The Washington Post (6/16, Docter-Loeb) reports that a study published in Tobacco Control reveals that “around 1 in 7 U.S. adults who smoke might have some degree of disability.” The researchers analyzed “data from the 2019-2023 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) for about 150,000 people.” They determined that “14.1 percent of adults who currently smoked had a disability, and estimates for any kind of disability were significantly higher for current or former adult smokers.” Researchers found that “the prevalence of vision, hearing, mobility and cognitive disability was two to 2.4 times higher among those who currently smoked.” According to the study, “about 16.5 percent of women who smoke and 12.1 percent of men who smoke have a disability.” In addition, “19 percent of non-Hispanic smokers had a disability vs. 11 percent of Hispanic smokers.”

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)

Psychiatric News (6/16) reports a study found that “legalization of cannabis was associated with small but significant increases in opioid use disorder (OUD) between 2005 and 2022 among patients receiving care in the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).” Researchers found that in states that enacted medical cannabis laws (MCLs) but not recreational cannabis laws (RCLs), “OUD prevalence increased among VHA patients from 1.13% in 2005 to 1.19% in 2022, while OUD prevalence decreased from 1.12% to 1.06% in states without cannabis laws. OUD prevalence remained stable in states that enacted an MCL and then an RCL. Among patients with chronic pain, MCL and RCL enactment was associated with a 0.08% and 0.13% increase in OUD prevalence, respectively.” They noted the “largest change in OUD prevalence was seen among adults ages 65 to 75 years with chronic pain following RCL enactment – a 0.23% increase.” The study was published in JAMA Health Forum.

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— “Cannabis Legalization Associated With Increase in Opioid Use Disorder,” Psychiatric News, June 16, 2025

HealthDay (6/13, Thompson ) reported a study found that “women’s endometriosis risk increased 20% if they had experienced childhood ordeals such as violence, sexual abuse, a death in the family, poverty or troubled parents.” The results indicate that “violence produced the strongest link, more than doubling a woman’s odds that she would develop endometriosis.” Researchers concluded, “The results suggest that early life experiences can affect the body’s health much later in life and highlight the importance of looking at the whole person, not just the symptoms.” The study was published in Human Reproduction.

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— “Childhood Trauma Boosts Endometriosis Risk,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 13, 2025

HealthDay (6/13, Thompson ) reported a study found that “teenagers with less sleep had lower connectivity between the parts of the brain that play a critical role in decision making, self-reflection and information processing.” The researchers “analyzed data on more than 2,800 kids whose sleep patterns were tracked using Fitbit wrist devices for at last two weeks on average.” The results “showed that short sleep dramatically affected the kids’ default mode network, a network of brain regions that tend to be active when a person is at rest and not focused on their external environment. A lack of sleep caused the different regions of the default mode network to become less connected.” According to researchers, “problems in these parts of the brain are also linked to mental illnesses like depression, ADHD and schizophrenia.” Additionally, “boys, older children and kids from racial minorities tended to have shorter sleep, as well as more behavior problems.” The study was published in Brain and Behavior.

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— “Lack Of Sleep Alters Teens’ Brains, Potentially Promoting Behavior Issues,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, June 13, 2025

The Washington Post (6/11, Gibson) reports a study of social media use and depressive symptoms among early adolescents over a three-year period “found that an increase in social media use predicted a future rise in symptoms of depression – but not the other way around.” Researchers examined data drawn from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study. They observed that “daily social media use among study participants surged tenfold over those years, from about 7 minutes per day at age 9, to 74 minutes per day by age 13. During that same time frame, reported depression symptoms jumped 35 percent.” Although the minimum age requirement for most social media platforms is 13 years old, researchers noted that “20 percent of 9- and 10-year-olds had social media accounts, and by age 11 or 12, two-thirds of them did. On average, those children had accounts on three platforms.” The study was published in JAMA Network Open.

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— “The Washington Post (requires login and subscription)