Pulmonology Advisor (8/23) reported a new study by researchers at University of Massachusetts Amherst indicates that “following medical marijuana legalization (MML) in Massachusetts in 2012, there was an increase in pediatric cannabis exposure.” Study authors wrote, “The increase occurred despite the cannabis product packaging being designed to be difficult for young children to open, being unappealing to the youth, and requiring warning labels instructing that the product be kept away from children.” The findings were published online in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Pediatric Exposure to Cannabis Has Increased Since Medical Legalization, Pulmonology Advisor, August 23, 2019

Medscape (8/23, Parry, Subscription Publication) reported a new study suggests that “psychiatric illnesses are common in children and adults with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) who are receiving dialysis.” Specifically, while “only approximately 2% of all adults and 1% of children had been hospitalized with a primary psychiatric diagnosis, these amounted to a large number of patients (9058 elderly adults, 8570 middle-aged adults, and 122 children).” Also, researchers saw “that the rate of hospitalizations with psychiatric diagnoses increased over the course of the study period, predominantly attributed to secondary diagnoses.” The findings were published online in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Healio (8/23) also reported.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

MedPage Today (8/23, Boyles) reported, “The prevalence of depression, marijuana use, and alcohol abuse among former cigarette smokers in the U.S. have all increased since the mid-2000s, according to data through 2016 from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)” analyzed by researchers at City University of New York. Data indicate that “prevalence of past-year major depressive episodes among former smokers rose from 4.88% to 6.04% from 2002 to 2016.” The findings were published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

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.”

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— “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