HealthDay (6/27, Preidt) reports that research “finds no evidence that degenerative brain disorders can be transmitted via donated blood.” Investigators looked at data on approximately 40,000 patients, all of whom “had received blood transfusions between 1968 and 2012 from people who were later diagnosed with any form of dementia or Parkinson’s disease.” The researchers also looked at data on more than 1.4 million other patients.

The study indicated that “patients in both groups had exactly the same chance of developing a neurodegenerative disorder, which clearly shows that these diseases cannot be transmitted through blood transfusion, the researchers said.” The findings were published in Annals of Internal Medicine.

Related Links:

— “Donated Blood Won’t Transmit Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s Disease,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 27, 2016.

USA Today (6/27, Shedrofsky) reports that in a report released Monday, the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that family physicians “should screen teens for suicide risks in the wake of new information that shows suicide is the second leading cause of death among teens.” The group uses the report to provide “pediatricians with guidelines on how to identify and assist at-risk teens between the age of 15 to 19.” And, because “firearms in the home are associated with a higher risk of adolescent suicide,” the group “AAP urges parents of at-risk teens to remove guns and ammunition from their homes.”

Related Links:

— “Pediatricians urged to screen for suicide risks among teens,” Karina Shedrofsky, USA Today, June 27, 2016.

Medscape (6/24, Davenport) reported, “For adolescents, living with parents who have chronic migraine has a negative effect on activities of daily life and on school performance and is associated with increased rates of anxiety,” research suggests. The findings of the 1,411 parent-adolescent dyad study were presented at the American Headache Association’s annual meeting.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

USA Today (6/25, Park) reported on the nonprofit Crisis Text Line, “which has brought the 1-800 support line into the age of texting.” The text line offers 24-hour, seven-day-per-week trained counselors to “respond to people in need with SMS texts” that are both “anonymous and confidential.” USA Today also pointed out, “As suicide rates have climbed to alarming levels – the highest in three decades – public health and CDC researchers agree that suicide prevention needs more resources.” For example, “in 2013, more than 41,000 people in the” US “committed suicide, according to statistics collected by the US Department of Health and Human Services.”

Related Links:

— “Crisis Text Line takes suicide prevention into the age of texting,” Madison Park, , June 25, 2016.

HealthDay (6/24, Preidt) reports that National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism issued the results of a study, published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, showing that the rate of US adults who “reported nonmedical use of addictive opioids in 2012-2013” was more than 4 percent, more than double the less than 2 percent rate a decade earlier. National Institute on Drug Abuse director Dr. Nora Volkow said the rise in opioid misuse “poses a myriad of serious public health consequences.” NIAAA director George Koob cautioned against the “potent interaction of opioids with alcohol and other sedative-hypnotic drugs – an interaction that can be lethal.”

Related Links:

— “Opioid Update: Painkiller Misuse in U.S. Doubled in Decade,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, June 24, 2016.

The Boston Globe (6/23, Teitell) reports the CDC’s 2015 Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance study found that smoking, drinking, drug use, and sexual activity have decreased among teens. However, the study noted teens are engaging in risky behaviors including “the use of electronic vapor products,” a decline in condom use, and the use of “potentially addictive prescription drugs.” The spokesman for the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancies, Bill Albert says, overall, “today’s teens are ‘more cautious,’ than those of previous generations.”

Related Links:

— “Teens and risky behavior: Is it getting better or worse?,” Beth Teitell, Boston Globe, June 23, 2016.

The Hill (6/22, Sullivan) reports that on June 22, the office of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that “the House will vote on a long-delayed mental health reform bill in July,” HR 2646, the Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, sponsored by Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA). The vote comes “as the Senate is also looking for a path forward on a similar mental health bill from” Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Chris Murphy (D-CT).

Related Links:

— “House to vote on long-delayed mental health bill in July,” Peter Sullivan, The Hill, June 22, 2016.

In an editorial, Bloomberg View (6/21) asserts that the United States “is the only affluent country where the number of psychiatrists per capita fell from 2000 to 2011, even as it spends twice as much as others on health care.” While proposed mental health legislation pending on Capitol Hill is “welcome,” its passage “would still leave many Americans without the care they need.” Bloomberg View calls for “wider coverage by government health plans,” because “adequate spending on mental health would save other social and government costs down the road.”

Related Links:

— “Better Mental Health Care Is Worth the Expense,” Bloomberg View, June 21, 2016.

The Wall Street Journal (6/22, Hughes, Radnofsky, Subscription Publication) reports House Republicans are expected to unveil proposals for reforming the US health insurance system today, offering tax credits to pay for private insurance to replace the Affordable Care Act. The Journal says the broad plan leaves out many details, and is intended to give voters an idea of GOP healthcare policy ideas before this fall’s elections, with more specifics to come next year.

The AP (6/22, Werner) reports that the plan also “includes other largely familiar GOP ideas such as medical liability reform and expanding access to health savings accounts.” It “proposes putting $25 billion behind high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions and for others, and transforming the federal-state Medicaid program for the poor by turning it into state block grants or individual per-capita allotments to hold down spending.”

Related Links:

— “House Republicans Unveil Health-Insurance Proposal,” LOUISE RADNOFSKY and SIOBHAN HUGHES, Wall Street Journal, June 22, 2016.

HealthDay (6/21, Doheny) reports that research published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine suggests “years of working long hours…may take a steep toll on” one’s “health – and that’s especially true for women.” When investigators “compared men who worked more than 60 hours a week to those who worked 30 to 40, they found those who worked the longer hours had more than twice the risk of getting osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis.” However, men “who worked 41 to 50 hours had a lower risk of heart disease, lung disease and depression.”

Medical Daily (6/21, Bushak) reports, however, that “women who averaged 60 hours or more in a work week had a threefold risk of diabetes, cancer, heart trouble, and arthritis.” The investigators “found that the risk for these chronic health issues began increasing when women worked more than 40 hours a week, but they got even worse if the average work week was over 50 hours.”

Related Links:

— “Long Work Hours May Hurt Your Health,” Kathleen Doheny, HealthDay, June 21, 2016.