HealthDay (7/11) reports several common operations can slightly increase a patient’s risk of becoming addicted to opioids, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers examined the number of opioid prescriptions patients filled before and after 11 common operations in order to determine how many patients became addicted to opioids following surgery.

MedPage Today (7/11, Fiore) reports the 11 procedures that the study focused on were: “total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, open cholecystectomy, laparoscopic appendectomy, open appendectomy, cesarean delivery, functional endoscopic sinus surgery [FESS], cataract surgery, transurethral prostate resection [TURP], and simple mastectomy.” Researchers found that some of the procedures, including total knee arthroplasty, laparoscopic cholecystectomy [gall bladder removal], and cesarean delivery, increased patients’ risk for becoming addicted to opioids, while there was no increased risk of opioid addiction for patients who underwent “cataract surgery, laparoscopic appendectomy, FESS, and TURP.”

Related Links:

— “Common Surgeries Raise Risk for Opioid Dependence: Study,” HealthDay staff, HealthDay, July , 2016.

In a more than 1,200-word article in “The Upshot,” the New York Times (7/8, SR7, Kolata, Subscription Publication) reported that “something strange is going on in medicine,” as many “major diseases, like colon cancer, dementia and heart disease, are waning in wealthy countries, and improved diagnosis and treatment cannot fully explain it.” According to the Times, while “scientists marvel at this good news, a medical mystery of the best sort,” others “are puzzled.”

Related Links:

— “http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/upshot/a-medical-mystery-of-the-best-kind-major-diseases-are-in-decline.html,” Gina Kolata, New York Times, July 8, 2016.

The New York Times (7/11, Peachman) reports that a study release today in the journal Pediatrics finds that “many teenagers who never would have smoked cigarettes are now ‘vaping’ with flavored e-cigarettes, leading to a new generation using nicotine at rates not seen since the 1990s.” According to University of Southern California researchers, “e-cigarettes do not appear to have made a dent in regular cigarette use,” and “the rate of teenagers using nicotine — either through tobacco cigarettes or e-cigarettes — is on the rise” at 14%, which is the highest it has been since 1995.

Related Links:

— “More Nonsmoking Teens Inhaling Flavored Nicotine Through Vaping,” RACHEL RABKIN PEACHMAN, New York Times, July 11, 2016.

HealthDay (7/7, Dallas) reports that during the period 2013 to 2014, nearly three “million US teens suffered a major bout of depression,” newly released research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reveals. In fact, “the overall rate of depression among young people jumped to 11 percent between 2013 and 2014, up from 9.9 percent the previous year, the SAMHSA report found.”

Related Links:

— “Depression Strikes Nearly 3 Million U.S. Teens a Year,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, July , 2016.

USA Today (7/7, Zoroya) reports new data from the Department of Veterans Affairs show that on average, 20 veterans committed suicide daily in 2014. The article says this figure is “the first actual count of suicides among former service members,” and points out that the 2010 average of 22 suicides per day was an estimate. David Shulkin, VA undersecretary for health, highlighted “the slight decline from the 2010 estimate, but added, ‘it’s still far too high.’” The piece adds that according to the figures, the highest number of suicides occurred among male veterans aged 18-29, who had a suicide rate of 86 per 100,000 people; female veterans in that age group had a rate of 33 per 100,000, but the national average is 13 per 100,000 people.

Related Links:

— “20 veterans a day committed suicide in 2014, new data show,” Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, July 7, 2016.