HealthDay (3/25, Pallarito) reported that research suggests kids “with severe psychiatric problems often have lengthy waits before they’re transferred from a hospital emergency department to a psychiatric hospital due to insurance companies’ ‘prior authorization’ requirements.” Investigators looked at data on more than 200 patients. The researchers found that “mental health workers at one Rhode Island hospital spent an average of an hour on the telephone seeking insurance companies’ approval.” However, insurers eventually approved all of the admissions, which “suggests that prior authorization appears to serve ‘more as an administrative hurdle,’ the study authors wrote.”
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The AP (3/25, Pane, Swanson) reported that 62% of Americans “said that at least one type of substance use was a serious problem in their communities,” while 43% “said they have a relative or close friend with substance abuse issues,” according to a survey by the Associated Press and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago. The AP described the survey results as demonstrating “a feeling that drugs are a pervasive problem, with many seeing friends or relatives ravaged by drugs and believing that treatment options need to be improved for addicts while punishment needs to be fierce for dealers.”

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— “AP-NORC POLL: MOST AMERICANS SEE DRUGS AS A BIG PROBLEM,” Lisa marie Pane and Emily Swanson, Associated Press, March 25, 2016.

Medscape (3/24, Brooks) reports, “National guidelines encourage emergency department (ED) physicians to ask suicidal patients whether they have access to guns or other lethal means of ending their lives, but only about half do ask,” the findings of a study published online March 17 in Depression and Anxiety suggest. Researchers arrived at this conclusion after interviewing “1,358 patients from eight EDs in seven states” who “had experienced suicidal ideation or had attempted suicide.” Funding for the study came from the National Institute of Mental Health.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

HealthDay (3/24, Mozes) reports, “The more time young adults spend using popular social media, the greater the link to depression,” the findings of a 1,800-participant study funded by the National Institutes of Health and published in the April 1 issue of the journal Depression and Anxiety suggest. Researchers found that “when social media patterns were stacked up against depression status…those who used social media the most were about 2.7 times more likely to be depressed than those who used such forums the least.”

Related Links:

— “Could Lots of Time Spent on Social Media Be Tied to Depression?,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, March 24, 2016.

The New York Times (3/23, B9, Belson, Subscription Publication) reported that “with the expectation that more N.F.L. players will suffer dementia from repeated head hits, businesses that cater to people with memory loss are gearing up for what could be droves of new clients in the near future.” The article notes that “an actuarial report commissioned by the N.F.L. found that 28 percent of all players would be found to have one of the compensable diseases included in a settlement with retired players who had accused the league of hiding from them the dangers of concussions.” Among the diseases were Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

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— “Dementia Care, Tailored to N.F.L. Retirees,” Ken Belson, New York Times, March 22, 2016.

HealthDay (3/23, Mozes) reports that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants appear not “to raise the risk for heart trouble among young and middle-age patients,” the findings of a 238,963-patient study published online March 22 in the BMJ suggest. After examining data on “different types of antidepressants, as well as dosage and duration,” researchers “concluded there was ‘no significant association’ between SSRIs and an increased risk for heart attack, stroke or an irregular heartbeat.”

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— “Study Finds No Heart Risk From SSRI Antidepressants,” Alan Mozes, HealthDay, March 23, 2016.

Newsweek (3/23, Main) reports new research revealed that those “who smoke marijuana on a regular basis for years and those who are dependent on it are significantly more likely to have economic and social problems at midlife than those who use it only occasionally or not at all.” Researchers analyzed data from nearly 1,000 people in New Zealand who were interviewed regularly from birth to age 38. The findings were published in the journal Clinical Psychological Science.

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— “REGULAR MARIJUANA USE LINKED TO ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS,” Douglas Main, Newsweek, March 23, 2016.

HealthDay (3/23, Preidt) reports that research suggests individuals “who develop depression after being diagnosed with heart disease may be more likely to have a heart attack or die than those without depression.” Researchers looked at data on approximately “23,000 heart patients in…Ontario who were diagnosed with heart disease.” The investigators found that over “an average follow-up of three years, those with depression were 83 percent more likely die of any cause and 36 percent more likely to have a heart attack than those without depression.” The research was scheduled to be presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting.

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— “Depression Tied to Worse Outcomes for Heart Patients,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, March 23, 2016.

Medscape (3/17, Harrison) reports that researchers at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) are “sounding the alarm over a possible increase in unknown cognitive and behavioral harms that widespread cannabis use may unmask.” A clinical review conducted by NIDA Director Nora Volkow, MD, revealed that “as legalization of” cannabis “for recreational and medical use spreads, vulnerable populations, especially adolescents, are exposed to toxic effects of the drug.” Dr. Volkow “explained that young brains are engaged in a protracted period of ‘brain programming,’ in which everything an adolescent does or is exposed to can affect the final architecture and network connectivity of the brain.” The findings were published in the March issue of JAMA Psychiatry.

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— Medscape (requires login and subscription)

Reuters (3/21, Seaman) reports that the percentage of US seniors taking at least five supplements or medications has risen, research published online March 21 in JAMA Internal Medicine suggests. With this rise comes an increase in the number of serious and major medication interactions, the study revealed.

The CBS News (3/21, Vernon) website reports that 47 percent of “Americans age 75 and older took five or more prescription drugs in 2011, nearly double the 24 percent that did so in 1999, just 12 years earlier.” For people in the age range of 65 to 74, the percentage is comparable at 33 percent for 2011 and 23 percent in 1999.

Related Links:

— “Older Americans taking more medications,” Andrew M. Seaman, Reuters, March 21, 2016.