Psychiatric News (7/29) reports, “Among Medicare beneficiaries, racial minorities – African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians/Alaskan Natives – have been disproportionately affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic compared with white beneficiaries,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) concluded in “a ‘Preliminary Medicare COVID-19 Snapshot’ released this week.” The report analyzed “claims data from the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) and Medicare Advantage programs received by July 17,” then determined “COVID-19 cases…by an ICD-10 diagnosis code for COVID-19 on a claim or encounter record for any health care setting.”

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— “Medicare Data Show Disproportionate Effect of COVID-19 on Racial, Ethnic Minorities, Psychiatric News, July 29, 2020

Medscape (7/29, Davenport, Subscription Publication) reports research indicates that “social cognition training can benefit patients with schizophrenia, and…adding regular aerobic exercise sessions substantially increases the improvements in a dose-response manner.” In the study, which involved “47 patients with schizophrenia, improvement in cognition tripled after adding an aerobic exercise program to cognitive training (CT) compared with CT alone.” The findings were set for presentation at the Congress of the Schizophrenia International Research Society 2020, which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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— “Aerobic Exercise May Up Brain-Training Benefits in Schizophrenia, “Liam Davenport, Medscape, July 29, 2020

HealthDay (7/28, Norton) reports researchers found in a large study that “people with a history of concussion may face increased risks” for certain psychiatric and neurological diseases. The researchers “found that those who suffered a concussion were more likely to develop any of several conditions, including: attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD); depression or anxiety; Parkinson’s disease; or dementia.” These “risks were roughly 40% to 70% higher, compared to people who did not sustain a concussion during the 25-year study period.” The findings were published in Family Medicine and Community Health.

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— “Concussion Ups Odds for Many Brain Conditions, “Amy Norton, HealthDay, July 28, 2020

Newsweek (7/28, Gander) reports investigators have linked “traces of the chemical lithium in drinking water…to lower suicide rates” by examining data from “15 existing ecological studies related to lithium and suicide.” The findings of the systematic review were published online July 27 in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

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— “Traces of Lithuim in Drinking Water May Have ‘Anti-Suicidal Effect’, “Kashmira Gander, Newsweek, July 28, 2020

Psychiatric News (7/28) reports the “trauma and unpredictability” of the COVID-19 pandemic may “add stress in the lives of vulnerable children, including those who are abused, maltreated, and/or have a mental illness.” For that reason, “there is much that can be learned from such stress to help vulnerable families in the future, according to” a viewpoint published online July 27 in JAMA Pediatrics. The viewpoint’s authors “advised researchers to carefully assess parents and children over time about family exposure to the pandemic and COVID-19–associated losses/strains, including the loss of housing, increased family conflict, and/or separation from a parent or the death of loved one.” The viewpoint’s authors concluded, “[L]essons from COVID-19 have the potential to deepen rather than diminish the research agenda on adverse early experiences among children and families.”

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— “Lessons From Pandemic Could Advance Understanding of How Best to Support Vulnerable Families, Psychiatric News, July 28, 2020

MedPage Today (7/27, Hlavinka) reports that a national survey indicates that “as COVID-19 infections ravaged the country from March to June, parent and child well-being felt the ripple effects.” Among the more than 1,000 “parents who responded to the survey, 26.9% said their mental health had worsened, 14.3% said their children’s behavioral health had declined, and 9.6% said both their mental health and their children’s behavioral health had slumped.” The survey also found that “nearly half of these families reporting declines in parental and child well-being lost access to childcare (47.6%), and food insecurity also rose across the study period.” The findings were published in Pediatrics.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (7/27) reports, “Last week, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar formally renewed the agency’s determination that the COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency,” an extension that “keeps many regulatory changes and waivers relevant to psychiatrists – such as relaxed telemedicine restrictions – in effect for the time being.” In a letter (PDF) sent to Azar, APA CEO and Medical Director Saul Levin, MD, MPA, wrote, “APA recently surveyed its membership to understand the impact of easing telehealth regulations on practice during the PHE [public health emergency],” finding “a major shift to the use of telehealth after the PHE was declared.” Dr. Levin continued, “These survey results mirror national research on telehealth that show improved access to care, reduced no-show rates, and a high rate of patient satisfaction.”

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— “HHS Renews Declaration of Public Health Emergency for COVID-19, Psychiatric News, July 27, 2020

Medscape (7/24, Hughes, Subscription Publication) reported, “In the past 5 years, there has been a significant drop in the use of prescription opioids and in deaths associated with such use; but at the same time there’s been a dramatic increase in fatalities involving illicit opioids and stimulants, a new report from the American Medical Association (AMA) Opioid Task Force shows.” Even though “the medical community has made some important progress against the opioid epidemic, with a 37% reduction in opioid prescribing since 2013, illicit drugs are now the dominant reason why drug overdoses kill more than 70,000 people each year, the report says.” In an attempt “to improve the situation, the AMA Opioid Task Force is urging the removal of barriers to evidence-based care for patients who have pain and for those who have substance use disorders (SUDs).” Task force chair and immediate past president Patrice A. Harris, M.D., M.A., told Medscape Medical News, “It is critically important as we see drug overdoses increasing that we work towards reducing barriers of care for substance use abusers. … At present, the status quo is killing far too many of our loved ones and wreaking havoc in our communities.”

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

NPR (7/27, Hamilton) reports the findings from “two studies presented Monday at this year’s Alzheimer’s Association International Conference” suggest that “vaccines that protect against the flu and pneumonia may actually protect people from Alzheimer’s, too.” University of Texas researchers in the first study “combed through millions of medical records in a national database” and found that “people who got at least one flu shot had a 17% reduction in risk,” and those “who got regular vaccinations saw their risk drop another 13%.” The second study by Duke University and the University of North Carolina examined “the medical records of more than 5,000 people who were at least 65 years old,” and found people “who received a pneumonia vaccine before age 75 were at least 25% less likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.”

CNN (7/27, Kane, Lamotte) reports experts “say more studies are needed to pin down the relationship between getting those vaccines and the reduced risk.” The article adds, “If getting vaccinated for flu or pneumonia, just on its own, can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, then these are important messages to get out to the public, Alzheimer’s Association chief science officer Maria Carrillo told CNN.”

Related Links:

— “Flu Shot And Pneumonia Vaccine Might Reduce Alzheimer’s Risk, Research Shows, “Jon Hamilton, NPR, July 27, 2020

The Washington Post (7/24, Blakemore, Blakemore) reported data from six recent studies indicate that while “more education and higher incomes are associated with a lower risk of depression and discrimination for white people and black women…for high-achieving black men, more success actually increases the likelihood they will experience symptoms of depression and anxiety.” The researchers wrote in a separate article, “Race alone may not be the issue here. Instead, it is an issue of race and gender, that may stem from hopelessness, inequality and blocked opportunities.” Click here to learn more about the studies referenced in this article.

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— “The Washington Post, Requires Subscription