HealthDay (12/21, Thompson) reports, “Head injuries related to football might be tied to markers of dementia like brain shrinkage and decreased blood flow to the brain, a…study of former pro and college players” found. Investigators “compared brain scans of 120 former pro football players and 60 former college players against 60 men who never played football and had no history of concussion.”

The researchers “found that the relationship between white matter hyperintensities and stroke risk was more than 11 times stronger in former football players than in those who never played.” The investigators also “found that these signs of brain damage were 2.5 times more strongly related to elevated p-tau proteins in football players than in non-players.” The findings were published in Neurology.

Related Links:

— “Former Pro Football Players Show Troubling Brain Changes,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, December 21, 2023

USA Today (12/21, Garzella) reports, “Amid a nationwide ADHD drug shortage, patients are paying significantly more for medication to help them direct their focus at school, work and home.” This “shortage has placed financial pressure on families, forcing them to search for alternatives,” which are often “expensive brand-name drugs.”

This “upward trend can” also “be seen in the prices retail community pharmacies pay for several popular ADHD drugs, which a USA TODAY analysis found have outpaced inflation – and in some cases doubled or tripled in price – since Adderall fell into short supply starting in October 2022.”

Related Links:

— “ADHD drug prices rise as Adderall shortage leaves patients scrimping to fill prescriptions,” Cecila Garzella, USA Today, December 21, 2023

RheumatologyAdvisor (12/20, Khaja) reports, “Depression may impact psoriatic arthritis (PsA) treatment response and lead to higher rates of biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (bDMARD) discontinuation, which may affect disease management and progression, according to study results published in Clinical Rheumatology.” In the study, “patients diagnosed with depression exhibited a notably elevated rate of treatment transitions attributed to lack of drug efficacy during the initial 12-month period.

Related Links:

— “Depression May Impact bDMARD Treatment Response and Discontinuation in Patients With Psoriatic Arthritis,” Hibah Khaja, Rheumatology Advisor , December 20, 2023

HealthDay (12/20, Thompson) reports, “Anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress are common among people caring for the victim of a recent stroke, a new study has found.” Almost “30% of caregivers of severe stroke patients experience stress and emotional problems during the first year after the patient leaves the hospital, according to a report in the journal Neurology.”

Related Links:

— “Depression, Anxiety Common in Caregivers of Stroke Survivors,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, December 20, 2023

Healio (12/19, Southall) reports, “First-generation medical students reported experiencing increased adversity with inadequate institutional support during undergraduate medical training, according to study results published in JAMA Network Open.” Specifically, the “results showed four common themes experienced by first-generation students, including: isolation and exclusion associated with being new to the field of medicine; difficulty with access to basic resources, such as food, rent and transportation; an overall lack of faculty or institutional support to address these challenges; and an overall sense of needing to rely on grit and resilience to survive.”

Related Links:

— “Structural change needed to retain next generation of diverse, first-generation physicians,” Jennifer R. Southall, Healio, December 19, 2023