Psychiatric News (11/13) says, “Children who do not develop mental health problems early in life despite exposure to multiple adversities may experience such challenges in early adulthood, suggests a report in The American Journal of Psychiatry,” a publication of the American Psychiatric Association. In the study, “researchers found that compared with children with limited exposure to adversity and no childhood disorders (low-risk/no disorders group), resilient children had nearly 3 times the risk of developing anxiety and 4.5 times the risk of developing depression in adulthood.” Additionally, “the resilient group had worse physical and financial health compared with individuals in the low-risk/no disorders group,” but “had better functioning compared with the group of participants with childhood psychiatric problems in the domains of health and social functioning.”

Related Links:

— “Impacts of Childhood Adversity on Mental Health May Be Delayed for Some Youth, Study Suggests, Psychiatric News, November 13, 2023

CNN (11/13, McPhillips) reports, “Nearly 49 million people in the US ages 12 and older – more than 1 in 6 – had a substance use disorder in 2022, according to survey data released Monday by the US Department of Health and Human Services.” Broken down, “about 30 million people had an alcohol use disorder, and 27 million had a drug use disorder, including about 6 million with [an] opioid use disorder.” Around “8 million people had both alcohol and drug use disorders, the survey found. Substance use disorders were considered severe for more than 1 in 5 people.”

Related Links:

— “More than 1 in 6 US adults and adolescents had a substance use disorder in 2022, federal survey finds,”Deidre McPhillips, CNN, November 13, 2023

The Hill (11/10, Dress) reported the White House on Friday “announced the expansion of health care coverage for the nation’s veterans, creating a no-cost system for World War II veterans seeking care and accelerating enrollment for all veterans applying for benefits after exposure to toxins.” Beginning this month, “all living World War II veterans can access health care services from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) at no cost, including nursing home care, the White House said in a press release.” Additionally, “the VA will also accelerate eligibility under the PACT Act, a major law that passed last year and expanded benefits for veterans exposed to toxins and chemicals.”

Related Links:

— “Biden expands veterans’ health care coverage,”Brad Dress , The Hill, November 10, 2023

MedPage Today (11/12, Phend) reports, “Intensive blood pressure control reduced dementia risk among individuals with hypertension, a randomized trial from rural China showed.” The research, presented at AHA Scientific Sessions 2023, showed that “a village doctor-led intervention with a simple stepped-care protocol targeting a blood pressure under 130/80 mm Hg reduced occurrence of any dementia by a relative 15% compared with usual care over 4 years.”

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

TCTMD (11/10, Maxwell) reported, “Atrial fibrillation (AF) is not only linked to an increased likelihood of developing dementia, but this risk increases in people who see their AF symptoms start at a younger age, according to…prospective data.” An “analysis of patients with AF showed that younger age of onset was directly related to a higher risk of developing all-cause dementia,” Alzheimer’s disease, and vascular dementia. The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Younger Age at AF Onset Linked to Greater Dementia Risk,”Yael L. Maxwell, TCTMD , November 10, 2023

The Washington Post (11/11, Stillman) reported, “Record warmth made this past week feel like early fall or even late summer across much of the nation, yet winter has already started – ‘solar winter,’ that is.” This “marks the beginning of the darkest – and, for some people, the most depressing ‘‘ stretch of the year. Solar winter is defined as the quarter of the calendar year with the least amount of daylight.” This period “is most closely aligned with the typical onset of winter seasonal affective disorder, or SAD. Those who suffer from SAD – about 5 percent of the U.S. adult population, according to the American Psychiatric Association – experience depression linked to reduced daylight. SAD can last up to five months, well beyond the end of solar winter.”

Related Links:

— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

The New York Times (11/9, Ghorayshi) reports physicians “and patients have long known that antidepressants can cause sexual problems,” but now “a small but vocal group of patients is speaking out about severe sexual problems that have endured even long after they stopped taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, the most popular type of antidepressants.” When patients report such issues – “like the distinctive symptom of genital numbness – the signal should not be dismissed, said” American Psychiatric Association Council on Research Chair Jonathan Alpert, MD, PhD. Dr. Alpert points to similar side effects experienced by patients who have taken the hair loss drug finasteride or acne medication isotretinoin. These “may point to a common biological mechanism, Dr. Alpert said.”

The New York Times (11/9, Ghorayshi) reports in a second article that when the “S.S.R.I.s went on the market in the late 1980s, patients began telling their psychiatrists that they were having sexual problems.” Dr. Jonathan Alpert said, “Only in going back and looking more carefully and gathering more data did we realize that actually those serotonergic drugs, the older ones, also caused sexual dysfunction.” Still, “in many cases, the problems caused by the medications can be managed.” For instance, “adding the non-S.S.R.I. antidepressant Wellbutrin, which acts on norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain, has been shown to diminish sexual symptoms in many patients, Dr. Alpert said.”

Related Links:

— “The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Endocrinology Advisor (11/9, Kurek) reports, “Antidiabetic medications such as metformin and glucagon-like peptide-1…receptor agonists are associated with reduced risk for dementia, according to” a study. The research was published in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

Related Links:

— “Antidiabetic Medications Reduce Dementia Risk,”Ellen Kurek, Endocrinology Advisor , November 9, 2023

KFF Health News (11/9, Sibonney) reports it has “long been known that Black children are underdiagnosed for ADHD compared with white peers.” In a study published in Psychiatry Research, researchers “estimated the odds that Black students got diagnosed with the neurological condition were 40% lower than for white students, with all else being equal – including controlling for economic status, student achievement, behavior, and executive functioning.” And “for young Black males, the odds of being diagnosed with ADHD were especially stark: almost 60% lower than for white boys in similar circumstances, even though research suggests the prevalence of the condition is likely the same.”

Related Links:

— “Underdiagnosed and Undertreated, Young Black Males With ADHD Get Left Behind,”Claire Sibonney , KFF Health News, November 9, 2023

PatientEngagementHIT (11/8, Heath) reports, “Seven in 10 counties in the United States have insufficient maternal mental health care access, a problem that exacerbates maternal health outcomes, according to a new assessment from the Policy Center for Maternal Mental Health.” Researchers used “a 36-point Risk Factor Score (RFS) assessing risk factors like the prevalence of domestic violence, poverty, unintended pregnancy, and social isolation.” The researchers “found that nearly 700 counties in the U.S. are at high risk for maternal mental health disorders. Additionally, more than half of the perinatal population lives in a [county] with an RSF level of 15 or more.”

Related Links:

— “Need Outpaces Maternal Mental Healthcare Access in 150 Counties, PatientEngagementHIT , November 8, 2023