The New York Times (11/13, Paris) reports, “There are more Americans who say they have serious cognitive problems – with remembering, concentrating or making decisions – than at any time in the last 15 years, data from the Census Bureau shows.” Since the pandemic, “the number of working-age adults reporting ‘serious difficulty’ thinking has climbed by an estimated one million people.” This “sharp increase captures the effects of long Covid for a small but significant portion of younger adults, researchers say, most likely in addition to other effects of the pandemic, including psychological distress.” But experts “also say it’s not yet possible to fully dissect all the reasons behind the increase.”

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

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.”

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— “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.”

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— “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.”

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— “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.”

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— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)