Healio (10/30, Gramigna) reports that at the Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, investigators “showcased a parent-mediated, group-based intervention called the Autism Managing Eating Aversions and Limited variety, or MEAL, Plan” for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). According to Healio, “a main component of the MEAL Plan involves matching the intervention to the severity of food selectivity.” The article does not disclose how many children have received the intervention.

Related Links:

— “Autism MEAL Plan offers multidisciplinary approach to address food selectivity, “Joe Gramigna, Healio , October 30, 2019

HealthDay (10/29, Hirsch) reports, “Unpaid bills, overdrawn accounts, dwindling investments: When seniors begin experiencing fiscal troubles, early dementia or Alzheimer’s disease could be an underlying cause,” researchers concluded after linking “Medicare fee-for-service claims data and the national Health and Retirement Study of Americans over the age of 50 for the years 1992 to 2014.” The findings were published online in the journal Health Economics.

Related Links:

— “For Seniors, Financial Woes Can Be Forerunner to Alzheimer’s, “Deborah DiSesa Hirsch, HealthDay, October 29, 2019

Newsweek (10/29, Lemieux) reports research indicates that “76 percent of girls who self-harm will end up hospitalized, compared to only 49 percent of boys.” For the study, Welsh investigators “examined 15,739 cases of self-harm,” focusing “on persons from ages 10 to 24, taking place between 2003 and 2015.” The study also revealed that “the highest rate of self-harm was among 15- to 19-year-olds, a statistic that matched the findings of a suicide hotline organization.” The article does not disclose where the findings were presented or published, but reports that “the study is part of a consultation launched by the Welsh government to tackle mental health concerns among the populace.” BBC News (UK)(10/29) also covers the study.
Related Links:

— “Girls More Likely To End Up In Hospital After Self-Harm Incidents, Study Says, “Melissa Lemieux, Newsweek, October 29, 2019

The Boston Globe (10/29, Fernandes) reports that the rise in suicides among college-aged people “has left many campuses across the country grappling with how best to help the growing number of students who are suffering from depression, anxiety, and a host of other mental health issues.” Some colleges are increasing “counseling services or deploying mobile apps that allow students to routinely check in on their emotional health,” while others “are training academic advisers to spot the signs of depression and embedding counselors in campus cultural groups to help students of color, who may be less likely to seek traditional therapy.” While exact numbers for suicides among college students are difficult to ascertain, a recent review by the New England Center for Investigative Reporting “found that from 2007 to 2016, at least 18 students at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and 8 students each at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University killed themselves.”

Related Links:

— “Colleges struggle to help growing number of students with mental health trouble, ” Deirdre Fernandes, The Boston Globe, October 29, 2019

HealthDay (10/28, Reinberg) reports, “Children with an autism spectrum disorder [ASD] may be twice as likely to experience pain as kids without autism,” researchers concluded after gathering “data on pain from nearly 1,500 children with autism ages six to 17, and nearly 49,000 children without autism.” The findings were published online Oct. 28 in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Pain Twice as Common for Kids With Autism: Study, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay , October 28, 2019

Healio (10/28, Gramigna) reports, “Middle-aged adults with borderline personality disorder, or BPD, may be more likely to have a heart attack,” research indicated. The findings of the 1,295-participant study were published online in Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment.

Related Links:

— “Borderline personality disorder may increase risk for heart attack, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 28, 2019

Healio (10/28, Gramigna) reports, “Individuals with mental disorders have significantly higher mortality rates than the general population,” researchers concluded in “a Danish register-based cohort study” involving 7,369,926 people. The findings were published online Oct. 24 in The Lancet.

Related Links:

— “People with mental disorders die significantly earlier than general population, “Joe Gramigna, Healio, October 28, 2019

The Washington Post (10/25, Ebersole) reported, “Many first responders are struggling with PTSD wrought by both the everyday deaths and tragedies encountered on the job and a national epidemic of mass shootings.” Because surveys show “emergency workers are 10 times more likely to attempt suicide on average,” a “growing number of states, including Colorado, Texas, Vermont, Louisiana, Minnesota and Connecticut, have recently passed legislation to provide workers’ compensation for first responders suffering from PTSD.”

Related Links:

— “First responders struggle with PTSD caused by the emergencies, deaths, tragedies they face every day, ” Rene Ebersole, The Washington Post, October 25, 2019

The AP (10/27) reported that Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) “is helping lead an effort to create a three-digit suicide prevention hotline.” The senator “worked with three of his colleagues, Sens. Cory Gardner [R-CO], Tammy Baldwin [D-WI] and Jerry Moran [R-KS], to introduce a bill to designate 9-8-8 as the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.”

Related Links:

— “US Sen. Reed wants to shorten the suicide prevention hotline, AP, October 27, 2019

Psychiatric News (10/25) reported, “Restricting the sale of flavored tobacco products may cut tobacco use among adolescents,” researchers concluded after comparing two Massachusetts municipalities, one that “restricted the sale of flavored tobacco products – those meant to taste like fruit, candy, honey, etc. – to tobacco retail stores such as smoking bars, vape shops, and tobacconists that only sell to adults aged 21 years and older,” and one that had no such policy in place at the time of the study. The findings were published online Oct. 24 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Limiting Flavored Tobacco Sales May Cut Use in Youth, Psychiatric News, October 25, 2019