U.S. News & World Report (3/14, Newman) reports, “An estimated two million children visited an emergency department [ED] for a traumatic brain injury [TBI] sustained during sports- and recreation-related activities between 2010 and 2016,” research indicated. What’s more, “football, bicycling, playground activities and soccer were the activities most likely to cause a brain injury in” children, “researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” concluded after examining “data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System–All Injury Program.” The study “found an average of 283,000 children under the age of 18 sought care in emergency departments each year for sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries, with the highest rates among males and children between the ages of 10 and 17 years old.”

Related Links:

— “Football, Soccer Lead to the Most Brain Injuries in Kids, “Katelyn Newman, U.S. News & World Report, March 14, 2019

In “Science Now,” the Los Angeles Times (3/14, Healy) reports research reveals “that U.S. teens and young adults in 2017 were more distressed, more likely to suffer from major depression, and more prone to suicide than their counterparts in the millennial generation were at the same age.” In addition, investigators “found that between 2008 and 2017, Gen Z’s emotional distress and its propensity toward self-harm grew more than for any other generation of Americans during the same period.” What’s more, “by 2017, just over 13% of Americans between the ages of 12 and 25 had symptoms consistent with an episode of major depression in the previous year – a 62% increase in eight years.”

The Washington Post (3/14, Bahrampour) reports the study, which “used data from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health and also relied on suicide statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found the greatest upticks in young people who were wealthier and female.” The study authors attributed the increases in mental health disorders “to increased time spent on social media and electronic communication, along with a decrease in the hours of sleep young people are getting.” Not getting enough “sleep is associated with depression and anxiety.” The findings were published online March 14 in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

Related Links:

— “Mental health problems are on rise among American teens and young adults, study finds, “Melissa Healy, Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2019

CNN (3/14, Powell) reports on its website “that the rate of Americans who died from dementia has more than doubled from 30.5 deaths per 100,000 people in 2000 to 66.7 in 2017,” according to a report from the National Center for Health Statistics. Dr. Ellen Kramarow, the report’s lead author, said that part of the increase is due to the population aging, “If people live longer, they don’t die of other causes, so they live to the point where the risk for dementia is higher.”

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (3/14, Pirani) reports that CDC Director Dr. Robert R. Redfield said, “Early diagnosis is key to helping people and their families cope with loss of memory, navigate the health care system, and plan for their care in the future.”

Related Links:

— “Deaths from dementia have more than doubled in US, report says, “Denise Powell, CNN, March 14, 2019

Reuters (3/13, Carroll) reports researchers found that people with “second- or third-degree relatives with Alzheimer’s” disease may have an increased risk of developing the disease themselves. The findings were published in Neurology.

Additional coverage is provided by HealthDay (3/13, Gordon), Healio (3/13, Demko), Newsweek (3/13, Gander), and the Telegraph (UK) (3/13, Knapton).

Related Links:

— “Great-grandparents or cousins with Alzheimer’s linked to higher risk for the disease, “Linda Carroll, Linda Carroll, March 13, 2019

The Philadelphia (PA) Inquirer (3/13, Giordano) reports, “In a new program developed at the Yale Child Study Center called SPACE, or Supportive Parenting for Anxious Childhood Emotions,” adults “are being taught to help their kids manage anxiety by reducing – lovingly and supportively – the accommodations the adults make for their children’s symptoms.” A 124-child study published online March 6 “in the Journal of the American Academy of Childhood and Adolescent Psychiatry…found this admittedly old-school approach of limiting accommodations was not only effective but appeared to work as well as…cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).” The Inquirer adds, “Nearly a third of adolescents have had an anxiety disorder, and more than eight percent of them experience severe impairment, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.”

Related Links:

— “Childhood anxiety treatment may best be targeted at parents, study finds, “Rita Giordano, The Philadelphia Inquirer, March 13, 2019

Two public service announcements about suicide awareness and prevention which were produced by high school students in Montgomery County, Maryland, are being played in local movie theaters. From the article at Patch.Com:

Two student-produced public service announcements about suicide awareness and prevention will be shown at local movie theaters.

The students created the PSAs for a contest aimed at preventing teen suicide, which — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — is the second leading cause of death for youth between the ages of 10 and 19.

Read more here: Suicide PSA By High School Students To Play In Local Theaters

HealthDay (3/12, Preidt) reports that taking medications to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) will not raise the risk of seizures in people with epilepsy, researchers concluded after analyzing “data from thousands of epilepsy patients in Sweden.” The findings were published online Jan. 25 in the journal Epilepsia. HealthDay adds, “Approximately nine percent of children aged two to 17 have had” a diagnosis of AD/HD, “according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”

Related Links:

— “ADHD Meds Safe With Epilepsy, Study Finds, “Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 12, 2019

Healio (3/12, Demko) reports that among 79 youngsters “aged 10 to 12 years presenting to the” emergency department (ED), “nearly one-third screened positive for suicide risk, according to” research conducted by Lisa Horowitz, PhD, MPH, and colleagues of the National Institute of Mental Health. The findings were published online March 7 in the journal Hospital Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Children as young as 10 years may be at risk for suicide, “Savannah Demko, Healio, March 12, 2019

HealthDay (3/11, Norton) reports loneliness among young adults appears to be “common – and it is a particular problem for people aged 18 to 24,” researchers concluded after surveying some 1,235 “patients at primary care offices.” The study revealed that “loneliness was most common among patients younger than 25 – with one-third reporting those feelings. In contrast, that was true for only 11 percent of adults older than 65.” The findings were published in the March/April issue of the Annals of Family Medicine.

Related Links:

— “1 in 3 Young Adults Suffers From Loneliness in U.S., “Amy Norton, HealthDay, March 11, 2019

Healio (3/11, Demko) reports, “Adults with atopic dermatitis, or eczema, have significantly higher rates of anxiety and depression than those without dermatitis,” researchers concluded after investigating “the connection between atopic dermatitis and anxiety and depression symptoms/diagnosis in 2,893 U.S. adults.” The study also revealed, however, that “these mental health conditions are often not diagnosed in these patients.” The findings were published online in the British Journal of Dermatology.

Related Links:

— “Eczema tied to anxiety, depression, “Savannah Demko, Healio, March 11, 2019