HealthDay (10/6, Gotkine) reports a study found that “for community-dwelling older adults, late-life traumatic brain injury (TBI) is associated with higher rates of incident dementia and health care needs.” The study included 132,113 matched pairs of community-dwelling individuals older than 65 years with and without TBI. The researchers “observed associations for late-life TBI with an increased rate of incident dementia (hazard ratios, 1.69 and 1.56 for no more than five years and greater than five years, respectively); use of publicly funded home care (HR, 1.30); and long-term care home admission (HR, 1.45). Older women from low-income neighborhoods more often had dementia compared with their male peers (29.0 versus 24.7 percent). Less home care was received by residents of smaller communities than those in larger communities (60.1 versus 64.6 percent), and they had a higher probability of admission to a long-term care home (26.3 versus 21.7 percent).” The study was published in CMAJ.

Related Links:

— “Late-Life TBI Linked to Incident Dementia, Health Care Needs,”Elana Gotkine, HealthDay, October 6, 2025

Psychiatric News (10/3) reported a study found that “women with pre-menstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) who received hormonal suppression with leuprolide experienced an elimination of their mood symptoms, and after the ‘add-back’ of hormones, those symptoms returned.” Researchers observed that “of the 34 PMDD responders, 13 (38%) had symptom recurrence for at least one of the four mood symptoms during both estradiol add-back and progesterone add-back. An additional seven women (21%) had symptom recurrence only during progesterone add-back, and four (12%) had symptom recurrence only during estradiol add-back. In contrast, bloating and food cravings remained elevated regardless of hormone condition, while breast pain was reported as slightly more severe during estradiol add-back.” The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

Related Links:

— “Response to Hormonal Suppression, Hormonal Add-Back Distinguishes Women With PMDD, Psychiatric News, October 3, 2025

The New York Times (10/3, Berry) reported on the trend of how the revelation of “a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder” has helped many midlife patients who spent “years of inarticulate unease in social situations” become “freed by the framework of neurodivergence, and embraced by the community that came along with it.” Reasons for this trend include “a change in diagnostic practices, as we apply medical labels to ever milder versions of disease. There are many reasons for this: The shame that once accompanied many disorders has lifted. Screening for mental health problems is now common in schools. Social media gives us the tools to diagnose ourselves. And clinicians, in a time of mental health crisis, see an opportunity to treat illnesses early.” A study published in August in BJPsych Bulletin labeled this phenomenon the “Rumpelstiltskin effect.”

Related Links:

— The New York Times (requires login and subscription)

Bloomberg Law (10/2, Belloni, Subscription Publication) reports that rural hospitals “facing financial headwinds and frustrated with prior authorization demands are withdrawing from contracts with Medicare Advantage plans, prompting concerns from insurers that the cancellations could have consequences for patients.” According to Bloomberg Law, “over 25 hospitals across the country have decided to pull out of some or all of their Medicare Advantage contracts since Jan. 1. Industry groups such as the American Hospital Association cite MA’s lower reimbursement, more aggressive prior authorization, and increased administrative demands when compared with traditional Medicare as reasons behind the contract closures.” Most of the cancellations “have come from Medicare Advantage plans from large national insurance firms such as Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Aetna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare.”

Related Links:

— “Insurers Warn of Risks as Rural Hospitals Drop Medicare Plans,”Ganny Belloni, Bloomberg Law, October 2, 2025

Stateline (10/2, Henderson) reports an analysis of federal death statistics shows that for Gen Z adults, “suicide is taking more lives than 10 years ago when millennials were the same age,” and the “bulk of the increase, 85%, is among Black and Hispanic men, many in Southern and Midwestern states.” The latest CDC data show “Gen Z suicides have continued at a fast pace this year, with 1,148 in January and February.” Meanwhile, “suicide became the second-highest cause of death for young Hispanics, surpassing homicide, and became the No. 1 cause of death for young Asians, surpassing accidents. Men have the highest rates, especially Black and Hispanic men, who together account for 85% of the total increase in suicide, 822 of 965.” Theories behind the uptick “range from bullying on social media, since Gen Z was the first generation to grow up with the internet, to economic despair, to cultural resistance to seeking help for depression.”

Related Links:

— “Suicide claims more Gen Z lives than previous generation,”Tim Henderson, Stateline, October 2, 2025