Medscape (3/1, Brooks) reports, “Researchers have identified a novel gene variant involved in opioid addiction, a finding that may aid efforts to develop novel pharmacologic approaches to the treatment of opioid dependence.” Medscape reports that in a genome-wide association study, “investigators found that a variant on chromosome 15 (rs12442138) near the repulsive guidance molecule A (RGMA) gene was associated with opioid dependence at a ‘genome-wide significant’ level.” The study was published online in Biological Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

The Hartford (CT) Courant (3/1, Rosner) reports, “The number of privately insured women nationwide between the ages of 15 and 44 who filled a prescription for an” attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder AD/HD “medication soared 344 percent from 2003 to 2015, from 0.9 percent to 4 percent, according to” data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Amphetamine salts, lisdexamfetamine, and methylphenidate are the three commonly filled AD/HD prescriptions, according to the CDC, and all three of those drugs are classified as Category C drugs by the FDA, which means that “studies on animals have shown an adverse effect on a fetus and there are no adequate and well-controlled studies in humans, but potential benefit may warrant their use in pregnancy despite potential risks.”

Related Links:

— “ADHD Drug Use Rises Sharply Among Young Women,” Cara Rosner, , March 1, 2018.

Healio (3/1, Demko) reports that “due to the substantial, unmet need for mental health services and care in the military, many service members seek care in the civilian sector,” researchers found after examining data on “233 military clients located throughout the U.S., Afghanistan, South Korea and Germany who received care between 2013 and 2016 from a network of volunteer civilian practitioners.” The findings were published online Feb. 27 in the journal Military Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Service members’ mental health needs unmet, some seek civilian care,” Waitzkin H, et al., Healio, March 1, 2018.

The Hill (3/1, Weixel) reports that advocates for mental health are now “seizing on the new spotlight on their issue after the Florida shooting, as President Trump and congressional Republicans focus on mental health as a solution to gun violence.” Some mental health advocacy “groups want to use the renewed attention on mental illness to push for more resources to address what they see as major gaps in the country’s mental health system.” Groups mentioned in the article are Mental Health America and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

Related Links:

— “Mental health groups push for policy changes after shooting,” NATHANIEL WEIXEL, The Hill, March 1, 2018.

The AP (3/1) reports that officials in Phoenix, AZ, “are launching an interagency push to reduce suicide among military service personnel, veterans and their families.” The initiative, which is “sponsored by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs,” has the goal of increasing “support” and developing “a response plan for detection of warning signs and timely intervention.”

Related Links:

— “Phoenix launching interagency initiative to prevent suicide,” Associated Press, March 1, 2018.

CNN (2/28, Scutti) reports researchers found that “small changes in the blood vessels within our eyes at age 60 can foretell a significant loss of memory over the next couple of decades.”

Medscape (2/28, McNamara) reports researchers used “fundus photography, which takes images of the interior surface of the eye, including the retina,” and “found retinopathy was associated with faster cognitive decline over a 20-year period vs no retinopathy.” Some 12,317 older adults were included in the study. The findings were published online in the journal Neurology. HealthDay (2/28, Thompson) also covers the study.

Related Links:

— “These health problems can be predicted with a look into your eyes,” Susan Scutti, CNN, March 1, 2018.

The Huffington Post (3/1, Herreria) reports on a new survey (pdf) by The Trevor Project which “found that more than 50 percent of LGBTQ youths who participated in its national survey had been diagnosed with an eating disorder.” Among respondents to the “first of its kind” survey of 1,034 self-identified LGBTQ individuals ages 13 to 24, “71 percent of trans respondents had been diagnosed with an eating disorder, with anorexia being the most common disorder.” The article says that about 58 percent of respondents diagnosed with an eating disorder also considered suicide, according to the survey.

Related Links:

— “Over 50% Of LGBTQ Youths Struggle With Eating Disorders, Survey Finds,” Carla Herreria, Huffington Post, March 1, 2018.

In an essay in the New York Times (1/24, Lyons, Subscription Publication) “Disability” series, writer Gila Lyons details her ongoing up-and-down struggle with panic disorder. She writes that while “physical disabilities are understood and written into law and accommodated…mental illnesses are stigmatized, nebulous to measure and accommodate, and often seen as a fault in the person, rather than an uncontrollable physical reality.”

Currently, “consensus among the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Institute of Mental Health and the American Psychiatric Association points to mental illness as significant changes in thinking, feeling or behavior coupled with an inability to function in daily life in terms of self-care, maintaining jobs and relationships.”

Lyons reminds readers, “The Americans With Disabilities Act protects those with both physical and mental disabilities by ensuring they have fair and equal access to employment, housing, transportation and governmental services,” while “the Social Security Administration recognizes anxiety disorders, along with eight other categories of mental disorders, as conditions that qualify for disability benefits.”

Related Links:

— “When Life Gave Me Lemons, I Had a Panic Attack,” Gila Lyons, New York Times, January 24, 2018.

In an opinion piece in the New York Times (1/24, Subscription Publication) called “I Was Tortured In Gay Conversion Therapy. And It’s Still Legal In 41 States,” Sam Brinton, “the head of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth,” writes about his own personal experiences as a child undergoing “hurtful” conversion therapy.

Brinton observes, “Every prominent professional health association…opposes the use of conversion therapy on youth, calling it harmful and ineffective.” Brinton, who says he is “proudly bisexual and gender fluid,” calls for the passage of “legislation to stop licensed therapists who seek to harm LGBTQ youth with conversion therapy.”

Related Links:

— “I Was Tortured in Gay Conversion Therapy. And It’s Still Legal in 41 States,” Sam Brinton, New York Times, January 24, 2018.

The New York Times (1/4, Pear, Subscription Publication) reports that on Thursday, the Trump Administration unveiled “sweeping new rules that could make it easier for small businesses to band together and create health insurance plans that would be exempt from many of the consumer protections mandated by the Affordable Care Act.” According to the Labor Department, up to 11 million consumers “could find coverage under this proposal,” which would exempt small businesses from providing certain “‘essential health benefits’ like mental health care, emergency services, maternity and newborn care and prescription drugs.” The article says “consumer groups, state officials and Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans have strenuously opposed similar ideas for years.”

The Washington Post (1/4, Goldstein) reports that this proposal “would carry out the most significant part of an executive order that President Trump signed in October, directing the government to foster more alternative types of insurance.” Advocates maintain “the so-called association health plans would be less expensive, while critics – including the insurance industry – fear that they would promote substandard coverage and weaken the ACA’s already fragile insurance marketplaces.”

The Wall Street Journal (1/4, Armour, Subscription Publication) reports that this proposal is an attempt by the Trump Administration to roll back ACA provisions by using regulations. Critics warn that by excluding some types of coverage, the plans would be able to discriminate against certain groups, such as cancer patients.

Related Links:

— “Trump Proposes New Health Plan Options for Small Businesses,” ROBERT PEAR, New York Times, January 4, 2018.