ABC News (10/16, Kindelan ) reports, “Being the eldest sibling or being an only child may be linked to anxiety and depression in kids as young as age 8, according to a new study.” Researchers at Epic, a company “that manages a majority of electronic health records across the United States, studied more than 182,000 children in the U.S. who had a well-child visit at age 8, the age at which children should start being screened for anxiety by their pediatrician, according to guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.” Among the kids studied, children “born first among their siblings were 48% more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and 35% more likely to be diagnosed with depression compared with children born second or later.”

Related Links:

— “Firstborn and only children more likely to face anxiety, depression, study finds,” Katie Kindelan, ABC News, October 16, 2024

MedPage Today (10/16, DePeau-Wilson ) reports, “No individual antipsychotic was associated with better cognitive outcomes than placebo in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSD), according to a systematic review and network meta-analysis.” The research “revealed that two first-generation dopamine antagonists” – haloperidol and fluphenazine – “were connected with lower cognitive performance.” The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— MedPage Today (requires login and subscription)

Adolescents Treated For Obesity With GLP-1 Medications Are Less Likely To Have Suicidal Thoughts Or Attempts, Review Finds
CNN (10/15, Tirrell ) reports, “A review of the medical records of thousands of adolescents treated for obesity found that kids who received the GLP-1 medications semaglutide or liraglutide were less likely to have suicidal thoughts or attempts than those treated with behavioral interventions.” The study of roughly “7,000 children between ages 12 and 18…showed that the medicines were associated with a 33% lower risk over a year.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics.

Related Links:

— “Adolescents treated for obesity with GLP-1 drugs had lower risk of suicidal thoughts, study finds,” Meg Tirrell, CNN, October 15, 2024

At Least 4.3M People 55 Or Older Who Have Cognitive Impairment Or Dementia Live Alone In US, Project Estimates
KFF Health News (10/15, Graham) reports the Living Alone With Cognitive Impairment Project at UCSF “estimates that…at least 4.3 million people 55 or older who have cognitive impairment or dementia live alone in the United States.”

Roughly “half have trouble with daily activities such as bathing, eating, cooking, shopping, taking medications, and managing money, according to their research.” However, “only 1 in 3 received help with at least one such activity.” Compared to “other older adults who live by themselves, people living alone with cognitive impairment are older, more likely to be women, and disproportionately Black or Latino, with lower levels of education, wealth, and homeownership.”

Yet just “21% qualify for publicly funded programs such as Medicaid that pay for aides to provide services in the home.”

Related Links:

— “Millions of Aging Americans Are Facing Dementia by Themselves,” Judith Graham, KFF Health News, October 15, 2024

According to Medscape (10/11, Lowry, Subscription Publication), new research shows “a psychosocial intervention” conducted by community health workers and “designed to improve depressive symptoms and promote good parenting skills can be an effective way of treating male postpartum depression.” The research– published in JAMA Psychiatry – found that “about 70% fathers with postpartum depression who received the intervention showed complete remission of their depressive symptoms and experienced enhanced relationships with their children and domestic partners.”

Related Links:

— Medscape (requires login and subscription)