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

The New York Times (7/16, Marshall) reports that “Netflix has deleted a graphic scene from the first season of ‘13 Reasons Why’ in which a teenage girl kills herself, more than two years after the episode premiered.”
        
Reuters (7/16, McKay) reports that a study found that “suicides by young Americans rose by almost a third in the month following the 2017 streaming debut of the popular Netflix television series.” The AP (7/16) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “Netflix Deletes ‘13 Reasons Why’ Suicide Scene, “Alex Marshall, The New York Times, July 16, 2019

According to Healio (7/16, Miller), “women who took sleep medications were at a slightly higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease,” researchers concluded after analyzing “data from 3,656 residents of a Utah county without dementia at baseline (women, 57.8%) that assessed risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive decline.” The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Psychiatric News (7/16) reports investigators found that participants “who reported taking sleeping medication ‘often’ or ‘almost always’ were 43% more likely to develop dementia than those who reported ‘never’ or ‘rarely’ taking sleep medications.” Further analysis found that “the increased dementia risk among the frequent users was observed only among the white participants (hazard ratio=1.79).”

Related Links:

— “Sleep medications tied to slightly higher risk for Alzheimer’s disease in women, “Janel Miller, Healio, July 16, 2019

CNN (7/15, Nigam) reports, “As the opioid crisis swept across the” U.S., the number of children “entering the foster care system” increased. Investigators found that “from 2000 to 2017, there was a 147% increase in foster care entries due to parents’ drug use.”

NPR (7/15, Neilson) reports that for the study, investigators “analyzed data from the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System (AFCARS).” The researchers examined almost five “million instances of children entering foster care between 2000 and 2017 and analyzed how many times foster children were removed from their homes due to their parents’ drug use each year.” The findings were published online in a research letter in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “There was a dramatic rise in kids entering foster care due to parents’ drug use, study says, “Minali Nigam, CNN, July 15, 2019

CNN (7/15, Howard) reports, “For every additional hour young people spend on social media or watching television, the severity of depressive symptoms they experience goes up,” research indicated. The study revealed that “high levels of social media use over four years was associated with increased depression – and each one-hour increase in the average time students said they spent on social media was associated with an increase in the severity of depression symptoms within that same year.” CNN adds, “The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that parents place consistent limits on how many hours per day their preteens or teens spend using screens.” Child and adolescent psychiatrist Gary Maslow, MD, “said in January that he often points his patients’ families to the American Academy of Pediatrics for tips on how to establish healthy social media habits at home.”

MedPage Today (7/15, Hlavinka) reports, “In a group of 3,826 adolescents, those with high levels of social media use had a 0.64-unit increase in depression symptoms (95% CI 0.32-0.51) on a scale of 0 to 28, and on the individual level, each hour of increased social media use within a year was associated with a 0.41-unit increase in depressive symptoms,” the study revealed. The findings were published online July 15 in JAMA Pediatrics. Also covering the study are MD Magazine (7/15, Campbell) and HealthDay (7/15, Preidt).

Related Links:

— “Increasing social media use tied to rise in teens’ depressive symptoms, study says, “Jacqueline Howard, CNN, July 15, 2019

HealthDay (7/12, Preidt) reported, “Teens who take prescription opioid” analgesics “to get high could be taking a step toward heroin use,” researchers concluded after studying some “3,300 students at 10 Los Angeles-area high schools who were followed from freshman year to senior year.” The findings were published online in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Teens’ Opioid Abuse May Be Gateway to Heroin, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, July 12, 2019