MedPage Today (10/31, Bender) reported that a research letter published in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that “increasing numbers of people with opioid dependence use both prescription opiates and heroin concurrently, and shift between them depending on availability.” Investigators found, “in a study of more than 15,000 individuals diagnosed with opioid dependence, the percentage using prescription opioids and heroin together peaked at nearly 42%” last year, “up from 24% in 2008.”

Related Links:

— “Heroin, Prescription Opioids Interchangeable for Abusers,” Eve Bender, MedPage Today, October 30, 2015.

In a 2,500-word article on its front page, the New York Times (10/31, A1, Seelye, Subscription Publication) discussed how the usage of heroin “has skyrocketed among whites” and prompted a “growing army of families of those lost to heroin” to unite “their influence, anger and grief to cushion the country’s approach to drugs, from altering the language around addiction to prodding government to treat it not as a crime, but as a disease.”

Related Links:

— “In Heroin Crisis, White Families Seek Gentler War on Drugs,” Katherine Q. Seeleye, New York Times, October 30, 2015.

The Los Angeles Times (10/30, Kaplan) reports in “Science Now” that a new study published Thursday in JAMA Facial Plastic Surgery suggests that “a face-lift may make you look younger, but it won’t necessarily improve your self-esteem.”

The Huffington Post (10/30, Adams) reports that Dr. Andrew Jacono, a New York City-based plastic surgeon, “partnered with Ryan P. Chastant, MD, and Greg Dibelius, MD, to perform” the study. They had “50 patients between the ages of 37 and 73 (48 of whom were women) fill out the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, a questionnaire social scientists use to measure self-esteem, just before they had the procedure done and again six months after the procedure.” HealthDay (10/30, Alan) also covers the story.

Related Links:

— “A face-lift won’t help with your sagging self-esteem, study says,” Karen Kaplan, Los Angeles Times, October 29, 2015.

The Washington Post (10/30, Bahrampour) reports in “Social Issues” that “mounting evidence shows that staying in the workforce into old age is good” for one’s “health and mental acuity.” The “Should I Stay or Should I Go?” study “shows negative effects for those who retire earlier than the mean age – and the outcomes are worse the earlier you stop working.” The study, so far, has found the “optimal age” for retirement is “around the late 60s but depends on factors from an individual’s financial security to the culture he lives in.”

Related Links:

— “This is your brain on retirement — not nearly as sharp, studies are finding,” Tara Bahrampour, Washington Post, October 29, 2015.

Medscape (10/30, Anderson) reports that new research presented at the 44th Child Neurology Society (CNS) Annual Meeting indicates that children and adolescents who suffer from migraines are three times more likely than those without headaches to have “a mood disorder, such as depression, and almost three times more likely to have other neurologic conditions, such as epilepsy.” The study included 9,014 youngsters between the ages of eight and 21 from the Philadelphia Neuro-developmental Cohort.

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)