Modern Healthcare (8/11, Kacik, Subscription Publication) reported on how opioid treatment varies across the country. The nonprofit Fair Health “pored through 26 billion privately billed healthcare claims and found tremendous variation in opioid treatment cost and utilization by state and region.” Dr. Martin Makary with the group said, “We need to recognize the downstream impacts of undertreating and improperly treating opioid abuse and restore the reimbursement of outpatient medication treatment and MAT.”

Related Links:

— “Variety of factors drive wide variation in opioid treatment across the U.S., “Alex Kacik, Modern Healthcare, August 11, 2018.

In “Health & Science,” the Washington Post (8/10, Adams) reported, “An in-depth survey of more than 10,000 teens used face-to-face interviews conducted between 2001 and 2004 to screen for psychiatric conditions,” finding that “anxiety disorders are the most common in this age group, far outnumbering behavioral, mood and substance use disorders.” In fact, “one teen in four met diagnostic criteria for an anxiety disorder.” Meanwhile, research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals that “more than two million American children have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders, including 3.5 percent of those between ages six and 11.” The article interviewed experts who explained the differences between “normal, functional anxiety” experienced by teens and youngsters and anxiety disorders that need professional treatment.

Related Links:

— “Your child is nervous about the new school year, which may be normal — or not, ” Jill U. Adams, The Washington Post, August 10, 2018.

The Denver Post (8/10, Seaman) reported, “Teenagers with serious antisocial behaviors and substance-use histories are more likely to die prematurely,” research indicated. After following some “1,463 youths in their mid- to late- teens who had been arrested or referred to counseling for substance abuse or ‘conduct disorder’ for about 15 years,” investigators “found that ‘conduct disorder,’ a mental health disorder that involves aggressive behaviors, such as property destruction, lying and thievery, in youths may be as much of a predictor of early death as substance abuse.” The findings were published online Aug. 9 in the journal Addiction.

Related Links:

— “Teenagers with conduct and substance abuse problems are more likely to die young, Colorado researchers find, “Jessica Seaman, The Denver Post, August 10, 2018.

HealthDay (8/9, Preidt) reports, “As a tool to reduce the public health toll of drinking, higher taxes on alcohol get the most bang for the buck,” researchers concluded. After examining “data from 16 countries to find out which of five alcohol-control strategies would be most cost-effective in reducing alcohol-related harm and deaths,” investigators found that “a 50 percent increase in alcohol excise taxes…would cost less than $100 for each healthy year of life gained in the overall population.” In addition, “it would add 500 healthy years of life for every one million people, the” study found. What’s more, “such a tax increase would be pennies per drink, according to” findings published online Aug. 9 in the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Related Links:

— “For Pennies a Drink, Higher Taxes Would Help Counter Alcohol’s Toll: Study, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 09, 2018.

Reuters (8/9, Rapaport) reports, “Pregnant women who have both severe obesity and diabetes may be more likely to have children with autism,” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), and “other psychiatric disorders than mothers who don’t have either condition during pregnancy,” research indicated.

Healio (8/9, Thiel) reports, “Pregestational diabetes mellitus combined with severe maternal obesity was associated with risk for children’s psychiatric and mild neurodevelopmental disorders, compared with diabetes or obesity separately,” researchers concluded after using “nationwide registry data of all live births in Finland from 2004 and 2014 (n = 649,043).” The findings were published online Aug. 9 in Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Obesity, diabetes in pregnancy may raise kids’ risk of psychiatric disorders, “Lisa Rapaport, Reuters, August 09, 2018.

HealthDay (8/8, Preidt) reports, “The agony of severe diarrhea can make some people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) wish they were dead,” survey findings reveal.

Healio Gastroenterology (8/8, Young) reports that a survey indicates that “more than 10% of patients with diarrhea predominant irritable bowel syndrome admitted to feeling suicidal thoughts.” The findings of the 513-patient survey were published online in the UEG Journal.

Related Links:

— “Severe Diarrhea Can Send IBS Patients Over the Edge, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 08, 2018.

Reuters (8/8, Kelland) reports research reveals that “people who exercise several times a week report having better mental health than those who take no exercise, with team sports and those involving social groups having the most positive effect.” What’s more, “exercising for around 45 minutes three to five times a week was associated with the biggest benefits,” researchers concluded after using “data from 1.2 million adults across all 50 U.S. states who had been asked to estimate how often in the past 30 days they would rate their mental health as ‘not good’ based on stress, depression and emotional problems.”

MedPage Today (8/8, Monaco) reports, “This positive association between exercise and improved mental health was even more pronounced in those who had a previous diagnosis of depression, marked by an average of 3.75 fewer days of poor mental health per month,” the study revealed. The findings were published online Aug. 8 in The Lancet Psychiatry. The author of an accompanying editorial “highlighted that one major drawback to this analysis was the placement of ‘mental health’ into one category.” TIME (8/8, Ducharme) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “Exercise linked to better mental health – but too much may do harm, “Kate Kelland, Reuters, August 08, 2018.

MedPage Today (8/7) reports, “Methylphenidate (Ritalin) may be a first-choice attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder” (AD/HD) “medication for kids, while amphetamines may be preferred for adults,” researchers concluded. The findings of the 133-trial meta-analysis were published online Aug. 7 in The Lancet Psychiatry. The authors of an accompanying comment observed, “The results support a moderating effect of age on first-line medication choice, consistent with current use patterns in the USA, with greatest support for methylphenidate in children and adolescents and amphetamine formulations in adults.”

Related Links:

— “The Best ADHD Medication? Meta-Analysis Offers Some Answers, “Kristen Monaco, MedPage Today, August 07, 2018.

Healio (8/6, Demko) reported, “Combined results of a meta-analysis and Swedish population-based study supported a significant link between” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) “and asthma, which remained after controlling for possible confounders,” research indicated. The findings were published online July 24 in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “The Best ADHD Medication? Meta-Analysis Offers Some Answers, “Savannah Demko, Healio, August 06, 2018.

Medscape (8/2, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reports researchers found that “antihypertensive therapy to lower elevated blood pressure (BP) decreases the risk for dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in older adults, and the benefits may be gained by several different drug classes.” The findings were presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)