USA Today (3/5, O’Donnell) reports a new analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data indicates the “number of deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide in 2017 hit the highest level since federal data collection started in 1999.” The study, conducted by the Trust for America’s Health and the Well Being Trust, indicated the “national rate for deaths from alcohol, drugs, and suicide rose from 43.9 to 46.6 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017, a 6 percent increase.” The increase was slower “than in the previous two years, but it was greater than the 4 percent average annual increase since 1999.”

Related Links:

— “U.S. deaths from alcohol, drugs and suicide hit highest level since record-keeping began, “Jayne O’Donnell, USA Today, March 05, 2019

Reuters (3/4, Rapaport) reports researchers found that “the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine isn’t associated with an increased risk of autism even among kids who are at high risk because they have a sibling with the disorder.” The researchers found that children who received “the MMR vaccine were seven percent less likely to develop autism than children who didn’t get vaccinated.” The findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

NPR (3/4, Stein) reports on its website that Drs. Saad Omer and Inci Yildrim, both of Emory University, wrote in an accompanying editorial that the new study and similar ones done in the past can help refute claims that the vaccine is linked to autism.

Additional coverage is provided by HealthDay (3/4, Thompson), The Hill (3/4, Hellmann), Forbes (3/5, Forster), MedPage Today (3/4, Monaco), Medscape (3/4, Garcia, Subscription Publication), Newsweek (3/4, Georgiou), and TIME (3/4, Park).

Related Links:

— “Measles vaccine doesn’t cause autism, even in high-risk kids, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, March 04, 2019

HealthDay (3/1, Preidt) reported researchers identified “five new gene mutations that make people more vulnerable to” Alzheimer’s disease. The findings were published in Nature Genetics.

Related Links:

— “Scientists Find 5 New Genes That Sway Alzheimer’s Risk, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 01, 2019

Neurology Advisor (3/1, May) reported researchers found that “patients with psychogenic nonepileptic seizures (PNES) who adhere to psychotherapy experience reductions in the frequency of PNES, improvements in quality of life, and decrease in emergency department visits.” The findings were published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Psychotherapy Associated With Reduced Frequency of Nonepileptic Seizures, “Brandon May, Neurology Advisor, March 01, 2019

MedPage Today (2/28, George) reports researchers found in a retrospective study that “medical cannabis was well-tolerated among elderly patients and provided significant symptomatic benefits.” The researchers found that older adults with “an average age of 81 experienced relief in chronic pain, sleep, neuropathy, and anxiety with medical cannabis.” The findings are scheduled to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology meeting in May.

HealthDay (2/28, Thompson) reports the researchers also found that “a third of” study participants “who took medical marijuana” reduced “their use of opioid painkillers.”

Related Links:

— “Medical Marijuana and Older Adults –
Well tolerated among elderly patients; nearly a third reduced opioids, “Judy George, MedPage Today, February 28, 2019

HealthDay (2/27, Gordon) reports a study found that when pregnant women who previously delivered a child with autism “took prenatal vitamins during the first month of pregnancy, their children had half the risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). And in children who did develop autism, early prenatal vitamin use was linked to less severe autism symptoms, and higher thinking and memory skills.” The study was published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Healio (2/27, Demko) reports “researchers examined the connection between maternal prenatal vitamin intake and ASD recurrence risk in younger siblings of children with autism using data from a sample of youth and their mothers in the Markers of Autism Risk in Babies: Learning Early Signs (MARBLES) study.”

MedPage Today (2/27, Hlavinka) and Medscape (2/27, Subscription Publication) also cover the story

Related Links:

— “Prenatal Vitamins Might Lower Risk of Second Child With Autism, ” Serena Gordon, HealthDay, February 27, 2019

HealthDay (2/26, Norton) reports researchers found “women with jobs that demand long hours may be more prone to depression.” The findings were published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

Related Links:

— “Long Work Weeks May Be Depressing, Especially for Women, “Amy Norton, HealthDay , February 26, 2019

The Atlantic (2/25, Mull) reports “70 percent of teens see mental health as a major struggle for their peers,” according to the results of a survey from the Pew Research Council. The article suggests that “even though it’s troubling that so many teens worry about their peers’ well-being, it might also represent progress in how Americans relate to and empathize with the mentally ill.”

Related Links:

— “A New Sign That Teens Know They Aren’t Struggling Alone, “Amanda Mull, The Atlantic, February 25, 2019

Reuters (2/25, Carroll) reports on a study in Pediatrics which found that pregnant women with nicotine in their systems “are more likely to have children who develop attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD). Researchers used national databases in Finland comparing “blood samples from mothers-to-be” and “children who developed the attention disorder,” finding that mothers of AD/HD diagnosed children had high levels of cotinine, the substance created from nicotine breaking down in the body.

Related Links:

— “Prenatal Nicotine Exposure Linked To AD/HD, Study Suggests, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, February 25, 2019

Modern Healthcare (2/22, Castellucci, Subscription Publication) reported that a survey from the American Medical Association indicates approximately “44% of U.S. physicians reported at least one burnout symptom in 2017, a substantial decrease from 2014 when roughly 54% suffered from burnout.” Meanwhile, although “reported burnout dropped, the number of doctors who reported feeling depressed” increased during “the same period,” with the survey finding “41.7% of doctors screened positive for depression, compared with 39.8% in 2014.”

HealthDay (2/22, Preidt) reported, “Declines in burnout symptoms among doctors were not seen across all specialties.” The survey found that “levels among obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery and some other specialties did not fall significantly in 2017.” The findings were published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Related Links:

— “Burnout among physicians drops but depression on the rise, AMA survey finds, “Maria Castellucci, Modern Healthcare, February 22, 2019