Healio (8/7, Byrne) reports a study found that “more than half of adults with inflammatory bowel disease have at least one psychiatric comorbidity.” Study results showed that “more than half (57%) of participants had at least one psychiatric comorbidity, and 27% had more than one. The most common condition was major depressive disorder (41.7%), followed by anxiety disorders (39.6%), substance use disorders (16.2%), PTSD (5.3%), obsessive-compulsive disorder (4.9%) and bipolar disorder (2%).” Researchers also observed that “certain combinations of psychiatric disorders occurred more often. Notably, among those with major depressive disorder and another psychiatric comorbidity, nearly half (49.1%) had a substance abuse disorder. Of those with at least one psychiatric comorbidity, more than 70% had major depressive disorder and an anxiety disorder.” The study was published in Crohn’s & Colitis 360.

Related Links:

— “Psychiatric disorders ‘common’ among patients with inflammatory bowel disease,”Jennifer Byrne , Healio, August 7, 2025

The AP (8/5, Dubow) reports the National Football League “sent a memo to teams on Tuesday explaining the decision to ban smelling salts and any other ammonia inhalant (AI) during pregame activities, games and halftime on the sideline or locker rooms.” The memo states, “The FDA noted potential negative effects from AI use. AIs also have the potential to mask certain neurologic signs and symptoms, including some potential signs of concussion. As a result, the NFL Head, Neck, and Spine Committee recommended prohibiting the use of AIs for any purpose during play in the NFL.”

Related Links:

— “NFL bans smelling salts, saying product can mask concussion symptoms,”Josh Dubow , AP, August 5, 2025

Healio (8/5, Herpen) reports a study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference links a history of traumatic brain injury to “long-term cognitive decline involving speech functions, specifically where the presence of amyloid-beta was detected as opposed to other biomarkers indicative of preclinical Alzheimer’s.” Researchers observed that “in those positive for amyloid-beta biomarkers, a history of TBI was associated with accelerated longitudinal decline in speech measured by words per minute and letter fluency as well as word finding, while those without TBI had a slight longitudinal increase across all three domains. Further, they reported a decline of broader executive functions such as digital symbol substitution and trails making test were not accelerated by TBI history.” Conversely, they noted “no significant effect of TBI history on similar decline for participants with history of either apolipoprotein or tauopathies.”

Related Links:

— “TBI linked to long-term cognitive decline in preclinical Alzheimer’s disease,”Robert Herpen, MA , Healio, August 5, 2025

CNN (8/5, Holcombe) reports, “People who experienced physical abuse as a child were at a 50% increased risk of reporting low mental health in adulthood compared with those with no abuse, according to” a study, while “those who experienced verbal abuse had a 60% increase in likelihood of low well-being.” Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing “data from more than 20,000 adults across seven different studies in England and Wales.” The findings were published in BMJ Open.

Related Links:

— “Childhood verbal and physical abuse leave similar impacts, study shows,”Madeline Holcombe, CNN, August 5, 2025

MedPage Today (8/4, George) reports a study found that “treatment with the antiviral oseltamivir (Tamiflu) was tied to a reduced risk of serious neuropsychiatric events in children and adolescents.” Researchers observed that “compared with untreated flu, the risk of serious neuropsychiatric events was lower in kids treated with oseltamivir during flu exposure periods and post-treatment periods.” Furthermore, the “relative risks of neuropsychiatric events also were low during periods with neither flu exposure nor oseltamivir dispensing and during oseltamivir prophylaxis periods compared with untreated flu.” The findings ultimately “raise questions about warnings on oseltamivir’s label” that states “that some flu patients who receive the drug, particularly pediatric patients, may be at an increased risk of confusion or abnormal behavior early in their illness.” The study authors wrote, “It is important to note that these warnings were placed on the basis of case reports rather than studies on associated risks for these events.” The study was published in JAMA Neurology.

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The Hill (8/4, Migdon) reports New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte (R) “signed two bills Friday restricting access to transition-related care in the state, which already prohibits rare genital surgeries for minors to transition.” The first bill “prohibits doctors from administering puberty blockers and hormones to transgender youth starting Jan. 1,” while the second “bars adolescents younger than 18 from undergoing certain procedures when they are used to treat gender dysphoria.” The move makes New Hampshire “the first Northeastern state to ban gender-affirming health care for minors.”

Related Links:

— “New Hampshire becomes first Northeastern state to ban gender-affirming care for minors,”Brooke Migdon, The Hill, August 4, 2025

The AP (8/1, Stobbe) reported a federal health official confirmed last week that experts from “more than a half-dozen of the nation’s top medical organizations” were “disinvited from the workgroups that have been the backbone of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. The organizations include the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.” In a joint statement Friday, the AMA and several organizations said: “To remove our deep medical expertise from this vital and once transparent process is irresponsible, dangerous to our nation’s health, and will further undermine public and clinician trust in vaccine.

Related Links:

— “AMA and other medical associations are kicked out of CDC vaccine workgroups,”Mike Stobbe , AP, August 1, 2025

HealthDay (8/1, Mundell) reported a study suggests that when a community’s homicide rates rise, “there’s typically a local uptick in suicides a year later.” The researchers “tracked 50 years’ worth of data – from 1968 through 2019 – for homicides and suicides in counties across 48 U.S. states. The main finding: A one-point rise in homicides in a county during one year was linked to an average 3.6% rise in suicides the following year.” Moreover, the trend intensified when homicides and suicides were due to “a gun: A one-point rise in gun-related killings was linked to a 5.7% rise in gun-related suicides the following year. The murder-suicide link was more pronounced in rural versus urban communities, and among white people versus Black Americans, although Black Americans were not unaffected, the researchers said.” The study was published in Social Science & Medicine.

Related Links:

— “When Local Homicide Rates Rise, Suicides Rise Soon After,”Ernie Mundell , HealthDay, August 1, 2025

Psychiatric News (8/1) reported a study found that “an intervention focused on emotion regulation can help” teens and young adults with autism “significantly reduce their daily impairments to living.” Researchers observed that after 16 weeks, youth who participated in “Emotion Awareness and Skills Enhancement (EASE), a 16-module program rooted in mindfulness that teaches individuals to become more aware of and better regulate their emotions,” had “significantly greater improvements in symptoms related to emotion regulation than the active control group. Overall, 63% of EASE participants showed strong improvements in their daily functioning, compared with 44% receiving the active control.” Furthermore, “EASE participants also showed statistically significant improvements in internalizing and externalizing symptoms from baseline, whereas only the latter improved in the active control group.” The study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Emotion Regulation Therapy Is Effective for Teens and Young Adults With Autism , Psychiatric News, August 1, 2025

The New York Times (7/31, Shakin) reports that “a major study of the health of transgender and gender nonconforming young people is set to begin later this year in Britain.” Researchers from King’s College London “plan to track the mental and physical well-being of up to 3,000 children and teenagers who have a gender identity that differs from their sex at birth, and who have sought treatment from the country’s National Health Service. They will carry out annual surveys that look at their quality of life, body image and gender identity.” The study, funded by the NHS and the UK government’s clinical research agency, is “part of a wider 10.7 million pound, or about $14 million, initiative from King’s College that aims to find out how Britain’s health service can best support trans and gender nonconforming children and young people.”

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— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)