In “Health & Science,” the Washington Post (3/26, Achenbach, Wan, Mettler) reports that 20 years ago, “about 29,000 people in the U.S. killed themselves, and by 2017 the toll had grown to more than 47,000.” Three recent high-profile suicides now “provide an opportunity to confront a national public health crisis as suicides become more common.” Investigators “who study suicide say the field is grossly underfunded,” and they also “say they have minimal understanding of who, exactly, is most at risk of suicide.” Commenting on two suicides among teen “survivors of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting of 2018,” Jane Pearson, “a suicide researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health,” observed that the “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School students’” campaign “to end gun violence” was “an experience unique among mass shooting survivors, and the students operate amid great expectations and with many people watching them.”

Related Links:

— “Three tragic deaths reverberate across U.S. amid steady rise in suicides, “Achenbach, Wan, Mettler, The Washington Post, March 26, 2019

The New York Times (3/25, Rabin) reports researchers found that “edibles” were responsible for “a disproportionate number of” cannabis-related ED admissions in Colorado, suggesting “that edibles may be more potent and potentially more dangerous than [marijuana] that is smoked or vaped.” The findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The AP (3/25, Johnson) reports the study was prompted in part by three deaths in the state that were tied to edibles as well as anecdotes about tourists visiting the ED after consuming lots of edibles.

NBC News (3/25) reports on its website that researchers reviewed ED visits “at UCHealth University of Colorado Hospital from 2012 to 2016,” and found that ED “visits linked to cannabis use tripled” after Colorado legalized recreational marijuana in 2012. The researchers also found that “while sales of edibles are lower than inhaled pot products, people eating marijuana candies or food were more likely to show up at the ER with severe panic attacks or other sudden mental disorders.” Dr. Andrew Monte, the study’s lead author, said that only 0.32% of cannabis sales were for edibles, but around 10% of cannabis-related ED visits were related to edibles. However, the article points out that the researchers also found that “inhaled marijuana caused a higher rate of hospitalizations, mostly due to cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome, a severe vomiting condition associated with heavy cannabis use.”

Related Links:

— “Marijuana Edibles May Pose Special Risks, ” Roni Caryn Rabin, The New York Times, March 25, 2019

STAT (3/25, Robbins) reports that digital health apps are “being used as suicide crisis hotlines.” Several executives at digital health startups “are scrambling to figure out how best to respond and when to call the police – questions that even suicide prevention experts don’t have good answers to.” Harvard psychologist Matthew Nock advises for digital health companies to “conduct research and evaluate their own practices to gather data on what works and what doesn’t, at different levels of suicide risk. Just as a decision not to respond carries risk, so too does a decision to respond too aggressively. Calling an ambulance for patients who are not at immediate risk could backfire, if it makes them hesitate to seek help in the future.”

Related Links:

— “As patients tell apps they’re feeling suicidal, digital health startups scramble to respond, “Rebecca Robbins, STAT, March 25, 2019

The Wall Street Journal (3/25, Reddy, Subscription Publication) reports research suggests that some youngsters who receive an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis may actually outgrow the condition. The findings of the 569-child study were published online March 12 in the Journal of Child Neurology. As for why some children appear to outgrow ASD, Stephen Blumberg, of the National Center for Health Statistics, believes that almost all of the kids who supposedly outgrew ASD really had other developmental issues, most likely attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and never had an ASD at all. Michael Kogan, of the Health and Human Services Department’s Health Resources and Services Administration, believes physicians have been diagnosing youngsters with ASD along with other comorbidities just to help get services for these children.

Related Links:

— “The Autism Diagnosis That Isn’t Always Permanent, “Sumathi Reddy, The Wall Street Journal, March 25, 2019

USA Today (3/22, May) said that a new report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates an “increasing number of African Americans are dying from fentanyl overdoses – what has long been pegged as a problem primarily for white communities.” The report found fentanyl overdoses “claimed 18,335 lives in 2016, up drastically from 1,663 in 2011,” and that while non-Hispanic “white people remain most affected by overall fentanyl overdoses…African Americans saw the sharpest increase in deaths, rising 140.6 percent each year. Hispanics experienced a jump of 118.3 percent annually.”

Related Links:

— “African-American, Hispanic deaths by fentanyl overdose rising sharply, “Ashley May, USA Today, March 22, 2019

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (3/22, Pirani) reported the US CDC has found that the US “experienced a nearly 30 percent increase in suicide rates between 1999-2016,” according to new data. The piece added that a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine “found that increases in state minimum wages in recent years have been associated with decreases in suicide rates.” The piece also said the research is the “first study the authors believe examines the effect of minimum wage changes on suicide rates” and that previous research from the CDC and from the National Institutes of Health shows “individuals with significant debt are generally more likely to report physical health challenges.”

Related Links:

— “Could increasing minimum wage help reduce the suicide rate?, “Fiza Pirani, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , March 22, 2019

Reuters (3/22, Rapaport) reported that a review suggests children “with school attendance or truancy problems might be suffering from anxiety.” Investigators came to this conclusion after reviewing “eight previously published studies with a total of almost 26,000 young students from Europe, North America and Asia.” The findings were published online Feb. 27 in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Childhood anxiety tied to school absences, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, March 22, 2019

Reuters (3/21, Carroll) reports, “People who are terrified of heights may be able to conquer their phobia using a virtual reality [VR] app and an inexpensive set of cardboard VR goggles,” research indicated.

Healio (3/21, Demko) reports there were 193 participants in the randomized study. The findings were published online March 20 in JAMA Psychiatry.

Psychiatric News (3/21) reports, “The strong symptom improvements were maintained at a follow-up assessment three months later.”

Related Links:

— “Phone app may help conquer fear of heights, “Linda Carroll, Reuters, March 21, 2019

Reuters (3/20, Rapaport) reports that “opioids account for more than 90 percent of the painkillers used after plastic surgery, according to a U.S. study” published in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery. The study “examined data on 466,677 people who had plastic and reconstructive procedures” from 2007 to 2015, and found that “almost 55 percent of patients received” pain medication “prescriptions afterwards, and 92 percent of the prescriptions filled were for opioids.” The findings also indicated that “patients who filled an opioid prescription shortly before or after surgery were about three times as likely as those who didn’t to still be using opioids up to six months or even a year later

Related Links:

— “Opioid prescriptions after plastic surgery tied to long-term use, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, March 20, 2019

The Washington Post (3/20, Achenbach) reports that “the synthetic opioid fentanyl has been driving up the rate of fatal drug overdoses across racial and social lines in the United States, with the sharpest increase among African Americans, according to a new analysis by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” Data show the African American death rate “from fentanyl-involved drug overdoses rose 141 percent each year, on average, from 2011 to 2016, the study showed.” Meanwhile, the overdose death rate “for Hispanics rose 118 percent in that period every year on average, and 61 percent for non-Hispanic whites.”

The Los Angeles Times (3/20, Healy) reports that during the study period, 2011 to 2016, “more than 36,000 Americans died with fentanyl in their systems” and the “majority of those deaths – 18,335 – occurred in 2016 alone.” The Times adds that “fentanyl was first approved by the Food and Drug Administration back in 1968.”

NPR (3/21, Bebinger) reports that the study also indicates “men are dying after opioid overdoses at nearly three times the rate of women,” and there is “an especially steep rise in the number of young adults ages 25 to 34 whose death certificates include some version of the drug fentanyl.”

Related Links:

— “Fentanyl drug overdose deaths rising most sharply among African Americans, “Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post, March 20, 2019