HealthDay (10/6, Gotkine) reports a study found that “for community-dwelling older adults, late-life traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with higher rates of incident dementia and health care needs.” The study included 132,113 matched pairs of community-dwelling individuals older than 65 years with and without TBI. The researchers “observed associations for late-life TBI with an increased rate of incident dementia (hazard ratios, 1.69 and 1.56 for no more than five years and greater than five years, respectively); use of publicly funded home care (HR, 1.30); and long-term care home admission (HR, 1.45). Older women from low-income neighborhoods more often had dementia compared with their male peers (29.0 versus 24.7 percent). Less home care was received by residents of smaller communities than those in larger communities (60.1 versus 64.6 percent), and they had a higher probability of admission to a long-term care home (26.3 versus 21.7 percent).” The study was published in CMAJ.

Related Links:

— “Late-Life TBI Linked to Incident Dementia, Health Care Needs,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, October 6, 2025

Psychiatric News (10/3) reported a study found that “women with pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) who received hormonal suppression with leuprolide experienced an elimination of their mood symptoms, and after the ‘add-back’ of hormones, those symptoms returned.” Researchers observed that “of the 34 PMDD responders, 13 (38%) had symptom recurrence for at least one of the four mood symptoms during both estradiol add-back and progesterone add-back. An additional seven women (21%) had symptom recurrence only during progesterone add-back, and four (12%) had symptom recurrence only during estradiol add-back. In contrast, bloating and food cravings remained elevated regardless of hormone condition, while breast pain was reported as slightly more severe during estradiol add-back.” The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Response to Hormonal Suppression, Hormonal Add-Back Distinguishes Women With PMDD, Psychiatric News, October 3, 2025

The New York Times (10/3, Berry) reported on the trend of how the revelation of “a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder” has helped many midlife patients who spent “years of inarticulate unease in social situations” become “freed by the framework of neurodivergence, and embraced by the community that came along with it.” Reasons for this trend include “a change in diagnostic practices, as we apply medical labels to ever milder versions of disease. There are many reasons for this: The shame that once accompanied many disorders has lifted. Screening for mental health problems is now common in schools. Social media gives us the tools to diagnose ourselves. And clinicians, in a time of mental health crisis, see an opportunity to treat illnesses early.” A study published in August in BJPsych Bulletin labeled this phenomenon the “Rumpelstiltskin effect.”

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Bloomberg Law (10/2, Belloni, Subscription Publication) reports that rural hospitals “facing financial headwinds and frustrated with prior authorization demands are withdrawing from contracts with Medicare Advantage plans, prompting concerns from insurers that the cancellations could have consequences for patients.” According to Bloomberg Law, “over 25 hospitals across the country have decided to pull out of some or all of their Medicare Advantage contracts since Jan. 1. Industry groups such as the American Hospital Association cite MA’s lower reimbursement, more aggressive prior authorization, and increased administrative demands when compared with traditional Medicare as reasons behind the contract closures.” Most of the cancellations “have come from Medicare Advantage plans from large national insurance firms such as Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare.”

Related Links:

— “Insurers Warn of Risks as Rural Hospitals Drop Medicare Plans,”Ganny Belloni, Bloomberg Law, October 2, 2025

Stateline (10/2, Henderson) reports an analysis of federal death statistics shows that for Gen Z adults, “suicide is taking more lives than 10 years ago when millennials were the same age,” and the “bulk of the increase, 85%, is among Black and Hispanic men, many in Southern and Midwestern states.” The latest CDC data show “Gen Z suicides have continued at a fast pace this year, with 1,148 in January and February.” Meanwhile, “suicide became the second-highest cause of death for young Hispanics, surpassing homicide, and became the No. 1 cause of death for young Asians, surpassing accidents. Men have the highest rates, especially Black and Hispanic men, who together account for 85% of the total increase in suicide, 822 of 965.” Theories behind the uptick “range from bullying on social media, since Gen Z was the first generation to grow up with the internet, to economic despair, to cultural resistance to seeking help for depression.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide claims more Gen Z lives than previous generation,”Tim Henderson, Stateline, October 2, 2025

CNN (10/1, Rogers) says the 2025 State of Mental Health in America report released Wednesday “sizes up how all 50 states and Washington, DC, fared on 17 measures of mental health in 2022 and 2023.” The report from the nonprofit Mental Health America gave Nevada “the worst rating, followed by Arizona and Alabama – marking the second time Nevada and Arizona have ranked the lowest.” Two reasons for Nevada’s last-place ranking “were the highest rates of youth depression and youth who didn’t receive preventive care in the past year.” In contrast, New York, Hawaii, and New Jersey had the highest overall state mental health rankings, respectively. APA CEO and Medical Director Marketa M. Wills, MD, MBA, FAPA, who was not involved in the report, said, “It’s unacceptable that access to mental health care is still a problem, more than 15 years after the passage of the (Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act).” Dr. Wills added, “We call upon policymakers at the state and federal levels to use the solutions that we know work, like telehealth and integrated care, to expand access and connect more people who need it with lifesaving treatments.”

Related Links:

— “Nevada, Arizona and Alabama rank lowest in nation for mental health. Where your state lands,”Kristen Rogers, CNN, October 1, 2025

NBC News (10/1, Szabo) reports a genetic analysis found “that people with autism spectrum disorder diagnosed in late childhood or adolescence actually have ‘a different form of autism,’ not a less severe one.” Senior author Dr. Varun Warrier, an autism researcher at the University of Cambridge, explained that “the ‘genetic profile’ of people with late-diagnosis autism actually looks more like depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder than early childhood autism.” The study suggests that some children with autism “develop differently and may not receive a diagnosis earlier on because their features may not yet have clearly emerged,” Warrier said. Overall, experts believe the study “illustrates that autism is not a single condition with one root cause, but rather an umbrella term for a cluster of conditions with similar – although not identical – features.” The study was published in Nature.

Related Links:

— “Autism isn’t one disorder, a genetic analysis shows,”Liz Szabo, NBC News, October , 2025

Healio (9/30, Gawel) reports a study found that “cannabis amplifies the effects of childhood trauma as a key driver of paranoia, indicating opportunities for trauma-informed clinical approaches and cannabis harm reduction strategies.” The study cohort “included 2,482 individuals (52%) who reported some form of trauma, including abuse (24.6%), neglect (19.1%), household discord (30.3%) and bullying (20.6%), based on a modified version of the Childhood Trauma Screen questionnaire adapted for this study. Results from the Green Paranoid Thoughts Scale yielded mean scores of 54.96 for those exposed to trauma and 43.67 for those with no exposure.” Researchers observed “associations between heightened paranoia symptoms and physical and emotional abuse strong, adding that physical and emotional abuse were the strongest predictors of paranoia.” In addition, the researchers “said participants exposed to sexual abuse had the highest weekly standard THC unit consumption.” They noted that “positive associations between weekly standard THC unit exposure also included emotional and physical abuse.” The study was published in Psychological Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Cannabis use exacerbates impact of childhood trauma on paranoia risk,”Richard Gawel, Healio, September 30, 2025

HealthDay (9/30, Neff) reports a study “suggests that older adults, particularly Generation X women, have high rates of addiction to ultra-processed foods, such as fast food, sugary drinks and packaged snacks.” The study “found that 21% of women and 10% of men in Gen X and the last wave of Baby Boomers met the criteria for ultra-processed food addiction.” Researchers observed that “men who reported fair or poor mental health were four times more likely to meet the criteria for ultra-processed food addiction, while women were nearly three times as likely. Men and women who said they sometimes or often felt isolated were more than three times as likely to show signs of addiction.” One possible reason why ultra-processed food addiction is more common in older women, according to researchers, “is the aggressive marketing of ‘diet’ ultra-processed foods to women in the 1980s. These low-fat or low-calorie products were formulated with addictive nutrient profiles.” The study was published in Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Gen X Older Adults Show High Rates of Ultra-Processed Food Addiction,”Deanna Neff, HealthDay, September 30, 2025

The Washington Post (9/30, Weber, Thadani) reports that millions of American seniors “could lose access to telehealth appointments with their doctors if Congress fails to fund them amid a looming government shutdown, while thousands more who have been receiving high-level, acute care at home face being sent back to the hospital or discharged.” Most Medicare reimbursements to physicians and hospitals will continue in the event of a government shutdown, but “payments for video health care visits – which gained in popularity during the pandemic and must be separately authorized for an extension by Congress – face elimination.” Without payment or guarantee that “they would be compensated retroactively, doctors and hospitals say they will be unable to provide services. Particularly for elderly people with limited mobility or transportation hurdles, telehealth has become a vital service improving their access to care, advocates say.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)