USA Today (8/17, Ungar) reports that suicide attempts “are alarmingly common among transgender individuals,” as 41% “try to kill themselves at some point in their lives, compared with 4.6% of the general public,” according to a study by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute, which analyzed results from the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. USA Today notes that “more than a dozen other surveys of transgender people worldwide since 2001 have found similarly high rates.” Research suggests that “those who are harassed, bullied, victimized, discriminated against or rejected by family and friends are more likely to attempt suicide.”

Related Links:

— “Transgender people face alarmingly high risk of suicide,” Laura Ungar, USA Today, August 16, 2015.

MedPage Today (8/14, Walsh) reports that research suggests that “women with multiple symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a markedly elevated risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis [RA].” Investigators found that “the presence of four or more symptoms of PTSD was associated with a 76% increased risk of incident rheumatoid arthritis compared with no history or symptoms of trauma.” Additionally, “compared with women who reported no trauma and no symptoms of PTSD, those who had trauma exposure but no symptoms of PTSD had a 25% increased risk…and those having one to three PTSD symptoms had a 31% increased risk.” The findings were published online in Arthritis Care & Research.

Related Links:

— “PTSD and RA: Is There a Smoking Gun?,” Nancy Walsh, MedPage Today, August 13, 2015.

The Kaiser Health News (8/14, Gold) reports that despite California’s “proactive stance…in enforcing” mental health parity laws, it is still “proving difficult to ensure mental patients truly have equal access to treatment,” as demonstrated by difficulties encountered by Kaiser Permanente patients that resulted in fines against the health maintenance organization and actions taken by the California Department of Managed Health Care (DHMC). Problems achieving mental health parity are not just restricted to Kaiser, however. Last year, the DMHC found that “of 26 managed care insurers…zero were able to prove that they were fully in compliance.” Randall Hagar, director of government relations for the California Psychiatric Association, said that “after many years of ‘abysmal’ enforcement, ‘now we have regulators who seem to be enthusiastic.’” Still, problems remain, because “access to care…is also an issue of capacity.” There are simply not enough mental health professionals to serve everyone who needs help.

Related Links:

— “Achieving Mental Health Parity: Slow Going Even In ‘Pace Car’ State,” Jenny Gold, Kaiser Health News, August 13, 2015.

The New York Times (8/12, Reynolds) “Well” blog reported that a study published last month in PLoS One suggests that “overall, ‘a small dose of exercise’ may be sufficient to improve many aspects of thinking and more sweat may not provide noticeably more cognitive benefit,” although it will improve aerobic fitness. The study of “101 sedentary older adults, at least 65 years of age,” revealed that “briskly walking for 20 or 25 minutes several times a week” appeared to be enough to help keep “brains sharp as the years pass.”

Related Links:

— “The Right Dose of Exercise for the Aging Brain,” Gretchen Reynolds, New York Times, August 12, 2015.

Bloomberg News (8/13, Tracer) reports that after years of shifting more healthcare costs to employees, “companies are slowing their adoption of high-deductible plans next year, according to a survey of more than 100 large US employers.” About 33 percent of business will offer high-deductible plans as the only option next year, up just one percentage point over this year, according to the survey from the National Business Group on Health. Bloomberg News adds that the relief “could be temporary,” however, as companies are waiting to see if Congress will repeal the ACA’s so-called Cadillac tax on high-cost health plans.

CNBC (8/13) reports that the Cadillac tax “is imposed on the employer or the insurer that administers the health plan, but benefits analysts said the costs will likely be shifted to workers especially at smaller companies.” The article notes the levy goes into effect in 2018.

Related Links:

— “Companies Slow Down Shift of Health Costs to Workers,” Zachary Tracer Richard Rubin, Bloomberg News, August 12, 2015.

On its front page, the Washington Post (8/13, A1, Bernstein) reports that one of the “most heartbreaking developments” in the nation’s “heroin epidemic” has been a “sharp rise” in the number of newborns exposed to heroin, leading to a quadrupling of the rate of neonatal abstinence syndrome over the past nine years, up to 2.7 percent of all NICU admissions. In addition, the cost to care for these children “has also soared” to $53,000 on average in 2009.

Related Links:

— “When life begins in rehab: A baby heals after a mother’s heroin addiction,” Lenny Bernstein, Washington Post, August 12, 2015.

US News & World Report (8/12, Leonard) reported that mental health reform legislation pending in Congress has some critics who “point to portions that would loosen the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act – a 1996 measure known as HIPAA that was intended to ensure patient privacy.” In addition, some critics “flag incentives for what’s called ‘assisted outpatient treatment,’ in which a judge can order someone with a serious mental illness – including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder – to follow a treatment plan that may include medication.” But, “John Snook, executive director of the Treatment Advocacy Center, which supports outpatient assisted treatment, pointed to the fact that several groups have recognized it as a treatment option, including the…Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration.”

Related Links:

— “Would Mental Health Laws Threaten Privacy and Patients’ Rights?,” Kimberly Leonard, US News & World Report, August 12, 2015.

HealthDay (8/12, Preidt) reports, “Women with a mental health disorder taking commonly prescribed” selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) “antidepressants during pregnancy appear to have fewer delivery complications,” according to research published online Aug. 4 in the American Journal of Psychiatry, a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. After examining “data from more than 845,000 single births in Finland between 1996 and 2010,” researchers found that expectant mothers taking SSRIs were less likely to give birth prematurely or undergo a cesarean delivery. The infants born to these women, however, “may have a higher risk of problems, such as breathing issues.”

Related Links:

— “Antidepressants During Pregnancy Have Benefits, Risks: Study,” Robert Preidt, HealthDay, August 11, 2015.

The Washington Post (8/11, Kunkle) reports that the Food and Drug Administration gave de novo marketing approval to Cerebral Assessment Systems’ Cognivue, “a cognitive-assessment tool that functions somewhat like a video game” and “can detect subtle lapses in the brain’s perceptual ability that may signal the early stages of mental decline caused by dementia.” The device is for medical professional use only and “is not intended to be a standalone diagnostic tool.”

Related Links:

— “FDA approves tool for diagnosing dementia in a doctor’s office,” Fredrick Kunkle, Washington Post, August 10, 2015.

Noting that medical marijuana was legalized in California in 1996, the Pittsburgh Business Times (8/11, Mamula) “Morning Edition” blog reports that a study at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health found that “the number of marijuana dispensaries in a given area of California was a predictor of marijuana-related hospitalizations, abuse and dependence on the drug.” According to the article, “The study found that hospitalizations with marijuana abuse or dependence codes increased to 68,408 in 2012 from 17,469 in 2001, with more than 85 percent of marijuana-related hospitalizations coded as abuse rather than dependence.” The findings were published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence and the project was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Related Links:

— “Pitt study: Marijuana dispensaries related to abuse, dependence,” Kris B. Mamula, Pittsburgh Business Times, August 10, 2015.