greater risk for dementia “Joe Gramigna, Healio, September 18, 2020

Medscape (9/17, Yasgur, Subscription Publication) reports, “Vitamin B1 deficiency may play a role in the development of alcohol-related dementia,” investigators concluded after exploring in a medical literature review “the hypothesis that the accumulation of iron in the brain is caused by a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier…attributable to thiamine depletion induced by alcohol consumption.” The findings were published online Aug. 18 in the journal Alzheimer’s and Dementia.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (9/17, Preidt) reports, “Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may significantly increase the risk of dementia later in life,” investigators concluded after analyzing data from “13 studies from four continents that included a total of nearly 1.7 million people.” The analysis revealed that “people with a history of PTSD were up to two times more likely to develop dementia than those who never had PTSD.” The findings of the systematic review and meta-analysis were published online Sept. 16 in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “PTSD May Be Tied to Greater Dementia Risk “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, September 17, 2020