NBC News (4/8, Sullivan) reports research found that “regular exercise and about seven hours of sleep a night could protect brain health in the long term,” while “long bouts of sedentary behavior may increase dementia risk.” Simple lifestyle changes may “reduce a person’s risk of late-onset dementia by as much as 25%, according to the study.” A person’s overall Alzheimer’s disease risk is about 11%, but “with the suggested changes in lifestyle, the average person’s risk decreases to about 8%.” The study found that “breaking up longer periods of sitting had the greatest effect.” The findings were published in PLOS One.

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— “These simple lifestyle changes could decrease dementia risk by 25%,”Kaitlin Sullivan, NBC News, April 8, 2026

MedPage Today (4/8, George) reports a study found that “the number of U.S. patients prescribed long-term opioid therapy declined from 2015 to 2023, but co-prescribing of opioids with gabapentinoids increased.” Researchers found that in “2023, 4.2 million people had an active long-term opioid therapy episode, defined as a period of opioid dispensing lasting at least 90 days. This represents a 24.3% drop from 5.6 million people in 2015.” Across the same time period, “co-prescribing of opioids with gabapentinoids (e.g., gabapentin and pregabalin) rose substantially, from 47% in 2015 to 58.7% in 2023. Stimulant co-prescriptions increased from 5.9% to 6.7%, while benzodiazepine co-prescribing decreased from 43.8% to 33.5%. Additionally, between 2015 and 2023, the mean age of patients with long-term opioid therapy increased from 52.5 to 60.5 years.” Researchers concluded, “Because older adults are at higher risk of adverse events from polypharmacy, the increased rate of co-prescribing, particularly with gabapentinoids, raises additional safety concerns.” The study was discussed in a JAMA research letter.

The American Journal of Managed Care (4/8, Shaw) adds that the “demographics of who stays on opioids for the long term have shifted significantly. The mean (SD) patient age climbed from 52.5 (12.9) years in 2015 to 60.5 (12.4) years in 2023. The share of patients aged 65 and older more than doubled, rising from 17.0% to 38.8%. An increase was also seen in patients aged 55 to 64 years, from 25.5% to 27.5.” An encouraging sign is that “average daily dosing fell, from a mean (SD) of 47.9 (71.3) morphine milligram equivalents per day in 2015 to 38.6 (50.6) in 2023.”

Psychiatric News (4/8) also provides coverage.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (4/7) reports a study found that “treatment with benzodiazepines during an episode of catatonia may cut the risk of future catatonia in half.” Investigators examined “the medical records of 205 adults who were hospitalized with catatonia between 2001 and 2021. Overall, 31% of patients experienced recurrence, with a median time to recurrence of 6.4 years.” They found that “benzodiazepines were associated with a 50% decreased risk of future catatonic episodes over the follow-up period. Antipsychotics were associated with a 64% lower risk of recurrence within 60 days of the index episode but more than double the risk of recurrence in the long run.” Overall, the “findings support the use of benzodiazepines as a first-line treatment option, the researchers said, adding that 88% of patients in this analysis received benzodiazepines either alone or in combination with another treatment.” The study was published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

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— “Benzodiazepines May Cut Risk of Recurrent Catatonia in Half, Psychiatric News , April 7, 2026

The New York Times (4/7, Barry) reports that Idaho lawmakers last week “took the unusual step of voting to restore funding” for the assertive community treatment, which was cut in December as a cost-saving measure. The reversal comes after the deaths of four individuals who lost access to the “Medicaid-funded services that were designed to deliver medical care to people with the most disabling mental illnesses.” Republican legislators “led the charge,” citing both the deaths and a financial argument “that stripping services for severely mentally ill people will simply reroute them toward jails or emergency hospitalizations, which cost the state far more.” The lawmakers agreed to allocate “$10.4 million from state opioid and tobacco settlement funds. The amount will bring back peer support services, as well as the ACT program, for a year.” However, ACT healthcare professionals “said it could take months to revive their operations, since so many staff members changed jobs or moved when the program was defunded.”

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Neurology Advisor (4/6, Khaja) reports a study found that “suicidality present at the time of epilepsy diagnosis is associated with an increased risk for future treatment resistance among adults with focal epilepsy.” Researchers observed that “in multivariable analyses adjusting for confounders, suicidality at the time of epilepsy diagnosis was associated with a more than 2-fold increased risk for treatment resistance (relative risk [RR], 2.02). In contrast, mood and anxiety disorders alone were not significantly associated with treatment resistance after accounting for suicidality.” Furthermore, “the presence of suicidality substantially increased the probability of treatment resistance, from 16.3% among patients without psychiatric disturbances to 47.1% among those with suicidality alone (RR, 2.89). Although anxiety disorder alone was associated with a higher probability of treatment resistance (32.9%; RR, 2.02), this finding did not remain statistically significant after correction for multiple comparisons.” The study was published in JAMA Neurology.

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— “Suicidality at Diagnosis Linked to Focal Epilepsy Treatment Resistance,”Hibah Khaja, Neurology Advisor , April 6, 2026

Psychiatric News (4/6) reports, “Residential substance use treatment facilities owned by private equity firms are more expensive and may offer fewer services compared with other for-profit facilities, according to a study.” While “using a secret-shopper approach, researchers called 341 residential [substance use disorder] treatment facilities and compared the prices and services of those acquired by private equity firms with those run by other for-profit entities.” The investigators found that “mean daily rates were 15.6% ($127) higher at private equity facilities than at other for-profit facilities.” Additionally, “facilities acquired by private equity firms were less likely to offer detoxification services than other for-profit facilities (74.8% versus 88.8%).” The findings were published in JAMA Health Forum.

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— “Private Equity-Run SUD Facilities Are Expensive, but Not Expansive, Psychiatric News , April 6, 2026

Psychiatric News (4/3) reported a study published in JAMA Psychiatry found that “among adults with methamphetamine use disorder, mirtazapine delivered in routine clinical practice reduced methamphetamine use compared with a placebo.” Researchers in 344-patient study found that “12 weeks of mirtazapine (30 mg/day) delivered in routine clinical practice produced a greater reduction in methamphetamine use days than placebo. There were no unexpected safety concerns from mirtazapine.”

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— “Mirtazapine Effectively Treats Methamphetamine Use Disorder,Psychiatric News , April 3, 2026

HealthDay (4/2, Mundell) reported a study suggests that “boys and men can also develop eating disorders, and rates for these psychiatric issues are rising – even as psychotherapists admit they have trouble spotting and treating them.” The study noted that “by some estimates, 1 in 7 men in the United States will experience a full-syndrome eating disorder by the age of 40.” Furthermore, the report “found that psychotherapists are often ill-equipped to spot these cases. When questioned, most clinicians said they lacked formal training in spotting body dysmorphia and eating disorders in boys and men, which are focused more on muscle-building and not characterized by excessive thinness.” Indeed, “only a small minority of the psychotherapists said they’d received any training in male eating disorders during their undergraduate or graduate studies.” The study was published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders.

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— “Psychotherapists Often Poorly Trained in Treating Muscle-Linked Disorders in Males,”Ernie Mundell, HealthDay, April 2, 2026

Psychiatric News (4/2) says, “Children who lost fathers in the course of active-duty military service were more likely to be diagnosed with a mental disorder one and two years after their loss, according to a report.” Children “who had lost fathers were three times more likely to have depressive disorders and four times more likely to have adjustment disorders one year after loss compared to non-bereaved children.” Additionally, “at year one, bereaved children…had more than nine times higher odds of acute stress disorder/PTSD.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry.

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— “Children Who Lose Fathers in Military Service at Higher Risk of Mental Disorders, Psychiatric News, April 2, 2026

Reuters (4/2, S K) says the CDC “on Thursday issued a health advisory warning of rising reports from U.S. ​jurisdictions detecting veterinary sedative medetomidine in the illegal drug ‌supply.” The CDC and the “Office of National Drug Control Policy warned public health professionals, clinicians, laboratorians and people at risk for ​overdose after medetomidine was detected in the fentanyl supply ​and linked to a severe withdrawal syndrome from exposure ⁠to it.” The two “agencies said it has increasingly been detected in law enforcement drug seizures, drug product and paraphernalia samples and wastewater samples, ​with the highest concentrations in the Northeast region.”

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— “Reuters Requires subscription.