Healio (11/27, Monostra) says, “Transgender and gender-expansive young people report worse quality of life mental health scores compared with the general U.S. population, according to study data.”

In the study published in Transgender Health, over the past two years, “those who received multiple gender-confirming treatments had an increase in overall score, from 63.91 at baseline to 77.39 at follow-up. … Those who did not undergo treatment had decreases in family cohesion score from 61.67 at baseline to 30 at follow-up.”

Related Links:

— “Transgender young people report worse mental health than general population,” Michael Monostro, Healio, November 27, 2023

Healio (11/27, Welsh) reports, “About 1% of women who filled an opioid prescription after childbirth had evidence of persistent opioid use in the subsequent postpartum year, researchers reported in Obstetrics & Gynecology.” In the study, “of women who initiated opioid prescriptions after childbirth, 1,282, or 10.8 per 1,000 deliveries, had new persistent opioid use in the subsequent postpartum year

New persistent opioid use rates were higher after vaginal deliveries compared with cesarean deliveries (16 vs. 9.8 per 1,000), and rates decreased from 2013 to 2021 for cesarean (from 14.2 to 7.9 per 1,000) and vaginal (from 30.5 to 6.7 per 1,000) deliveries.”

Related Links:

— “About 1% of mothers had new persistent opioid use in the first postpartum year,” Erin T. Welsh, Healio, November 27, 2023

Medscape (11/22, Brooks, Subscription Publication) reported, “Longer cumulative use of medication to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD) is associated with a small, but statistically significant, increased risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), results of a large Swedish nested case-control study suggest.” Published in JAMA Psychiatry, the study found “the increased risk was evident only for hypertension and arterial disease, was dose-dependent, and was higher for stimulant than nonstimulant AD/HD medications.”

MedPage Today (11/22, DePeau-Wilson) reported researchers “found that through the entire follow-up period, each 1-year increase in use of AD/HD drugs was tied to a 4% increased risk of CVD…and the corresponding increase for the first 3 years was 8%. … They said they saw similar results when looking at children or youth and adults separately.”

Cardiovascular Business (11/22, Walter) also reported.

Related Links:

— “ADHD medications associated with heightened CVD risk,” Michael Walter, Cardiovascular Business, November 22, 2023

The Washington Post (11/22, Malhi) said, “Drug overdose deaths among pregnant and postpartum people soared significantly between 2018 and 2021, according to a report published Wednesday.” National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) researchers “collected and analyzed data on more than 17,000 deaths, including people who were pregnant or who had been pregnant within the past year. They found that the ratio of overdose deaths more than tripled in pregnant and postpartum women ages 35 to 44, the team reports in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.”

The Hill (11/22, Robertson) reported the study found “the rate of overdoses increased from 4.9 per 100,000 women between the ages 35-44 to 15.8 in 2021, the NIH said.” The researchers “said the increasing overdose rate could signal that there are still significant barriers to addiction treatment among vulnerable populations.”

Also reporting were HealthDay (11/22, Miller), STAT (11/22, Merelli, Subscription Publication), and Psychiatric News (11/22).

Related Links:

— “Overdose deaths in pregnant, postpartum women tripled in as many years: NIH,” Nick Robertson, The Hill, November 22, 2023

The American Journal of Managed Care (11/24, Jeremias) reported a study “clarified the interconnected relationship between functional impairment, quality of life (QOL), and depressive symptoms in patients with psoriasis and PsA [psoriatic arthritis], highlighting the need for…more patient-centered approaches to address the residual burden of disease and improve patient satisfaction with health.”

The study “suggested that depression is often underdiagnosed and undertreated in patients with psoriatic disease, emphasizing the need for improved screening and access to mental health services.”

The findings were published in Rheumatology and Therapy.

Related Links:

— “Study Finds Link Between Depression, Functional Impairment in Psoriasis, Psoriatic Arthritis,” Skylar Jeremias, American Journal of Managed Care, November 24, 2023