Psychiatric News (7/19) reported, “Medication for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) “may help lower the risk of unintentional injuries in children and adolescents with” the disorder, researchers concluded after analyzing “prescription and health data from more than 1.9 million children and adolescents aged six to 19 years who had either been diagnosed with” AD/HD “or received a prescription for” AD/HD “medication between 2005 and 2014.” The findings were published online July 11 in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Medication For AD/HD May Help Lower Risk Of Unintentional Injuries In Kids And Teens With The Disorder, Study Indicates, Psychiatric News, July 19, 2019

The New York Times (7/18, Hotz) reports the organization Tea With Strangers is working to combat loneliness by inviting strangers “to chat for about two hours over tea.” The group now has 450 volunteer hosts in 15 cities. Users “can find local teatimes online and sign up for one of five slots.” Then, hosts “email those users with an introduction, location details and an emphatic ask not to flake.”

Related Links:

— “Feeling Lonely? Perhaps You’d Like to Talk to Some Strangers, “Julia Hotz, The New York Times, July 18, 2019

Kaiser Health News (7/18, Graham) reports on the risks of anticholinergic drugs for seniors. For example, the article highlights a case of an older woman who was taking so many anticholinergic drugs that she was suspected of having dementia, but her physician suspected the combination of drugs might be having a negative impact so the patient was gradually switched over to alternative medications and her dementia-like symptoms resolved. The article also mentions that studies have found links between anticholinergic drugs and dementia.

Related Links:

— “Common Medications Can Masquerade As Dementia In Seniors, “Judith Graham, Kaiser Health News, July 18, 2019

Reuters (7/18, Rapaport) reports researchers found that “people who have recently used cannabis may be more likely to experience memory deficits or difficulties with cognitive function than those who don’t use the drug.” The findings were published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience.

Related Links:

— “Recent cannabis use tied to memory deficits, slowed mental processing, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, July 18, 2019

Kaiser Health News (7/18, Knight) reports mental health clinicians are now seeing an increasing number of people “with anxiety or depression related to climate change and the Earth’s future.” Even though “it is not an official clinical diagnosis, the psychiatric and psychological communities have names for the phenomenon: ‘climate distress,’ ‘climate grief,’ ‘climate anxiety’ or ‘eco-anxiety.’” A therapist interviewed for the piece “said the No. 1 action he recommends is sharing these concerns with others, whether a counselor, psychiatrist, family, friends or an activist group.” For some people, “personal action is a way to take control of a situation in which you feel powerless, said” psychiatrist Elizabeth Haase, MD, “at Carson Tahoe Health in Carson City, Nev.”

Related Links:

— “‘Climate Grief’: Fears About The Planet’s Future Weigh On Americans’ Mental Health, “Victoria Knight, Kaiser Health News, July 18, 2019

Medscape (7/18, Anderson, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found that “older female veterans who have alcohol use disorder (AUD) are at a threefold increased risk of developing dementia compared to their counterparts without AUD.” The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Related Links:

— “Heavy Alcohol Use May Triple Dementia Risk, “Pauline Anderson, Medscape, July 18, 2019

MD Magazine (7/18, Walter) reports that even though antipsychotic medications “are considered the preferred treatment for schizophrenia, it is unclear which agent should ultimately be used to treat the disorder.” Now, German researchers “are hoping to provide a baseline guide outlining the risks and rewards after completing a network meta-analysis of placebo-controlled and head-to-head randomized controlled trials, comparing 32 antipsychotics including clozapine, levomepromazine, amisulpride, brexpiprazole, flupentixol, and sulpiride.” The review revealed that “there are some efficacy differences between antipsychotics, but most of them are gradual rather than discrete,” whereas “differences in side-effects are more marked.” The findings of the 402-study, 53,463-participant review were published online July 11 in The Lancet.

Related Links:

— “Study Distinguishes Schizophrenia Drug Effects Among Patients, “Kenny Walter, MD Magazine, July 18, 2019

Reuters (7/17, Mathias) reports, “Men who experience domestic violence and abuse often don’t seek help until the problem becomes a crisis,” researchers concluded after reviewing “12 previous studies of male victims of domestic abuse or violence.” Investigators found that “men tend to worry they would not be believed, or that they would be perceived as less masculine if they reported abuse.” The review’s findingswere published online in the BMJ Open.

Related Links:

— “Male victims of domestic violence struggle to disclose abuse, “Tamara Mathias, Reuters, July 17, 2019

TIME (7/17, Ducharme) reports, “From 2013 to 2016, almost 38% of American adolescents ages 16 to 19 said they had tried to lose weight during the past year…a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics” indicates. The NCHS data brief (pdf) “showed that more than three-quarters of adolescents with obesity tried to lose weight,” but “weight-loss attempts outpaced increases in adolescent obesity,” as “obesity rates among adolescents ages 12 to 19 climbed from 18.4% to almost 21% from 2009-2010 to 2015-2016.” Experts caution, however, that “even seemingly healthy behaviors, like working out and cutting back on calories, can quickly spiral into unhealthy territory, especially for” adolescents for whom “eating disorders are thought to be most common.”

MedPage Today (7/17, Lyles) reports that girls in particular “have been attempting to lose weight,” the data revealed, and also “showed 16.5% of teens saying they skipped meals in order to lose weight.”

Related Links:

— “More U.S. Teenagers Are Trying to Lose Weight Than in Years Past. That May Be Reason for Concern, “Jamie Ducharme, TIME, July 17, 2019

Modern Healthcare (7/17, Johnson, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found that “medical marijuana laws had little impact on curbing non-medical use of prescription opioids.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Medical marijuana laws not linked to reduced opioid misuse, “Steven Ross Johnson, Modern Healthcare, July 17, 2019