KFF Health News (9/18, Wolfson) reports the goal of fostering physicians who train locally and stay to work in rural areas is weakened by “recent state and federal spending cuts” that will “pull dollars out of an already frayed health system, exacerbating the shortage of care and making their efforts more challenging.” KFF details how “California’s health care shortage is driven by the struggles of rural hospitals; an aging physician workforce; the inherent appeal to up-and-coming doctors of more urban areas; and the financial pressures of doing business in a region with a high proportion of low-paying government insurance, especially Medi-Cal, the state’s version of the Medicaid program, for people with low incomes and disabilities.” Specialists are in “acutely short supply” in many northern counties, with some areas with no specialists at all. Beyond funding cuts, “medical educators also worry about new caps on federal student loans, which could deter lower-income students, including those in rural areas, from medical school. Altogether, the financial constraints will only make the health care shortage worse.”

Related Links:

— “Health Care Cuts Threaten Homegrown Solutions to Rural Doctor Shortages,”Bernard J. Wolfson, KFF Health News, September 18, 2025

HealthDay (9/17, Gotkine) reports a study presented at the 2025 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress suggests that “patients with atopic eczema (AE) have an increased risk for suicidal ideation (SI).” The researchers “surveyed 15,223 adults with AE and 7,968 controls without eczema across 27 countries to examine the prevalence of SI and its associated risk factors in the Scars of Life study.” They observed that “SI was reported by 13.2 percent of AE patients compared with 8.5 percent of controls. No significant difference was seen in the prevalence of SI across AE subgroups, but all had elevated odds of SI versus controls. Key predictors were revealed on comparison of 2,010 SI cases with 13,213 non-SI cases, including younger age and obesity.” Meanwhile, clinical risk factors “included moderate-to-severe AE, pruritus, skin pain, and high symptom intensity.”

Related Links:

— “Suicidal Ideation Risk Elevated for Patients With Atopic Eczema,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, September 17, 2025

USA Today (9/17, Ramirez) reports Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) stated Wednesday they will introduce legislation that “would reinstate the specialized suicide crisis lifeline for LGBTQ+ young people and direct the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services to dedicate funding toward ‘re-establishing, operating and maintaining’ the program.” The Administration eliminated the service two months ago, leaving a “void for young LGBTQ+ people who have no place to turn, according to the senators. Before being shut down, a troubled youth could call 988 and press ‘3’ to get connected directly to a counselor specializing in LGBTQ+ issues.” According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the LGBTQ+ program had served nearly 1.6 million young people since its inception, with a rising number of contacts each year.

Related Links:

— “Senators propose bill to reinstate LGBTQ+ youth crisis lifeline option eliminated by Trump,”Marc Ramirez, USA TODAY, September 17, 2025

Healio (9/15, Gawel) reports a meta-analysis of more than 50 clinical trials and observational studies presented at the American Neurological Association Annual Meeting 2025 found that the “risks for developing Alzheimer’s disease can increase or decrease depending on when women begin hormone replacement therapy.” Patients in the meta-analysis included “women who used estrogen alone, estrogen and progestin, or estrogen and a selective estrogen receptor modulator after menopause, as well as those who took a placebo or did not receive any treatment.” Researchers observed a “38% increase in risk for Alzheimer’s disease among women who began hormone replacement therapy at age 65 years or older, especially among those who used progestin.” Meanwhile, “women who began therapy around the time of their menopause saw a 22% reduction in risk, based on data from 45 observational studies of real-world outcomes. This increased to a 32% reduction for those who began within 5 years of menopause, based on an analysis of the observational studies and the randomized controlled trials.”

Related Links:

— “Hormone replacement therapy timing linked to Alzheimer’s disease risks,”Richard Gawel, Healio , September 15, 2025

Healio (9/15, Wursta) reports a study found that “patients with autoimmune conditions and chronic inflammation may be at twice the risk for mental health disorders such as depression, bipolar disorder and anxiety vs. the general population.” The researchers “examined data from the Our Future Health research cohort, which included 1,563,155 participants…in the United Kingdom. Among the cohort, 37,808 patients had lifetime diagnoses of one of six autoimmune conditions: rheumatoid arthritis, Graves’ syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, lupus, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis.” The researchers observed that “patients with an autoimmune condition demonstrated significantly higher rates of depression (28.8% vs. 17.9%), bipolar disorder (28.4% vs. 17.8%) and anxiety (29.3% vs. 18%) compared with healthy participants. The researchers additionally found risk for mental health issues in this patient group remained higher even after controlling for variables such as income, history of chronic pain and history of social isolation.” The study was published in BMJ Mental Health.

Related Links:

— “Anxiety, bipolar disorder risks nearly twice as high in patients with autoimmune disease,”Max R. Wursta, Healio , September 15, 2025

Rheumatology Advisor (9/16, Kuhns) reports, “Initiation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) among midlife women aged between 42 and 52 years is associated with a higher risk for fracture compared with nonusers…according to study results.” Meanwhile, the study found that “other antidepressants…were not linked to increased fracture risk.” The findings were published in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Related Links:

— “SSRI Use in Women Aged 42 to 52 Years Linked to Increased Fracture Risk,”Lisa Kuhns, Rheumatology Advisor, September 16, 2025

ABC News (9/16, Yu) reports that the HHS “Office of the Surgeon General called youth vaping an ongoing ‘epidemic’ and released a Youth Vaping Resource Guide Monday to raise awareness about the issue.” According to the story, “fifty-six percent of U.S. parents also say that smoking and vaping are a big problem for children and teens in the country, according to an August poll from C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital,” and “over 1.6 million students in the U.S. reported using vapes, a practice that can lead to addiction, from 2023 to 2024, according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.” Meanwhile, “there’s no consensus among educators on how to cut down on student vaping,” but “some school districts…are banking on using technology like vape detectors to identify and address the issue.”

Related Links:

— “Schools crack down on vaping as new school year gets underway,”Yi-Jin Yu, ABC News, September 16, 2025

HealthDay (9/15, Gotkine) reported a study found that “parental diseases of despair (DoD; i.e., substance use disorder, alcohol-related disease, or suicidal behavior) are associated with suicidal events (SE) in offspring.” The study “included 561,837 families with at least one parent diagnosed with a DoD and 1,180,546 control families, from which 817,133 and 1,744,182 children, respectively, were identified.” Researchers observed that “parental DoD exposure was associated with an increased risk for SE. Compared with youth with one affected parent, those with two parents with DoD had a larger risk for an SE. In girls aged 8 to 11 years, there was a significant age-by-sex interaction, which was not seen in boys. Higher risk for a child SE was seen with maternal versus paternal DoD.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

Related Links:

— “Parental Diseases of Despair Linked to Suicidal Events in Offspring,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, September 15, 2025

MedPage Today (9/12, Firth) reported a study found that “use of medication for opioid use disorder (OUD) in jail was strongly associated with lower risks for overdose, death, and re-incarceration after release into the community.” Researchers observed that “among 6,400 individuals with probable OUD, those who opted to take medication for it had a 52% lower risk of fatal overdose after release and a 56% lower risk for death from any cause compared with those who went untreated.” Furthermore, “receiving medication while in jail was also associated with a 24% lower risk of nonfatal overdose and a 12% lower risk of re-incarceration.” Researchers also observed that “within 30 days of release, medication recipients were more likely to receive treatment for OUD compared to individuals who did not receive treatment (60.2% vs 17.6%). At 6 months after release, 58% of those who started in jail were still receiving treatment.” The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

The American Journal of Managed Care (9/11, McNulty) says a study found that “nearly 8 in 10 adults with alopecia areata (AA) report experiencing stigma,” underscoring the “profound psychosocial burden experienced by adults with AA in the United States, including feelings of embarrassment, negative judgment, or being treated differently because of their condition.” Researchers observed that 79.2% of respondents with AA “reported some form of internalized or external stigma. Three in 4 (74.6%) respondents reported embarrassment due to AA, 66.8% felt judged negatively by others, and 58.7% said they were treated negatively because of their condition. The takeaways of these findings are consistent with previous research, including a study assessing attitudes toward AA among people without the condition.” The survey “also revealed notable rates of comorbid mental health conditions” and that 42% of respondents “said they were dissatisfied with their current hair growth, with dissatisfaction rising sharply with severity.” The study was published in The Journal Of Dermatology.

Related Links:

— “Patients With Alopecia Report High Rates of Internal, External Stigma,”Rose McNulty, The American Journal of Managed Care, September 11, 2025