Recent reports show a small but growing number of people are taking very high doses of loperamide, an anti-diarrheal medication, in an attempt to self-manage opioid withdrawal or to achieve a euphoric high. These individuals may be at risk of severe or fatal cardiac events. Download resources on loperamide misuse to share with your colleagues and patients.
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Newsweek (10/4, Gander) reported, “Transgender people who have gender-affirming surgery are less likely to need mental health treatment,” researchers concluded after examining “data collected between 2005 and 2015 from a Swedish population register linked to a national healthcare database,” then assessing “the available information on the 2,679 individuals diagnosed with gender incongruence.” The findings were published online Oct. 4 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association.
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— “Transgender People Who Have Gender-Affirming Surgery Less Likely To Need Mental Health Treatment, “Kashmira Gander, Newsweek, October 4, 2019
MedPage Today (10/5, Monaco) reported, “Among patients with schizophrenia, most preferred long-acting injectable antipsychotics when given a choice,” research indicated. “A post-hoc analysis of a randomized, controlled study found 77% of the 1,402 participants surveyed preferred long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics over daily” oral medications, “according to a poster presented…at Psych Congress 2019.”
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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)
Reuters (10/3, Rapaport) reports, “People with a positive outlook on life may be less likely than pessimists to experience events like a heart attack or stroke, and they may live longer,” researchers concluded after examining “data from 15 studies with a total of 229,391 participants who were followed for an average of about 14 years.” The data revealed that the “most optimistic people were 35% less likely than the least optimistic to have cardiovascular events like heart attacks or strokes, and 14% less likely to die for any reason.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.
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— “Optimism tied to lower rates of heart attacks, death, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, October 3, 2019
HealthDay (10/3, Reinberg) reports research suggests hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe morning sickness condition, in early pregnancy may be associated with an increased risk in autism in children. The studypublished the American Journal of Perinatology “found a 53% increased risk of a child being diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder if their mother suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum.” Moreover, “the earlier that women experienced severe morning sickness, the stronger the tie to autism,” the study indicates.
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— “Severe Morning Sickness Tied to Autism Risk in Kids, “Steven Reinberg, HealthDay, October 3, 2019
Medscape (10/2, Anderson, Subscription Publication) reports research indicates “use of oral contraceptives is associated with an increased risk for depressive and other psychiatric symptoms in young women.” The study of 1,010 Dutch teens “showed that individuals who took oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) reported experiencing more crying, eating problems, and hypersomnia compared to their counterparts who did not take OCPs.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry. Maureen Sayres Van Niel, MD, president of the Women’s Caucus of the American Psychiatric Association, “described the study as ‘important’ and ‘well done,’” saying, “This study collected data over a long period of time, which is exactly the kind of data we need.”
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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)
According to HealthDay (10/2), girls with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) may be “six times more likely to wind up as teenage moms,” research indicated. Included in the study were “more than 384,000 Swedish women and girls between the ages of 12 and 50 who gave birth between 2007 and 2014,” some 6,400 of whom had been given a diagnosis of AD/HD. The findings were published online Oct. 2 in JAMA Network Open.
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— “Pregnancy Much More Likely for Teen Girls With ADHD, “Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, October 2, 2019
The New York Times (10/1, Bakalar) reports a study found “women who have a hysterectomy may be at increased risk for depression and anxiety.” The study of over 2,000 women who underwent the procedure without removal of the ovaries showed “a hysterectomy was associated with a 26 percent increased relative risk for depression and a 22 percent increased risk for anxiety.” For women under 35, the study published in Menopause showed “a 47 percent increased risk for depression and a 45 percent increased risk for anxiety.”
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— “Hysterectomy May Raise Depression and Anxiety Risk, “Nicholas Bakalar, The New York Times, October 1, 2019
Reuters (10/1, Carroll) reports, “Drive times to opioid treatment programs may be as much as six times longer in rural U.S. counties compared to urban ones, researchers” found. In their study that examined “drive times to opioid treatment programs in urban and rural counties in the five states with the highest rates of opioid-related deaths,” investigators “found that it could take nearly 50 minutes to get a clinic that could dispense methadone, according to a research letter published” online Oct. 1 in JAMA. HealthDay (10/1, Reinberg) also covers the study.
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— “Long drive times in rural areas may be a barrier to opioid addiction treatment, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, October 1, 2019
Psychiatric News (10/1) reports, “The use of proactive consultation-liaison psychiatry, along with clinically informed screening and integrated mental health care delivery, appears to help reduce patients’ average length of stay in the hospital,” researchers concluded. The findings of the 12-study review were published in the September/October issue of General Hospital Psychiatry.
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— “Use of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry May Reduce Hospital Patients’ Length of Stay, Psychiatric News, October 1, 2019