Related Links:

— “Is Your Child Emotionally Ready for College?, “Anthony Rostain and B. Janet Hibbs, Wall Street Journal, August 22, 2019

MD Magazine (8/22, Walter) reports, “By mapping the brain of” patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and their “family members, investigators have learned different patterns in the brain that could help lead to better diagnosis practices.” After conducting “a meta-analysis of global and subcortical brain measures of 6008 participants, 1228 of which are first-degree relatives of patients with schizophrenia (FDR-SZ), 852 of which are first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar disorder (FDRs-BD), 2246 control subjects, 1016 patients with schizophrenia and 666 patients with bipolar disorder from 34 schizophrenia and/or bipolar disorder family cohorts using standardized methods,” researchers “found that the first-degree relatives of bipolar patients had significantly larger intracranial volume (d = +.16, q < .05 corrected), while the first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients had smaller thalamic volumes than the control subjects (d = −0.12, q < .05 corrected).” The findings were published online June 13 in Biological Psychiatry: A Journal of Psychiatric Neuroscience and Therapeutics. Related Links:

— “Relatives of Patients with Psychotic Disorders Have Distinct Brain Abnormalities, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, August 22, 2019

Healio (8/22, Demko) reports, “Patients receiving buprenorphine for treatment of opioid use disorder were more likely to use medications for unrelated, chronic conditions like depression,” research indicated. In the large “retrospective cohort study,” investigators “quantified the effect of buprenorphine treatment on adherence to five therapeutic classes – antilipids, antipsychotics, antiepileptics, antidiabetics and antidepressants – among commercially ensured patients with opioid use disorder using Truven Health’s MarketScan data.” The study revealed that “buprenorphine use was associated with a higher likelihood of adherence to all chronic medication classes included in the analysis, especially antidepressants.” The findings were published in the September issue of the journal Medical Care.

Related Links:

— “Buprenorphine for opioid dependence may improve treatment adherence for depression, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 22, 2019

HealthDay (8/22, Brown) reports that mixing marijuana with opioids “may leave users vulnerable to mental health issues,” research indicated. In addition, the 450-adults study revealed that “those who combined pot and opioids for pain were also more likely to abuse other drugs such as cocaine, alcohol and sedatives.” The findings were published in the July/August issue of the Journal of Addiction Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Mixing Marijuana With Opioids May Not Be Good for Mental Health, “Shannon Brown, HealthDay, August 22, 2019

The New York Times (8/21, Reynolds) reports, “For women with serious depression, a single session of exercise can change the body and mind in ways that might help to combat depression over time, according to a new study of workouts and moods.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise published the study that found endocannabinoids increasing for prescribed exercise rather than “go-as-you-please exercise.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times, “Gretchen Reynolds, The New York Times, August 21, 2019

The Washington Post (8/21, Cunningham) “The Health 202” blog reports “a new government survey shows opioid abuse is declining by double digits – welcome data to public health advocates and policymakers who are wrestling with an epidemic that has crippled communities across the nation.” The survey, released by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration on Tuesday, indicated that 11 percent “fewer Americans reported pain reliever misuse in 2018 compared with the year prior,” and that heroin use was down by approximately 15 percent.

In 2016, Americans Spent $145 Billion On Cannabis, Cocaine, Heroin And Methamphetamine , Report Finds Healio (8/21) reports research indicates that “in 2016, Americans spent $145 billion on cannabis, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine,” with “most spending…attributed to those who use drugs on a daily or almost daily basis.” Investigators arrived at these conclusions after using “multiple databases to collect information on illicit drug users and amounts of drugs purchased, including Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring, the National Survey on Drug Use and Health and the National Survey of Substance Abuse Treatment Services.” The report’s findings were published on the RAND Corporation website.

Related Links:

— “The Health 202: Fewer Americans are abusing opioids. But the improvements vary dramatically by state., ” Paige Winfield Cunningham, The Washington Post, August 21, 2019

Healio (8/21, Demko) reports research indicated that “clinically meaningful improvement in PTSD symptoms compared with less than clinically meaningful or no improvement was linked to a 49% lower risk for incident type 2 diabetes [T2D].” The findings of the 1,598-patient study were published online Aug. 21 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Improvement in PTSD symptoms linked to lower risk for diabetes, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 21, 2019

Business Insider (8/20, Akhtar) reports that nurses “are more likely to take their own lives,” researchers found in “what they said is the first nationwide investigation into nurse suicides in more than 20 years.” The study, published in Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, “found a suicide incidence of 11.97 per 100,000 people among women who are nurses, versus 7.58 per 100,000 for American women in general,” and “39.8 per 100,000 people, versus 28.2 per 100,000” for men.

Related Links:

— “Suicides among nurses are on the rise. Here’s why one of America’s fastest-growing jobs is facing a major crisis, “Allana Akhtar, Business Insider, August 20, 2019

Psychiatric News (8/20) reports, “Mitral valve prolapse…is significantly more common in patients with panic disorder/agoraphobia,” researchers concluded in a 14-study meta-analysis that included some 1,146 patients. The findings were published in the July/August issue of Psychosomatics.

Related Links:

— “Mitral Valve Prolapse More Prevalent in Patients With Panic Disorder, Study Finds, Psychiatric News, August 20, 2019

Patients taking very high doses of loperamide, an antidiarrheal medication, in an attempt to self-manage opioid withdrawal or to achieve a euphoric high may be at risk of severe or fatal cardiac events. Loperamide will not appear in a standard toxicology screen, and there is no urine test to screen for it. Learn the signs of loperamide misuse at: Understanding Loperamide Abuse